Yoga in a GO-GO WORLD

The demands of life can feel overwhelming... but yoga offers a solution that goes well beyond physical health. Keith Bain finds out more.

- Keith Bain

TAKE A MOMENT

Believe it or not, even lying on your back is a beneficial yoga pose. It's called shivasana (aka 'dead man's pose'), and yoga instructors often place it among yoga's most challenging postures. Why? Because humans are caught up in a state of almost always wanting to be on the go, to do, to act, to move onto the next thing.

At the end of an energising yoga class, though, you're told to lie there in stillness, to recover, recuperate, meditate and be totally still. The idea is that, with time, you will learn to accept the gift of this precious time to be silent and present in the moment, without any distractions not even your own thoughts. That stillness is yoga's greatest gift, so why not try it at the end of your next busy day?

BUT FIRST, THE BASICS

The first rule of yoga is to breathe. Not only is it the fundamental thing that keeps us alive, but breathing also provides oxygen to your muscles and organs so your body can do what it does. Yoga trains you to focus on your breathing, to concentrate on the speed and depth of every inhale and exhale and to notice when you're holding your breath without realising it.