Have you ever watched someone practice yoga? Did you notice that they do not strain or breathe heavily in spite of the difficult postures they assume? And, perhaps you also noticed that their face is always placid and calm, and that they seem focused; undistracted by what is going on around them.

In the United States, many Yoga classes focus strictly on the physical yoga or asana. There is no doubt you can reap great benefit from these postures, and they do help to tone and stretch your muscles and keep your body flexible, and bring live-giving blood and oxygen to every area of your body.

However, the ancient yoga techniques do not just focus on the physical. They incorporate breathing and meditative focus, to calm your mind and emotions, and this is great for stress relief. Remember, stress affects you on more than a physical level.

Yoga techniques CAN relieve many of the physical symptoms of stress like heart palpitations, shortness of breath, nervousness and insomnia.

The total yoga workout including asana and breathing and meditation works on the central nervous system, lowers blood pressure, improves your digestion, strengths your immune system, and deepens your breathing all of which reduces the strain on your body and mind.

If you suffer from long-term stress you are more at risk for heart attack and stroke, and you are much more likely to have ulcers, insomnia, and migraine headaches.

Yoga helps your body to relax and moderates your heart rate. Blood circulates more easily to your organs, muscles, tendons and brain cells, carrying life-giving oxygen for clarity of thought, muscle strength and all around good health, and helping you heal from injuries, cuts and bruises. It may sound a bit far fetched to think that Yoga can do all that and that just by breathing deeply, meditating and stretching you can get healthier. But, you can!

When you practice traditional Yoga you enter an altered state of mind and focus, and as you focus your attention on your breath, your problems and thoughts pass through your mind unattended. You remain focused on your body and breath in the here and now, and you are not distracted by other thoughts. This focus takes practice, but you can do it!

Yoga helps to relax your breathing and when you take longer, deeper breaths, you nourish your body, your mind and your emotions and allow yourself to relax and focus. This improves clarity of thought and physical stamina. Rather than taking those short, shallow breaths you usually take when you are under stress, yogic breathing teaches you to breath slowly and draw your breath into your abdomen instead of breathing in your chest.

When you learn and practice the traditional methods of Yoga that include the asana physical postures, drishti for focus and meditation, and pranayama for breathing, you will benefit by achieving a state of balanced health, and you will possess a valuable tool to defeat stress.