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I have often times found myself shouting the Lords name in Vain while trying to strike a few Yoga poses and I once had a T-Shirt with a sweat stain in the shape of the Madonna.

I sold it on EBAY for $12000 dollars so yoga pays off.

Yoga originated in India, approximately 5000 years ago. And just so we can get it out of the way, yes, it’s associated with Hinduism and Buddhism and, yes, it can have a strong spiritual aspect. That said, as yoga becomes westernized, many of the resulting forms heavily downplay that component. You’re just not going to reach divine enlightenment sweating through a Bikram yoga class or session of Chalean Extreme Dynamic Flow Yoga.

And in the event that you are looking for a little spirituality, it’s important to remember there’s a difference between “spirituality” and “religion.” As the yogi Swami Chidananda Saraswati explained, yoga has transcended Hinduism to become a science that works with any religious dogma. “Yoga comes as life-giving waters, the living waters to revive that withering, languishing inner spiritual core,” he explains, “It can make religion alive for anyone, be he a Christian or a Muslim, and it gives back to you the life within your religion.”

Or you can remove the religious aspect entirely and just use it to help with your own self-awareness. “Even if it’s really athletic, it’s a mindful type of exercise so I think you still get the spiritual benefit,” explains Yoga Booty Ballet co-creator Teigh McDonough, whose workouts, including Yoga Core, feature a strong mind-body-spirit connection. “I think that’s a big reason why it’s popular. It’ benefits you more than just exercise.”

That said, spirituality isn’t the primary reason many of us do yoga. Some western practitioners prefer to think of it simply as a series of asanas, or positions, that bring with them a wide assortment of physical fitness benefits. Yoga increases flexibility and balance. It also increases stamina given, to hold some of the more stressful poses, you need to learn how to breathe through the stress. It also strengthens muscles. Some forms will help the crowd pleasers like biceps and abs, but all forms work your stabilizer muscles, the ones that keep your joints safe and allow you to push your other workouts harder.