Yoga is a key part of traditional Ayurvedic medicine. It involves controlled breathing, meditation exercises, and physical body movements or postures.
The purpose of yoga is to achieve self-realization or enlightenment. Like other forms of exercise and meditation, yoga appears to have many potentially beneficial effects. It can affect blood pressure, blood sugar levels, stress levels, and anxiety, and can affect brain chemicals related to mood.
People commonly use yoga to improve general health, fitness, and quality of life. It is also used for stress, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, pain, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support many of these other uses.
Don't confuse yoga with Ayurveda. Yoga is only one part of the Ayurvedic system of medicine.
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