The importance of yoga has been growing in recent years. Our lives are busy both in and out of the office. We can’t seem to keep up. While yoga can’t eliminate stress entirely, it can certainly provide you with a healthy way to cope with it.

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Before you read the text do the preparation exercise below.
Match the definitions (a–h) with the vocabulary (1–8).

Yoga is good for body and mind. Regular practice of yoga improves your balance and stamina, and the breathing taught in yoga can help reduce stress and anxiety. So it’s great for anyone who is under pressure at work. 

Yoga was first developed in Northern India more than 5,000 years ago as a spiritual as well as a physical form of exercise. It was strongly connected with both Hinduism and Buddhism. Yoga was introduced to the Western world when the Hindu thinker Swami Vivekananda travelled from India to the United States to talk about yoga at a conference in Chicago in 1893. Most people who practise yoga today do not do it for spiritual reasons. 

As well as traditional forms of yoga, there are also some more unusual modern forms of yoga. For example, you might enjoy ‘laughter yoga’, where people do breathing exercises and laugh about nothing special – laughing is very good for your health. Or ‘Aerial Yoga’, where you do yoga while you are hanging from the ceiling!? It is thought to be very good for your back. If you have a dog you might like ‘Doga’, where you do yoga together with your pet.  Whatever kind of yoga you choose, there are definitely some health benefits, and you should have fun too.

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key: 1e, 2f, 3g, 4b, 5c, 6d, 7a