Yoga is not new; it was developed in India more than 5,000 years ago, and was used to unite the body, mind, and spirit. The word yoga means "union" in Sanskrit, the language of ancient India. The references to yoga are available in 'Upanishads' and 'Puranas' composed by Indian Aryans in the later Vedic and post- Vedic period. The main credit for systematizing yoga goes to Patanjali who wrote 'Yoga Sutra', two thousand Years ago. He described the principles of the full eight fold yogic discipline.
            Often, people think of Yoga as physical exercise. However, the progress of learning to still the mind and unify consciousness is also important in Yoga exercise. It can be difficult to turn off the voices in your head, especially when your body is motionless.
            Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India.
Training your mind, body, and breath, as well as connecting with your spirituality, are the main goals of the yoga lifestyle.
            Many people think that yoga is just stretching. But while stretching is certainly involved, yoga is really about creating balance in the body and mind through developing both strength and flexibility.
            Yoga is a way of life, a conscious act, not a set or series of learning principles. The therapeutic effect of Yoga is the direct result of involving the mind totally in inspiring (breathing) the body to awaken.
            Yoga is practiced by many people from all religions, it is nondenominational. Yoga teaches "right" living in how we deal with ourselves and others. Yoga stimulates people mentally, emotionally and spiritually, as well as physically. This state increases their sense of self worth, and lessens ways of abusing bodies, like overeating, smoking and drinking. This again results in better physical and mental state, and the cycle begins.
            Aim of Yoga is the attainment of the physical, mental and spiritual health. Patanjali has recommended eight stages of Yoga discipline. They are

1. Yamas- Yamas (abstentions or restrains)
2. Niyamas- Niyamas (observances)-austerities, purity, contentment, study, surrender of the ego
3. Asanas- Physical postures or exercises
4. Pranayama- Control of vital energy (Breathing control)
5.  Partyahara- Withdrawal of the senses
6. Dharana- Concentration of the mind (Contemplation)
7. Dhyana- Meditation
8. Samadhi-Attainment of the super conscious state.

Types of Yoga
The Bhagavad-Gita ('Song of the Lord') uses the term yoga extensively in a variety of ways. It introduced three prominent types of yoga. Bhakti yoga considered as supreme, among the all of these.

• Bhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion
• Jnana yoga: The yoga of knowledge
• Karma yoga: The yoga of action

Bhakti yoga: Bhakti yoga is based on the doctrine "Love is God and God is Love". The path of pure spiritual devotion, love and surrender.Bhakti Yoga is the most direct method, the shortest way to experience the divine.The` Deity is the beloved and the devotee is the lover. Bhakti yoga history stretches back to before the origin of hatha yogi. It is not known exactly when it started, but it has been around since before the fifth century BC.
There are nine forms of Bhakti yoga: Sravana (hearing about God); Kirtana (singing of the glory of God); Smarana (remembering God's name and presence); Padasevana (service of God): Archana (worship of God); Vandana (prostration); Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant); Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava); Atmanivedana (surrender of the self

Jnana yoga: A yoga that focuses on knowledge. Also called Gyana, the path of right knowledge, reaching the ultimate truth through cessation of mental modifications by negation. There are seven stages to Jnana, involving study, self-realization, desire, protection of the mind, developing indifference to objects, letting the world appear like a dream, non-attachment to the world, bliss and knowledge of truth.

Karma yoga:  Karma Yoga is the path of selfless action. Also the path of doing the right thing, of following ones' personal dharma and accepting destiny as it comes. People try to do those actions that bring the most amounts of good and the least amount of evil. Karma yoga dedicates actions to God. It is the performance of actions in union with the Divine. History of karma yoga dates back to before 800 BC, when yoga referred more to life disciplines and paths.

There are many different types of Yoga to choose from. There are many other types of Yoga including kripalu yoga, integral yoga, and phoenix rising yoga therapy. Some are softer and easier to do and some are strenuous and hard to do. The following are a few approaches to choose from:--

• Ananda Yoga will appeal to the beginner who desires to cultivate spirituality and learn how to meditate. Ananda is a slower-paced style.
• Ashtanga Yoga/Power yoga: Ashtanga which means "eight limbs" in Sanskrit is a fast-paced, intense style of yoga. It becomes more strenuous as the students’ progresses. The postures are linked together in a continuous flow, performed while practicing ujjayi breathing. This builds stamina, strength, and flexibility. It is challenging, and not for the beginner.Ashtanga is also the inspiration for what is often called Power Yoga.
• Bikram Yoga is not for the beginner. It requires a great deal of work. It is a sequential series of twenty-six postures done in a heated to 100 degrees or more to       promote sweating that helps cleanse the body of toxins.
• Kundalini Yoga focus on activating the energy centers in the in the body called chakras. The chakras are seven cores of energy in the body. This type of yoga involves exploring the core of the body rather than the limbs-moving to the center and seeing the body as rivers of energy. The emphasis is on the breath in conjunction with physical movement, with the purpose of freeing energy in the lower body and allowing it to move upwards
• Raja yoga concentrates more on meditation and less on strength and is good for the beginner.
• Sevananda yoga is a holistic approach. There are five basic principles that unite the body, mind, spirit, and heart. They include proper breathing (pranayama), a vegetarian diet, proper relaxation (savasana), study of the Vedic scriptures, and meditation.
• Tivamukti yoga focuses on spiritual teaching, postures, chanting, meditation, music, readings, and are all in corporated into the class.
• Hatha yoga  Hatha is a Sanskrit word meaning” willful” Hatha is a very general     term that can encompass many of the physical types of yoga. If a class is described as Hatha style, it is probably going to be slow-paced and gentle and provide a good introduction to the basic yoga poses.

Asanas and poses
Asana is a Body posture, it is a Sanskrit word used to describe a position of the body. In the West, however, the words asana and yoga are often used interchangeably. Patanjali, the founder of Ashtanga Yoga defines asana as "Steady and comfortable posture". Traditionally many asanas are practiced in Hatha Yoga tradition, primirarily to achieve better physical and mental health. Asanas have deep impact on the entire body and mind complex, it affects different systems in the body like muscular, respiratory, circulation, digestive, excretory, reproductive, endocrine, nervous system.
            The heart of any yoga practice is the performance of yoga positions (called asanas), each of which has specific physical and mental benefits. Each asana helps you become more aware of your body, mind, and environment. Asana is only one of the eight "limbs" of yoga, the majority of which are more concerned with mental and spiritual well being than physical activity. Yoga postures remove obstructions from the body to enhance energy and well-being and achieve inner peace.

Types of Yoga Poses

• The three main components to the practice of Yoga are: breathing, concentration and posture also known as asanas. All three components work together for specific objectives.

Yoga Asanas is based on the starting position of the asanas. Some schools of yoga classified Yoga Asanas on the basis of the movements of final pose of the asanas. Thus the asanas are classified into two types, namely Meditative Asanas and Cultural Asanas.
            Meditative Yoga Asanas are aimed to prepare the practitioner to sit for prolonged periods of time without moving the body and without distress. When the body is steady and still in the sitting position for a long period, only then the meditation is truly experienced. Deep meditation requires the spinal column to be straight.
            Cultural Yoga Asanas are meant for culturing the body and mind. These postures are primarily aimed to physical culture and thereby maintain the health of the body. Most of the Yoga Asanas come under the category of the cultural postures. Cultural Yoga Asanas keep the circulatory system in efficient condition, which ensure constant supply of proper nourishment

When one starts practicing yoga, one can hold for three full breaths through most yoga poses. If you feel comfortable in the pose, hold for longer, if uncomfortable, you should come out of the pose immediately. There are the some types of yoga poses mentioned below:--

Seated poses – Seated poses are useful for practicing breathing exercises and relaxation or meditation techniques. Seated poses are also often used as a warm up or as a starting point for other poses. Performing seated poses can help improve your posture and open your hips.
Standing poses –Standing poses are beneficial for improving your posture, strengthening your legs, and stretching your entire body.
Inversions – Inversions are excellent poses to perform to improve your blood circulation, quiet your mind and improve your overall health. It helps to reverse the ageing process and reduce the effect of the gravity on your body.
Relaxation and restorative poses – It is important to take time to perform relaxation or restorative poses at the end of each yoga practice. You can use this time to relax your body and mind and allow energy released by the poses in your practice to move freely throughout your body. These poses are highly beneficial as they provide energy, strength, stamina, flexibility, activeness and many more benefits to the body.
Counter poses – A counter pose is a yoga pose that stretches your spine in the opposite direction from a previous pose or returns your spine to a neutral position.
Twists – You can perform twists to stretch and strengthen your back and abdominal muscles, increase the flexibility of your spine and improve your circulation. Twists improve the functioning of your internal organs by providing them with a fresh supply of blood as you twist and release your body.
Balancing poses – Balancing poses are great for improving your balance and coordination as well as developing your ability to remain grounded in a pose. Keeping your body balanced encourages you to focus, quiet and balance your mind.
Forward bends – Forward bends stretch the entire back of your body, especially your hamstrings. Forward bends are also often used to release tension, calm your mind and soothe your nervous system. Similar to back bends, forward bends help keep your spine strong and supple.
Back bends – Back bends are among the most challenging poses in yoga. Bending backward helps strength your back and keep your spine strong and supple. Back bends also open the front of your body, especially your chest.

Benefits of Yoga
A woman who was diagnosed with hepatitis C said: "Yoga has helped me immensely to deal with the hepatitis C treatment. I truly feel that the reason that I have had such a successful treatment ,throughout the treatment the ability to focus, breathe, and stretch the limits of my body and mind has definitely kept me together."

The healing benefits of yoga are so enormous that they are still being discovered almost everyday. Yoga changes an individual's perspective about life. After coming in the fold of Yoga a person finds himself taking up a broader view of life. Yoga develops harmony between mind and body.
There have been some medical studies on the positive effects of yoga. And a growing number of doctors are following the lead of cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish and incorporating yoga into their patient recovery programs. According to medical scientists, yoga therapy is successful because of the balance created in the nervous and endocrine systems which directly influences all the other systems and organs of the body.

In April 2007, I had some pain when walking that wouldn't go away. Therefore I visited a physician who X-rayed and examined my knee. A couple of months passed and as I felt no improvement, still with the same pain.
In September, Daal (his daughter) came to Las Vegas.  She recommended for Bikram Yoga. I was afraid in the beginning. As a matter of fact, I became addicted to Bikram Yoga since my very first class
I have healed extremely well. . Thanks to the wonderful guidance of my teachers and bikram yoga……….Jamie

Psychological benefits
John Locke aptly pointed out “A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world”. Studies have shown that people who practice yoga are quite optimist.
            The psychological benefits of yoga, points out that yoga can also contribute to increasing somatic and kinesthetic awareness, self-acceptance and self-actualization, as well as improving concentration, memory, attention, mood and learning efficiency increases. The regular practice of yoga improves depth perception and mind/body neuro connection improves.
            One practice of Yoga, called Anuloma Viloma, is breathing through one nostril to calm the mind and the nervous system. It’s said to balance the creative side and the logical side of our brains and help us to freely think. In any balance practice, both inhale-oriented and exhale-oriented postures are executed in order to create equilibrium in the body and breath and to gain emotional harmony.
            One of the benefits of yoga is that it encourages relaxation and can lower the amount of cortisol in your body. Muscles tend to relax when you exhale, lengthening the time of exhalation helps in producing relaxation, reduces tension, anxiety, depression and managing stress. Yoga can play a definitive role in fine-tuning our love life.
The Biochemical benefits of yoga can be enumerated as substantial decreases of glucose, sodium, cholesterol, and total white blood cells; and remarkable increases of vitamin C, total serum protein, hemoglobin.

Physiological benefits
Yoga makes one feel more active and fit. It also makes one aware of his potential capacity. This is one of the important benefits of yoga to help improve the amount of oxygen taken in during the daily exercises. Yoga helps to improve blood circulation in your body that results in healthy and glowing skin reducing facial wrinkles. Regular yoga practice can help in weight management and chronic fatigue.
            Yoga posture and helps to boost strength, stamina and flexibility in body while improving posture coordination and balance. Yoga is quite effective in complete detoxification i.e. flushing out of toxins from every nook and cranny as well as providing nourishment up to the last point. This leads to benefits such as delayed ageing, energy and a remarkable zest for life.
            Yoga is also quite effective especially in women diseases such as vaginal infections, menopause, menstrual cramps, osteoporosis, urinary tract disorders and impotence in men. It helps in a strengthening one's pelvic floor muscles and sex organs. Kundalini Yoga is specifically concentrated about sex and asana for harnessing the sexual power.
Several cancers proven to be relieved and healed through the practice of yoga including prostate cancer.
Yoga therapy is used in treating ailments in our body system like bronchial asthma, Alzheimer disease, nasal allergy, high and low blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases.
Yoga is highly therapeutic. Several ailments proven to be cured through yoga like acidity, anemia, arthritis, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, , colitis, common cold, constipation, diabetes, epilepsy, eye problems, gastro-intestinal disorders, headaches, hemorrhoids, hepatitis, immune-deficiency, migraines, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, , sciatica, slipped disk, sterility, insomnia, thyroid problems, kidney stones, and stammering.

Spiritual benefits
The term spiritual benefits may be reviewed by different people with apparent dimensions. However in the perspective of yoga, spirituality is not only dealing with god but also with the soul or inner consciousness. Yoga is all about uniting oneself with God relating to spirituality, sacrifice, love and dedication.
            Yoga helps a person to know who is he, how life works, who is God and so on. One starts looking at things differently, with less confusion. It helps in more peace of mind, better health, more keenness for life, and an ever-growing sense of internal well-being. Yoga builds awareness of your body, your feelings and the world around you. Promotes interdependence between mind, body, and spirit. Helps you live the concept of "oneness." 
            A proper study of Yoga especially Bhakti yoga can help unlock humankind’s fullest potential and ensure that we can rise above this earthly shell and realize the divinity that is present in each one of us. Bhakti yoga means devotion or faith. It can be devotion towards your fellow men as well as for the need we are living in this world. It is one of methods to gain your spiritual path and gaining immense self-awareness which would be very hard to find. Looking into your heart and soul just makes things crystal clear. It talks about love, devotion and knowledge in all forms which can bring a bright change in your life. The rejuvenation of mind and health by practicing yoga will certainly benefit you and pave your path to spiritual liberation and salvation.

Yogic diet
A yogic diet ideally follows a sattvic or pure food diet. Balanced diet is highly recommended for good health. It includes plenty of salads, fresh fruits and organic vegetables, milk and raw nuts. Cucumber, tomato, carrots, beetroot, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower etc are highly beneficial and can be taken in salad form. Eat slowly and chew your food properly. By chewing the food properly, saliva can better mix with food and make it easily digestible. Take food which is easy to digest. Vegetables and protein rich foods should generally be consumed in much smaller proportions. The more liquid food is when it gets swallowed, the easier it can be assimilated. The base of a meal is the grain content; this should form the majority of the bulk of a meal. Drinking a little water with each mouthful is recommended.
Normally the process of digestion takes around 24hrs or less from consumption to elimination. However, flesh foods (meat) take days to digest - this will place an unduly heavy burden on the digestive system, diverting energy from other activities and ultimately leading to disease. Try to avoid them as much as you can. Developing a mindful eating practice can provide a ground that truly supports and nurtures your yoga.

Recommendation

• Modern fast food items like hamburgers, pizzas, jams, jellies, soft drinks, ice creams etc. foods are rich source of sugar, oils and preservatives all of which are not good for our health.
• More people fall sick due to overeating or wrong dietary habits as compared to people who get sick due to non availability of food.
• In addition to the types of food consumed, negative consequences result from excessive eating and eating at the wrong times.
• Spicy foods, oily fried foods, stale foods, refined sugars and grains, chemically enhanced foods (flavored/processed etc) should be avoided.
• After eating one should feel refreshed not heavy and lethargic (this is an indication of overeating and wrong diet), you should eat only what is needed.
• Re-heated, canned or frozen foods are also to be avoided.

What Are the Drawbacks of Yoga?

It is important to know that there can also be negative side effects to practicing yoga, especially when it is not practiced correctly. Yoga does require some commitment of time and is more difficult for people with certain physical limitations. Some people feel self-conscious doing some of the poses. Beginners sometimes report muscle soreness and fatigue after performing yoga, but these side effects diminish with practice.
Some people have reported injuries by performing yoga postures without proper form or concentration, or by attempting difficult positions without working up to them gradually or having appropriate supervision.
When a person decides to engage in a yoga workout, many times it is at home with a DVD, no instructor, and very little knowledge of the basics behind the yoga philosophy.  This can be quite dangerous and result in serious injury.  As with any exercise program, it is extremely important to consult with a physician before structuring a yoga workout regimen.
The negative side effects of yoga are not always physical.  Mental instability can also be a side effect of practicing too much yoga or practicing it incorrectly.  Some negative, and severe, side effects can include pseudo death, pseudo psychosis, confusion, increased anxiety, panic attacks, suicidal patterns, depression, homicidal urges, and feelings to self-mutilate.  Headaches, temporary blindness, sexual pains, and social issues may also arise. A combination of these symptoms when caused by yoga is typically what is known as Kundalini Syndrome, which stems from performing Kundalini yoga poses incorrectly or too often. 
Typically, if Hatha pranayama techniques and poses are not performed in a certain sequence, serious gastric discomfort and symptoms like nausea and sour stomach may appear. 
Some people with skeletal deformities and other types of physical problems could have problems with these practices, especially if they are not provided by a trained professional. People with certain medical conditions should not use some yoga practices. Although yoga during pregnancy is safe if practiced under expert guidance, pregnant women should avoid certain poses that may be problematic; a doctor should be consulted before you begin.
The benefits of yoga are extensive. Not only does yoga affect the physical aspect of the body, it addresses the mind and spirit as well. If you also want to enjoy the benefits of yoga fully it is essential to perform all yoga poses correctly under the guidance of an expert or professional trainer.