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[Y18]Yoga Asanas For Stomach

by Tracy Renning, Tra

Yoga was handed down by ancient Indian sages and is now widely popular in the western world because of its wide range of benefits. The word "asana" is derived from the Sanskrit word which means posture. Each asana has its own distinct name, form and a unique way of performing. Many celebrities regularly practice different yoga asanas and have benefited highly from it. Whether you want to loose that extra fat from your body or just want to enhance your concentration level or the flexibility of your body, yoga asanas will give you all round benefit. It helps in maintaining our body balance, which is of utmost importance as any disequilibrium within the body, could wreck havoc.

There is a variety of yoga asanas and it is necessary to choose from this wide range those yoga asanas that will suit your body and help you to reach your aim. Of the various asanas a few which are effective as well as easy to perform are discussed here.

SURYA NAMASKAR (Sun Salutations)

Generally, every routine of yoga asanas should begin with Surya Namaskar, which is intended to warm the body for practice, unify the breath and body, and promote both strength and flexibility.

BASIC YOGA POSTURE SQUENCES

Uttanasana (standing forward bend) provides strength to the spinal cord and helps to cure many back problems. Paschimothanasana actually stretches the back body, makes the spine more limber, and helps to keep you injury-free.

RESROTATIVE PRACTICE: Balasana or Child's Pose

Balasana (child's pose) helps to stretch and relax the shoulders, the neck, and the back of the body.

1. Sit on the floor on your knees
2. Bring your knees wide apart
3. Extend you hands in front of you on the floor, palm up
4. Rest your hips down toward your heels
5. Rest your forehead on the floor
*you can also practice this with your arms resting at your sides
6. Breathe gently and remain in that position for two minutes

ADVANCED YOGA POSTURES

Dhanurasana (Wheel Pose) is a wonderful asana that helps to activate and strengthen all the joints of the body. It is, however, a challenging pose that needs to be practice with care.

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor
2. Push down into the floor with your feet and lift your hips off the ground
3. Place your hands underneath your shoulders and lift up onto you head
4. If possible, straighten your arms and lift all the way up
5. Try to remain here for 5 deep, gentle breaths and then reverse the process lowering back down.

SEATED YOGA POSES

Padmasana (Lotus) is the most commonly see yoga seated posture, but there are easier variations that are just as effective. Ardha Padmasana (half lotus) is a good place to start.

1. Sit on the floor
2. Take you right foot and place it in the hip crease of your left leg
3. Take you left foot underneath the right knee
4. You may feel a stretch in your right ankle
5. Hold for 2 minutes and then switch
6. Eventually you can practice full lotus by putting both feet into
the opposite hip creases of the legs

SAVASANA or CORPSE POSE

After you have finished doing all the asanas that you wish to do, it is important that you do Savasana, the "dead man's pose." It helps to calm down the mind and the body.

1. Lie on the floor on your back with your feet wider than your hips
2. With your arms at your sides, make sure the palms of the hands face up
3. Relax your entire body, close you eyes, and focus on the natural movement
of the breath

You should only do those yoga asanas that are suitable for your body and which you can perform without hurting yourself. Yoga is about balance and awareness, not pushing to extremes. It is important that you perform all the yoga asanas carefully and properly to achieve full benefit from them.

When I was 21 I suffered a slipped disc in my lower back. I couldn't sit down during the acute phase, only lie or stand, though standing itself was uncomfortable at the time. Once the acute phase had passed (with rest, although acupuncture and shiatsu are great), I had the fortune to meet some yoga teachers and I started going to their classes. I started out with Oki yoga, which is a Japanese form of yoga, and very good for healing the body.

I was given a series of correcting and strengthening exercises designed to improve my back and specific to the meridians that were in need of attention in my particular case. Oki yoga has postures classified on how they affect the meridians, which are like energetic pathways within our body. And that was the one thing that helped restore my back completely, to a state that was actually better than it was before I injured myself. When you are suffering an acute injury though, yoga really shouldn't be attempted until that stage has passed.

That introduction to yoga ignited a deep love of it through which I began to see the more subtle health benefits it brought to my life. Yoga can help with a wide spectrum of physical issues and injuries, but it is also an excellent alternative to the gym for those that find the repetition and distraction of it not to their taste. It is great for toning up your body, whilst gaining flexibility.

Yoga has a reputation for flexibility, and deservedly so. But it can also develop strength. Developing strength is particularly important for women. Women tend to be more flexible than men, but not as strong, unless they have been involved in fitness regularly. But unlike many traditional forms of exercise, yoga also strengthens the inner muscles and organs in our bodies. It makes a great preparation for childbirth!

Yoga also develops discipline. This comes in making the time on a regular basis to either go to classes, or practice yoga in your living room, or in the morning sun in the garden. But there is a more subtle level of discipline. It starts with bringing your mind to focus on your breathing, and then feeling the effects of a posture on your body. This conscious exploration is quite a different experience of fitness than usually seen at the gym - where loud music, televisions and other external stimuli fight for your attention. You won't see people with headphones on, or reading a magazine, whilst doing yoga.

This conscious exploration establishes a relationship with your body, and its importance cannot be overstated. So often, parts of us are frozen, or numb in some ways. This can express physically as pain, coldness, or stiffness. Energetically, it is as though despite trying to concentrate on an area, we just cannot feel connected to it.

In a more subtle way, when we feel the points of resistance within our body as we do a pose - when we breathe into that stiffness, and sometimes pain, we develop a resilience and mental fortitude. Yoga does, of course, help with concentration. But that process of releasing and going beyond the point of physical limitation is not limited to the body. It develops a quiet confidence and knowledge about one's own capacity that is not held back by the boundaries we may have falsely believed about ourselves before. With a yoga practice, we can get back in touch with what yogi's call our dharma, our purpose in life. And we find in ourselves, by virtue of our growing strength, the courage to follow that path.

And finally, a quote from a yoga teacher from Sydney, Australia, Eileen Hall, printed in the Australian Yoga Life magazine:

"Yoga is not about relaxation, it's not about losing weight, it's not about learning meditation. It's about discovering the divine being within ourselves."

References: Yoga Journal, November 2005
Australian Yoga Life, Nov 2005 - Mar 2006

Article Source : Pg. 18

About Author

Both Tracy Renning & Rebecca Prescott are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Tracy Renning has sinced written about articles on various topics from Yoga Practice, Fitness and Yoga Practice. Double your flexibility in 28 days using YOGABODY Naturals Flexibility Kit. are not enough... you need Gravity Po. Tracy Renning's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.

Rebecca Prescott has sinced written about articles on various topics from Pets, Yoga Practice and Woman Menopause. If you'd like to , click here. The article talks about the psychological, physiological, and biochemical benef. Rebecca Prescott's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.