By now you've probably heard that the benefits of practicing yoga are numerous: increased mental focus, lower cholesterol, blood pressure and stress levels and a slimmer physique. Yoga provides a low-impact fitness routine that meets you at your level, so no worries if you can't pull some of the more extreme moves yet; flexibility improves with practice.
Since 2008, September has been deemed National Yoga Month to bring awareness to the health benefits of yoga and give newcomers an introduction and guidance to the ancient Indian discipline. Students sign up for free classes at participating yoga studios, find free events and volunteer to keep others informed the rest of the year.
This Friday, the month-long awareness campaign will culminate with The Time for Yoga: A Global Community Yoga Practice. At 7 p.m. local time, participants around the world will perform an hour-long session followed by savasana, a relaxation pose, and 15-minute meditation for a complete body-mind workout. This is the first year the foundation will be conducting such an event and they hope to make it an annual practice.
But the end of National Yoga Month doesn't mean you should drop your attempts at perfecting your downward dog. Visit yogahealthfoundation.org to learn more about preventative health care and how you can make small, but beneficial, changes to your lifestyle.

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