Yoga can help strengthen muscles and improve flexibility. It also helps with balance and posture and reduces stress. There’s some evidence that it can help with weight loss, high blood pressure and heart disease.
How many calories you burn doing yoga depends on the style you choose. Classes that focus on rest and mindfulness may not raise your heart rate enough to count as moderate exercise, while more athletic classes might.
Lunge
Often performed as an alternative to a squat, lunges strengthen and tone the quads and glutes. They also target the core and help with digestion and sciatica, notes GoodRx. Performing lunges with weight added increases the intensity and targets the back extensors.
The runner’s lunge, or Utthita Ashwa Sanchalanasana, provides an energizing stretch for the body and mind. It boosts circulation, relieves fatigue and improves concentration. It also helps increase lung capacity by promoting deep breathing, which can alleviate respiratory issues. To modify this pose, place a chair behind you to support the back leg. Using the chair also allows you to increase your lunge’s depth, as you can shift the front knee further back toward the floor. The deeper you go, the more your muscles work eccentrically, or lengthening under tension to control the movement.
Extended Side Angle
This posture tones the overall body while reducing backaches, strengthening the chest and arms. This pose requires a strong base and good understanding of how the body moves while performing it.
Begin in Mountain Pose (Tadasana). Step your feet wide apart. Turn your right foot and heel outward 90 degrees and the left foot in slightly.
Raise your arms into a T position and lower the shoulders away from the ears. Keep the arms actively stretching away from each other. Move the top arm back to stalk directly over your bent knee, opening the chest and allowing the lower shoulder to sink forward. This pose also stretches the side of the legs and the back of the torso. It’s a wonderful prep for many wide-legged poses and helps improve balance and fight fatigue.
Forward Fold
Yin yoga poses like the seated forward fold (Pashchimottanasana) offer a counter to backbends and help to enliven the spine. This pose also helps to relieve tight hips and hamstrings.
It’s important to prepare the body for this posture with lower back strengthening poses like the wide leg standing pose or head to knee forward bend pose (Janu Sirsasana). Focusing on sinking the back hip flexors into the low lunge can also improve flexibility and lengthen the back body muscles.
Forcing oneself into a deep forward fold without adequate preparation can cause strain on the back muscles and fascia of the lower spine and sacroiliac joint, leading to injury. This can lead to pain and discomfort as well as serious chronic conditions such as a herniated disc.
Lion’s Pose (Breath Pose)
Practicing breathing techniques like lion’s breath, also known as simhasana, helps to increase pulmonary capacity and improve lung function. It is a great exercise for people with chronic pain, and it can help you feel more relaxed, according to one study. It can also calm your mind and reduce anxiety.
Start by finding a comfortable seated position. If possible, use a rolled up blanket behind your knees to support the hip area. Look up and fixate your drishti, or focused gaze, on the space between your eyebrows. Open your mouth wide and stretch your tongue as far out as you can.
Roaring like a lion may not be the most natural thing to do, but it’s a fun way to release tension and blow off steam. Regular pranayama practices, such as lion’s breath, can help you sleep better, boost mental alertness and reduce stress.
Happy Baby
Often considered a fun, silly and relaxing pose, happy baby — or Ananda Balasana in Sanskrit — is a great way to relieve stress and tension in the lower back and hips. It also strengthens and stretches the inner thighs, hip flexors, and hamstrings while improving posture. Practicing happy baby in stillness can be a good stretch, but rocking side to side offers an even more soothing and strengthening stretch for the legs and hips.
For those suffering from menstrual cramps, this yoga posture can help alleviate the discomfort by gently stretching the muscles in the hips and pelvic floor while reducing bloating. It’s an easy and relaxing movement that instructors often add near the beginning or end of a yoga class. This pose is not recommended if you have neck or knee injuries or are pregnant.