Question: Is Yoga Just Stretching?
Answer: Although yoga involves stretching your muscles, it is a whole different ballgame than the few warm-up stretches you might do at the gym. Let's look at a few of the ways yoga is different:
Yoga places emphasis on alignment, meaning that how you are touching your toes is more important than whether you can actually touch them or not.
Most yoga poses are not stretching an isolated area, but rather involve the whole body in both stretching and strengthening.
Many of today’s most popular yoga styles are vinyasa/flow. This means there is movement from pose to pose with an awareness of the breath, making this style of yoga very fluid.
Asana, or the physical practice of postures, in only one aspect of a yoga practice, albeit the most well-known one these days. Even if you only engage in yoga through asana practice (an excellent place to start), be aware of the eight limbs of yoga.
