As with any type of physical exercise, Yoga should be respected and done properly. If not given the due attention and respect, injuries can happen, particularly with the more advanced Yoga poses and techniques. Yet if you take the necessary precautions and due care and attention, these risks can be reduced.

The single greatest way to sustain a Yoga injury is to try and “do it yourself”. A multitude of celebrity Yoga videos are now available, but unless you have some Yoga experience, they should be avoided. At the very least, when beginning Yoga, learn with a qualified instructor. The Yoga Alliance offers 200 hour and 500 hour certificates for Yoga teachers, so be sure to check you are learning with someone who has at least the minimum of these. With a qualified teacher, you will be able to go at your own pace and have expert help on hand should you get in to difficulty.

The aside, the major cause of injuries sustained during Yoga is trying to do too much, too soon. Photographs of extreme Yoga poses are very media friendly and appear frequently in the tabloids, but you need to be realistic in your expectations. You can get to the stage where you can bend your body at will, but it will take time. Make sure you lay the necessary groundwork before trying anything advanced; a qualified Yoga teacher will help you with this.

The main areas of the body that are injured in Yoga are the neck, lower back, hamstrings and knees. By keeping a focus on these areas, you can reduce the risk of injury. Pay close attention to what is happening in these areas and never push them too far.

If the worst does happen and an injury does occur, treat it like you would any other injury. Rest completely from Yoga and other physically demanding exertions, and if necessary see a doctor for proper treatment. Only ever return to Yoga practice when you are 100% recovered from the injury, and even then avoid any poses that focus effort and strain on the previously injured area. Once again, a qualified Yoga teacher will help with this – the final proof that a Yogi or Yogini is the one essential when it comes to avoiding Yoga injury.

Although yoga was primarily developed as a religious and mental discipline, there is no denying that the health benefits of yoga can be huge. It is for this reason that yoga became such a huge force in Western fitness and is now offered in thousands of gyms across the hemisphere.

The most obvious health benefit of yoga is flexibility. Over time, anyone practising yoga will see a huge increase in the flexibility of muscles and joints such as the back, hamstrings, shoulders and hips. A greater level of flexibility is hugely beneficial for anyone suffering from chronic pain, particularly back pain caused by sitting for long hours in a car or at a computer. As Yoga strengthens muscles and encourages development, many practitioners find general pain greatly reduced.

Yoga also requires a core level of strength, which can be developed and added to over time. Many Yoga poses require supporting your body weight on just one limb, while the slow movements of yoga help to build up strength. This, too, can help with chronic pain, as well as helping correct any problems in your alignment, another cause of general chronic pain.

Yoga also uses many breathing exercises, known as Pranayama. This encourages better breathing in general, which over time will continue outside of a Yoga class. Most people breathe very shallowly and will find focusing and controlling their breathing does indeed improve health, in particular clearing nasal passages and calming the central nervous system.

As well as this, Yoga can be used specifically to help alleviate the symptoms and problems caused by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. A study was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1998, which revealed that sufferers of Carpal Tunnel who participated in Yoga for eight weeks saw a greater improvement than those who did not. The poses found most effective were those that involved stretching, opening and strengthening the joints of the upper body.

With further benefits including stress reduces and general physical fitness, Yoga can play a dominant role in all-round physical well-being.

Yoga has a rich and developed history, first appearing in human recording texts – though not by name – around 500BCE. The first recording of yoga in text is in the Katha Upinishad, one of the first texts of the core teachings of Vedanta. Vedanta is a spiritual tradition which focuses on self-realization. This is a prime example of how yoga is designed for both the wellness of the body, and the mind.

Yet Yoga’s history may stretch back even further than that. Several seals discovered at the Indus Valley Civilization – an Ancient Indian civilization – depicted human figures in what appeared to be Yoga poses.

This gives yoga a firm place in Indian culture, with a history spanning centuries. It has long been associated with the Hinduism, though it is also found in other religions such as Buddhism and even Islam. The primary reason for yoga in early Indian culture was for meditative purposes.

In the 15th century, Hatha Yoga was introduced to practice and is now one of the most popular yoga branches. Hatha Yoga was one of the first practices to try and unite mental clarification with physical fitness, as it is based on the concept that through physical exertion, mental and spiritual clarity can be achieved. Hatha Yoga is where some of the most recognisable types of postures and positions come from.

It is fair to say that the multitude of people practising yoga in today’s society focus more on the physical rather than the mental aspects, with the religious connection of yoga almost entirely removed. Yet even today, in India where yoga began, it is still a regular part of life for any devout Hindu man. Like anything with such a long and varied history, yoga has moved with the times and is now available to all, for whatever purpose.

Yoga is a physical discipline involving body movement and manipulation, with both mental and physical effects. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root ‘yuj’ and has many different meanings; some of which include of “union”, “control”, “unite”. Yoga is all about building and maintaining physical fitness, but also focuses heavily on improving and cleansing the mind.

Yoga itself has roots in ancient Indian culture but is also one of the most popular in Western culture. It is available at most gyms, with all levels – from complete beginner to extreme advanced – generally available. The beauty of yoga is in the variation, and with over 20 different branches of yoga currently being used, the choices are endless.

The use of yoga can be for many different reasons, and depending on your desired result. There are specialist branches of yoga, each designed to achieve a different goal. This include yoga for mind and body purification (known as Hatha yoga), action yoga (Karma) and energy (Kundalini). Whatever you want to get from yoga, there is a branch specialising in providing just that.

Although it is the more advanced types of yoga that grab media attention, yoga is available to anyone of virtually any physical age or fitness. When you begin practising yoga, you will begin “your practice”. This is used as a description of your own personal experience of yoga and will be tailored to suit your exact needs and requirements. You will go through this with a yoga teacher, known as a Yogi (masculine) or a Yogini (feminine). With your teacher’s help and an open mind, yoga is hugely beneficial for mind, body and soul.