f you've dismissed yoga as a chill workout that's just a bunch of stretching and deep breathing, consider this: A growing pile of research backs its many physical and psychological benefits. Want to slim down and reshape your body—and feel really freakin' good? Read on.

Secret Slimming Powers

Yoga calms your mind, but it can't possibly help you lose weight, right? Wrong. For starters, you'll sweat, blast calories, and tone and shape your entire body, especially if you practice a more physically active style of yoga, such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa, or Bikram (hot yoga). In fact, you can torch 400 calories in one Bikram class, roughly the same amount you'd burn by running for 40 minutes at a moderate pace—but with a lot less stress on your body.

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In humans, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is directly responsible for the regulation of muscle tone. Low GABA levels are associated with depression and other widespread anxiety disorders. To study the association between yoga and changes in mood and anxiety, researchers followed 34 Americans with no significant medical / psychiatric disorders, who were randomised to yoga or walking for an hour thrice a week for three months.

Mood and anxiety scales were taken at weeks 0, four, eight, 12, and before each magnetic resonance spectroscopy scan. Researchers compared the brain gamma-aminobutyric acids (GABA) levels of yoga participants with those who spent time walking. It was found that those who practiced yoga had a significant decrease in anxiety and greater improvements in mood than those who simply walked. The study suggests that yoga can be effective in improving mood and relieving anxiety.

Yoga A Perfect Activity For The Eco Minded:  With its principles of healthy, balanced living and an awareness of our body’s connection to the elements, yoga is a natural fit with sustainability. The discipline of yoga is based in a centuries-old Sanskrit tradition that includes principles like “ahimsa,” or “doing no harm.”

As a form of exercise, yoga can improve strength and flexibility and help manage stress. If you’re interested in trying yoga, look for a basic class at your gym or local community center, or ask around for yoga studio recommendations. It’s easy to practice at home once you learn the basics.

And yoga does require a few basics. Consider investing in a mat and other items that reflect the practice’s Earth-friendly ethos. Mind your mat A successful yoga pose depends in part on a mat that’s “grippy” enough to keep you from slipping around. It should provide some cushioning, but not so much that you lack stability.

Some people prefer rough-textured mats for added traction, while others find smooth mats more comfortable.

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Yoga Video- First Good Look At Miranda Kerr's Baby Bump: Miranda Kerr has unveiled her burgeoning baby bump for the first time since announcing that she and husband Orlando Bloom are expecting their first child. In a video to promote her organic skincare range Kora, the 27-year-old's growing tummy is perfectly evident as she is filmed practising yoga.

The Australian beauty, who is four months pregnant, promotes the benefits of healthy living in the clip – in particular the importance of exercise, relaxation and healthy eating. And judging by her virtuous lifestyle, Miranda will no doubt maintain her enviable figure throughout her pregnancy.

Speaking on the video, she says: "Kora is about nurturing your core, your inner and outer self – your mind, your body and your spirit. Kora is a choice in how we live our lives."Both she and Orlando, who married in secret in Anguilla last month, are advocates of eco-friendly living. In past interviews Miranda has said of the future: "My ideal situation would be to live on a farm in a solar-powered house with a hammock and a vegetable patch."

Soothies Yoga:  Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine have thrown yet more fuel on the fire which is sending up smoke signals saying that yoga is powerful medicine for mind and body. The researchers wanted to compare yoga to walking in terms of affect on mood. Walking is a wonderful exercise and we all know that time spent outdoors has a positive impact on mood. Time and again however, yoga is showing up as having effects beyond the physical and beyond the emotional; there seems to be profound changes in the whole being that result from yoga practise.

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Women who have had gynaecological cancer are invited to learn more about how yoga can benefit them at Yeovil District Hospital later this month. The GOSSIP patient support group provides advice and information for women with gynaecological cancer.

It was founded by the Gynaecological Cancer Specialist Nurses based in Yeovil and Taunton in partnership with women from across Somerset and Dorset who have had gynaecological cancers (i.e. cancers of the ovary, womb, vulva or cervix).

Attending meetings enables patients to meet with other women who have a similar diagnosis and may have had similar treatments. Partners, family members and friends are welcome to go along as well. A specialist nurse is present at meetings and will be happy to answer questions and discuss concerns on a one-to-one basis.

One afternoon in New York, I found myself on a street corner in midtown, licking salt off a slightly burned soft pretzel. I gazed about in a wondering daze, transfixed by the LCD nightmare.

Time seemed to stop for me just then, as though I were Dr. Manhattan from "Watchmen," only without the continually erect blue penis. Suddenly, I knew that everything in.

Times Square  the breeze-blown fliers for some outlier porn shop, the vaguely contraband luggage stores, the endlessly replicated advertisements for TV shows that never had a prayer, even the tourists from Nebraska -- was part of a larger cosmic reality whose boundaries we can't begin to perceive. The power of the universe, I realized, is transcendent, infinite, all-knowing, beautiful beyond measure. I quaked at the awesome kindness of its eternal might.

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Harried parents are descending on new outlets for their children, with yoga becoming increasingly popular.

Junior devotees are doing the downward dog complete with barks and the cobra to a crescendo of hisses in a twist on the holistic practice.

Boisterous children and those with attention disorders are among those reaping the benefits, according to instructors.

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The Yoga Puppies and Yoga Kittens calendars, 2011, are all about picking up your yoga moves from flexible felines and contorted canines. Photographer Dan Borris, 53, has created the artwork. Borris, get his wife Alejandra's to hold and coax the pets into approximations of classic poses, relying on her skills of being a Yoga teacher.Later, computer software is used to make it look authentic.

Borris of San Antonio, Texas, insisted that animal rights activists can relax, breathe and hold on to the thought that the pets are happy to go along with it. "Kittens and pups are very flexible but there's no forcing the animals to do anything," the Daily Express quoted him as saying.

 Yoga is fast becoming a big trend in Australia as it is being practiced by children of 6 weeks to 5-7 year olds. Yoga is helping the children find their calm inner selves. More and more daycare centres and pre-schools are calling in professional yoga instructors to help calm boisterous children.

Melissa Knapp taught yoga for several years before opening a yoga studio in Willoughby in Sydney's north in November 2009. "People were like 'Why do kids need yoga?'. Now people seem to be a bit more comfortable with it.

Kids have a lot of stress, especially kids in primary school. Whether it's making friends or bullying, they just don't know what to do to relieve stress. No one teaches you how to relax at school," Melissa said. She teaches babies up to primary school-aged children yoga using imaginative storytelling and simple postures.

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