Which yoga exercises are most beneficial?

Yoga encompasses a wide variety of exercises and poses that emphasize a wide variety of physical, emotional and spiritual areas depending on the form of yoga performed. If you want to start doing yoga start by consulting your primary medical care provider to make sure you're ready to engage in regular physical activity and then decide which type of yoga is best for you. Certain types like Hatha have a heavier emphasis on deep breathing and holding of mild positions, while Ashtanga yoga more heavily emphasizes deep bending poses and requires a high degree of upper and lower body endurance and strength to perform well. If light flexibility and balance are your goal a gentler form like Hatha might be more effective, if developing high levels of balance, core strength, and totally body strength are your goal a more strenuous form like Ashtanga might be more beneficial. 

It depends on what your fitness goal are and what you are trying to accomplish. There are many different forms of yoga, each with their own benefits. Yoga as a whole is a fantastic form of exercise that helps improve balance, flexibility, muscle strength, joint stability and proprioception. The different forms of yoga will emphasize different aspects of fitness. Yoga is also unique in the fact that it requires a great deal of mind-body awareness. You must focus on controlling your breaths while moving gracefully performing the movements. I strongly believe that yoga is beneficial to the mind, body and soul!