Sports, most exercise programs, and the dancing arts are all “extrinsic” oriented activities.  For that matter, so is physical therapy and massage. In physical therapy, massage and most therapeutic modalities, the person is usually a passive recipient while the therapist manipulates the body in order to achieve a desired outcome or goal; such as improving joint mobility or muscle flexibility. 

Weight training and aerobics also have specific goals. And of course, with sport, the main goal is trying to meet a standard or to beat the competition: to make a point or score, or trying to prevent it. Even within the dancing arts, specific movements are to be mastered and performances are to be given. All are examples of "extrinsic" activities.

On the other hand, yoga exercise when appropriately practiced, is done without trying and without goals. It is intrinsic. There are no goals in yoga other than to experience the pure joy of being present and by paying total attention to what is:

The differences and effects upon your body and mind are profound. Since there are no goals other than to experience the reality of what is, an appropriate yoga practice therefore starts from your place of perfection; that is, from a neutral place where your body feels no added discomfort or stress! 

If you are in good or reasonably good shape, you can begin your yoga practice either by standing or lying down. But if you are chronically ill or injured, it's better to start by lying down with supports under any part of your body that is uncomfortable. 

In other words, the very best way to start yoga is to begin without discomfort. I sometimes call it “starting from a neutral place.”

Then you can add appropriate and intelligent incremental exercise components that appropriately challenge your body without creating liability. Then can you enhance flexibility and strength, all without exacerbating discomfort. When incremental components are added, it is possible to maximize benefit while minimizing liability…thereby reducing discomfort.

Adding such incremental components will, therefore, not traumatize  irritate your body. (I'm going to speak more about this in a minute). So, rather than try to reach an extraneous goal such as trying to increase your flexibility, strength or endurance; an appropriate yoga practice encourages your body to explore its limits without forcing and therefore; flexibility, strength and endurance become merely a result of an appropriate yoga practice. 

On the other hand, trying to increase strength, endurance, and flexibility might work—but trying might also create or increase stress thereby potentially compromising yoga's benefits.

The implication of trying becomes especially relevant when you have passed the ages and stages thresholds of 28-32, 38-42, 48-52 and so on. These implications are especially relevant if you have been, or currently are, chronically ill or injured. On the next page, you will come to realize that the harder you try to change your body, the more your body may react in the opposite way you intended. To understand these mechanics, we need to take a quick look at how your body is constructed. From there, it is easier to understand how an appropriate yoga practice can get you more…by doing less.