I have been practicing yoga for 10 years now (right from class 6) for me yoga is not exercise its about connecting to my spiritual side.
Yoga has eight stages if i am not wrong and each stage takes you one stem closer to realizing your soul most people in India would have heard about Jeevantha Samadhi which is the last stage of Yoga where one attains Enlightenment.
There are many Sages like Sai Baba and Swami Vivekananda who have attained such a stage.
But the sad part is people even Indians think of yoga as a exercise to keep good health which is true but there is a deeper meaning and stages. Yoga is not religious it is spiritual. After years of practice i sort of know the difference it makes to life.
Stress levels are low, Even in a hectic development environment of the company i work in calm, I have always been happy and cheerful in all the thick and thins.
I strongly recommend yoga to everyone. The concept of Yoga(Hinduism) is simple it says there is god withing everyone of us in the form of our soul and the aim of life is to realize the soul within.
A Muslim can practice yoga to realize Allah who is within him, the same with a Christian who can see Jesus residing within him
This in one line is Hinduism which is a way of life to realize the soul.
That is why we say Hinduism deals with the Spirit.
Forgetting this truth i find people in India dragging Hinduism everywhere apart from where its required.
Its exactly the muddled up thinking that causes confusion for people everywhere.
An advanced Yoga practitioner comes to realize that there is no supreme God like being called Allah or that jesus was god. He finds oneness with the cosmos and realizes he is part of god. ...... that he is God. Aham Brahmasmi.
Its regular practice will certainly lead people to move away from Islam and Christianity as it forces people to look inward rather than outside to seek god / peace.
Secondly, Hinduism deals with the 'truth'....i.e. the true nature of the world around us,the nature of man and the nature of the cosmos etc.
Last part is that Hinduism is a way of life. It will be everywhere its required. Be it politics, social behavior, education, self fulfillment etc...