Years ago when I was a teenager, I started practicing Yoga.  Back then it was just something to do to improve my breathing and increase my flexibility for karate.  After leaving high school I joined the military and the Yoga training, flexibility and especially the breathing paid off significantly.  It helped me with physical training and it also helped me to stay focused mentally.

After leaving the military, I got caught up in a more normal routine and the necessity of practicing Yoga on a regular basis slowly slipped from my priorities.

Since then I have tried Tai Chi and several other forms of exercise, meditation and stretching, but none have worked as well for me as Yoga.  I also do not do well in group classes.  Following a Yoga instructor in a class just does not fit in with my routine or lifestyle.

I recently came across a great re-introduction into Yoga with a yoga dvd from RealBodyWork.com.  There are several things about the Vinyasa flow yoga dvd that make it very good not only for beginners, but also for people that are experienced with Yoga.

1. It provides an excellent series of in depth explanations of poses and stances.  When I formerly practiced Yoga, I sometimes got the stances correct and sometimes I was not quite sure.  Some stances had alternative positions as well.  I could not always tell if I was doing the routine correctly or if I was possibly engaging in an alternative movement that might do more harm than good.  As I walked through the Gentle Vinyasa Flow dvd it has a video demonstration and tutorial on each of the positions, so you can not only find the positions that are best for you, but know that you are doing them correctly enough to benefit from them.
2. The DVD is not just one program or yoga sessions, but includes 6 routines that range from about 25 minutes to almost an hour each. 
3. The DVD includes over 23 poses and a great deal of variability.  I generally prefer a lot of variability in all of my exercise routines.  If the routine starts to feel 'routine' then I get bored and I'm more likely to fall out of practice.

Now, as we get further into the exploration of the Book of Medicine, you will find something rather amazing.  This type of exercise was by no means foreign to Western medicine 100 years ago.  In fact it is described within the book itself with pictorial guides on practicing older forms of yoga and martial arts as well.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Use of the Leg Muscles
  
  

  Use of the Leg Muscles. – Is and the muscles observed in this plate are the principal instruments for carrying out the behest of the will in the act of walking, running, leaping, climbing, and the graceful, gliding motions of the interesting and captivating waltz; and although we see a complicated piece of machinery, yet there is perfect order.  Harmony, promptitude and exactness prevail, not only in the skillful manner in which they are individually and collectively range, but in the action of the different muscles, each one of which performs its duty either independently of, or in connection with, its fellow lever, and that, too, without interfering in the slightest degree with the functions of the others.

  Later on in this book we will start to see some examples of muscle building exercise.  There was some strength equipment used back then that largely consisted of free weights and many of the exercises could still be employed today despite the fact that many of the exercises have been perfected for form.

• Plastic Surgery 101
  
  

  A

  I am positive that people were concerned about their looks a hundred years ago.  There were all sorts of different products designed to captivate people’s attention and change their parents for the better, from her tonics beauty cream’s and many other concoctions.

   

  Back then people don’t have the benefit of a strong FDA.  In fact truth in advertising laws were just in their infancy and starting to take hold.

   

  Today we have the ability to change our appearance dramatically and drastically.  Modern medicine has evolved to the point that we have the ability to completely change and improve our parents.

  To give you a good example you can take a look at plastic surgery 101, a website that provides a great deal of information about plastic surgery options and separates out some of the myths about plastic surgery from the reality.  In that regard medicine hasn’t changed great deal from a cultural perspective.  Your everyday person still has a number of misconceptions about medicine and how it can be utilized, and medical professionals are still trying to help people sift through the differences between fact and fantasy.

  The same website also offers a number of details on rhinoplasty, a procedure commonly referred to as a “nose job.”  The site breaks down the distinction between a Beverly Hills rhinoplasty surgical procedure sometimes used for cosmetic purposes and sometimes used for reconstructive purposes.  The procedure is common enough today regardless of the purpose.  In fact I know several people that have had the procedure done for both reasons.  I’ve even had to family members of had rhinoplasty following procedures to correct deficiencies in their nasal passages.

  The reality is that there are plastic surgeons in very good plastic surgeons all over the world these days.  Some of the earliest and best set of practices creating an industry of Los Angeles plastic surgery, but that industry has grown across the country and is beginning to grow around the world.

  These concepts will have been completely foreign 90 years ago in execution, but in concept and desire the human condition has not changed at all in 90 years just our ability to achieve our hearts desire.

• Rain-Water
  
  

  VARIETIES OF WATER.

  Rain-Water. — in classifying waters, we have first to consider them as regards their sources. Rain-water, as already mentioned, is sweet and soft, and when filtered is perfectly adapted to all the purposes of life; the one difficulty about its use being the impossibility of collecting the cure and preserving it without contamination for the long periods of time and in the large quantities which would often be necessary.

   

  That is a relatively poor description for a classification of anything. The author mentions that we should consider the source, and then promptly this drives how Rainwater tastes and what can and can’t be done with it in a very vague and general way. So with that worthless description we proceed to the next section where the author will probably talk about wind chimes or something completely unrelated to the topic at hand.