Yoga is India’s gift to the world. However not all around the world are aware of the Yogapositions (asanas) and it’s health and fitness benefits .

Performing the below explained Yogapositions have several health benefits like body stretches, fat loss, gaining strength and stamina etc. Here we will discuss each and every yoga positions in detail.

1. Paschimottanasana pose (forward bend pose)

 

This is one of the best yoga positions.It helps in relieving stress and decreasing fat deposits within the abdomen, stretches the spine and brings flexibility.
1. Sit on a yoga mat with your legs stretched in front of you. Don’t bend your knees and keep the palms on the ground beside your hips.
2. Deeply inhale and straighten your spine.
3. While exhaling bend forward to touch the toes with your fingers.
4. If you follow the proper posture, your face ought to be on your knees. Otherwise being a beginner, bend as much as attainable and if you face issues, you can even bend your knees slightly.
5. Take few normal breaths and with a deep inhalation, sit up straightening your spine.
6. Release the hands and keep them by your side and repeat another five times with a similar breathing process.

2. Dhanurasana (Bow pose):

This asana is helpful for weight loss, provides good stretch on abdomen and abdominal sides, it also helps to shed and burn fats of the body and tone the shape of the body.
1. Lie down along with your belly on the ground. Your chin must be touching the ground.
2. Keep hands beside you along with your palms facing upward.
3. Your legs should be placed at a six inches distance from each other.
4. Bend your legs at the knees and bring the heels near your hips.
5.Now grasp the ankles with both your hands.
Slowly raise your chin, head and neck backwards. Your chest should be still on the ground.
Now inhale deeply and raise your legs, thighs, chest until only your abdomen is touching the ground. Balance yourself on the abdomen only.
Pull your legs with your hands as much as attainable so as to arch your body fully in the shape of a bow.
Bring your feet together. Now look up and looked at a degree on the ceiling. This is your final position. Hold your breath while in this position. When you feel a strain on your back, exhale fully and come back to your original position.

3. Urdhava Hastotanasana (upward hand stretch pose)

Want a slim and attractive waist? this is a decent stretching yoga asana that not only provides you a lean waist but also broad chest. Here’s a way to get it on.
1.Stand erect with your feet together.
2.Raise your hands on top of your head in a namaste.
3.Now keeping your legs grounded, bend your body to the right as much as attainable until you’re feeling a strain on your left waist. Stay like this for fifteen seconds.
4.Return back to the original position.
5.Now bend left. Retain this position for one more fifteen seconds.
Slowly you will increase the holding time to thirty seconds.

4. Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose):

A good body fitness asana to shape up your thighs and buttocks. With regular practice of this yoga for lean body and to flaunt slim thighs in your mini dresses.
1.Sit on your yoga mat with a straight spine.
2.Bend your legs at the knees and also the edge of the soles of both your feet touching one another. The heels should be touching your inner thigh.
3.Now grasp the ankles of both your legs.You will inhale deeply, make your spine straight and draw your shoulder blades to the back.
4.Exhale and press the soles together.
5.Maintain this posture for as long as you are comfortable taking deep breaths.If attainable, bend forward from the waist to touch the chin on the ground.

5. Chaturanga dandasana (four-limbed staff pose)

This four-limbed staff pose strengthens& tones the whole body, helps teach necessary alignment and prepare you for a multitude of poses
1. Continue the sequence after downward dog and plank pose. Bear in mind to melt your shoulder blades down and pull your abs in toward the navel.
2. As you exhale, bend your arms to lower your body so it is a few inches high and parallel to the ground.
3. Keep a broad space in between your shoulder blades. Hold your elbows in by your side and push them back toward the heels, don’t crane your neck, look down and forward.
4. Attempt to hold the pose for ten to thirty seconds.

6. (Virabhadrasana) warrior II

Warrior II is an external hip opener and opens up the inner thighs and groin. It is a smart start line for several side postures as well as triangle, extended angle and half moon balance.
1. Stand with your right foot in front, pointing straight out. Bring your left leg behind you and point your left foot out to the side.
2. Slowly bend your right knee into a right angle. Keep your back leg straight and your back foot pressing into the ground. Look straight ahead.
3. Extend your arms shoulder height, along with your palms facing downward. Relax your throat, neck, and shoulders.
4. Hold for twenty to thirty seconds. Release and switch sides.

7. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing dog)

Downward Dog is employed in most yoga practices and it stretches and strengthens the whole body. I continuously say, “a down dog daily keeps the doctor away.”
1. Begin in table position, along with your arms directly under shoulders, palms flat on the ground, your knees on the ground, and also your feet flat on the mat.
2. Bring your toes together and exhale ,raise your rear part into the air, shifting your weight from off your hands and onto your legs. Your heels should be stretching toward the mat although they do not have to touch it.
3. Press your palms firmly into the mat with your fingers spread. Arch your back just slightly inward so your rear rises as high as attainable toward the sky. Your head should droop down between your arms.
4. To lengthen your legs and prepare to hold the post, place your feet flat on the ground (or as close as you’ll be able to grip the floor) by picking up one heel and bringing the other low, alternative for many breaths.

8. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Mountain pose is the starting point for all standing poses; it provides you a notation of a way to ground in to your feet and feel the ground below you.
1. Begin standing with your feet together.
2. Press down through all 10 toes as you spread them open.
3. Engage your quads to raise your knee caps and raise up through the inner thighs.
4. Draw your abdominals in and up as you raise your chest and press the tops of the shoulders down.
5. Feel your shoulder blades returning towards each other and unfold your chest, but keep your palms facing inwards back the direction of your body.
6. Imagine a string drawing the crown of the head up to the ceiling and breathe deeply in to the torso.
7. Hold for 5-8 breaths.

YOGA POSITIONS FOR BEGINNERS

Besides health benefits it’s also important to know some of the basic yoga positions which you can perform easily at your home. So let’s start with the yoga positions.

1.Balasana (Child’s pose)

Everyone wants a decent resting pose and Child’s pose is an impressive one not only for beginners but for yoga practitioners of all levels
1. Kneel on the ground and sit on your heels with your knees regarding as separated as your hips.
2. Lay your torso down between your thighs.
3. Extend your arms out in front of you, along with your palms facing down on the ground.
4. Hold the pose for thirty seconds to two minutes while you deeply inhale and exhale.

2. Virabhadrasana (Warrior I)

Warrior poses are essential for building strength and stamina during a yoga practice. They provide us confidence and stretch the hips and thighs while building within the entire lower body and core. Warrior 1 is a light backbend; and an excellent pose for stretching the front body (quads, hip flexors, psoas) and strengthen the legs, hips, buttocks, core and upper body.
1. Stand and make your right foot to be in front, pointing straight forward. Turn your left leg behind you and point your left foot to the side.
2. Bend your right knee to make a right angle, still keep your back leg in a straight direction and your back foot pressing into the ground. Look straight forward.
3. Extend your arms higher than your head, palms clasped along.
4. Hold for twenty to thirty seconds. Release and switch sides.

3. Trikonasana (Triangle pose)

Triangle is a fantastic standing position to stretch the edges of the waist, unfold up the lungs, fortify the legs and it also tones the whole body.
1. Bend at the waist and bring the fingertips of your right hand to the ground, outside your right foot. Extend your left arm higher than your head, making a straight line between left hand and foot. Hold for many breaths.
2. Release your hands, straighten your upper body and right leg. Repeat on the left facet.

4. Vrikhasana (Tree Pose)

Tree is an impressive standing pose for beginners to work on to achieve focus and clarity, and learn to breathe while standing and keeping the body balanced on one foot.
1. Stand with your left side to the direction of the wall together with your feet.
2. Bend your left leg so that your knee can touch the wall and your foot is laid on your right inner thigh.
3. Place a tie roundabout your shin if you would need help in keeping your leg up.
4. Put your foot onto your right thigh
5. Hold for twenty to twenty-five seconds, then release and change sides.
6. As you progress, you’ll not need the tie or the wall.

5. Setu Bandhasana (Bridge pose)

Bridge pose is a sensible back bend for beginners to stretch the front body and strengthens the back body.
1. Lie on your back, knees bent, feet close to buttocks and hip-width apart. Clasp your hands underneath your raised buttocks.
2. Shrink your buttocks, curling your pelvis looking upward, pressing your back to the ground.
3. Slowly raise your lower, middle, and upper back; raise hips towards ceiling, holding it.
4. Release it by reducing the spine once. Relax

6. Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend pose)

It’s necessary to include a forward bend in yoga practice to stretch the hamstrings, lower and upper back and sides. Seated forward bend is the excellent fold for everybody to begin to open up the body and learn to breathe through uncomfortable positions. If you’re feeling any sharp pain, you need to back off; however if you’re feeling the tension when you fold forward then you can continue to breathe, you’ll slowly begin to loosen up and let go. You can additionally keep your knees bent in the pose as long as the feet keep flexed and along.
1. Start sitting with your legs together, feet firmly flexed neither turning in nor out, and your hands by your hips.
2. Raise your chest and begin to hinge forward from your waist.
3. Engage your lower abdominals and imagine your belly button moving towards the top of your thighs.
4. Once you hit your maximum, stop and breathe for 8-10 breaths. Confirm that your shoulders, head and neck are all released.

7. Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (Pigeon pose)

It helps to find relief from sciatic and back pain as well as releasing built up stress, trauma, worry and anxiety.
1. Start in push-up position. Place your left knee on the ground close to shoulder along with your left heel by your right hip.
2. Lower onto your forearms. Bring your right leg down and keep the top of your foot on the ground.
3. Keep your chest raised to the wall in front of you and your gaze down.

8. Paripurna Navasana (Full Boat Pose)

It tones and strengthens the abdominal muscle, stretches the hamstrings and strengthen your spine and hip flexors.
1. Sit on your gluts with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
2. Grab onto your legs under your thighs simply above the knees. Lean your torso back a bit.
3. Raise your feet off the ground. Press them together. Keep your legs straight and raise them as high as you’ll be able to.
4. Extend your arms straight out in front of you.
5. Hold this pose for thirty seconds. Repeat the process again.

So here were some of the best Yoga positions for beginners and fitness enthusiasts . Incorporate these yoga positions in your daily lifestyle for better health.

(The writer is the Director and CEO at Kirola Sports Pvt Ltd. She has played Basketball, Taekwondo and High Jump at National level)

( The views expressed are the author’s own.The POST neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)