One of the yoga poses most closely associated with meditation, the padmasana, or lotus pose, has physical benefits as well. In the classic padmasana pose, your back naturally straightens and your hips open to facilitate a greater range of motion. The passive posture may also ease the discomfort of sciatica by applying a gentle stretch to the piriformis muscle that runs across the sciatic nerve.
The half lotus, ardha padmasana, is a meditative pose and a hip opener. The pose also conditions your core because you have to engage your abs and lower back muscles to keep your torso in proper alignment. At first glance, hal...
The lotus pose is one of the classic positions for meditation. Yoga books are full of pictures of yogis sitting in lotus pose in apparent bliss. But this is not the experience for most yoga students, who find it a frustrating a...
Asana is a Sanskrit word that means position, pose or posture. In yoga, the asanas are poses, such as the triangle pose and the lotus pose. Although asana practice is the most familiar aspect of yoga for Western students, it i...
Sit on the floor with your legs extended straight in front of you. Bend your right leg at the knee and bring your right foot into the crook of your left hipbone. Bend your left knee and bring your foot over the top of your rig...
