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Yoga: Uniting Mind, Body, and Spirit
1 What do you think of when I do this? If you said “Yoga,” you are absolutely correct. For
5,000 years, people have been practicing yoga in order to enhance their mental, physical, and
emotional health.
2 “Yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word meaning to “unite” or to “join.” As Stella Weller
says in her book Yoga: Finding Balance and Serenity in Everyday Life, yoga is the practice of
uniting one’s mind, body, and spirit.
3 I’ve been practicing yoga for over eight years, and I’m in the process of getting my certi-
fication to become a yoga instructor. Although there are many dimensions to yoga, today I’m
going to focus on two—yoga breathing and yoga postures. Along the way, I’m going to share
with you some of the health benefits that come along with these simple yoga practices. First, I’m
going to go over yoga breathing.
4 Breathing has been an essential part of yoga for centuries. There are four major stages in
the breathing process. The first is inhalation; the second, pause; the third, exhalation; and the fourth,
a pause.
5 It goes something like this. When you inhale, you feel the breath coming from deep within
your belly. And as you pause, you will feel the breath rising up. You focus to feel the breath
around your heart. As you exhale, you feel the breath moving slowly from your throat and out of
your mouth. As you pause the final time, it needs to be prolonged and deliberate, because this is
what completes the cycle of yoga breathing until the new inhalation begins.
6 Now, you may be asking yourselves: Why does yoga concentrate on something so or-
dinary like breathing? Well, the reason is this: When you breathe properly, the amount of oxy-
356 INFORMATIVE SPEECHES FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
9 The second pose that I’m going to do is the triangle bow pose. You start with your feet a
little bit wider than your shoulders. You then take your arms straight out across your body with
your palms facing down. You then touch your left hand to the floor while the opposite arm
stretches towards the ceiling. You then take your head and gaze up towards the ceiling. This pose
helps with your blood circulation and it stretches your torso and your neck.
10 The third and final pose I’m going to do today is the king of the dance pose. You take
your right foot into your right hand and extend your let arm forward. And as you raise your left
YOGA: UNITING MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT 357
Yoga: Uniting Mind, Body, and Spirit
Commentary
An exemplary speech of demonstration, “Yoga: Uniting Mind, Body, and Spirit” illustrates how the
speaker’s body can function as a visual aid. It also provides a fine model of extemporaneous delivery
and is best discussed after watching the video online or on the DVD of student speeches that accompa-
nies this edition of The Art of Public Speaking. Here is a synopsis of the speech.
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the practice and health benefits of yoga breathing and
yoga postures.
Introduction: The introduction consists of the first three paragraphs. The speaker opens with a question
that draws the audience’s attention, at which point she assumes a traditional yoga pose. While
holding the pose for the remainder of the first paragraph, she reveals the topic of her speech and
notes that yoga has been practiced around the world for 5,000 years.
In paragraph 2, the speaker explains the origins of the word “yoga” and explains that it is the
practice of uniting one’s mind, body, and spirit. As will occur throughout the speech, she uses ex-
pert testimony to establish the health benefits of yoga. Indeed, one of the strongest aspects of this
speech is the way it combines traditional research with the speaker’s personal experience.
Body: Divided into two main points, the body runs from paragraph 4 through paragraph 10. The first
main point deals with yoga breathing and is presented in paragraphs 4–6. After identifying the
four steps of yoga breathing in paragraph 4, the speaker demonstrates each step in paragraph 5.
In paragraph 6, she explains the health benefits of yoga breathing. Once again she turns to a re-
spected authority, quoting Vimla Lalvani, author of The Power of Yoga, on the manner in which
yoga breathing rejuvenates the entire body by sending increased oxygen into the bloodstream.
Paragraph 7 begins with a transition from the first main point to the second. It then provides
an internal preview specifying the three yoga poses to be demonstrated in main point two.
358 INFORMATIVE SPEECHES FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Paragraph 8 demonstrates the tree pose, paragraph 9 the triangle bow pose, and para-
graph 10 the king of the dance pose. The speaker demonstrates each pose effortlessly while