This page is devoted to brief descriptions of the various modalities I used in my healing and others that have been recommended through people I respect in the healing arts.
Much of the information below has been gleaned from a fantastic book by renowned author Elaine Stillerman, called "The Encyclopedia of Bodywork - From Acupressure to Zone Therapy." (Copyright 1996 by Elaine Stillerman, L.M.T., Facts on File, Inc., ISBN#0-8160-3187-8)
I am only using brief descriptions from the book here, but you can find much greater detail about each modality I used as well as many others within the book's pages.
Another amazing book listed below is "Discovering the Body's Wisdom," by Mirka Kastner. Beautifully written and illustrated, it is "a comprehensive guide to more than fifty mind-body practices that can relieve pain, reduce stress, and foster health, spiritual growth, and inner peace." (Copyright 1996 by Mirka Kastner, Bantam Books, ISBN#0-553-37327-7)
I highly recommend you add these books to your personal library, as they are invaluable.
Note: Items listed that are not from Elaine Stillerman's book will be noted at the end of each description.
May all this information be of great benefit to you - Danny
An ancient, complex diagnostic and healing system that uses needles painlessly inserted in a specific pattern among the 365 points found throughout the energy pathways, called "meridians," to release energy blockages believed to cause disease. It is a major component of Chinese Medicine, which also includes "Moxibustion," or the use of burning herbs placed directly on acupuncture points, Chinese herbal medicine, massage, and exercises to balance the body.
Acupuncture has been found to be effective in the treatment of pain, arthritis, gynecological problems, pain-free childbirth, asthma, chronic headaches and migraines, muscle tensions and general stress management. As an integral part of the traditional Chinese approach to healing, acupuncture can treat many illnesses, reduce the side effects of drug withdrawl and maintain optimum energy levels. People of all ages can be treated with acupuncture.
Used for centuries for healing, essential plant and vegetable oils are most commonly associated with massage, although they can also be properly added to bath waters, used in herbal wraps, constitute primary ingredients in perfumes and cosmetics, are burned as incense, or are taken internally as medicines.
The therapeutic action of the essential oils takes place either through skin absorption or through the respiratory tract as inhaled vapors. The aroma of the herbs also contributes to their healing effect. Fragrance molecules reach the brain through inhalation. The cells of the olfactory membranes in the nasal cavity are the only places in the body where the central nervous system is in direct contact with the external environment. With each breath, we smell. Memories and emotions can be recalled or stimulated from scents.
The medicinal and therapeutic properties of herbs have been recognized since ancient times. Many of today's pharmaceuticals are adapted from herbal sources. As such, the dosage and combination of essential oils are determined by a client's constitution and illness. The appropriate mixture can alter a client's physical condition as well as his/her state of mind. In most cases, when treating with herbs, the treatments should not exceed four weeks.
Ayurvedic Medicine is folk medicine from India and one of the oldest organized techniques of treatment and prevention to embrace the principle that illnesses relate to disharmony within the body. The word Ayurvedic is made up of two Sanskrit words ayur and veda, which translate to "life's knowledge" or "life's science." Practiced in Nepal and Sri Lanka, dating back at least 3,000 years, the teachings spread to China, where many of the traditions of Chinese medicine, such as cupping, pulse reading, and the theory of balanced energy, were adopted. Ancient texts report the use of Ayurvedic surgical techniques for major and minor procedures as well as the use of herbal remedies.
The type of cure the client will receive is determined after an analysis of his or her doshas, or three fundamental life forces. The tridosha doctrine of Ayurveda is the theory of these three basic elements. Although each person is a combination of all doshas, one will predominate in his or her constitution and provide the key to treatment.
Dr. Edward Bach, Physician and Homeopath, spent his life searching for the purest methods of healing. He believed, as many doctors do today, that attitude of mind plays a vital role in maintaining health and recovering from illness. When he died in 1936 he had developed a complete system of 38 flower essences; each prepared from the flowers of wild plants, trees, or bushes. They work by treating the individual rather than the disease or its symptoms.
Today, these safe, gentle essences are used worldwide by private individuals, medical and complementary health practitioners, psychotherapists, counselors, dentists, vets, and healers. The purpose of the essences is to support the patient's fight against illness by addressing the emotional factors like depression, anxiety, and trauma that are thought to impede physical healing. They can also be used preventively, at times of anxiety and stress, and are particularly helpful for the many people who feel generally tired and unwell without a specific medical diagnosis.
The essences may be taken on their own or in conjunction with medical or other treatments; they will not conflict with any medication. The essences are completely safe, have no unwanted side effects, and are non-addictive. They are gentle in action and can safely be taken by people of all ages from newborn babies to the elderly. They are also beneficial for animals and plants.
The effect of taking the essences is not to suppress negative attitudes, but to transform them into positive ones, stimulating one's own potential for self-healing and freeing the physical system to engage fully in fighting disease and stress.
(Taken from "The 38 Flower Essences" by Judy Howard)
Body Reformation is transformational bodywork, with lasting results. The ten-session protocol systematically evokes your body's natural alignment, resolving blockages, chronic pain and patterns through expert practitioners. This process goes beyond traditional massage therapy to actually reform your body structure and create optimal alignment.
- Body Reformation creates optimal structural integrity and radiant health.
- Through a series of sessions, Body Reformation systematically organizes the body structure so that it comes into a natural alignment.
- Chronic pain and patterns dissolve.
- With a new and more fluid alignment the body feels "lifted" by the underlying flow of gravity.
- There is a direct relationship between structure and function. As the body structure becomes more integrated there is an equally implied improvement of function.
- New awareness emerges with experience. As we awaken and access new energy, we become more coherent, open, adaptable, and enduring on all levels.
- In principle, Body Reformation joins the simple and ongoing tradition of healing through alignment. Though more advanced, the work is based upon the well respected and time-tested practice of Structural Integration.
- Our expanding knowledge of the universe and how it works opens the doors to new frontiers of healing. Reforming our ideas and methods in our evolving sense of the "body" within the whole matrix, leads us into more refined experience, clarity, and a deeper sense of peace and grounding.
- Body Reformation works for animals too!
(Taken from www.lookingglassproject.com website)
What do you get when you combine the wisdom of advanced yoga and advaitic philosophy, the insights of modern physics and mathematics, the energy dynamics of acupuncture, the clinical findings of Applied Kinesiology, and western medical expertise? A revolutionary new form of health care called BodyTalk.
BodyTalk is an astonishingly simple and effective form of therapy that allows the body's energy systems to be re-synchronized so that they can operate as nature intended. Each system, cell and atom is in constant communication with each other at all times. Through exposure to the stresses of day-to-day life, these lines of communication become compromised, which then leads to a decline in physical, emotional and/or mental health. Reconnecting these lines of communication then enables the body's mechanisms to function at optimal levels, thus preventing disease and rapidly accelerating the healing process. BodyTalk can be used as a stand-alone system to treat many health problems, or seamlessly integrated into any health care system to increase its effectiveness and promote faster healing.
BodyTalk's major assets are its simplicity, safety, and the speed of its results. It is non-invasive, objective in application, and works effectively on humans and animals alike. Even if a BodyTalk technique is performed incorrectly, it simply means that there will be no result or change. It will not make things worse. It follows, therefore, that anyone who receives BodyTalk has nothing to lose and everything to gain as far as their health is concerned.
(Taken from the International Body Talk Association website www.bodytalksystem.com)
CranioSacral Therapy (SM) is a gentle manipulation, which locates and corrects imbalances in the craniosacral system. Sensory, motor, or intellectual dysfunctions may result from these imbalances. The positive effects of this therapeutic system are realized, to a large extent, by the body's innate healing and self-correcting abilities.
The evaluation of a patient is most efficacious in the cranium, sacrum and coccyx (tailbone) because of their membranous attachments, which contain the cerebrospinal fluid. A light touch of no more than 0.18 of an ounce (the weight of a nickel) can feel the rhythmic pulsations. Gentle manipulations at the sutures and subtle adjustments release tension from the membranes and the entire system, allowing the body to self-correct.
Crystal healing, also referred to as crystal or gem therapy, is the use of crystals or gemstones for healing purposes. Throughout history, gemstones were used to cure disease. They were placed on the body, usually corresponding with the chakras (vital force centers), to balance the flow of energy. Since crystals have electromagnetic properties with polarity and can emit vibrations, auras, and frequencies, it is believed that they have a penetrating effect into the areas on which they are placed. Different crystals vibrate at different frequencies and even some from the same mineral composition have their own unique pattern.
Crystals may be worn as jewelry, carried as loose stones, placed on the body or left in the home. Crystal healing affects the mind, body, and spirit by unblocking energy pathways and increasing the flow of energy. It is often used in conjunction with work on the human energy bio-field and the chakras.
Crystal Sonic Healing takes transformational bodywork a step further by incorporating the healing power of sound and vibrations to transform the body and create optimal alignment. Powerful vibrations of quartz crystal bowls stream through the body to clear stress and dissolve blockages. The pure tones also affect brainwave activity and cause a release of neuro-chemicals that induces a profound and peaceful state. This technique is also a ten-session series.
- Crystal Sonic Healing recognizes the vibrational nature of our existence, and uses the fundamental tones of creation to dissolve blockages to the underlying flow.
- This form of vibrational healing uses the pure sonic tones of quartz crystal bowls to permeate the body and transform it on physical emotional, mental, and spiritual levels.
- Because all of our tissues, our blood, and even our DNA are crystalline structures, we resonate with the powerful tones of the quartz crystal bowls- and become metamorphic.
- The pure sound vibrations of crystal bowls are even powerful enough to completely penetrate and "liquify" bones, which allows them to reform with optimal integrity.
- As "living crystals" we can tune in to the universal flow and conduct coherent currents of energy through ourselves and to one another; effectively we empower ourselves and become our own healers.
- As harmonic patterns are restored through Crystal Sonic Healing, stress, tension, and chronic pain melt away. Crystal tones induce an alpha wave state, which is associated with deep relaxation and meditation.
- The powerful transmissions of crystal bowls fill us with new radiant energy that dissolves our "shell" and bridges us into the unified field. With this positive expansion of consciousness we can begin to reflect the highest radiance of our physical form.
- When the flow of gravity can stream through the body there is a sense of being "lifted." We synchronize with the natural rhythms and impulses of the planet and the universe.
- Clarity and renewal of spirit are common. The sonic waves wash away the emotion of unresolved experience that is stored within the body.
- In tuning up the power within, we can ground and sustain radiant feelings of peace, joy, and love. Beyond concepts, the ecstatic embodiment of these potential vibrations characterizes divine understanding.
- Anchoring the pulse of love in our lives has an amazing healing power. An open heart is free to pursue beauty and accept the universal flow. This is the experience that heals our illusions and distills the point of Crystal Sonic Heg.
(Taken from www.lookingglassproject.com website)
The Feldenkrais Method is a learning process that brings about new, more efficient, more comfortable, and healthier ways of movement through tapping into the vast potential of the central nervous system. Using physical experiences, not words, it presents your brain with new information and retrains it to accept an improved image, which replaces the old, distorted one.
The work accomplishes this by breaking down functional patterns and movements into smaller components to establish new neural connections between the motor cortex of your brain and your muscular system. By going through a movement sequence again and again, one finally experiences the new way as "normal" and natural.
(Taken from "Discovering the Body's Wisdom," by Mirka Kastner)
Gyrokenisis, founded by Juliu Horvath, incorporates many key principles from yoga, dance, gymnastics, and tai-chi. The first level of Gyrokenesis, the Essentials of Body Kinetics, is the core of Horvath's methodology. the system works the entire body through seven natural elements of spinal movement: forward, backward, left side, right side, left twist, right twist, and circular, as well as all other joint articulation.
This methodology systematically and gently works the joints and muscles through rhythmic and undulating exercises. Movement stimulates the body's internal organs and different corresponding breathing patterns are integrated.
Fluidity is the key. Postures are not held for long periods of time. Instead, postures are smoothly and harmoniously connected through the use of breath, making exercises appear and feel more like a dance than traditional yoga. Horvath's methodolgy invigorates and re-educates the body to move with fluidity, relaxation, and power.
(Information supplied by Madonna Nash)
Homeopathic remedies (also called homeopathics) are a system of medicine based on three principles:
1. Like Cures Like - For example, if the symptoms of your cold are similar to poisoning by mercury, then mercury would be your homeopathic remedy.
2. Minimal Dose - The remedy is taken in an extremely dilute form; normally one part of the remedy to around 1,000,000,000,000 parts of water.
3. The Single Remedy - No matter how many symptoms are experienced, only one remedy is taken, and that remedy will be aimed at all those symptoms.
Homeopathy is extremetly effective. When the correct remedy is taken, results can be rapid, complete, and permanent. Homeopathy is completely safe. Even babies and pregnant wormen can use Homeopathy without the danger of side effects. Homeopathic remedies can also be taken alongside other medication without producing unwanted side effects.
Homeopathy is natural, and works in harmony with your immune system, unlike some conventional medicines which suppress the immune system. Homeopathic remedies are not addictive - once relief is felt, you should stop taking them. If no relief is felt, you are probably taking the wrong homeopathic remedy.
Homeopathy is holistic. It treats all the symptoms as one, which in practical terms means that it addresses the cause, not the symprtoms. This often means that the symptoms tackled with Homeopathy do not recur.
( Taken from Homeopathics - Introduction to Homeopathics and Remedy Finder at www.abchomeopathy.com )
Massage, or the manipulation of soft tissue, has performed wonders for thousands of years throughout the world. It is the great-great-great-grandmother of all the other bodyways because it is a primal, instinctive act to make yourself or someone else feel better through touch.
There are dozens upon dozens of different types of massage, but the most popular all-around benefit of general massage, of whatever style, is reduction of tension and stress. What occurs as a result of massage is a shift in the autonomic nervous system.
Activity of the sympathetic nervous system goes down while activity of the parasympathetic nervous system goes up - decreasing heart and respiratory rates, shifting blood flow from the skeletal muscles to the skin and visceral organs, lowering blood sugar and adrenaline levels, stimulating secretions of the gastointestinal tract, liver, and pancreas, which leads to peristalsis and emptying of the bowel and bladder. By reducing stress, massage can positively influence all of the body's systems.
(Taken from "Discovering the Body's Wisdom" by Mirka Knaster)
Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) is based upon the principle that the spine is the life line, your consciousness, the gateway to receive the divine's energy: that the power that made the body heals the body. The innate intelligence presents to the body/mind pain, symptoms, disease, whatever is needed to attenuate to the individual that some type of healing has to happen.
It is not that the body/mind is doing something wrong. The innate intelligence is doing exactly what it is being told to do with the amount or type of information it is being given. When the innate intelligence receives the optimal information, then it will create a different situation rather than the same old pain or symptom, or disease.
NSA removes these interferences through the most honoring and gentle sequence of contacts along the spine, on or near where the meninges (the sheath that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord) attaches to the bone at occiput, cervical (neck), sacrum, and coccyx. As more ease is created in the nervous system, the innate begins unwinding the spine, releasing the tension so your body starts to function better.
(Information from: Dr. Sharon Lacy, NSA practitioner, Sebastopol, CA, who says, "Life is a process in the making. Healing is the process of life in the remaking.")
NeuroCranial Restructuring (NCR) is a cumulative treatment process involving controlled release of the connective tissue tension to unwind the body and return it toward its original design. NCR utilizes careful analysis of the body's proprioception (patterns of balance) to determine the precise areas of the skull needing to be unlocked during each day's treatment.
With the specific treatment pattern found with NCR's careful analysis and the addition of specific body positioning for endonasal balloons, the entire skeletal structure can be permanently changed with NCR. This unlocking of the connective tissues' residual tensions combines with precise movements of the cranial bones to allow the structural sytems of the body to move incrementally and cumultively towards the body's original design.
NCR creates a permanent structural release for the changes triggered by traumatic events of a body's life. Birth trauma, accidents and falls, sports injuries, medical procedures, and severe emotional and biochemical traumas are just some of the causes of musculoskeletal damage that can be released with NCR.
( Taken from statement by Dr. Dean Howell at www.drdeanhowell.com )
Neuromodulation Technique is a system of healing that enables the doctor to treat conditions well out of the reach of traditional methods. It is a proprietary system of health care treatment based upon a method of accessing and assessing the autonomic control system of the patient through muscle response testing, utilizing verbal and/or non-verbal semantic questions and statements.
Performance of that autonomic system is modulated with a combination of verbal and/or non-verbal corrective commands and statements. This process is further augmented and reinforced with percussive or other stimulation of vertebral segments, specific breathing patterns, and other sensory stimuli. Pain often disappears instantly, and range of motion releases as completely and profoundly as if the patient had been through weeks of therapy and rest. The patient's autonomic nervouse system has simply been accessed and modulated in the direction of normal function.
(Text from Neuromodulation Technique at www.nmt.md )
Osteopathic Medicine is a branch of medicine that emphasizes the unity of all body systems. Disturbances in one system, including the musculoskeletal, can alter the function of other systems.
Osteopathic medicine recognizes the body's own ability to heal. The goal of achieving a high level of efficiency in patient health and function includes preventative medicine, nutritional advice, appropriate exercise, and following a healthy lifestyle.
Manipulation offers an additional dimension to the D.O.'s diagnostic and therapeutic arsenal. Palpation provides information about soft tissue changes or structural asymmetries. Corrective manipulations, or adjustments, relieve dysfynctions or joint restrictions.
Physical therapy is administered to help restore function, improve mobility, relieve pain, and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities of patients suffering from injuries or disease. Physical therapy tratment aims to restore, maintain, and promote overall fitness and health. Patients that may require physical therapy include: accident victims and individuals with dasabling conditions such as low back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fracture (bone)s, head injuries, and cerebral palsy.
A specialized medical professional called a physical therapist provides physical therapy either privately (as in a private practice), or publicly (as in a hospital setting). Some physical therapists treat a wide range of conditions, while others specialize in certain fields such as pediatrics, geriatrics, orthopedics, sports medicine, neurology, and cardiopulmonary physical therapy.
(Text from www.InfoBeagle.com - Physical Therapy Topics)
The Pilates Method is a full-body exercise system, which emphasizes body alignment and correct breathing. The abdomen, lower back, and buttocks are used as a power center, which enables free movement of the rest of the body.
A series of controlled exercises and specialized equipment create variable resistance for muscular exertion. The Pilates Method excludes the use of weights, although resistance is provided by springs and the client's own body weight, jumping and running.
The pilates Method is available to all people, regardless of age or level of physical fitness, who want to improve their strength and flexibility without increasing muscle bulk. This system facilitates muscle harmony and balance. People who consistently use it report that they walk and sit straighter, are more graceful, sleep better, and develop firmer, sleeker, more powerful muscles.
Reiki is energy. It is a very high vibrational force, which can influence physical and nonphysical, living and nonliving things. It affects all levels of existence - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, and has an organizational pattern or intelligence of its own, which always works towards a positive end.
Reiki is also the word used to identify the healing modality, which accesses and transfers that energy. To tap into reiki energy, the Reiki master attunes the person's bio-energy field to accept the reiki frequency. Once that process has been accomplished, a person can access reiki for himself or for others at any time, for the rest of the individual's life. Reiki, therefore, is channeled energy, and the ability to channel it is what a Reiki master facilitates.
RePosturing is based on the work of Dr. Francoise Mezieres, a French physician, and her followers. Mexieres showed that the posterior chain of muscles - the muscles that run from the back of your head to your feet - work as a distinct functional unit. This "back chain" is made up of the largest, strongest muscles in the body, which become tense and shrink in length with normal daily movement and the passage of time. Repeated relaxation of the back chain restores the body to proper alignment and relieves pain and stress.
Elsa Gindler, founder of the physical re-education movement in Germany, was another source in developing RePosturing. Her work emphasizes relaxation, breathing, conscious movement and body awareness.
In RePosturing, attention is paid to the curvatures of the neck, lumbar area, and backs of the knees. Individuals in pain may have excessive curvature in these areas, or a flattening of the normal curve. When the back chain shortens, these curves tend to be overloaded, causing pain in the neck, shoulders, back, and knees.
The principle here is that all the body's parts and emotions are connected. Reposturing improves and corrects posture, relieves acute and chronic pain, reduces stress and helps one relax, improves breathing and digestion, reduces chronic muscle tension and stiffness, increases one's range of motion and joint flexibility, increases body awareness and body connection, emphasizes wellness and self-care, and reduces anxiety and depression.
(Taken from brochure of Felipe Azambuja, Body Therapist, Coral Gables, FL)
Rolfing is both a systematic approach to releasing stress patterns and dysfunction in the body's structure and an educational process of understanding the relationship between gravity and the human body. It is the creation of Ida P. Rolf (1896 - 1979), who viewed the body as an architectural unit made up of several blocks or segments - head, shoulders, chest, pelvis, and legs. The position of each one is relevant to the others and is determined by the length and tone of muscles and fascia.
When the segments are out of balance or misaligned, the body is forced to move in a limited or distorted manner. The area that can't respond to a demand for movement has to be compensated for by a part or parts that can. However, that kind of adjustment calls for greater effort and energy to overcome the force of gravity, since gravity doesn't properly support and propel disorganized structure.
By manipulating the highly pliant myofascial tissue so that it lengthens and glides instead of shortens and adheres, Rolfers assist your body to reorganize its major segments into vertical alignment. They believe that when these units are balanced around a particular central vertical axis - the Rolf Line - your body can function with the most mechanical efficiency and ease.
(Taken from "Discovering the Body's Wisdom" by Mirka Kastner)
Shiatsu is an ancient Japanese bodywork system that uses hand, knuckle, palm, elbow, or foot pressure on specific points, called tsubos, located along energy pathways, called meridians, to promote the free flow of ki (CHI) energy. The word shi translates to mean "finger" and atsu means "pressure."
Oriental medical theories maintain that disease occurs because of a stagnation or blockage in the free flow of ki energy. Balance must be established in order for health to be restored. Shiatsu uses pressure techniques to affect the interrupted flow of energy throughout the meridians and related organs.
In brief, Somato Respiratory Integration (SRI) works as follows: When we have a trauma our brain sends the signals to the affected area to protect it. Long after the experience we continue to protect it. SRI teaches patients to reconnect (integrate) parts of our brain (cerebral, emotional) with the body and to breathe into the affected area to release the trauma.
As an example, you lay on your back, and start out crossing by your hands over one another in three areas: clavicle, diaphragm, and navel, focusing and breathing into those places each time. Then the affected area is touched and you breathe into it. Emotions release, breathing opens even further, and pain releases in ways that can be astonishing.
(From Anastasia Metcalf, SRI therapist)
In Thai massage, practitioners apply compression and pressure with their thumbs, palms, feet, forearms, elbows, and knees to stimulate the movement of energy through conduits called sen. According to traditional Thai medical theory, there are seventy-two thousnd sen, of which ten hold top priority. Emphasis is on following these lines rather than specific acu-points.
Thai massage does not resemble western massage, for there are no long strokes smoothed on with oil. Neither do you take your clothes off or lie on a padded table. It looks like a cross between Acupressure, Yoga, and Zen Shiatsu. In addition to compression and pressure, practitioners include manipulation. They position and stretch you in Yoga-like poses and then gently rock you to more deeply open your joints and have a limbering effect.
You may wear loose-fitting clothing for maximum comfort and lie on a floor mat or cot to afford the practitioner maximum leverage, balance, and weight. A session can range from one to three hours, depending on how many times the practitioner repeats pressing up and down the sen in four successive positions - lying face up, face down, on the side, and seated - and stretching your body parts along the way.
(Taken from "Discovering the Body's Wisdom" by Mirka Knaster)
Through Transcendental Meditation® (TM®) technique, the mind unfolds its potential for unlimited awareness, transcendental awareness, Unity Consciousness - a lively field of all potential, where every possibility is naturally available to the conscious mind. The conscious mind becomes aware of its own unbounded essence, its infinite potential.
Transcendental Meditation provides a way for the conscious mind to fathom the whole range of its existence - active and silent, point and infinity. It is not a set of beliefs, a philosophy, a lifestyle, or a religion. It's an experience, a mental technique one practices every day for 15-20 minutes.
The practice of TM is simplicity itself. Anyone can easily learn from an instructor trained to teach the Maharishi Transcendental Meditation® program. It cannot be learned by reading a book or surfing a web site.
Scientific experiments with people who practice the Transcendental Meditation program indicate that it tends to produce normalization in all areas of life. It reduces stress, improves health, enriches mental functioning, enhances personal relationships, and increases job productivity and job satisfaction.
(Information from The Transcendental Meditation Center - www.tm.org)
Yoga is an ancient Indian Vedic philosophy and exercise system, which promotes physcial/emotional/mental/spiritual/ balance and growth. Yoga developed in India almost 5,000 years ago. The word comes from Sanskrit, meaning to "yoke" or "join together," and the overall goal is to join the human soul with the universal energy. Yoga science has two aspects - physical and spiritual.
In addition to the yoga postures, or asanas, to maintain health, yoga emphasizes the importance of prana (life's vital energy) and pranayama, breathing exercises. According to the yogis and practitioners of yoga, breathing is the physical manifestation of life's vital energy. The postures should always be practiced with deep, diaphragmatic breathing.
Another element of yoga is meditation. This tranquil state alleviates stress, lowers blood pressure, and often provides an opportunity for introspection and possibly, enlightenment.
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