Yoga is an ancient art meant to harmonize the complex system of human being – physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological.

With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that this process does not happen overnight.

However, people who dedicate their time and energy to yoga enjoy many benefits, including:

• Improved Joint Health
• Less Back Pain
• Weight Loss
• Stronger Bones
• Increased Flexibility
• Stronger Muscles
• Improved Circulation
• Improved Balance
• Improved Immune Function
• Better Posture
• Better Lung Function
• Slower and Deeper Breathing

A person new to yoga will experience what many call the “initiation” process.

For a healthy person, the initiation – the beginning of the super-oxygenation process – can feel like an amazing surge of energy. To yoga beginners who are young, supple, energetic, emotionally balanced and psychologically open, the early phases are like falling in love. Yoga enhances every aspect of life and magnifies awareness.

However, for someone who is unhealthy, injured or secretly unwell, it can be a huge alarm sounding deep in the body. For these people, the initiation phase – which lasts until about the 3rd month – can be painful and frustrating. People often wonder, “I’m supposed to feel great after doing yoga, but all I feel is pain.”

This is not meant to dissuade beginners but to prepare them. The benefits of yoga are worth it!

Yoga is hard work because it involves the entire mind and body – much like a martial art. The need for consistent practice is essential.

The pain or resistance felt during and after yoga sessions during the first 3 months is really energy awareness manifesting – showing where energy is not flowing freely.

The super-oxygenation that occurs during yoga leads to super-sensitization and body awareness. When a person stretches, he or she feels exactly where the body “won’t” go – highlighting inflexibility or blockages of energy.

If a person is to let go of physical pain, blockages or resistance within the muscles, internal organs and tissues, he or she must also release the emotional and psychological tension that lies beneath. The release cannot happen until the person is ready to express and deal with difficult emotions.

This is why yoga takes time, but great rewards await the yoga practitioner who invests the time and dedication then accepts the release.

Along with the many physical benefits, yoga beginners can look forward to a new level of inner peace and feelings of well being.