The benefits of yoga for health, body, and mind are unparalleled. It makes the body agile, heals the souls and even enhances our mood. Here, we’re going to take you through some of the easy yoga stretches and tell you how to do them.
Table of Contents
Simple stretches that enhance good health
Check out of the top five easy yoga poses:
| Simple stretches that enhance good health 1. Mountain Pose (Tadasana) |
Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
This pose is done at the onset as it invokes our mind to be alert and shifts our focus from the busy hectic surrounding to focus on the present situation. It takes concentration and effort to strike the balance. It helps by maintaining the correct alignment needed for many other standing poses. It calms our mind and helps it to rest and focus in between postures. This pose may look simple however it takes times to strike the balance.
How to:
To start first stand straight. Make your big toes touch while the heels remain apart. Keep your arms along your torso while your palms are kept forward. Slowly lift your toes and then spread it. Release your toes to the ground. Lift the inner arches of your feet and then firm the outer ankles. You’re your kneecaps and slowly contract your thighs upward, push your inner thighs backward. Slowly lengthen your tailbone and engage your core muscles. Move your waist to grow taller and slowly lift your chest. Slowly loosen the front ribs back. Keep your chin parallel to the ground. Move the shoulder back and down, keeping your ears over the shoulder. Keep your head slowly over the pelvis and keep the pelvis directly on the ankles.
Raised Arms Pose (UrdhvaHastansana)
Intensify your practice by converting your stretch into a backbend. Be careful while doing it, so you don’t hurt yourself. Slowly bend your back and let your neck hang. This is a wheel pose. Urdhva Hastansana is known to be a good belly a good stretch and is believed to improve digestion, relieves stress anxiety, corrects body posture. It is also known to increase the capacity of the lungs, thereby it is good against asthma and enhances blood circulation as well.
How to:
To start with begin with Tadasana, mentioned above. Stand by keeping your arms at either side and gently bring them above towards the ceiling. Always keep your arms parallel, while doing it and bring your palm together on top of your head. Keep your posture straight and ensure that your shoulders are not hunched. Keep your palms apart, facing each other. Keep arms straight and activate it throughout, till your fingertips, shift your gaze towards the top. Keep your shoulders away from ears, and shoulder blades pressed firmly on your back. Engage your thighs to pull the kneecaps up. Straighten your legs without locking your knees.
Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)
It is a part of the Sun Salutation sequence and is a common yoga pose practiced both at the beginning and at the end of the ritual. This asana is known to wake up the hamstrings and calm the mind. It is known to calm the nerves in the brain and help in relieving stress, curing depression. It is believed to stimulates liver and kidneys. Strengthen the strength of thighs and knees. It improves digestion, reduces fatigue and anxiety and works against headache and insomnia. It is a therapy to relieve asthma, high blood pressure, and sinusitis.
How to:
Strat with the previous asana UrdhvaHastasana. Slowly sweep your arms down on both sides of your body and come into forming a forward fold with your hips, like a Swan Dive. Your fingertips should be in line with your toes, pressing your palms into the ground. Make sure to keep it in a platform, if it doesn’t reach the ground. Microbend the knees and makes sure that they are not locked. Slowly engage your quadriceps and pull them up. Keep bringing your weight forward into your feet. Keep your hips over your ankles. Hang your head. Slowly come up as you inhale. Place your hands on your hips as you come up and press your tailbone downwards. Contract your abdominal muscles slowly and rise.
Garland Pose (Malasana)
The Garland Pose is known to improve our posture and relieve tension from a daily hectic life, which is caused by sedentary desk jobs. It is known to stretch the ankles, groins and back torso. It tones the belly and boosts metabolism. It is believed to increase motion in ankle and knee, corrects posture and cleans out systems.
How to:
Begin with squat keeping your feet as close together as it can be. Try to keep your heels rooted to the floor. Slowly separate your thighs and make it slightly wider than your torso. Exhale as you lean your torso slowly forward. Gently press your elbows on your inner knees. Bring your palms together in salutation. Go further by pressing your inner thighs slowly against the sides of your torso. Move your arms forward. Slowly swing them out to both sides and move your shins towards your armpits. Make your fingertips touch the floor and clasp your back heels. Hold the posture for a minute. Inhale and slowly straighten the knees.
Lunge Pose (Anjaneyasana)
This asana must be performed in an empty stomach, there should be a gap of about six hours, before practicing the asana. One must ensure to practice this asana only when the bowels are empty, post the morning ritual. Anjaneyasana is believed to stimulate the Thyroid Glands and boost the body’s metabolic functions. It enhances the oxygen supply and blood circulation and is good for heart patients. This asana makes the lower body more flexible and helps in the effective functioning of the abdomen.
How to:
To start with, bring yourself to do AdhoMukhaSvanasana, and slowly exhale and bring your right foot forward, just next to your right hand, keep your right knee and ankle are in one line. Gently bring the left knee lower. Place it on the floor, right at the back of your hips. Inhale, as you lift your torso and raise your arms on top your head. Bring your biceps close to your ears, and make sure that your palms are in front of each other. Slowly breathe out. Settle your hip forward and try to do a good stretch pushing the frontal region of your leg and the hip flexors.
Being your tailbone towards the floor, while extending your lower back and engaging your spine. Pull your arms further at the back and push your torso. Look at the back and move into the mild backbend. Hold this posture for ten seconds and raise the knee of the back leg to make it a full crescent pose. Release the pose and keep your hands back on the ground.
Final thoughts
One must practice regularly to understand the difference and positivity that yoga contributes to life. From flexibility, digestion, to insomnia, stress, yoga has a cure for all things related to body, mind, and soul.
