Practicing yoga on a regular basis can offer physical, emotional and psychological benefits. Physically, yoga helps to stretch out your muscles and incorporates both balance and strength. Emotionally, it trains you to seek the space to connect with your breathing, helping to eliminate stress. Psychologically, yoga incorporates meditation, helping you to quiet your thoughts and become more centered. It can also help you feel more peaceful and energetic, suggests ABC-of-yoga.com. Consult your physical therapist before engaging in a yoga practice if you are experiencing discomfort in any part of your body.
Standing Postures
There are many standing postures in yoga, but a few are common to all practices as they provide your body the opportunity to align between other more strenuous postures. One of these postures is called tadasana, or mountain pose. Although it looks as if you are simply standing straight in this posture, it is an active pose where you are taught to focus on your breathing while keeping your legs engaged and your body aligned. According to Yogajournal.com, tadasana strengthens the entire leg and firms the buttocks. It also may help relieve sciatica. Another common standing posture that works the entire lower body is the high lunge, where you engage in a lunge and hold the pose with your arms raised straight up above your head. This posture should be avoided if you have high blood pressure or heart problems, as it will accelerate your blood circulation.
Back Bending Postures
Backbends are postures in yoga that may be beneficial to back health. Two common back bending postures in yoga are dhanurasana, or bow pose, and ustrasana, or camel pose. Bow pose strengthens your back muscles and stretches the entire front of your body, helping to improve your posture and stimulating the organs in your core. Camel pose is an extreme back bend that should be avoided if you have a lower back or neck injury. It provides all the benefits of bow pose and it also stretches your psoas, or deep hip flexors.
Inversion Postures
Halasana, or plow pose, and salamba sirsasana, or supported headstand, are two examples of inversion postures in yoga. All inversion postures are thought to help calm the brain, stretching the spine and shoulders and stimulating the thyroid gland. They may also help reduce stress. Inversion postures can be therapeutic for headaches, insomnia, sinusitis and backache but should be done with caution and under the supervision of your yoga instructor.
Forward bends
One of the most common forward bends in yoga is balasana, or child's pose. It is a restful pose that gently stretches your thighs and hips and also helps relieve stress and back pain. All forward bending postures in yoga will stretch your thighs to some degree and they are easy to come in an out, allowing you to relax while in the posture. Other forward bending postures include: uttanasana, or standing forward bend, upavistha konasana, or wide-angle seated forward bend, and janu sirsasana, or head-to-knee forward bend.
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