5 Yoga postures to relax

Before talking about postures, it is important to make a point to talk about breathing. When we practice yoga it is not only about postures and stretches, it also teaches us to breathe to achieve a relaxation or total immersionIn fact, this is one of the best ways to benefit from yoga. We have to inhale and exhale air deeply in each exercise and not quickly. In each posture we will remain for one or two minutes breathing deeply doing the following practice: we will take in the air for 5 seconds, then we will keep it in for 10 seconds and let it out slowly in another 10 seconds.

In yoga there are different breathing practices such as Kapalabhati Pranayama, the so-called energizing breathing, which consists of breathing calmly and then faster. But, in this case, since what we are looking for is to relax, we will take some slow and deep breaths, focusing on these to free the mind.

Although it has a slightly strange name, the Dead man’s pose or Savasana It is the most used to relax. The corpse posture is widely used for the beginning or end of the exercise, as a relaxation before or after. It is very easy to do, although nervous people will have a harder time holding it, as it requires relaxation of body and mind.

What is Savasana used for?

This is basically a relaxation posture and it serves that purpose. Although it may seem easy, the difficult thing is to keep your mind clear and out of thoughts. For that we turn to breathing and the sensations we are having: the body on the mat, feeling each of our body parts… This way we will be focusing on what we are experiencing, leaving aside the thoughts that upset us.

How to do the dead man’s pose

It is the simplest of all, you just have to lie on your back with your arms and legs relaxed, both extremities a little separated from the body. With the body stretched we will begin breathing, calmly exhaling as much air as we can. At this moment you just have to focus on your breathing and put aside the thoughts that are running through your head.

We recommend you read this other article about Yoga Postures to Sleep Better.

Child’s Pose or Balasana, it is used a lot between postures to rest and is ideal to start doing yoga, as it is very simple. It is very easy to do and does not require flexibility, although at first it may be a little difficult to maintain.

What is Balasana for?

In addition to relaxing our entire body, through this posture we stretch the entire back and neck. But it is very important to keep in mind that you should not force your posture, but rather keep it relaxed.

How to do the child’s pose in yoga

For the child’s pose you have to kneel with your legs together. Once done, sit back on your heels and exhale. Take another breath and lean your body forward, letting it fall on your thighs, while you exhale the air you have been taking. Now rest your forehead on the floor and stretch your arms behind you, towards your feet, with your palms facing up. Remain in this position for a minute, breathing as relaxed as possible.

Lotus posture or Padmasana Surely you have done it at some point without realizing it or you have tried it when you were little. Along with the easy posture, which we will explain to you later, it is one of the most recommended for performing breathing exercises.

What is Padmasana for?

It is one of the most used postures in yoga, widely used to do different breathing exercises. It is something difficult to achieve at first but over time you will get it. If you can’t do it at first, don’t despair, there are other similar postures such as the so-called easy posture that can help you just as much.

How to do the lotus position

To position yourself, it is best to start by sitting with your back straight, without leaning anywhere. In everyday life we ​​tend to lean our shoulders forward, causing our spine to bend and letting everything fall. It is something we do without realizing it, but it is detrimental to the health of our back and, therefore, we must learn to stand up straight. In this position we are going to try to achieve it. Once seated, let the weight of your back fall on your hips and lean your shoulders back slightly. It is not about being tense but about leaving our muscles relaxed but in the most stretched way possible for our back. To make it easier, put your tailbone back a little.

Once your back is straight, you should take one of your legs, for example the right one, and place your foot on top of the thigh of the opposite leg. Once achieved, you must do the same with the other foot and place it on the opposite leg.

Now place your arms on your thighs with your palms facing up. You can also place your fingers by joining the index finger with the thumb and relaxing all the fingers, always with the palm facing up, this is what is known as Mudra (finger posture).

Baddha Konasana or Cobbler Pose It is also known as the butterfly pose in conventional stretching exercises and is another of the easy poses to do that, even if we think not, stretches our muscles and helps us relax:

What is Baddha Konasana for?

It is a position that, in addition to relaxing, helps us stretch the entire part of the thigh. As you practice it more frequently, you will see how your flexibility increases and also how you can relax more easily.

How to do the shoemaker pose in yoga

To perform this posture you must sit on the mat with your back straight, as we have seen before, and stretch your legs. Next, bend your knees to the sides and bring the soles of your feet together just in front of your body. The thing is that with the passage of time you will be able to do it so that your legs are glued to the ground, but at first this may be difficult for you and your knees may rise. You can also push them with your hands so that they rest on the ground. In this way the entire thigh is stretched. Once in the posture, take a series of breaths, taking in air, holding it for a few seconds and releasing it. For example, take a breath for 5 seconds, hold it for 10 seconds, and release it for another 10 seconds.

The easy posture or Sukhasana It can be an alternative to the lotus position. It is known as this because it is literally the easiest posture you can practice while doing yoga.

What is Sukhasana for?

Like the lotus posture, this is used to do breathing exercises, such as Kapalabhati Pranayama, energizing breathing. By having a straight back we will also enhance this posture so that over time when we sit we do it without realizing it.

How to do the easy pose

The most likely thing is that you do it in your daily life and not realize it, although you have to adapt it to yoga. It involves sitting on the mat with your legs crossed, this time without putting one on top of the other. It is a simple posture, but we must keep in mind that the back has to be straight without leaning on it anywhere. For this we will do what we have seen in the lotus position, with the tailbone slightly back, the shoulders also back and letting the weight fall on the hips.

If you found this article useful, you may also be interested in knowing these 7 yoga exercises to do at home.

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