Yoga poses, or asanas, are only a small part of yoga but they give practitioners multiple benefits from increased flexibility to relief from pain. Poses represent the physical aspect of yoga. However, there are many types of yoga that follow different paths. Just practicing the poses such as in a Hatha yoga class brings strength and calm, but they won't by themselves lead you on the true path of the yogi that requires following strict yogic principles that bring wisdom, enlightenment and spiritual attainment.
Flexibility
Flexibility is the best known benefit of doing yoga. Almost every pose causes a noticeable stretching feeling in some area of the body. Through these stretches you release tension, correct muscle imbalances that happen when one muscle is tighter than its opposing muscle or the same muscle on the other side of the body and improve posture. Perhaps one of the easiest poses and also one of the most useful is child's pose. Child's pose stretches the lower back and hips. Eight percent of people report pain in their lower back throughout their lifetime. Child's pose addresses this concern. To perform child's pose, sit on your calves with your knees bent. Bend forward onto your lap and extend your arms behind you on the floor, palms up. Relax your forehead to the floor.
Isometric Strength
Yoga makes you stronger particularly by building isometric strength. Holding up for body weight for any length of time causes your muscles to contract without moving and this prolonged contraction makes your muscles stronger. A common example is holding a plank pose to strengthen the arms and chest. Plank pose is simply the starting position for a pushup. The arms are straight with the legs and back straight, too. This pose also strengthens your core to keep your spine straight. Alternatively, you can drop onto your forearms and do dolphin plank pose, also called plank bridges, which strengthens the thighs, too.
Balance
Besides gaining strength throughout your body doing yoga, you also improve balance because of improved core strength. Single leg poses such as tree pose improve leg strength and balance. To perform tree pose, you simply stand on one leg and put the bottom of your other foot against your inner thigh with your knee pointing out to the side.
Lower Stress and Anxiety
Performing yoga poses calms the mind and lowers stress. Yoga poses require total concentration, which does not give you time to think about issues in your life that cause stress, worry or anxiety. The dolphin plank pose calms the brain. Certain yoga poses such as staff pose are particularly helpful with anxiety. To perform staff pose, sit on the floor with your hands next to you, using your arms to hold your spine straight. Extend both legs forward and pull your toes back to activate your thighs. You make sure you are doing this pose correctly by sitting with your back against a wall and touching your pelvis and shoulder blades to the wall.
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