What better way to ease your stress as midterms edge closer than partaking in a form of meditation that ages back 4000 years? Yoga, meaning union or blend, according to the All One Yoga website, is a physical activity that seeks to unify the balance of the body and mind, and according to Fitness professor Rachel More, it does just that.

While yoga’s major benefit is improving flexibility, it is also known to calm the mind and the entire body by reducing anxiety levels. According to the Huffington Post, yoga has the potential to improve lung capacity, relieve chronic back pain, and eventually lower blood pressure.

Visiting Instructor in Health and Exercise Science Rachel More said that depending on the type of yoga, it also can have spiritual benefits.

“You can meditate, clear the mind, and de-stress, so there’s really a whole realm of what you could get out of yoga depending on the type you practice,” More said.

According to More, it’s a beneficial practice for both men and women. The Yoganonymous website defined a male who practices yoga as a yogi, while a female is referred to as a yogini. Both men and women of all ages can practice yoga, but the most popular type of yoga this year is hatha yoga, according to the FitDay website. The site said Hatha yoga is sometimes referred to as a dual type of yoga, because it includes a duality between two opposites: the sun (in Hina, “ha”) and the moon (“tha”). Hatha yoga uses multiple areas of the body, and is based on six limbs, each of which, according to the site, represent a component of the whole.

“It can have anything to do with readying the mind for meditation, controlling breathing or focusing on another particular task,” the FitDay site said.

Assistant Athletic Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach in Health and Exercise Science Mitchell Bockenstedt said that strength and flexibility play a huge role in how all types of yoga affect the body.

“The poses are held for long periods of time so you will develop strength from doing that and also flexibility from holding those positions,” Bockenstedt said.

Bockenstedt believes yoga’s popularity is beginning to increase dramatically.

“It is starting to become more mainstream and popularity is increasing. A lot of yoga studios are popping up around the country,” Bockenstedt said.

While many believe they have to be fully involved with every aspect of yoga to practice the form of meditation, More said there are still many benefits that can be obtained without complete immersion in the practice.

“Many people have shied away from yoga in past years, thinking it’s only for a certain lifestyle, but there are so many benefits to yoga without having to be fully engulfed in the yoga lifestyle that more people are practicing and it’s becoming more mainstream,” More said.

One of the most important aspects of yoga is incorporating smooth transitions between positions. Bockenstedt said this allows for the concentration of each muscle in the body moving to form the correct position.

“It’s important to incorporate all parts of the body in the workout, and different stretches as well as smoothly transitioning into each position does just that,” Bockenstedt said.

Another important part of yoga is the concentration on breathing. According to the Doyouyoga website,

the ability to do and maintain poses in yoga really depends on breathing.

“Your breathing technique yields a lot of health benefits, such as the detoxification of the body, and the development of newer, fresher blood cells,” the site said.

While yoga works all muscles in the body, Bockenstedt said it’s still necessary to practice yoga with other forms of exercise.

“If a yoga routine is done correctly, however, it has the capability to help the entire body and mind, taking care of a lot of issues that bother people on a daily basis,” Bockenstedt said.

As strenuous as some positions in yoga can be, there are a couple of positions that allow for a sense of relaxation in the middle of a routine.

“Child’s pose and corpse pose are nice breaks in the middle of a hard yoga routine,” Bockenstedt said.

More mentioned that there are even positions that can help while struggling through an illness.

“There are some yoga poses that help if you have a cold, by opening up your chest, and there are other poses that can help you to breath easier if you’re congested, so there are really a lot of different benefits,” More said.

Both More and Bockenstedt agree there’s a type of yoga out there for everyone, which is what makes it so enjoyable.

“It’s a lot of fun and everyone should try it at some point in their lives,” Bockenstedt said.