With all of yoga’s emphases on inner and outer harmony as well as spirituality, it’s easy forget that there is a hard science level to the benefits of it (Not that such things should be the end-all to lifestyle evaluations.) I did find out about an interesting yoga study performed by the American Council on Exercise while browsing the Web today.

According to their research, after eight weeks of yoga, 16 women experienced an increase in flexibility from 13 to 35 percent. Following the period of the study, they were able to complete on average 6 more push-ups and 16 more curl-ups than they could at the beginning.

An additional study concluded that 50 minutes of Hatha Yoga burns 144 calories, while 50 minutes of Power Yoga burns 237. Check out the article for more information on yoga’s advantages and disadvantages purely as an exercise program.