Yoga helps strengthen, tone and sculpt muscles throughout the body. It also stretches and opens the back, as well as the hips, knees and shoulders.
Start with feet together or hip-width apart, then separate them and flex the front foot. Clasp opposite elbows or rest your hands on the mat or blocks and breathe deeply for 4-5 breaths.
Downward Facing Dog
Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) is a strengthening and energising yoga pose that helps to improve flexibility of the back, arms and legs. It also provides a good stretch for the hamstrings, ankles, calves and spine. It is believed to relieve headaches, insomnia and fatigue while reducing stress and anxiety. Its regular practice strengthens and tones the upper body, shoulders, arms and wrists.
This is one of the most popular poses in yoga and it is often taught to beginner students first. This is despite the fact that it can be quite painful for someone who is not used to this weight-bearing position and has limited mobility or strength. It can also lead to injuries in the wrists, hands, shoulders, neck and back if not done properly. For these reasons, it is important for all practitioners to learn how to modify this pose so that they can reap its many benefits. To avoid any wrist discomfort, place blocks under your palms to support the knuckles and ensure that you do not lock the elbows.
Extended Side Angle Pose
Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana) offers a deep stretch to the sides of the body, and helps strengthen muscles in the hips, legs and core. The pose is also challenging because it requires concentration to keep balance and alignment, which teaches mindfulness and fosters a deeper connection between the body and the mind.
It’s important to not force yourself into the full pose if you have foot, knee or hip problems. You can use a block under your hand for added stability to help you build strength and flexibility in the pose over time.
It’s common to over-extension the arms in this posture, which can put stress on the elbows and reduce the strength-building potential of the pose. Make sure to keep the hands open and don’t lock your elbows. This will protect the shoulders and increase your lung capacity. It also helps to avoid the mistake of rounding the side body. The shoulders should stack directly over the hips and spine, which increases the core strengthening potential of the pose.
Forward Fold
Forward folds stretch the backs of the torso and hips, and massage abdominal organs. They also calm the nervous system, which can help reduce stress and fatigue. They can even reduce headaches and insomnia, says Olney.
But the forward bending action of the hamstrings can be challenging for students who have tight lower backs or hamstrings, she notes. Forward folding can also exacerbate back injuries, such as spinal disc problems, she adds. Students with these issues may want to modify the pose by sitting on a blanket or a block to create more space for the hips and knees, or by allowing a microbend in the knees to relieve pressure on the back of the legs.
To access this pose, come into Low Lunge by lowering your back knee to the mat. From there, extend your spine into a forward swan dive and bring the hands to the shins or to the floor in front of the feet.
Wall Pose
The main benefit of Wall Pose (Viparita Karani) is that it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is known to reduce blood pressure, calm breathing and help digestion. It can also be a great relief for students suffering from lower back pain, as well as those who have problems with their shoulders or knees.
Getting into this pose can be tricky, especially for beginners. But if you reassure students that this is not a posture about elegance, but about comfort and rest, they are more likely to embrace it. Give them different options with regards to distance from the wall, props and set-up so that they can find the best version of this relaxing yoga posture for their body type.
One of the limitations of this pose is that it can cause numbness in the toes and legs, particularly if the torso is elevated at 90 degrees against the wall. To avoid this, scoot the bolster away from the wall to allow for a broader range of movement in the hips and shoulder.