Yoga’s benefits are well-known: It can increase flexibility, detoxify the body, lower blood pressure and fix faulty posture. But did you know it can heal post-traumatic stress disorder? Fix overactive hearts? Help with fertility issues? Scientists (and advocates of the slightly more dubious variety) regularly uncover new benefits of the ancient practice. With each new advance comes one more reason to finally pick up that yoga mat bought on a whim three years ago and take it to one of the many free or inexpensive yoga studios around Evanston.

After all, many Americans are doing the same thing. The 2008 “Yoga in America” study estimated that over 15.8 million Americans practice yoga. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single health or women’s magazine that hasn’t run at least one article extolling yoga’s many virtues. In countless celebrity interviews, the stars attribute their bangin’ bods to this ancient Indian discipline. Even the Obama Mama, Marian Robinson, is a yoga devotee.

If you don’t already practice yoga, there are a slew of reasons to start. Whether you’re looking to improve your physical or mental health or simply improve your fitness, there’s a style of yoga out there for you. If you are new to yoga – or if you’re looking to broaden your experience – there are a variety of different types worth trying. Prepping for midterms? Try a gentler form like Hatha. Getting ready for bikini season? Ashtanga or Power may be just what your looking for. Looking to drop those 10 pounds you gained over winter quarter? Sweat your way through a Bikram class.

Click on the graphic below to find out more about yoga, as well as the yoga studios in Evanston.