How Yoga poses to relax
Yoga is an increasingly widespread practice and is currently very fashionable. It has its origin in India and, although it has been changing a lot since its origin until now, the base remains the same. It is not a sport as such although it exercises the body and makes it more flexible by stretching the muscles.
However, what I like most about yoga is that it exercises the body and mind and is used as a relaxation tool. It is based on a series of static postures, also known as asanas in Sanskrit, which are performed on a mat while breathing is controlled. At first, it is usually more difficult to achieve them, but once you practice it you gain balance and flexibility. As a relaxation tool, many people practice it at home and, for this reason, in this article, we are going to tell you about some yoga poses to relax.
Table Of Content
1. How to breathe in yoga
2. The posture of the dead
3. The child’s posture
4. the lotus position
5. Cobbler’s pose
6. easy pose in yoga
How to breathe in yoga
Before talking about postures, it is important to make a point to talk about breathing. When we practice yoga it is not only about postures and stretches, it also teaches us to breathe to achieve total relaxation or immersion, in fact, this is one of the best ways to benefit from yoga. We have to inhale and exhale deeply in each exercise and not in an accelerated way. In each posture we will stay one or two minutes breathing deeply doing the following practice: we will take a breath for 5 seconds, then we keep it inside for 10 seconds and slowly release it for another 10 seconds.
In yoga, there are different breathing practices such as Kapalabhati Pranayama, the so-called energizing breathing that consists of breathing calmly and then faster. But, in this case, since what we are looking for is to relax, we will take some slow and deep breaths, focusing on these to free the mind.
The posture of the dead
Although it has a somewhat strange name, the posture of the dead or Savasana is the most used to relax. The corpse pose is widely used for the beginning or end of the exercise, as a relaxation before or after. It is very easy to do, although it will be more difficult for nervous people to endure it, since it requires a relaxation of body and mind.
What is Savasana for?
This is basically a relaxation posture and it serves that purpose. Although it seems easy, the difficult thing is to keep your mind clear and out of thoughts. For that we turn to breathing and the sensations we are having: the body on the mat, feeling each of our body parts… In this way, we will be focusing on what we are experiencing, leaving aside the thoughts that alter us.
How to do a dead man’s pose
It is the simplest of all, you just have to lie on your back with your arms and legs relaxed, both extremities a little separated from the body. With the body stretched we will begin breathing, calmly exhaling as much air as we can. At this time you just have to focus on your breathing and put aside the thoughts that are running through your head.
The child’s posture
The posture of the child or Balasana is used a lot between posture and posture to rest and is ideal to start doing yoga because it is very simple. It is very easy to do and does not require flexibility, although at first, it may cost you a little to maintain it.
What is Balasana for?
In addition to relaxing our entire body, through this posture, we stretch the entire part of the back and neck. But it is very important to keep in mind that you should not force your posture, but rather keep it relaxed. Balasana (Child’s Pose) Benefits, How to Do & Contraindications by Yogi Sandeep – Siddhi Yoga
How to do a child’s pose in yoga
For the child’s pose, you have to kneel with your legs together. Once done, sit back on your heels and exhale. Take a breath again and throw your body forward, so that it falls on your thighs while exhaling the air that you have been taking. Now rest your forehead on the floor and stretch your arms behind you, towards your feet, palms up. Remain in this position for a minute, breathing as calmly as possible.
The lotus position
You have probably done the lotus position or Padmasana without realizing it or you have tried it when you were little. Along with the easy posture, which we will explain later, it is one of the most recommended for breathing exercises.
What is the Padmasana for?
It is one of the most used postures in yoga, widely used to do different breathing exercises. It is somewhat difficult to achieve at first but with time you will get it. If you can’t do it at first, don’t despair, there are other similar postures such as the so-called easy posture that can help you just the same.
How to do the lotus position
To get high, it is best to start by sitting with your back straight, without leaning anywhere. On a day-to-day basis, we tend to throw our shoulders forward, causing our spine to bend and letting everything drop. It is something we do without realizing it, but it is detrimental to the health of our back and, therefore, we must learn to stand up straight.
In this position, we will try to achieve it. Once seated, let the weight of your back fall on your hips and slightly throw your shoulders back. It is not about being tense but about leaving our muscles relaxed but in the most stretched way possible for our back. To make it easier, push your tailbone back a bit.
Once you have a straight back, you must take one of your legs, for example the right one, and place your foot on the thigh of the opposite leg. Once achieved, you must do the same with the other foot and place it on the opposite leg.
Now place your arms on your thighs with your palms facing up. You can also place your fingers by joining the index finger with the thumb and relaxing all the fingers, always with the palm facing up, this is what is known as Mudra (finger posture).
Cobbler’s pose
Baddha Konasana or shoemaker’s posture is also known as the butterfly posture in conventional stretching exercises and is another of the easy postures to do that, although we think not, stretches our muscles and helps us relax:
What is the Baddha Konasana for?
It is a posture that, in addition to relaxing, helps us to stretch the entire part of the thigh. As you practice it more frequently you will see how your flexibility increases and also how you can relax more easily.
How to do the shoemaker’s pose in yoga
To perform this posture you must sit on the mat with your back straight, as we have seen before, and stretch your legs. Then bend your knees to the sides and bring the soles of your feet together just in front of your body. The point is that over time you will be able to do it in such a way that your legs are glued to the ground, but at first this may be difficult and your knees will rise. You can also push them with your hands so that they rest on the ground. In this way the entire thigh is stretched. Once in the posture, take a series of breaths, taking in air, holding it for a few seconds and releasing it. For example, take a breath for 5 seconds, hold it for 10 and release it for another 10 seconds.
Easy pose in yoga
Easy Pose or Sukhasana can be an alternative to Lotus Pose. It is known as this because it is literally the easiest posture that you can practice doing yoga.
What is the Sukhasana for?
Like the lotus posture, this is used for breathing exercises, such as Kapalabhati Pranayama, energizing breathing. Having a straight back will also enhance this posture so that over time when we sit down we do it without realizing it.
How to do an easy pose
The safest thing is that you do it in your day to day and you do not realize it, although you have to adapt it to yoga. It is about sitting on the mat with your legs crossed, this time without putting one on top of the other. It is a simple posture, but keep in mind that your back has to be straight without leaning anywhere. For this we will do what we have seen in the lotus position, with the coccyx slightly backward, the shoulders also backward and letting the weight fall on the hips.