Many times yoga is misunderstood by people who don’t know what it really is. When I mention the word ‘yoga’, in their mind they see someone sitting with their legs crossed and their eyes closed, making weird noises. And I often hear ‘I come to the gym to exercise, not sleep. Yoga is not an exercise’.
Of course that is not true. We should not misunderstand the low music and lighting as less exercise. Yoga has a variety of poses, from very easy to very difficult, that strengthen your muscles as good as if you were working with weights.
The other thing I often hear about yoga is in connection to religion. Many Christian people believe they shouldn’t do yoga because it is connected to a different religion. Although it is true that yoga is connected to Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, my opinion is that all people can still enjoy the many benefits of yoga if they do it as a form of exercise and not religion. By holding some yoga poses to strengthen your muscles and improve balance and flexibility, does not necessarily mean you are practicing a different religion. So leave the guilt behind and give it a try.
To name just a few benefits of yoga: it strengthens your muscles by making them slim and long, and not bulky. It improves your balance and flexibility, it helps with stress relief and might improve various conditions related to stress like anxiety and some type of phobias. It is also said that each pose you hold is connected to an internal organ of the body and improves its function. If you are a very stressful person who worries about everything, then yoga can help you relax a bit. So we can say that yoga improves your overall health, mental and physical.
Next, I will give you 12 easy yoga poses, that can easily be performed by my overweight friends, but also by just about anyone, even if you never tried yoga before. It is best to perform the exercises barefoot because the foot sticks to the yoga mat to give you better balance and also so you won’t slip. You also get a better connection to the ground. When you are holding a pose, try to hold it for about 30 seconds to feel the muscles engaging.
So get your yoga mat ready and let’s begin. If you don’t have a yoga mat, you can find one here.
1. Child’s Pose (Balasana)
This is a great pose to start your exercises. It releases the tension on the lower back and relaxes the mind and body to get you ready for the following. Take the bottom towards your heels and spread the knees a bit to make space for the belly to relax between the knees. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to release the stress of the day.
2. Cat Stretch (Marjariasana)
This pose releases the tension on the entire torso and neck. When you change from facing up to facing down and vice versa, do it slowly and have the feeling that you are rolling one vertebra at a time in a slow rolling motion. Inhale as you face up, and exhale as you face down towards your navel. Repeat a few times.
3. Warrior Two (Virabhadrasana II)
It works the legs, arms and shoulders. On the bend leg, the knee should be over the heel. Square the hips forward, keep the torso straight and long and open the arms by your sides, shoulder’s height. On the straight leg, the toes are facing forward, while on the bend leg, the toes are facing to the side. A small tip from personal experience, if I focus my eyes on the fingers of the arm that has the same leg bend (like in the photo), it helps me relax my breath a lot.
4. Tree Pose (Vrikshasana)
This is an easy balance pose. It strengthens the muscles on the standing leg as well as the core, and it improves your balance. What that means in simple words, you will stand and walk better, with a smaller risk of falling, especially elder people. The bend knee should be facing to the side, not forward. Also make sure you don’t lift the pelvis up on one side, hip bones should be on the same height.
5. Down Dog (Adho mukha svanasana)
In this pose your body should look like a reversed V, or how I like to call it, a mountain. The most common mistake I see in this pose is curved back. You should have two straight lines, one with the legs, and one with your arms and torso. So press your heels down towards the floor and feel the stretch on your calves, and also press the shoulders towards your knees to eliminate the curved back, and feel the entire torso and shoulders opening. Your head should be between your arms and your eyes should be facing towards your knees.
6. Cobra (Bhujangasana)
It opens the chest and increases the flexibility of the spine. It also opens the lungs, to breathe better, and it is also said that it helps with asthma too. You can start with bend arms if it is too difficult at the beginning, and slowly increase to straight arms as you feel more comfortable.
7. Swan Pose (Hamsasana)
One of my favorite hip opening poses. As you bring the bend knee forward, turn the foot facing upside down, so the top of the foot is facing down. Keep the hips squared, don’t let the bottom fall on the side, and if you can, slide the back leg to the back a bit more, it will open the hips more. Once you are in this position, let your torso rest forward on the front leg.
8. Seated Spinal Twist
It increases flexibility of the spine and provides massage for the internal organs. It also helps with lower back pain as it releases the tension in the area. Use the back arm to support and lift up your torso, and then slowly turn one vertebra at a time from base of the spine to the head.
9. Lotus Position (Padmasana)
Another hip opener position to help you increase flexibility in the hip area. You start by sitting with your legs crossed, just like how we did when we were kids. For half lotus, take one leg and cross on the opposite thigh. Most people, me included, can only go up until here. If you can cross the second leg also, so that both legs are crossed on top of the opposite thighs, then you are at full lotus position. From there, if you lean your torso forward, you will feel the stretch even more.
Half Lotus Full Lotus
10. Knees To Chest Pose (Apanasana)
A very relaxing pose, which helps with better intestine function and also relieves lower back pain.
11. Happy Baby Pose (Ananda Balasana)
In this pose, just like its name, you get to feel like a happy baby again! Lay on your back and grab your feet with your hands (hands should be inside of feet). If you cannot reach your feet, start by grabbing your ankles at the beginning. Spread your knees and feet away from each other, and with your hands push the legs down so that knees go towards the floor.
It is a good stretch for the legs and the back.
12. Shavasana
Finally, everybody’s favorite. Just lay on the floor, releasing every muscle and simply close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Use it at the end of your exercises to relax the body and mind. Try to stay for at least 8-10 minutes in this position to give your body enough time to relax.
So there you have it. Easy yoga poses for all levels and all ages. I hope you enjoy and relax through the poses as well as work your muscles.
Georgia, as you correctly stated, yoga takes into account the relaxation of the mind, through the meditation part at the end, which is super important for stress relief. No other exercise does that!