Poses For Yoga - An Introduction
The Sanskrit word "asana" stands for pose.
Each asana or pose for yoga gives you an insight into your body, mind and soul.
In other words, your body position opens ones door towards self awareness and discovery.
One should always be ready to experiment with adjustments in body positions as it makes one more comfortable and at ease with the poses.
Also, this open approach towards movement and adjustment stems any possible frustration and negative thoughts to enter the mind.
While practising yoga one should respect the physical limitations and one should not push the body to the limit.
As, if the body is pushed to the limit, yoga might become the cause for pain and discomfort.
Breathing is an integral part of any type of yoga practice.
The basic rule while practising yoga poses is that the breath should not be held during a pose.
Also forced or strained breaths are cues of over doing the poses.
If one observes signs of laboured or strained breathing, one should come out of that position.
In the initial stages of yoga practice, an aspirant can easily hold for up to three breaths through any of the asanas.
However, one should always stick to the rule of feeling comfortable and the breath should be held only for as long as one is comfortable with it.
Any signs of discomfort, and the aspirant should not hesitate to come out of the pose.
The different types of poses for yoga are: 1) Seated yoga poses: Seated yoga poses mainly consists of poses which involve breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques.
Seated poses for yoga are practised for a number of reasons including warm up poses before moving on to more difficult and complex poses for yoga.
Seated poses for yoga mainly improves body alignment and posture.
2) Standing yoga poses: Like the Seated poses, one use for the most basic standing poses are as warming up poses, mountain yoga pose comes to mind, to warm up the muscles before moving on to the other sequences like sun salutations.
Standing poses strengthen the legs, open the hips and improve body alignment balance and posture.
3) Inversions: These poses for yoga are best for improving the blood circulation, peace of mind and overall health.
Inversions are also very effective in slowing down the ageing process.
4) Relaxation and restorative poses: These poses mainly rest and restore the body and hence are practised at the end of the sessions.
These poses allow the free flow of energy released by yoga practice to all the parts of the body.
Some other types of poses for yoga are Counter poses, twists, Balancing poses, Forward bends, and Back bends.
These can all be learned from a formal yoga class or from a good beginners yoga DVD.
Each asana or pose for yoga gives you an insight into your body, mind and soul.
In other words, your body position opens ones door towards self awareness and discovery.
One should always be ready to experiment with adjustments in body positions as it makes one more comfortable and at ease with the poses.
Also, this open approach towards movement and adjustment stems any possible frustration and negative thoughts to enter the mind.
While practising yoga one should respect the physical limitations and one should not push the body to the limit.
As, if the body is pushed to the limit, yoga might become the cause for pain and discomfort.
Breathing is an integral part of any type of yoga practice.
The basic rule while practising yoga poses is that the breath should not be held during a pose.
Also forced or strained breaths are cues of over doing the poses.
If one observes signs of laboured or strained breathing, one should come out of that position.
In the initial stages of yoga practice, an aspirant can easily hold for up to three breaths through any of the asanas.
However, one should always stick to the rule of feeling comfortable and the breath should be held only for as long as one is comfortable with it.
Any signs of discomfort, and the aspirant should not hesitate to come out of the pose.
The different types of poses for yoga are: 1) Seated yoga poses: Seated yoga poses mainly consists of poses which involve breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques.
Seated poses for yoga are practised for a number of reasons including warm up poses before moving on to more difficult and complex poses for yoga.
Seated poses for yoga mainly improves body alignment and posture.
2) Standing yoga poses: Like the Seated poses, one use for the most basic standing poses are as warming up poses, mountain yoga pose comes to mind, to warm up the muscles before moving on to the other sequences like sun salutations.
Standing poses strengthen the legs, open the hips and improve body alignment balance and posture.
3) Inversions: These poses for yoga are best for improving the blood circulation, peace of mind and overall health.
Inversions are also very effective in slowing down the ageing process.
4) Relaxation and restorative poses: These poses mainly rest and restore the body and hence are practised at the end of the sessions.
These poses allow the free flow of energy released by yoga practice to all the parts of the body.
Some other types of poses for yoga are Counter poses, twists, Balancing poses, Forward bends, and Back bends.
These can all be learned from a formal yoga class or from a good beginners yoga DVD.
Source...