I would consider yoga to be more of an exercise.  I always leave with a nice sweat and I think it pushes you.  Yoga can be empowering because most of the time you are focused on your breath so your not thinking about all the things that may stress you out.  It allows you to clear your head and go back to reality with fresh thoughts.  Yoga is a different type of exercise than things like running or zumba because it opens up your body and can relax you.

When I go to yoga it is a "sacred place" because people are very respectful and and the atmosphere is relaxing.  The people that attend the yoga classes are very respectful of everyone else.  Everybody leaves their phones out of the room to keep the place quiet.  Also the room being quiet is nice because it helps you relax and clear out your thoughts.  I think the most important is how the instructor runs it because they are going to set the tone of the whole lesson.

As a new yoga student who hasn't had any experience doing yoga I had a very good first experience.  I went to Yoga Nine in Ventnor and the class was taught by Valerie and the class was gentle yoga.  There were four other people in the which was nice because there wasn't pressure to be good.  It was a very relaxing experience and we focused a lot on our breathing.