Yoga is a physical activity with a great number of health benefits, both physical and psychological.
Although classes with a teacher are the best option to develop good technique, if attending in-person classes is too intimidating, you should know that it is possible to practice some basic yoga poses at home and start enjoying their benefits today.
Benefits of doing yoga
You may already be aware of the great power of yoga for your body and mind, but in case you weren't sure yet, here are some very interesting benefits to convince you:
- It is an excellent exercise for gain strength and build new muscle: if you are not someone who enjoys the gym and strength series, yoga can be a very good alternative.
- You will increase your flexibility: yoga is the exercise par excellence to develop overwhelming flexibility. Practically all its poses are aimed at this goal.
- You will improve your balance: this is undoubtedly one of the benefits that goes unnoticed when we think of yoga. However, standing and semi-bent poses are perfect for working on balance.
- You will reduce stress and anxiety: yoga is one of the most complete exercises, as it works not only physically but also mentally through breathing and the initial and final relaxation poses.
- Coordination and body self-awareness improve: the more complex a pose is, the more body intelligence and coordination it will require for its correct execution.
Easy yoga poses for beginners
These are the poses we recommend you do at home to start practicing yoga:
Meditation Pose: Sukhasana
Without a doubt, the pose par excellence meditation: sitting, with legs crossed, hands relaxed on the knees, and eyes closed.
It is not only a perfect pose to relax and do some breathing, but it also helps us to stretch the abductors and improve the position of the back. If your knees are far from the ground at first, don't worry, you will improve over time.
Child's Pose: Balasana
This is one of the favorite positions for yoga practitioners, especially after doing a physically demanding pose as it allows us to relax and release tension in a very comfortable way.
To perform the pose we should place our knees on the yoga mat and sit on our heels. Then we will rest the forehead on the floor and we can let our arms rest stretched forward or backward. The buttocks should touch the heels while performing the pose.
It is a perfect position to relax the lower back area and release tension along the back. Ideal for people who work in office chairs and spend a lot of time sitting.
Seated forward bend pose: Paschimottanasana
With this pose we are going to take a difficulty jump, and start working on flexibility more thoroughly.
You have probably done this pose as a stretch after exercising. To do it, you just need to get on the floor with the legs stretched out.
Then we should bend the hip forward with arms extended and try to reach as far as possible with our hands. If we can't reach the feet, we will try to grab the ankles.
Sphinx pose: Salamba Bhujangasana
It is a much more specific yoga pose. To make sure you are doing it correctly, think of the shape of an Egyptian sphinx.
To perform it you must lie down on the mat face down. We will rest our elbows forming a 90-degree angle, with the upper arm perpendicular to the floor. Then we will lift the torso slightly, as if it were a sphinx.
The shape of the back should be slightly curved backwards. This way we will stretch the entire front part of our body.
Cat Pose: Marjaryasana
Another favorite pose of yogis for stretch the entire length of the back. It is quite easy to perform, as you just need to get on all fours with your knees, and curve the back upwards lowering your gaze towards your navel.
Cow Pose: Bitilasana
This is the counterpose to the previous position. In fact, the cat-cow pose is a very common sequence in yoga routines, and is mainly used to release tension in the back between vertebrae.
This position has no secrets: you just need to curve your back completely opposite to the previous posture, forming a U and lifting your gaze as much as you can.
Sun Salutation Pose: Surya Namaskarasana
This is the quintessential posture to start sun salutations at the beginning of a yoga practice. The starting position is standing, stretching the torso with the arms upwards and arching the back slightly backward (without pain), with the goal of stretching the back as much as we can.
Warrior Position I: Virabhadrasana I
The warrior asanas are very common in yoga routines. This is the first one usually worked on in this specific sequence. One foot should be forward, the knee at ninety-degree angle and the back leg remains semi-flexed. The arms should be raised towards the sky.
Warrior Pose II: Virabhadrasana II
In the second warrior pose we will change the position of the arms: one stretches forward, at eye level, and the other backward. In this way, we will enter a perfectly twisted position to stretch the back.
Tree Pose: Vrikshasana
Often, many yoga poses are inspired by elements of nature. This is the case of the tree pose, an asana that will test our balance.
To begin this asana, we should stand up. We will place one of the two feet resting on the knee and the hands in prayer in front of the body. We will hold the position as long as we can.
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