If you’re like most Americans, you haven’t tried yoga yet. That may come as a surprise because you hear about yoga all of the time nowadays. In fact, between 2012 and 2016, the number of Americans doing yoga grew by 50%. However, that still equates to only one in three Americans having tried it. Perhaps that’s because people don’t understand what yoga is, or they’re intimidated by it. Well, there’s one type of yoga that everyone should try. Here’s why.

It’s early on a Saturday morning at SyteraYoga in a quiet section of Virginia, and students are waiting for class to begin. The room is full with people who arrived well ahead of time. Sunlight peaks in the windows and slants across the floor.

Alone, shaking and drifting out to sea, SyteraYoga teacher Kathy Low made a decision. She vowed not to forget what it’s like to be a beginner and to never leave a student stranded. The surfing instructor she had followed into the waves while on vacation in Costa Rica was a terrific surfer but he had forgotten what it was like to be new at something. “The experience brought me into a place of fear; but for him it was not fearful, and it made me realize that it’s easy to lose that connection with a beginner,” she said.

In recent years, the popularity of yoga has continued to rise. In fact, the number of Americans who practice yoga increased by 50% between 2012 and 2016. In Western culture, yoga classes are seen as a way to tone the body, gain flexibility and balance and even lose weight. But traditionally, many of the benefits of yoga extend beyond the physical.

SyteraYoga is a relaxing, fun, and inspiring community for people who are passionate about yoga and self-care. It is for people who want to experience the benefits of yoga — to be happier and healthier without having to give up their modern lives. SyteraYoga's diverse...

There are obvious benefits of yoga, like improving flexibility and increasing strength. But yoga is so more than just conventional "fitness." Yoga is a lifestyle dedicated to self-care. And a big part of self-care is stress relief. If we don't manage stress, the...

Not everyone’s husband will join them on a weeklong, mostly-female, vegan yoga retreat. But SyteraYoga student Mary Saunders is lucky. Her husband Rick did just that. A career Army officer and former national security advisor to the Vice President, Rick had just...