I started doing yoga in 2010 (Bikram). For many years I went 5 times per week. Since 2020 I no longer go to a class, but do yoga in my house 3 times per week.

I can say the following: The newbie thinks about yoga as "stretching" (I'm not meaning that insulting to you, I thought that for 5 or 6 years). In reality, the best way to conceptualize yoga is "compression". You are not "stretching your hamstrings"....you are "compressing your stomach / intestines"

I had a good yoga teacher who was unconventional and taught me lots of things. One of the things he would frequently dwell on is that your body, muscles, and organs are sponges. By doing yoga you are wringing out the blood from those sponges and allowing them to fill with fresh blood.

Imagine I gave you a dirty dish rag and said: The rules are you must clean this rag, but can only use the rag itself to clean it....no external equipment. Well, the simplest way would be to fill the rag with water/soap and then "wring it out". That is what you are doing to your organs with yoga.

Fun fact: Bikram (who was unfortunately #metooed) was a carnivore. This used to shock and dismay much of his upscale vegan suburban wife clients. He used to say: "Eat like a cow, look like a cow. Eat like a Tiger, look like a Tiger"