Anyone joining a yoga class for the first time is impressed by the large number of yoga poses needed for the beginning level alone.

Surely, things are taken progressively, with the instructor starting by naming the yoga poses and explaining them one by one while also giving a personal example.

The benefits that result from the full practice are manifold, from body mobility and health improvement to the ability to control the workings of the inner self and stress management. Yoga gives great results when practiced regularly, particularly if it implies body and mind harmony.

Another name for the yoga poses is asanas, and each of them has a physical and mental dimension to it.

Books, Internet sites, e-guides and plenty of other informative materials include listings with various yoga poses together with pictures and instructions about the execution. Asanas work for almost all the body parts, and usually the trainer will indicate the most intense point of physical stress.

What needs to be mentioned here is that depending on the yoga variant practiced, the performance of the asanas varies, given the fact that some yoga schools have created their own specific postures.

Besides the physical capacity to perform yoga poses, one also needs to grow the balance and the concentration ability, since the physical is just one side of the practice that gets complete by the spiritual dimension only. By the breathing and relaxation techniques you'll learn how to ignore the difficulty of a posture as well as the disturbing elements in the background. Once you get into the yoga poses, it is important to maintain them for a specific period of time.

The practice of yoga poses in the absence of professional guidance and help could be a threat to one's physical and spiritual health and could result in injuries.

Therefore, do not start yoga practice by word of mouth, or following directions in books, Internet sites or videos.

Beginners should remain under the direct supervision of a trainer, particularly since you are still an apprentice even after you have evolved a bit on the yoga path.

The complexity of the yoga poses will increase with every advance you make on the way, but progress remains slow on the average as one learns to push the limits of body and mind.