Yoga is not just stretching! Stretching is just one of many components.

Yoga is presumed to be a mix of stretching and breathing exercises however Yoga consists of many more we could imagine. I would brief what Yoga means. Mainly there are three branches of Yoga:

1. Asanas: Asanas consists of stretching and other kriyas (exercises) which make body flexible and strong. The significance of Asanas is that it simply increase our stamina and make us strong to sit for long hours while doing meditation. The more the stamina is the more one can sit for meditation for long hours.

2. Pranayam: Pranayam consists of breath controlling kriyas helps in concentrate, increase the Oxygen in our blood, strength breathing system and clean our lungs.

3. Shatkarmas: Shatkarmas consists of inner body cleaning kriyas clean our stomach, nose, intestines and eyes. 

So earlier the main motive of Yoga was to do Asnas to protect the body from diseases, make it strong and flexible so that one could do meditation for as long as he want. If we start doing meditation without doing Asanas and Shatkarmas then we wouldn't be able to do it for very long. In only 5 minutes our body will feel pain while sitting in a single posture. 

Meditation is the next stage in Yoga and followed by Smadhi (Trance) a is state of inner consciousness and external unconsciousness. Smadhi means a half-conscious state characterized by an absence of response to external stimuli, typically as entered by a medium.

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