When I was young, friends and I would sit on the floor and pretend that we were Sabu -- the mystical Indian boy from the movies.

Sabu would sit and twist his legs like a pretzel. You knew when you tried what Sabu did, your knees felt like they were breaking -- there's a certain amount of pain when trying to be perfect. Little did we know then, what we were trying to do was Yoga.

Yoga is a system of exercises aimed at attaining bodily or mental control and well-being. Many people think that you have to jump up and down and sweat up a storm to lose weight or feel well exercised, and to some extent, this is true. However, Yoga exercises are a type of stretching exercises. You slowly start to stretch all the muscles in your body through a variety of Yoga positions. No, you don't necessarily have to twist your legs in a pretzel, there are many other ways of stretching those muscles.

With Yoga your muscles get stronger with each day that you exercise. Yoga helps get your muscles longer and fitter. You learn to breath correctly and to take the time to listen to your body. There is no pain in Yoga. In fact, if you feel any pain at all, it is a sign that you are doing something wrong.

Yoga is great for the mind too, since meditation is an integral part of the Yoga regime. When you learn how to meditate properly, you learn how to deal with all the pressures of daily life. This can not only make you happier, but helps you make better decisions.

There are many forms of meditation. I taught myself how to meditate when I was very young to help cope with my harsh days in the playground. As I got older, I realized that meditation is an excellent resource for tempering stress and pain. With little practice, one can control headaches and other little painful things simply through meditation.

If you want to exercise, or lose weight without all the grunting and groaning, and need to learn how to relax a bit then give Yoga a try. You will be surprised.