Yoga is also a powerful, holistic, transformational tool that calms and focuses the mind and develops innate intelligence and awareness. The postures, breath awareness, and relaxation techniques develop your natural intuitive intelligence, and help your mind to focus on one thing at a time instead of jumping around like a hyper monkey. When the mind is focused, the nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems respond by slowing down. The body and mind start to relax. You feel calmer, think more clearly, and feel centered and grounded. Over time, the mind and the intelligence are able to spread throughout the body, focusing on many points at one time. This is meditation.

As the mind quiets, the body opens to release unnecessary tension and long-held emotions. The emotions become balanced and moderate. The body develops balanced strength, and with strength comes flexibility and a stable core. You experience emotional equanimity and poise, like a tree that sways in the breeze but always come back to center. Life will always have its sunny days and stormy, windy times, but yoga creates a strong foundation with which you can endure life's unpredictable weather.

The yoga postures, known as asanas, have a very powerful effect on all systems of the body. Each asana is linked with the breath, which contains the life force or universal energy known as prana. Every inhalation brings prana and oxygen to all the cells in the body, and every exhalation releases toxins and waste.