Whether you want to tone up, increase balance or just relax, yoga is a wonderful exercise for all levels of fitness. It provides a complete workout, but is also gentle on the joints and muscles, especially for beginners.
Begin by doing the easy pose of Child’s Pose. This stretches the back, hips and thighs and doesn’t challenge strength or balance.
Child’s Pose
Child’s Pose is a restorative yoga pose that promotes relaxation and healing. It can help alleviate stress, depression and fatigue while strengthening the hips and ankles. It also provides a stretch for the neck and shoulders. To do the pose, kneel on the floor and separate your knees hip-width apart. Rest your torso between the thighs and rest your forehead on the mat. If you are feeling uncomfortable, try adding a bolster under your forehead for more support and comfort.
The calming effect of this position can help reduce anxiety and depression, as well as improve memory, behavior, blood pressure, digestion, and appetite. The physical action of lowering the forehead to the ground stimulates the pituitary and hypothalamus glands, which send signals that slow the heart rate. This soothing position is a great way to start or end your yoga routine. It is also good to use between more challenging poses, as it allows your muscles to relax and reset before moving on.
Extended Side Angle Pose
This pose can be quite challenging, but achieving it will build balance and strength. It stimulates the abdominal muscles and improves digestion. It also helps to strengthen the ankles and groin.
Beginners often have a tendency to allow the front knee to move forward over the ankle, which moves the weight into the knee rather than the hips. This can lead to injury.
To avoid this, check that the bent knee is stacked directly over the ankle. If you find your top shoulder is rolling forward or backward, try to rotate the shoulders in a way that will open the chest and broaden the upper shoulder blades. Then extend your top arm either straight up toward the sky or, if internal rotation is not possible, extend it alongside the ear (palm facing down). To enhance the effect of the pose, you can hold it for 8 breaths. This pose strengthens the legs, hips and core, stretches the side body and opens the chest and intercostal muscles.
Pigeon Pose
Pigeon Pose is a challenging hip-opening stretch that also helps to loosen the back muscles. It isn’t a pose that should be taken lightly and beginners should always proceed with caution, especially those with knee injuries. However, with some helpful modifications and precautions it is possible to safely practice this advanced pose.
One common issue in this pose is that the back leg flails out to the side too much, putting excessive strain on the knee and potentially twisting the sacrum. To prevent this, you can shimmy the back foot a little bit to bring it closer to your pubic bone. You can also try to keep the front thigh parallel to the length of the mat.
As with all yoga poses, listen to your body and move as far into the posture as is comfortable for you. Regular practice of Pigeon Pose can help to improve hip and back flexibility, reduce lower-back pain, and promote better posture.
Happy Baby
Often done toward the end of a yoga class, before Savasana (final relaxation pose), Happy Baby is a gentle stretch that helps open the hip area and prepare for rest. It’s also a great way to calm the mind.
Lie on your back with your head flat and knees bent at a 90-degree angle toward the ceiling. Reach forward and grab either the inside or outside of the feet, spreading them apart so they move closer to your armpits. Hold the position and slowly rock side to side.
Benefits of happy baby:
It’s a wonderful hip opener that releases tension in the inner groin and hips, relieving back pain, improving digestion, and preventing constipation. It also stimulates the organs and increases circulation. It can also help you develop strong core muscles and improve your lung capacity. And, because it requires patience and focus, it can strengthen your mind. It encourages diaphragmatic breathing, which lowers the heart rate and can relieve stress.