Fish Pose - Matsyasana

This pose is one of the easy poses of the back-bed type asanas. You are to lie down on your yoga mat, flat on your back. There after try t lift the entire spinal cord. Ensure that the hips and the back side of the head remain touching the ground. This would result in a body posture known as Fish Pose of Matyasana.

This pose helps in opening the abdomen muscles. As you can see from the image, the hip part of our body is touching the ground, but the entire portion of the spinal cord is fully lifted upward. It helps in reducing the mid back spinal pain, too.

The pectoral muscles are stretched in full while we do fish pose. This would provide good exercises to the neck, breasts, and the chest. By http://theholisticcare.com [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Dwapada Urdhwa Ardh Matyasana

This asana can be done with one variation. After positioning the whole body as epshown above, you should lift your legs upward. Keep both the legs straight and the paws straight in the direction of the wall, and not to the sky. As our body is requred to use both the legs and keep it upward, this pose is named as Dwapada (two legs) Urdhwa (Up) Ardh Matsyasana. [Image courtesy By Marcocarvalho (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons]

Precautions

While doing this posture, or postures similar to this one, a yoga exercise doer should keep some important factors in mind. These factors are relating to the health. If you are suffering from low pressure or high pressure of blood, you should take doctor’s advice before doing such poses. In any other physical difficulties, it should be done in the presence and guidance of a trained yoga teacher.

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How to Do Wheel Pose, Chakrasana

The word ‘Chakra’ means wheel. While doing this posture our body would look like a wheel, so it is called ‘Wheel Pose’, too. This is one of the poses of the yoga system known as Hatha Yoga. This helps in balancing the relationship between our mind and body. The posture given here is known as Supta Chakrasana, too.

Both men and women can do this posture. The women should avoid doing this pose during pregnancy. If a pregnant woman gets advice to practice certain yoga posture as an exercise, she should do it in the presence of a trained teacher only.

How to Do Wheel Pose, Chakrasana

• Arrange your yoga mat properly and lye on your back. Bend you knees in a manner that both the feel remain flat on the floor. The distance between two feet should be as wide as your hip.

• Press the feet firmly on the floor and inhale slowly. Then try to lift the hip portion upward. While doing so you would lift your thighs and buttocks on the up side direction.

• Now use the hands. Put the palms firmly on floor keeping fingers facing your head. In order to lift your shoulder, just try to straighten your arms slowly but steadily. After the shoulders, your head also would be above the floor. When the legs and arms are fully stretched upward, the Wheel Pose is complete.

• Here you can hold yourself in Chakrasana until you feel pain. You can inhale and exhale, but try to keep breath inside for more time. It would give you strength to hold the posture for long.

• While coming back from this posture, do it slowly. Get you head down by bending elbow and then let the shoulders touch the floor. There after let the body rest in flat position or in corpse pose. It would help in decreasing fatigue.

Benefits of Doing Wheel Pose

The Chakrasana, the wheel pose is one of the poses defined in Hatha Yoga system. Due to its posturing of our body, we can name it as Beck-Bend Pose. It would help in making our breathing system balanced. If we breathe following the natural rhythm, we would achieve many benefits or we can avoid many physical illness. The physical side of benefits of such backbend postures is multi-faced.

Those who are suffering from Sciatica Pain, they can arrive benefit by doing wheel pose. But care must be taken if more pain is felt; in this case do this asana in the presence of a trained yoga instructor. A person feeling back pain would find it relieving a little bit. In the beginning this posture should be done in the presence of a trained teacher. You can join a good yoga classes where advanced yoga is practiced and taught.

If this posture is done with wearing proper yoga outfit, it would make you feeling more comfortable. A good yoga suit and a long yoga mat are advisable. While relaxing, you can use a soft yoga cushion. [First Image courtesy By Marcocarvalho [CC-BY-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons , Second Image courtesy By http://theholisticcare.com [null], from Wikimedia Commons]

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Hatha Yoga : Postures With Meditation and Pranayam

Yoga is a traditional wisdom originated in India. But it has nothing to do with any religion or faith. Practicing yoga, coupled with meditation, is an age-old system of human efforts to feel the oneness of body and the soul.

WHAT IS HATHA YOGA

While Hatha yoga combines physical postures, it upholds the importance of moral attitudes, too. It is a holistic approach reducing mental stress and increases the overall well-being of human body and mind. In short it tries making our body a temple for living the sacred soul. Awakening of Kundalini and making each of its chakras activated is part of hatha yoga.

The objective of Hatha Yoga is to maintain a fine balance between body and the mind. This task is done by giving specific postures known as Yoga Asana or Yoga poses. This system of yoga is believed to be devised in India before fifteenth century. The other yoga systems known as Astang yoga, Kundalini yoga and power yoga are based on the basic concepts of Hatha Yoga. All the systems of yoga have one line agenda: they try to pacify the mind by keeping the flow of physical energy regularized state. Followings are some of the yoga poses devised under Hatha Yoga system.

INVERTED HATHA YOGA POSES

Plough Pose is an important posture in system of Hatha Yoga. It is one of the three poses, which are recommended to activate the ‘Manipur Chakra’ of Kundalini. Regular practice of this would result in general health of body and mind.

Raja Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand): This is much practiced posture of Hatha Yoga. As it helps creating increased flow of blood into brain, it is much useful for increasing the power of remembering, too. For the beginners, this pose might be a little bit difficult. But you would like to do it, as you can do other difficult posture like' Halasana, the Plow Posture' from the shoulder Stand pose. The beginners should not remain for more time in this pose, as it may cause neck problem for them.[Image courtesy By Marcocarvalho [CC-BY-3.0],from Wikimedia Commons]

BACK-BEND HATHA YOGA POSES

Dhanur-asana, Bow Pose is one of the Hatha Yoga Poses that helps keeping the flexibility of spine in order. It also helps in reducing the back pain, both lower and upper. If practiced regularly, this Bow Pose would make our neck tension free and the thig muscles get extensively stretched.

Camel Pose, Ustrasana: The posture known as Camel Pose is one of the difficult poses, and has several benefits. If done regularly, it helps in diseases of certain muscles and back pain. You would not find it much difficult after one or two weeks. The yoga posture of Bow Pose is similar to this pose. But that is done by positioning our body differently. Here the step by step instructions are given.

BALANCING HATHA YOGA POSES

Peacock Pose, Mayurasana: As this is one of the difficult type of asanas, we should have prior knowledge about other easy asana. We can sit in Vajrasana and after getting comfortable with doing the difficult poses, we can start doing Mayurasana. For the beginners it is advisable not to remain for more time in this pose. Whenever you feel paining, just stop and relax for a while.

Scorpion pose involves the strength of almost all the muscles of your body; thus if you practice it regularly you would find yourself more energetic. This posture is called the Ardha-Vrischikasana, meaning Half Scorpion pose. In the beginning, the practitioner of this pose would face some difficulty in doing this asana. But it would not take more than a week to know it completely.

If one practices these poses regularly, he or she would feel less stressed and full of energy during the day. In addition to toning of the internal organs of our body, these postures help in curing the ailments like hypertension and arthritis. It could help in keeping diabetes in control, too. However the proportion of the benefit arrived might be different from individual to individual depending upon the age and general health of the person.

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Yoga Postures: Remedy For Sciatica Pain, The Sciatica Yoga

WHAT IS SCIATICA: Sciatica is caused due to compression of the nerves of spinal cord. There are total five nerves attached with spinal cord. If any of these nerves is slightly compressed at its root attached with the spinal cord for any reason or is irritated, we feel acute pain. Those who suffer from sciatica would know how painful it is. We would feel unbearable pain in the areas of buttocks, legs and lower parts of back. Pregnant women should do these poses after consulting their trained Yoga Teacher.

Maha Bhjangasana

YOGA REMEDY FOR SCIATICA: In addition to other remedies, doctors advise their patients suffering from sciatica to undergo certain stretching exercises. It helps improving elasticity of muscles. In the system of yoga, too, remedy for the pain caused by sciatica is devised. Doing yoga posture for such pain is an age-old tradition, but the modern technique of ailments also conform positive aspects of doing yoga exercises. Yoga poses help in decreasing the pain and get control over movement of the damaged muscle. Here are some yoga postures, which are generally suggested for the persons who suffer from sciatica pain. However a patient should take proper advice from his or her physician; and the following yoga postures should be done only in the presence of a trained yoga teacher.

Sarvangasana: This posture is also called Shoulder Stand Pose. This pose can be done after some practice of doing yoga only. The beginners should avoid remaining for more than ten seconds in this pose. It may cause minor pain in neck.

Shoulder Stand Pose

Shoulder Stand Pose is the posture that is classified as "Inverted Poses". This posture is devised under the system of yoga named Hath Yoga. This would give adequate stretch to the waist and make blood being circulated in every vein from top to bottom. Those who suffer from sciatica should know that their pain would not be reduced immediately. it can take some time. So during this time, it should be ensured that the weight of body remains in control.

Sirsasana Head Stand Posea: This posture is called Head Stand Pose, too. For the beginners, this posture would be a little bit difficult. It would also help us to get relief from back pain or pain in leg and thigh muscles. Regular practice of this posture, especially done in morning time, would help us getting relief from back pain and pain in leg and thigh muscles. This posture allows the blood to flow more towards the head area. So it would help in increasing our memory power, too.

Pavanmuktasana , The Wind Releasing Posture: This posture is also called 'Wind Releasing Pose. A person suffering from Sciatica would be benefited by doing this pose. It would reduce pain of the muscles and paining veins. But the patients of sciatica must do this posture only in presence of a trained teacher.

There are many other postures, too, which can be helpful in reducing the pain in sciatica. But most of them are advised to be done in the presence of a trained yoga teacher. The doctors advise certain yoga poses for stretching exercises. The following are some of these postures which are generally recommended.

• BACK BEND POSTURES
• FORWARD BEND POSTURES
• INVERTED POSTURES

If the body of a patient is already over-weight, he or she should take extra care of the same. The above mentioned yoga postures would also help in reducing the weight of the body, too. Most of the poses would help in burning the extra fat deposited on various limbs of body. Regular practice of doing yoga postures keeps our body active and well-balanced in every respect. (Images courtesy By Marcocarvalho [CC-BY-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons) (Image at top courtesy By Marcocarvalho [CC-BY-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons)

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How to Do Downward Dog Posture, Adho Mukh Swanasana

The word Adho means downward and Mukh means the face. Thus literally the meaning of Adho Mukh would be downward face. This posture is called Downward Dog Posture or Down Dog pose.

You can repeat this posture as many times as you wish. But ensure that it should not result in fatigue or over stretching of any muscle.

How to Do Downward Dog Posture

• Sit in a positing where your knees are together and your buttocks are touching your hills. Keep the spine and head in a straight position. You can sit in the posture called Thunderbolt (Vajrasana)

• Arrange your hands as far as possible from your knees. Put the palms facing downward on your yoga mat, keeping your fingers wide.

• Come on to your knees and then lift the knees from the floor. Stretch your tailbone towards ceiling.

• Put your paws flat on the floor or yoga mat. At this moment your head should feel free and resting.

• Ensure that your paws are kept as wide as your hips and the palms are as wide as your shoulders.

Benefits of Doing Dog Posture

In general the act of doing yoga postures is an exercise in stretching muscles and to increase the circulation of blood in specific parts of our body. Here are some of the benefits of doing Dog Posture.

• When we are in this pose, our heart remains at rest. The flow of blood becomes regular. This is the situation wherein our heart gets some relief. Doing Downward Facing Dog pose would help in providing rest to our heart.

• This pose stretches the muscles, which are in on either side of the back of the knees. It makes the tendon or sinews of knees working.

• This posture would create a feel of awareness. A person would feel strength after doing the same.

• As all the yoga postures would make our limbs more flexible, Down Dog pose helps keeping our body fresh and all the parts flexible. The hands, arms and legs would be actively involved in doing it.

• If we look at the curative side of this posture, a person doing it regularly might get some relief in headache and back pain.

If you feel pain in any muscle, while doing this pose, feel free to make yourself at ease. If your back is paining or hamstring is feeling uneasiness, keep you knees a little bit inside. It would ease the pain and the pressure.

Caution: Pregnant women should do this posture after taking proper instructions from a trained teacher. (Image courtesy By Joseph RENGER [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0], from Wikimedia Commons)

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UTTANASANA : Forward Bend Yoga Posture

Theme Yoga Postures for Fitness and total Wellbeing

The forward bend yoga postures helps stretching the limbs that we might not be stretching in general work. The Uttanasana would provide good exercises to our calves, hips and the hamstrings.

Before doing this posture you may do Paschimottanasana. It would help you to prepare your thighs and leg muscles to be ready for a standing forward bend posture. After doing this posture, you should do the Shavasana, Corpse Pose the relaxing pose.

How to Do Uttanasana

· After positioning you body in Tadasana, the straight standing pose, put your hands on the hips. While you exhale bend your torso forward. While bending, the aim should be to get your torso more and more bent forward.

· You can let your forehead touching the knees or your legs, or just in swinging position.

· Keep the palms flat on the ground or on your yoga net. You can remain in this position for 30 seconds to one minute. The beginners should not give more stress to any limb by stretching it for longer period.

Benefits of Doing Uttanasana

In addition to the general benefits of doing Yoga Postures, the Forward Bending Pose, Uttanasana would provide other benefits to those who practice it regularly.

· The first and important advantage of doing this posture is that it would strengthen our thighs and knees.

· As it provides good exercises to the intestines, too, it would help our digestion process positively.

· If you feel stressful after working during the day, this asana would help reducing your stress. As the head is going downward in this posture, the blood supply in head would be sufficiently increased.

This posture can be done with some variations, too. Instead of putting the palms flat on floor or on Yoga mat, we can keep it near the ankles, too. Generally the palms are kept around the ankles as if we have caught hold of the ankles with the hands.

In any of these variations, this yoga pose would work as stress reducing activity. The element of fatigue and anxiety is considerably reduced after doing this posture.

It is also observed that those who are suffering from the difficulties of insomnia have been benefited by doing this posture. (Image courtesy By Nemonoman at en.wikipedia [GPL], from Wikimedia Commons ) (Image courtesy By Joseph RENGER (œuvre personnelle) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0], from Wikimedia Commons

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Supine Yoga Poses, Lying Face Upward

The yoga poses which are done by keeping your back on the floor of near the floor are called supine poses or the poses done by ‘lying face upward’. Such poses manly provide exercises to the leg and hand muscles. In some of the poses the abdominal muscles and spine are also twisted and get much strain.

Fish Pose, Matsyasana

While doing any of the above poses, you are to keep one important point in mind: do not overstretch your body. Know the limit of your body and remain within that limit. If you find doing any of the poses difficult, do consult the trained yoga teacher. If you use proper yoga accessories, you would make the yoga experience joyful and helping.

Do try Doing These Supine Yoga Poses

• Bridge Pose: When we do this pose, the pelvic muscles are stretched to its greatest length. This pose provides adequate exercise to many muscles like : the pelvic, abdominal and leg muscles. The spinal cord would be bent slightly while doing Bridge Pose or the Dwipada Pitham.

• Plough Pose: This pose helps us stretching the muscles of our waist. So it improves the functioning of our veins. Moreover, it help giving adequate exercise to other parts of the body, too. While doing Halasana, our spine is stretched in full. It keeps the spine very elastic. If we do this pose regularly, the overall function of the spine is improved greatly.

• Pavanmuktasana, Wind Releasing Pose: If we do this posture regularly after waking up from the sleep in the morning, it would help in regulating the movement of the gases present in body. It would be much beneficial if you do this pose in early morning. Important point to be noted is that this pose is to be done before taking any food or drink.

• Urdhva Dhanurasana, Reverse Bow Pose: This posture provide greater stretches to the back muscles. It helps keeping back flexible and the spinal cord smoothly. Its regular practice provides help in that respect. The leg and shoulder muscles are strengthened to its fullest length.

• Shoulder Stand Pose: This is also called sarvangasana. It benefits our body and mind in several ways. Doing this asana only the face remains upward. The whole body is placed on the strength of the shoulders only. It increases the flow of blood to our brain, and thus it would help in increasing the memory power.
  
• Corpse Pose : Known as Shavasana or Relaxation Pose, this posture is done before and after doing a posture. It follows the meaning of its name and provides adequate relief to all the limbs of our body. If it is done before going to sleep, this pose helps in getting immediate and a deep sleep.

While doing the above poses your face would be upward. It would put your neck downside. If you feel any pain in your neck, your should use a Yoga Bolster or Yoga Cushion below your neck. It would make you feeling comfortable. You can buy a good quality bolster or the cushion from a departmental stores that sells yoga accessories like yoga mat.(Image courtesy By http://theholisticcare.com [CC-BY-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons)

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YOGA POSTURE: King Pigeon Pose, Backbend

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana II (one legged king pigeon variation), originally uploaded by Richard-.

Theme: Beck-bend Yoga Postures, Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

While we do various yoga postures, our body takes various shapes. The names of yoga postures are given as per the shapes the posture makes. Sometimes it is named so looking to the benefits and the limbs of body it involves. Rajakapot Asana or the King Pigeon Pose makes renders our body in a particular shape. In the image given here it has a special name. Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, as it involves on leg mainly.

This posture involves backbend posture. It helps opening the hip portion of our body. This posture involves the backbend intensely. So for the beginners, it would be advisable to do this asana in presence of a trained teacher.

OTHER BACK-BEND YOGA POSTURES

Nataraj Asana

Bow Pose

Reverse Bow Pose

King Pigeon Pose

Camel Pose

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YOGA POSTURES: Back-bend Poses

Learn Yoga Posture with ease. How to do Backbeds. Yoga postures render our body into various poses. Some of the yoga asana would render our whole body bending backward. Such postures can be labelled as ‘back bend’ postures, however there is no such classification of the postures. While doing these backbends we could experience a sense of freedom. Doing this also involves an element of courage, as the bending backward is not an easy job.

Such postures make our arms and shoulders more powerful. The spine would get proper exercise, too. The waist would get maximum stretch in some of the postures. It could help in reducing back pain, too. Here is some yoga posture that would require our body to bend in backside.

King Pigeon Pose While we do various yoga postures, our body takes various shapes. The names of yoga postures are given as per the shapes the posture makes. Sometimes it is named so looking to the benefits and the limbs of body it involves.

One Leg Rajakapot Asana

Rajakapot Asana or the King Pigeon Pose renders our body in a particular shape. In the image given here it has a special name. Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, as it involves on leg mainly.

Bow Pose: Meaning of the word Dhanur, a Sanskrit word, is ‘bow-shaped’. While doing this asana, the postures of our body looks like a ‘Bow’. Thus it is named so; Look at the above image. While doing DHANURASANA you should use good quality Yoga mat. It would be better if you use Yoga Foam Block, as the belly will be feeling much weight in this pose. This posture provides good exercise and stretches the leg and hand muscles. (Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Reverse Bow Pose: There is another posture, exactly reverse of this one. It is called the Urdhva Dhanurasana, meaning reverse bow pose. The benefits of this posture are same as above.

Urdhva Dhanurasasa: This posture stretches the back muscles very much and provides relief in that respect. Leg and shoulder muscles are strengthened. Main thrust would be on the exercise of hip and spine.

Camel Pose: While we do this posture, our whole body is stretched. The front of the body including the chest, abdomen, and quadriceps are stretched to their bearable limit. By doing so regularly for a period, we can improve the flexibility of our spinal cord and the area surrounding the spinal cord. It would benefit those more who are suffering from mild backache.

Other BACK-BEND YOGA POSTURES

• Nataraj Asana
• King Pigeon Pose

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