Met Bill Harper, publisher of Yoga Journal. Smart guy. I didn’t know there are 16 million yoga practitioners, and 6 billion dollars yearlyspent on yoga. But why not? We all just want to live better, and the more people who know about yoga want to try it. Why do people come to yoga? He showed stats that list flexibility number one, then stress, back problems, and weight loss.

Women practicing far outnumber men. But why? Lot of talk about this, even a discussion on the yoga man. Is it because modern man is less flexible? Generally, we guys just don’t have the flexibility in the west. We can’t do it well immediately, so we back off. It looks girlish. Yet, they say Labron James practices and I’m sure there are a lot of burly men enjoying it. But I also think it is because yoga’s benefits are seen by non-practitioners, particularly men, as mostly physical benefits. That’s far from my experience and most practitioners.

But I think many men in our culture think of themselves in physical terms first and foremost. Women think beauty too, but their soft, nututring nature are also culturally important. It comes down to this question: are we defined most by our bodies, our minds, or our spirit? Obviously, it’s not just the physical but the spiritual benefits that affect happiness and fullfillment most. Our bodies decline while our minds and spirts continue to grow and improve. (Or at least they have the potential to grow.) When men start to see yoga as an overall improvement practice, in those areas most important to success and fullfillment, they will flock to yoga studios. This message seems to get buried in the pants, mats and props yoga culture.

Your kids are demanding the latest video game, your boss wants that report done yesterday, and your partner wants to know what’s for dinner. Stress and anxiety are everywhere. If they’re getting the best of you, you might want to make like a downward-facing dog or a cobra and try yoga.

Yoga’s series of postures — sometimes named for mammals, fish or reptiles — and controlled breathing exercises have become a popular means of stress management and relaxation. Today, yoga classes teaching the art of breathing, meditation and posing are offered nearly everywhere — from trendy health clubs in big cities to community education classes in small towns. If you’re looking for more do-it-yourself techniques for a calmer, more peaceful attitude, see how to get started with yoga.

The ultimate goal of yoga is to reach complete peacefulness of body and mind, helping you relax and manage stress and anxiety. Traditional yoga philosophy requires that students adhere to this mission through behavior, diet and meditation. But if you’re simply looking for better stress management and not an entire lifestyle change, yoga can still help.

Yoga has many styles, forms and intensities. But hatha yoga, in particular, may be a good choice for stress management. This style of yoga is designed to encourage a calmer mind, along with improved flexibility.

Beginning with hatha yoga

There are several versions of hatha yoga, too. Which version you choose depends on your personal preferences. But all varieties of hatha yoga include two basic components — poses and breathing. Coordination of mind, body and breathing through hatha yoga can improve physical, psychological and spiritual well-being.

Poses
Yoga is suitable for people of all abilities. In a typical hatha yoga class, you may learn anywhere from 10 to 30 poses. Poses range from the easier corpse pose, which involves lying on the floor while completely relaxed, to the most difficult poses that take years of practice to master.

Regardless of which type of yoga you practice, you don’t have to do every pose your instructor demonstrates. If a pose is uncomfortable or you can’t hold it as long as the instructor requests, don’t do it. Good instructors will understand and encourage you not to exceed your personal limits. Spend time sitting quietly, breathing deeply until your instructor moves the class on to another pose that’s more comfortable for you.

Breathing
Controlling your breathing is an important part of yoga. In yoga, breath signifies your vital energy. Yoga teaches that controlling your breathing can help you control your body and gain control of your mind — reining in thoughts that may otherwise hamper stress management and relaxation.

Through yoga, you learn to control your breathing by paying attention to it. Your instructor might ask you to take deep, loud breaths as you concentrate on your breathing. Other breathing techniques involve paying attention to your breath as it moves into your body and fills your lungs, or alternately breathing through one nostril.

Gaining stress relief and other health benefits from yoga

Yoga offers a good tool for stress management and relaxation. Left unchecked, stress can lead to a variety of health problems, including headache, insomnia, back pain, burnout, weight gain, anger and substance abuse. Yoga, with its quiet, precise movements can draw your focus away from your busy, chaotic day and more on the calming moment as you move your body through poses that require balance and concentration.

But the benefits of yoga surpass stress relief. Other health benefits of yoga may include:

• Increased flexibility. As you learn and refine new poses — such as touching your toes — you’ll find that each time you practice, you can reach a little farther. Increased range of motion means you’re less likely to injure yourself in other physical endeavors or in your daily activities.
• Management of chronic health conditions. The breathing and relaxation methods used in yoga might help you if you have asthma, carpal tunnel syndrome, depression, low back pain, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis of the knees or memory problems. Yoga can also be helpful when combined with other treatments for heart disease and high blood pressure. Yoga, when combined with a vegetarian diet, aerobic exercise and medication, has reduced cardiovascular disease rates and blood pressure levels. However, yoga is not a substitute for traditional medical care and treatment.
• Weight loss. If you’re overweight, yoga may help you make the healthy lifestyle changes necessary to drop those extra pounds.
• Balance. Yoga classes tailored for older adults can help them stay steady on their feet and avoid falls and hip fractures.
• Coping with cancer. People with cancer and their caregivers who practice yoga may improve their quality of life and sleep better at night.
• Alzheimer’s caregiver stress and fatigue. Yoga practice may help family caregivers by boosting their mood and improving their ability to cope and manage stress.

While you shouldn’t expect yoga to cure you, it can help some health conditions when combined with treatment recommended by your doctor. And if you already enjoy good health, yoga can be an enjoyable supplement to your regular exercise routine.

2. PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga
asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with
conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as
well as arthritis, back and neck pain, and other chronic conditions.  Some practitioners
report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.
3. BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to
improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of
oxygen available to the body.
4. FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons
and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible.  Yoga also helps to
improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint
and muscle problems.

5. INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to
increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body,
they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.
6. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga
also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and
self esteem.
7. IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various
poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardio-
vascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving
oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. FOCUS ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more awareand to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordi-nation, reaction time and memory.
10. INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more
spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives.  Many who begin to practice for other
reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of
their daily lives.