Asanas

I will be sharing about my favourite asanas in this post but don’t worry, it will not be too long.

Setu Bandhasana (Setu Bandha Sarvāṅgāsana) – Bridge Pose

This is a great asana for opening the chest to go into deeper backends. With regular practice, bridge pose builds strength in the lower back quite quickly and is recommended for people with lower back pain to help gain strength and flexibility. It also stretches your back, neck, and chest and relaxes your body, remember to breathe with the throat as you press your chest into your chin.

Utthita Parsvakonasana – Extended Side Angle Pose

Another chest opening asanas which lengthens the side of your body to create openess in the chest area and the heart. It deeply stretches groin, back muscles, spines, and hamstring.

Those who seek to strengthen themselves can tip toe on the front leg and lift upwards, or go indo a bounded side angle pose to create a twist that massages internal organs/meridian points.

Ardha Pincha Mayurasana – Dolphin Pose

This is one of my favourite pose to practice as I venture into more arm balancing and inversion classes. Dolphin pose strengthens and stretches the shoulder, arms, upper back, and legs at the same time. It really is an elevated downwars facing dog and provides relief from headaches, insomnia, fatigue, and mild depression.

In this pose, one begins to understand and feel the body weight on forearms and shoulders and work on keeping the back straight by bending the knees, and eventually work towards putting the heels on the mat.

Supta Baddha Konasana – Reclined Bound Angle Pose

This is a pose that has been difficult for me due to my tighter hips. This asana increases blood circulation in the lower abdomen and improves digestion. I feel that it works my entire hip regiong, sretches the inner thighs and also increases range of external rotation in the hips.

Baddha konasana or supta baddha konasana then becomes an immensely useful posture for those of us who lead the modern lifestlye aka long sitting hours in the office.