In the high-octane world of Hollywood entertainment, yoga has helped one couple develop compassion toward others and devotion toward one another.

Tara and Peter Guber were married and had two daughters before they discovered yoga. At the time, Peter had back problems and was referred to New York yoga instructor Alan Finger. Tara took classes, too, largely to support her husband. "Yoga gave us a place and something to do together," she says. "It had a profound impact on me, on my body, on getting in touch with my breath, and on our relationship."

That was more than 20 years ago. Today, the Gubers live with their two young boys (the daughters are grown) in Southern California at the epicenter of the entertainment world, where Peter is chairman of Mandalay Pictures. Tara, on the other hand, is codeveloper of Contact Yoga, a dynamic and physical practice involving two people. Her studio, The Yoga House, is on the property surrounding their West Los Angeles home. Luminaries like Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, and Swami Satchidananda often speak there, and Rod Stryker teaches three times a week.

For the Gubers, a yogic marriage is a serendipitous combination in which their practice supports their marriage, and their life together enables them to devote more of themselves to yoga. Tara says of Peter's business, "That is a very competitive, fear-based world. When your external environment has elements of that in it, yoga helps you go inside where there is compassion and love and the capacity to come from action rather than reaction."

Tara accomplishes this with yogic breathing, accessing her feminine, or "goddess" energy—a vital commodity for a woman in partnership with a man who, by virtue of his role in the world, expresses the masculine powers of insight, focus, discipline, and manifestation in all areas of his life. "I breathe deeply from my belly, opening my lower chakras and moving the energy up my spine and into my heart," she says. "By connecting and holding my feminine center, I don't have to compete with Peter in his masculine domain. He can be there and I have no need to 'fix' him."

Says Peter: "Yoga is a framework for attaching myself to my body and diminishing the stress and pressures of business. It also provides a common language for my wife and myself."

The word "yoga" means "union". Yoga exercises are based on the belief that the body and breath are intimately connected with the mind. By controlling the breath and holding the body in steady poses, or "asanas", yoga creates harmony. Yoga is not, however, magic.

Yogis (masters of yoga) do not have the ability to vanish into thin air or levitate off the ground. But they have been known to perform extraordinary feats more than once, such as holding their breath for hours on end, or slowing down their heartbeat in order to imitate conditions of death.

Yoga is a family of ancient spiritual practices that originated in India, where it remains a vibrant living tradition and is seen as a means to enlightenment. Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Raja Yoga are considered the four main yogas, but there are many other types.

This article explains the idea of karma yoga.

What is it?

Karma Yoga is a kind of giving of self that transcends volunteer service. It is work without attachment to our giving from a place of non-ego. The head, the heart and the hands all work harmoniously to help others. We find that any action we do becomes a way of nourishing the universe that nourishes us. As we give, we receive. Karma yoga is defined as the "yoga of action" which has the potential of self-realization or "waking up." Karma yoga transforms us and it can be done in our everyday lives.

Karma yoga is done as a spiritual practice, as a way to help others and thus help ourselves. We bring our compassion in this process . Compassion can be defined as being present with suffering. When giving to others, Karma yoga isn't necessarily "fixing" a situation. It is more in the act of being human and present with another.

Karma Yoga can assist in people becoming "be-ers" instead of "doers," in realizing they are instruments of divine instead of responsible for fixing another. Suffering is likely to continue in the world. We cannot stop that. We can, however, offer our lovingkindness, our smile and our hand to somebody who may need it.

In other parts of the world where yoga is popular, notably the West, Yoga has become associated with the asanas (postures) of Hatha Yoga, which are popularly considered there as fitness exercises and also form the basis of an expanding business.

Yoga practice consists of 5 key elements: proper breathing, exercise, relaxation, diet, positive thinking, and meditation. The yoga exercises -- or asanas -- are designed to ease tense muscles, tone up the internal organs, and improve the flexibility of the body's joints and ligaments.

Yoga practice and intention

Modern yoga practice often includes traditional elements inherent in eastern religion, such as moral and ethical principles, postures designed to keep the body fit, spiritual philosophy, instruction by a guru, chanting of mantras (sacred syllables), pranayama (breathing exercises), and stilling the mind through meditation. These elements are sometimes adapted to meet the needs of non-Hindu practitioners, who may be attracted to yoga by its utility as a relaxation technique or as a way to keep fit.

Proponents of yoga see daily practice as beneficial in itself, leading to improved health, emotional well-being, mental clarity, and joy in living. Yoga advocates progress toward the experience of samadhi, an advanced state of meditation where there is absorption in inner ecstasy, Ananda.

How to do yoga from your work place

To avoid body pain and remain calm and focused, you can do simple yoga from your desk.

Steps