With an increasing number of celebrities replacing their gym equipment with incense burners and other yoga paraphernalia, one can say that yoga indeed has taken Hollywood by storm. The growing popularity of this practice is manifested in almost all health magazines nowadays, wherein a page is allotted to recommend yoga to their audiences. Madonna, Ricky Martin, Meg Ryan, and J.Lo, among others, often grace the covers of these magazines.

What’s the hype all about, you ask?

Celebrities testify to the benefits of yoga, especially as a shape up, calm down routine. With all the hustle and bustle of show business, famous people need to calm the frenzy and get back in touch with themselves (and boy, there’s no better way than doing so while shedding off unwanted body mass). Yoga is a methodology for achieving these results.

More than that, however, yoga is well-known for its healing and relaxing effects. In a lifestyle magazine column, yoga guru Danny Paradise (Madonna’s first mentor) talks about the inner peace that yoga instills in its devoted practitioners. He says it clears the mind of negative thoughts while it creates a sense of well-being and calm. As quoted from him, “yoga was created to free people in all ways…from the limitations of their minds and bodies, from teachers, teachings, attachments, expectations, from dependency on any person or thing. It is a personal, private journey to liberation.”

Celebrities have greatly contributed to the popularization of yoga in Hollywood and in the United States. Madonna, who is old enough to be a granny, for instance, boasts of a twenty year old’s physique (and she gives all the credit to her yoga practice). Even the crowd-favorite basketball team, Los Angeles Lakers, speaks of their belief in yoga as a performance booster and flexibility ritual. They say that yoga tends to lengthen their muscles which make them less prone to strains and injuries.

Perhaps, yoga is indeed a perfect regimen for celebrities who want to cope with their paparazzi-crazy existence. Sometimes, especially when things get blown out of proportion, they turn to yoga for balance and strength. This apparently is way better than hearing of them looking into alcohol, sex, and drugs to get their feet back on track.

Here are other reasons why celebrities embrace yoga:

1. Mental relief. Yoga is a perfect abatement from bodily and mental exploits. The hectic schedules of celebrities keep their minds under pressure, thus making it necessary for them to put a new spin in their busy lives. Yoga is a recreational activity that provides diversion and entertainment while calming the mind.

2. Bodily strength. There are a lot of yoga poses that challenge one’s balance, strength and flexibility. For them celebrities who need to retain their poise forever, yoga helps them maintain a good image while increasing the body’s physical strength. It also boosts the body’s natural defenses against chronic sicknesses.

3. Muscle toning. Yoga is said to be a very effective weight loss ritual. While doing yoga, celebrities improve their posture and reduce muscular tension while burning calories and excess body fats.

4. Identity element. Yoga has become a fashion statement for most celebrities and their fans, especially since Madonna and Jennifer Aniston got in the yoga bus. It gives people the impression that one lives a happy, healthy and productive lifestyle.