Monday, April 27, 2009

How to Do Simple Yoga

Contrary to the popular belief, doing yoga does not necessarily require you to subscribe to the whole new age trend. There are simple yoga techniques you can follow for the mere purpose of physical fitness and relaxation. Yoga is all about inertia which is, after all, a fundamental law of nature. Maintaining a healthy body does not require you to exert any effort-you can just sit back and relax and let nature do that for you.

In this article are two of the simplest techniques you can practice if you want to try doing yoga for health purposes. The first one is the movements of the joints also known as sandhichalana. This technique will allow you to exercise your every joint in full movement. The second one is the hatha yoga which is done chiefly to reduce tension and stress.

The sandhichalana yoga shall take you about three or more minutes to perform. You only need to find a comfortable space where you can sit with your legs stretched out together in front of the body. Once you're ready, you can start doing the first joint exercise which involves the movement of your hands. While doing this, make sure that you maintain a good neck and back posture.

What you need to do is stretch out your arms parallel to your legs with the palms facing down. You have to maintain a distance of nine to twelve inches in between your hands. On this position, you can simply stretch your fingers out so that your palms are opened and then close it afterwards as if forming a tight fist. Repeat this movement ten to twelve times, still, with the palms facing down. After this, you can proceed to wrist movements.

This time around, you only need to keep the palms and fingers loosely in front of you. You only need to move your hands up and down at the wrist, seven to ten times. After which, turn your arms sideward so that the palms are facing each other and repeat the movements of the wrist for another seven to ten times. Turn the palms facing upward, this time, and repeat the same wrist movements seven to ten times as well. Close the wrist exercises with a full rotation of the hands, ten times each in clockwise and counter-clockwise.

Now you can proceed with exercising your elbow joints by moving them ten times vertically and another ten times horizontally. And for a full hand joint movement, end by moving your shoulder joints as if you are rowing a boat. Again, you must not move your legs and your back while doing the joint exercises.

Other joint exercises shall involve the movement of your neck, lower limbs and knee joints. These can be performed also in a sitting position but this time, it is advised that you consult with a yoga instructor to provide you with a basic step-by-step lesson on how to practice yoga properly.

End your simple yoga session with a simple breathing exercise also known as the hatha yoga. This yoga technique can be done relatively anywhere possible as this is merely about controlling your breathing. Start it off by holding your breath deeply in five seconds and letting it out. Repeat this at once and relax for a moment. After that, try to control your breathing by filling up one-third of your lungs with air so that your tummy blows up like a balloon. Let it out. Breathe in two-thirds of your lung capacity so that your tummy blows up and your rib cage opens up. Let it out. Lastly, fill up your lungs with as much air as you can so that your tummy blows up, your rib cage expands, and your shoulders go upwards as if touching your ears with it. Exhale. Repeat this process as much as you want to and as much as you can.

In doing yoga techniques, you have to keep in mind that yoga is all about relaxing and proper breathing. Giving yourself some time to do this in the midst of your everyday routine will ensure a sound mind and a healthy body.

The Yoga Guru
http://yogaguideblog.com

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