Have you ever wondered why some asanas seem to leave you feeling calm, still, centered, and balanced while others seem to leave you agitated, sore and off-centered? Take the case of a thirty-one-year-old woman who came for treatment for repeated neck pain and nervousness. She had been practicing yoga for six years and could not understand why she was having such difficulty. Our work with Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old 'knowledge of life', helped this woman to understand how the Yoga asanas she had been practicing affected the movement of energy in her body. She then learned new asanas, which was more in harmony with her unique energetic balance. With this new knowledge she was able to modify her practice and eliminate her neck pain and nervousness while bringing greater well-being to her body and mind. In addition to the profound dietary and lifestyle. advice that Ayurveda is most known for, Ayurveda also sheds new light on the practice of yoga. Yoga and Ayurveda are in fact, two paths intertwined in such a close relationship that it is hard to imagine traveling down one of these paths without knowledge of the other. Yoga is the ancient path of preparing the body and mind for the eventual liberation and enlightenment of the soul. Ayurveda is the ancient art and science of keeping the body and heart healthy so that individuals can pursue the goals in life that they have set for themselves. The population of yoga in this country has been growing steadily since Swami Vivekananda first brought the idea of yoga to the West in 1893. While yoga found a welcome home in the West, its sister, Ayurveda, was left behind in India, a distant counterpart to these important Vedic teachings. Today, just over one hundred years later, Ayurveda has come to the West in search of its other half. Ayurveda does not come to this country empty-handed but bring with it many gifts. It brings with it the knowledge of how to keep the physical body healthy and how this relates to one's spiritual journey. It brings a gift specific to the yogi. the knowledge of how asanas affect each of us. Ayurvda sheds new light on which asanas are best for each individual. The Vedas, the oldest known writings and teachings, are the origins of both these ancient arts. The Vedas are composed of five books. One of them, the Yajur Veda, is considered by scholars as the origins of the knowledge of yoga. Ayurveda has its root within the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda. According to Dr. David Frawley, Vedic scholar, 'Yoga is the practical side of the Vedic teaching while Ayurveda is the healing side.' In practice, both of these paths overlap a great deal. Classical yoga has, as a part of its traditions, an aspect which addresses health and health practices. It is not simply asanas for differing conditions, but purification as well. In some vein, Ayurveda is much more than dietary principals. Ayurveda can be seen as the science of understanding how we interact with our environment and how to alter our environment in such a way that it is harmonious with our deepest nature. Ayurveda is the science of how energies interact. As such, Ayurveda addresses our entire lifestyle. including exercise and yoga. Ayurveda sees each individual's path towards perfect health a unique path, hence Ayurveda can help us to understand which yoga asanas are best for each individual as well as understand how the different forms of Pranayama affect us. The 31-year-old woman had neck pain and nervousness because ______.