Yoga is a holistic fitness practice that can help alleviate back pain, improve digestion and strengthen your hips and shoulders. If you’re new to the practice, try these beginner yoga moves to get started.
Lie face up, with your knees bent directly over your heels and arms at your sides, palms down. On an inhale, press your feet into the floor to lift your hips slightly.
Half Pigeon Pose
Half Pigeon pose is a powerful hip opener that helps open the back hip and lengthens the spine. This stretch also provides a good opportunity to practice balance and body awareness. This yoga posture is great for beginners who are trying to increase their flexibility in the hips and legs, but it’s also beneficial for advanced practitioners.
For those who have trouble with the hip opening aspect of this posture, it is helpful to do a series of hip openers and stretches before working with Pigeon Pose. Some good options include standing Figure-Four pose, a variation of King Pigeon Pose, and the hip opener, Standing Half Moon Pose.
Another helpful trick for working with Pigeon Pose is to narrow the angle of the front knee, rather than aiming for a 90 degree angle. This can help those with knee pain, as it relieves the pressure on the front knee and groin. It also makes the pose easier for those who struggle with the back leg positioning.
Pigeon Pose Stretch
Pigeon Pose is a stretch that opens the hips and strengthens the knees and ankles. It also strengthens the gluteus and hip flexor muscles. There are variations on this pose such as Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One-Legged King Pigeon Pose) which provides an even more intense external rotation of the hips.
Pigeon Stretch may help relieve lower back pain by stretching the muscles and tendons around the spine, and it may ease sciatic pain by stretching the piriformis muscle in the buttocks. It also stretches and strengthens the deep hip flexor muscle called the psoas, which is vital for posture and stabilizes the spine.
Beginners often have trouble with Pigeon Pose, mainly because the hips can twist out of alignment and limit how much of a stretch is obtained from the pose. Keeping the hips square to the short edge of the mat and the weight evenly distributed will ensure a safe and effective Pigeon Stretch.
Downward Facing Dog Stretch
This is one of the most recognizable yoga poses. It strengthens the back and upper body while extending the lower leg, calves and hamstrings. It also challenges the core and helps to stretch the back of the neck and shoulders.
In yoga classes, it is often used to help warm up the legs and arms before deeper poses. It’s a great pose to do when you need a boost of energy, as it improves circulation and stimulates blood flow to the head.
You can try a variation of this pose by doing it against a wall. Stand with your feet hip distance apart and place your hands on the wall about a metre away from you. Walk your hands down the wall until your torso and arms are parallel to the floor. It will help you build the arm rotation and the hinge at the hips required for a proper Downward Dog. This can be a really useful tool for new students who have not yet developed the strength to achieve a full Downward Dog on their own.
Chaturanga
Chaturanga, or pushup pose, is an essential part of any Vinyasa yoga class. This full-body posture builds strength in the wrists, arms, shoulders, core and legs, and provides a foundation of stability to work from in more challenging poses like handstand. It can be hard to master, especially for beginner yogis. The challenge comes from the tendency to rely on shoulder muscles alone for the pose, resulting in misalignments in the shoulders that put delicate joints at risk.
When practiced improperly, Chaturanga can lead to an unstable base, which can eventually cause shoulder injuries. A common pitfall is allowing the elbows to flare out, burdening the shoulders with too much weight, but a healthier approach is to shift the weight forward onto the heels and draw the front ribs in to create a straight line from head to heel. Practice the pose on the knees first to get a feel for the correct arm position, before moving into the full version from Plank Pose.