Postures or asanas are designed to exercise, strengthen, increase circulation ,and make more flexable the whole body, muscular and skeletal,as well as the organs, nervous and endocrine system.

Recently medical studies have proven that certain postures, breathing exercises, and meditation can treat multiple health problems such as arthritis, asthma, heart conditions, blood pressure among others. I myself use yoga to treat, very successfully, chronic back pain from a herniated disc, as well as dealing with the stress I encounter working as a nurse. Anyone can practice yoga regardless of age or physical limitations.

Yoga can be very relaxing, unlike most other forms of exercise, mainly due to the competitive connotations we attach to them. When practicing yoga you tend to concentrate more on the spiritual aspects. Yoga promotes/encourages meditation, deep breathing and relaxation while increasing muscle tone, strength and flexibility, addressing the whole self, body mind and spirit.

Christianity and practicing yoga: I have been approached by my fellow Christians regarding their concerns about practicing yoga. I have even been accused of practicing "devil worship" by a classmate of one of my nephews. Because of this I feel the need to discuss the relationship, or lack there of, between yoga and Christianity.

As I mentioned above yoga is a wonderful form of exercise that has so many beneficial health results. This is, in my opinion, the way we should view it. In point of fact I have taken opportunity of the peaceful state it offers during my routine to recite prayers, scriptures and even sing hymns, just as I do when gardening, spinning or weaving and other quite exercises or creative processes. There should be no reason why we should be concerned about using a healthy form of exercise and attaching negative connotations unless we are attaching something negative to it.

When I began practicing yoga in the early 80’s there were no yoga classes offered in my area. I had to rent a video on Hatha Yoga and practice on my own. Once I became familiar with Hatha yoga’s routine postures I began to notice every time I picked up a yoga magazine or a yoga book they each offered many different postures from different teachings. At first I was a little overwhelmed but finally over the years I tried different asanas and formulated my own routine, one that worked best for my needs. If there are classes offered I highly recommend checking them out rather than trying to learn on your own. There are important techniques a teacher can help you with that took me time to learn on my own. Once you have gotten the basics down, at least, then you can begin experimenting with other postures to work out your own routine tailor made for your needs.

Meditation takes this concentration a step further, by repeating a mantra or concentrating on breath or a particular scene or symbol, you continue to bring your attention back whenever the mind wanders. With time and practice you can increase the amount of time in this peaceful state.

Practicing meditation, even for a short period of time, each day we begin to see how little we live in the present. Our thoughts are mostly governed by emotions, past events and future plans. As we become aware of this we can learn to change our way of thinking, sort out what is truly important, and gain more control over our emotions.

Meditation can be used to help us deal with stress, pain, blood pressure, and other health problems, such as insomnia, reducing menopausal hot flashes and reducing cardiovascular risk. There has also been recent studies showing that people who have practiced meditation for 5 years have an average biological age 5 years younger than their chronological age. Those who practiced longer than 5 years averaged a biological age 12 years younger. These studies attribute this mainly to meditations ability to help us deal with stress.

Relaxation is not the only reason to practice meditation. Meditation can have powerful emotional and spiritual effects, sharpening ones perception, and clear-mindedness, bringing to light compassion and joy.

There are many ways to practice meditation. The two main type being concentration and mindfulness. In concentration meditation one focuses on a single mental object. As the mind wanders one gently brings thoughts back to this object . With mindful meditation the mind observes itself. One watches thoughts and sensations as they arise.

Contemplative Prayer is form of concentration meditation. By reciting prayer, scripture, or just a phrase, one of my favorite being "Maranatha" which is Aramaic for "O Lord Come" or Come O Lord", or other spiritual readings that offer insight, such as wisdom of the Desert Fathers, one, with practice, puts himself/herself in a place where God can be heard. Contemplative, or Centering Prayer moves prayer from a more active, verbal to a more receptive prayer.

True contemplation is not a psychological trick, but a theological grace ~Thomas Merton

Mindful Living is a form of meditation that can be practiced in all aspects of your life. I was taught mindful living by Thich Nhat Hanh, through his book Peace is Every Step and by spending a week with him in 1997. As a Christian I was able to enjoy this visit with Thay, a Zen Buddhist monk, as well as other nuns and monks from Plum Village because he was very careful to direct us to do nothing that we felt would go against our beliefs. His only concern was to teach us how to find “Peace in Every Step”. In turn I felt, and continue to feel, quite comfortable using his teachings for mindful living as a tool to help see what is really important in our lives. Not to allow the chaos that creeps into our daily lives to take control and stress us out beyond good health.