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Yoga is the new buzzword in the health and fitness industry. It has been effectively proven that regular yoga practice can make your healthier and fitter in your body as well as your mind. That is one of the reasons that many people who pursue fitness exercises have become attracted to yoga practice, especially advanced yoga, where it would appear that the body is stretched to impossible limits. But, what exactly is advanced yoga?

Common conception of advanced yoga is that it is a set of highly advanced techniques and yoga poses that are nearly impossible at beginner level. On the other hand, there is belief is that advanced yoga is that yoga which makes you sweat buckets and makes you twist your body in a variety of backbends, inversions and balance poses. Another idea is that some styles of yoga are more advanced than the others and practitioners of those styles are considered advanced yogis. Finally, there is also belief that years of practicing yoga makes a person an advanced yogi.

While, none of these suppositions about advanced yoga are completely wrong none are absolutely correct either. Advancement in yoga is not measured by how long you have been practicing it or how many gallons of sweat you sweat. It is also not measured by how many different twists and bends your body can do or how flexible your body has become. Advanced yoga is, more than anything, a state of mind.

When a person starts out doing yoga, he or she will certainly feel some discomfort as the body tries to contort itself in positions it is not used to. With practice this discomfort does not go away, but is mastered. A yogi is meant to hold a pose for a required amount of time despite the discomfort, not by trying to get rid of the discomfort. With even more practice, the body will not feel discomforted by easy yoga poses and will be able to do them easily. That is why, yoga poses get more and more complicated to ensure that the yogi is always at the edge of his or her comfort level, because this is primarily where the mental benefits of yoga come into play.

When a body is feeling even a little uncomfortable, the instinct is to steer away from the discomfort. But, to endure that discomfort and at the same time focusing on clearing the mind of all distracting thoughts, emotions, worries, concerns, etc. is the key to having a stable mind.

Unfortunately, people lose sight of this underlying principle of yoga and either tend to shy away from discomfort or take pleasure in pushing their limits. They want to go farther in terms of what their body can ensure with each yoga class. In both these instances, the essence of advanced yoga is lost. Advanced yoga is an advanced form of being in control of your mind and body. If the underlying principle of advanced yoga is to be followed, surely a number of benefits will start to surface in no time.