When performing yoga it is important to keep up a good yoga posture and this is all that it will take for you keep up with good yoga practice.

Yoga can help a person in many different ways, a few of the benefits of yoga are that it will help you to achieve find balance, teach you a way of developing how to be calm and will also make your body elastic enough to be able to move to its maximum ability. A good yoga posture can also help you to build inner strength.

Fighting the cobra yoga posture

This posture will help to relieve slight pain in your back and will also tone your abs.

Step one: You will need to stretch out on your stomach with your legs and feet joined in together. Plant your palms on the floor below your shoulders with the fingers facing onwards.

Step two: Next you will then need to lift the upper body by gradually lifting the head and chest, just remember to make sure that you keep your shoulders down. Your pelvis and thighs should never leave the yoga mat.

Final Step: Hold your pose for about twenty five seconds then as you breathe make sure that it is in even breaths all the way through your nose. Then go back to your starting location and do it all over again.

The yoga posture to strengthens your abs

First step: In this first yoga posture, you should place yourself in a standing position with your legs and hip width separately, holding your arms directly ahead with the palms facing down.

Second step: Twist your knees and squat it will be as if you’re about to sit in a chair. Make sure that your center weight is in your heels, then lock it and don’t bring the hips lower than the level that your knees are at.

Third step: Then you should reach forward, center your eyes in a straight line ahead while breathing in and breathing through the nose. Hold this yoga posture for about twenty seconds. Then you should slowly go back to standing position. Once you are at the starting position you can release your arms.

The wind relieving yoga posture

The following yoga posture will stretch your spine and will help the digestion of the stomach. It is always a positive aspect to have a good stomach so that you’ll always feel lively.

First step: Recline on your back, Then as you breathe in you should drag the right knee near to your chest. Your left leg should be in a straight line on the ground.

Second step: Push your shoulders and the rear side of your neck into the ground while at the same time holding your knee. Then breath for ten seconds only. This may appear to be to quick but when performing this yoga posture it will seem a lot longer.

Third step: Repeat the first two step except change the sides You will then finish the set by hugging both of your knees to your chest and holding it for another ten seconds. Keeping repeating the set.

The upward boat yoga posture

This will help to strengthen your abs, help your digestion and improve your balancing ability.

First step: Sit on the floor. Bend your knees and place feet flat on the floor.

Second step: Breathe in, bend back and raise heels off the ground, straightening your legs as possible as you can.

Expand your arms with palms facing downward. If you find this difficult to perform, you can also rest your hands beneath your knees for support. This is difficult yoga posture to perform but after practising it a few times you will have less difficulty in carrying it out.

Third step: while you hold the pose for thirty seconds, you should also keep your back in a straight line as possible, and make sure your abs are doing all the work.

Make sure that you practice a yoga posture on a regular basis. Any time you have spare time you should practice these yoga postures as not only can they improve your health but will also help your backbone and improve your digestive system.

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Shavasana, or corpse pose, is usually done at the end of most yoga sessions. It is a deceptively simple posture, as there is no twisting, or stretching or anything that is usually associated with the asanas. However, corpse pose is an important part of the restorative yoga postures. And it is considered one of the most difficult postures to do correctly.

Shavasana is more about being than doing, and as such it touches on the fundamentals of what yoga is trying to achieve. The sequence of asanas beforehand has helped train the body and mind for this period of relaxation, and in the corpse pose we integrate the experience we have just had with yoga into our conscious and subconscious mind.

There are many restorative postures, or variations in yoga, but shavasana allows the most relaxation. Its benefits include:

* increase our energy levels
* great for stress
* good for normalizing blood pressure after exercise
* good for stress symptoms in breast cancer and prostate cancer sufferers
* good for people who don’t get enough sleep, or who suffer insomnia

Corpse pose should be done lying flat, but still providing some support to the lumbar and cervical areas of the spine. Some people use a narrow, flat pillow for their head, whereas others just lie on the yoga mat without any props - do what feels most comfortable for you.

If the floor slopes, you should lie with your head in the downward sloping area, to facilitate blood supply to the brain. Your feet should be spread a little apart, with the arms and thighs slightly spread out, in an open and relaxed manner. Your palms and forearms should face up.

Try and start shavasana with your body mildly stretched out, so you feel elongated. This is recommended because the muscles of the torso, arms, and legs lengthen when they relax. The aim of shavasana is not to move until you are ready to get up. This helps quieten the motor neurons of the brain, and induces a feeling of greater relaxation, or ‘letting go’. If you are positioned well, with enough space to allow your torso to relax and lengthen, you won’t need to move until you finish.

You can either breathe through the abdomen or through the diaphragm. It is recommended that you practice abdominal breathing unless you are either an intermediate or advanced student of yoga. Breathing through the abdomen is the most relaxing, and diaphragmatic breathing is more of an energizing technique. It uses the chest and abdomen without interrupting the relaxation of the rest of the body. If you tend to breathe through your chest habitually, you should avoid this type of breathing, as you will tend to have a restricted type of thoracic breathing that is counterproductive to the aims of yoga generally, and corpse pose particularly.

Breathing through the abdomen during shavasana should not be forced. It should be relaxed and natural. But start ‘where you are’, and let your breathing settle as the experience of the posture deepens. The rate of breathing will slow down the more you become relaxed.

Try not to fall asleep during corpse pose. When we sleep, the motor neurons in the nervous system become more active, and the idea with the relaxation postures is to quieten them.

Start practicing shavasana for 3 to 5 minutes, then build up to 15 as your personal limits allow.

Come out of the corpse pose slowly, wiggling your toes and fingers, bringing the arms overhead to stretch them, and stretching down to your toes. Then roll over to one side, and slowly sit up when you’re ready. If you have low blood pressure, you may need to turn onto the left side first before sitting up to avoid dizziness or fainting.

References: H.D.Coulter, Anatomy Of Hatha Yoga

Corpse pose is one of the restorative yoga poses. Learn more about them here. Rebecca runs this yoga site with information on asanas and more.

The Triangle - (Trikonasana)

Trikanasana is also known as The Triangle pose. The Sanskrit word ‘tri’ means three and ‘kona’ means corner or angle, hence the name. When you look at this pose you can easily notice why this name has been given to this asana. From the completed posture the body forms three angles; the legs form one, the arm extended down and the body forms another, and the arm extended upward and the head and neck form the third.

In our ordinary day-to-day life the side stretch is the least common movement. We twist, we bend back or forward, but except that we do not often bend our spine to the side, and that’s why the Triangle is one of the most important postures in yoga practice.

The Triangle gives an excellent lateral stretch to the spine, toning the spinal nerves and improving balance and concentration. The muscles of the thighs, calves, hamstring, knees and ankles are stretched, promoting flexibility in the hips and legs.

This asana strengthens the pelvic area and tones the reproductive organs. It massages and strengthens the thyroid glands, kidneys and the adrenal glands to function in a better way. It stimulates the abdominal organs and improves digestion.

Regular practice of Triangle will help reduce waistline fat.

Important: Do not let your hip tilt outward or forward or you will lose the valuable stretch.

The Triangle pose practiced safely is a very beneficial asana; however, there are some health conditions in which this posture should be avoided.

Three important reasons not to do Triangle:

1) Anyone suffering from back condition should not practice this pose.

2) If you are having headaches avoid doing this asana.

3) In case of having diarrhea do not attempt this pose.

Caution: Always check with your doctor if you have any doubts or concerns regarding the suitability of this pose for you.

For Beginners: As a beginner you most probably will support the weight of the torso with one of your arm, forearm and the hand and the torso can remain relaxed. The importance of this pose is to learn how to come out of it without hurting yourself. When you decide to come up the weight of your upper body will have to be supported only by your internal muscles, which may not be ready for the effort. That’s why the safe way to come out of the Triangle is by tightening the muscles of your legs, thighs and hips, which will recruit more muscles in the pelvis and torso.

Issued in the interest of people practicing Hatha Yoga by Subodh Gupta, Yoga Expert based in London.

For reaching to Subodh Gupta Yoga website http://www.subodhgupta.com/ and for Subodh Gupta Corporate yoga webpage http://www.subodhgupta.com/corporateyoga.html

About the Author

Mr.Subodh Gupta, a Corporate Yoga Trainer has conducted more than 500 workshops on Yoga and Stress Management. He has been interviewed by various TV channels in India and London.