Basic Yoga Asanas – I

There are many basic asanas in practice all around the world. We are not mentioning all of them here, in fact, an almost impossible task, but some of the most popular and beneficial are brought in for your reference.

1. COBRA: (Bhujangasana)

Cobra is an essential element of Sun Salutations, and is an alternative to practicing Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) in the Sun Salutations sequences. Do this in easy stages. Lie down, face prone, legs tightly together and stretched back, forehead on the floor. Put your hands, palm down, just under your shoulders. Inhale and raise your head, pressing your neck back, now use your hands to push your trunk up until you are bending in a beautiful arc from your lower spine to the back of your neck. You need go no further than this. However, if you are supple enough, you can now straighten your arms completely, bend the legs at the knees and drop your head back to touch your feet. Even if your head goes nowhere near your feet, drop it back as far as possible and hold the posture with deep breathing. Come out of the posture very slowly, returning to the face prone posture. Relax with your head to one side. Repeat.

Cobra Pose is best known for its ability to increase the flexibility of the spine. It stretches the chest while strengthening the spine and shoulders. It also helps to open the lungs, which is therapeutic for asthma. This pose also stimulates the abdominal organs, improving digestion.

2. BOW: Dhanurasana
In this exercise our body pose looks like the shape of the Dhanush (bow). So it is called as Dhanurasana in Sanskrit. This is also an extreme version of the simple bow. It is surprising how many children can do it immediately. Lie face prone on your mat. If you are very slim have a nice thick, padded mat for this one. Inhale and bend your knees up. Stretch back with your arms and catch hold of your ankles, keeping fingers and thumbs all together on the outside. Inhale and at the same time raise your head and chest, pulling at your ankles and lifting knees and thighs off the floor. Breathe normally, trying to kick up your legs higher and lifting your head up. You are now bent like a bow, balancing the weight of your body on your abdomen. You can stop right here but if you can still stretch further, then slide your hands down your legs, lift them higher, keep the knees together and pull back as much as you can. Hold for a few normal deep breaths, then relax back to the face-prone position, head to one side. If you can’t reach your feet or ankles, wrap a strap around the fronts of your ankles (or feet) and hold on to the ends of the strap

Dhanurasana is a very effective weight loss program. It is a basic posture of Hatha yoga. It helps to reduce belly fat fast. It Strengthens ankles, thighs, groins, chest and abdominal organs and spinal cord. Dhanu means a bow. Bow pose is a fantastic stretch for the spine, abdominals, hip flexors, biceps and pecs. It is an all-around, great total body-opening backbend.

3. THE SHOOTING BOW: Akarna Dhanurasana

In Sanskrit, this is known as Akarna Dhanurasana and one leg is drawn up like a shooting bow. The Body of practitioner will resemble the Bow and Arrow pose denoting the archer aims for releasing the arrow from bow. Therefore Akarna Ddhanurasana also known as the shooting bow posture and the main aspect of this asana is to pull foot near to the ear that resembles the archer. “Archer Pose” position resembles the archer and hence the name Akarna Dhanurasana. 

Sit with both legs stretched out in front and back straight. Reach forward with both hands and clasp your feet, catching the right foot with the left hand and the left foot with the right hand. Inhale, bend the left knee and pull the foot across the body, close to your chest, pointing the elbow up and twisting the body slightly to the right. The left hand stays firm and tight, holding the right foot. Hold posture with normal breathing, release slowly, and relax. Repeat on the other side. In the beginning it is enough to hold the bent left leg with the right hand. When this is easy, stretch down and hold the left foot with the right hand. Continue to pull on the left foot, lifting it higher on each exhalation.

Akarna Dhanurasana strengthens your legs and builds up the core muscles in an excellent manner. It enhances flexibility of the thighs, groins, chest, shoulders, groins, spine, abdominal muscles and neck, and also treats indigestion problems and heals pain in the large intestines and lower abdomen areas. It regularizes the menstrual cycle for women. Breathing capacity is enhanced greatly as it expands your lungs while increasing the oxygen holding capacity.

Basic Sitting Postures with Benefits

JANU SIRSASANA: Correct foot placement

Sit up straight with legs evenly extended in front. Bend the right leg at the knee and place the foot so that the heel is in the right groin and the front of the foot touches the left thigh. Turn the foot so that the bottom of the foot is facing upward and press the knee back to form an obtuse angle with the body. This position will be difficult at first; don’t force it. Put a folded blanket under the knee and also under the hips. Gradually the knee will move farther back. Just keep the foot correctly positioned.

JANU SIRSASANA: Correct, perfect posture

Having positioned the foot and knee correctly, stretch the left leg out, keeping the leg firmly on the mat. Settle the heel firmly and stretch the toes up. (The heel should pull gently away from the ankle.) Now inhale and bend forward over the straight leg, catching the foot with both hands if possible. Beginners should bend only as far as they can without rounding the back. When this posture is done correctly and completely, the body will roll forward over the extended leg, absolutely flat from the tail bone to the head. Stay there breathing normally for as long as you can. Inhale, release the handhold, come up smoothly, straighten the bent leg and relax. Repeat on the other side.

JANU SIRSASANA: Wrong posture

The heel is not positioned against its own thigh. The knee has not been pushed back as far as possible to form an obtuse angle. The back is humped and curved because the pelvis is jammed and unable to lift properly. Instead of a smooth, complete stretching of the spine, the lumbar is over-stretched and the rest of the spine constricted. The left leg is not flat on the floor.

TRIANG MUKHAIKAPADA PASCHIMOTTANASANA:
Sitting, forward-bending pose over one leg

This posture generally follows the previous one. Sit with your legs stretched in front. Bend the right leg so that the right foot is near the right hip. The toes should point back. The right calf presses against the right thigh. The body will tilt in this position so put a small folded towel under the left buttock to keep the hips level and the forward stretch even and extended. Hold the left foot with both hands, inhale and bend forward, keeping both knees together as you stretch forward over the straight leg. Many students will find it difficult in this position to even take hold of the foot of the outstretched leg. Do not despair. Just hold the knee, shin or ankle, and sit, breathing deeply, in whichever position represents your best extension. If the back is tight and the spine inflexible, this will take time. Release the hold and straighten the bent leg. Repeat on the other side.