September is National Yoga Awareness Month.

Many people think of yoga as being for the young, fit and flexible. One of the great things about yoga is that it can be personalized to meet your unique needs and preferences.

As an athlete when I first started practicing yoga, I was drawn to its movement and postures. What has kept me are the more restorative practices and the meditation, breath work, and the ways that the mindfulness principles support self-care, relationships and connecting me to what’s important in my daily life.

Before taking my first yoga teacher training, I didn’t fully understand how many different tools and practices make up yoga, and I felt that I could still be “practicing yoga” by focusing on my breath or meditating. In fact, there are eight different “limbs” or components that make up the system of yoga. These include social/moral disciplines (yamas), personal/ethical disciplines (niyamas), postures and movement (asana), breathing practices (pranayama), withdrawal of senses (pratyahara), focused concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and self-study (samadhi).

Yoga classes may incorporate one or many of these components.

Ready to give some of these video practices a try? (Each of the below contains a link to a video that will open in another tab.)

Check out more in the #LiveWholeHealth archives.

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3 Comments

  1. Mare Wilk September 9, 2025 at 20:47

    There are free yoga classes available to veterans and their families, through a number of non-profit organizations. Having a master list of groups the VA partners with should be widely circulated and published. One team-One fight eh?

  2. Consuelo L Harris September 9, 2025 at 13:10

    I am in Michigan I love going to a Place called Luna Sol Yoga and Pilates ….. They have heated classes, and all instructors are certified, and the Owner does accept Insurance for the Yoga classes and discount to Veterans. This business does a lot a charity work and free events for the community of Down River and Veterans. Her Great grandpa received Purple heart in World War 2, her mom is a vet, her brother is a USNA Graduate 2015 and is still serving his country. The address is 2820 Manning Street in Trenton, Michigan 48183 . EMAIL is lunasolyogapilates@gmail.com The Website is http://www.lunasolstudio.com and can be found on MINDBODY App… I share this because they have been so helpful to my physical and mental health and wanted to share with my fellow Vets

  3. Donna Coffin September 9, 2025 at 09:59

    This link to this is broken:
    Gentle, 12-minute chair yoga focusing on joint mobility.

    [Editor: Thanks! Fixed.]

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