Health Benefits of Yoga
Yoga is something that has been around for a very long time. Yoga is mainly about uniting the mind, body, and spirit. Many people today suffer from poor posture and weak muscles. One of yoga's main goal is help strength weak muscles, help improve posture, and to calm the mind. Yoga system believes that everything is connected together and it's not hard to see why having a healthy musculoskeletal system is a top priority.

Hatha yoga is the most commonly practiced form of yoga today. Hatha yoga practices Asanas, which are a series of poses, and it also relies on Pranayama, which is a breathing technique. Incorporation of these two elements will help improve almost every function in your body and your mind. However, it should be noted that there are many forms of yoga that an individual can practice.

There are many physical benefits of yoga, listed below are just a few of them...
Endocrine function normalizes
Musculoskeletal flexibility and joint range of motion will increase
Dexterity improves
Energy levels increase
Pain decreases
Balance improves

Just the aforementioned list shows that it can help improve weightlifting performance. After all, a crucial element of Olympic weightlifting is joint range of motion and muscle flexibility. The increased joint mobility will allow for smoother lifting and will let the body move gracefully. Of course, this is taken under the context that the biomechanics of the lifts are mastered or done proficiently. Of course, there are also psychological affects of yoga such as decreasing depression, anxiety, improving mood, and so on and so forth.

If coming back from an injury to a muscle yoga will has the potential to increase the recovery due to the relaxing nature of yoga. The poses of yoga are designed to help strengthen the muscles and create a balanced musculoskeletal system so it seems apparent that yoga will help with injury rehabilitation.

Here is a list of Yoga Poses that will help relax the legs, back, chest, and stomach and will also facilitate recovery...
The Lunge
The cobra
The Bow
The Twist
The Triangle
The Warrior II

The easiest way to learn yoga is obviously to join a class or to buy a quality DVD. Of course there is debate upon whether yoga is better than exercise itself, but it's up to the individual to create their own physical activity program.