It's Time To Do Yoga For Beginners

By Thaya Kareeson

Yoga is well-known to improve health, relieve stress, improve coordination, balance and overall fitness, both mental and physical. Yoga, if you know nothing about it, can be intimidating. You have visions of turning yourself into a human pretzel - you who has not done anything remotely pretzel-like since you were five years old! Put your mind at rest. In yoga for beginners there is no need for you to do any pose beyond your ability. Here are a few beginner's poses to get you started.

The first pose is called Easy Yoga Pose. You often see people meditating in this position. To begin, sit on your bottom with your legs crossed in front of you (knees bent). Put one foot towards your groin and the other on the floor. Sit up nice and tall, stretching your spine. Relax your shoulders. This should feel quite comfortable.

Tree Pose, also known as vrksasana, improves balancing ability. Mindfully, stand straight with your hands in a prayer position. The tips of your fingers should be pointing towards the ceiling. Keeping both hips squarely underneath you and begin to lift your left leg. Your foot will be sliding up the inside of your right leg until you reach the inside of your right thigh. Balance and do in reverse. Repeat standing on the left leg. It is completely fine to hold onto a table or chair if you need extra support to balance. Once both legs have been worked on, return to the starting position.

A fantastic stretch for your entire body is called the Downward-Facing Dog Pose. Begin by getting down on your hands and knees with your shoulders and hips directly over your hands and knees. Keep your spine straight. Now, begin inverting your body by raising your bottom, unbending your knees and walking your hands back as far as you can. Drop your head. Keep your shoulders down. Do not force yourself to stretch beyond your comfort zone.

A very restful pose is the Child's Pose. Start from the Downward-Facing Dog position on your hands and knees. Then, slowly bring your bottom down towards your calves, folding your body up so that your stomach is near the floor. Hands can be out in front of you or at your sides.

Cat/Cow Pose is another stretching pose. Get onto your hands and knees as if you were going to do the Downward-Facing Dog Pose. Your toes should be bent under and pointing towards your head. Shoulders should be relaxed. Drop your belly low towards the ground. It is not necessary to touch your belly to the ground. Keep your hands and knees aligned with your shoulders and hips. Next, arch your back towards the ceiling getting a good stretch. Come back to the beginning.

Garland Pose is a standing position. Your feet should be spread apart comfortably. With your back straight, lower your bottom towards the ground and go into a squat. Your elbows should be at the insides of your knees, pressing outwards. Shoulders need to be relaxed. Stay like this for five breaths.

That was not too bad, now was it? How do you feel? Undoubtedly you feel much more centered and relaxed than you did before we started the yoga poses. Yoga for beginners is really quite satisfying and makes you feel great. Keep up your practice and you will notice yourself getting more and more flexible and strong. Maybe there is a yoga class in your town you could join so you can keep adding to your repertoire of poses. - 17273

About the Author:

In search of ways how to lose weight as well as how to lose belly fat. Yoga is well-known to increase health, relieve stress, increase coordination, balance as well as overall fitness, both mental as well as physical.