It’s time to lay down on a yoga mat and experience a new type of physical and mental activity that has captivated yoga practitioners all around the world for thousands of years. The great thing about yoga is that you don’t have to be an expert or a professional yogi to extract the maximum benefits. Yoga has the ability to calm the mind and strengthen the body, whether you are young or elderly.

Despite the fact that yoga has been practised for over thousands of years, the solution usually lies within the simplest steps. Numerous experts have experimented with more advanced poses, but have found that beginner-friendly, foundational postures and practices provide the most long-term benefits with the least risk. We can mobilise and lubricate our joints, enhance posture and balance, stimulate digestion, boost energy, relax the nervous system, and produce mental focus and clarity at any age or stage of life without superhuman strength or flexibility.

These ten poses and practises are the best tools yoga has to give for living a healthy and vibrant life and have significant physical and mental advantages.

1: Mindful Breath

“For breath is life; if you breathe well, you will live long on earth,” says a Sanskrit expert. Western studies and research align with this concept, as slow, deep breathing appears to trigger the “relaxation response,” slowing respiration and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, soothing digestion, and improving energy. It also reduces stress and perceived pain, regardless of whether we use diaphragmatic breathing (also called abdominal or belly breathing), deep breathing, or a specific pranayama technique. Even better, regardless of injury, age, range of motion, or physical strength, anyone can use this practice.

2: Gentle Flow

Circling the wrists and ankles, bending and pointing the toes, windscreen wiping the knees, and cat/cow – these simple movements can help us connect to the breath’s rhythm and the body’s proprioceptive perceptions while increasing blood flow and mobilising our joints. Gentle Flow can also aid in the release of physical and mental strain, allowing us to move away from rigidity and stagnation.

3: Mountain Pose

Even the most serious yogis only practise yoga for a few hours each day, so what we do off the mat (i.e. our posture) has a much greater impact on our health than what we do on it. Our posture has an impact on our respiration, digestion, and mood; it can also cause asymmetric tension on our joints, causing premature wear and tear. This assists us in developing new posture habits that we can take with us off the mat and into our daily life.

4: Downward-facing Dog

For good reason, Downward-Facing Dog is a hatha yoga mainstay. The position brings the upper and lower bodies together by expanding the chest and stretching the back of the legs. It may also be readily adapted to suit the needs of each student.

We can all improve our balance, even though some yogis are born with deep backbends or open hips. In Tree Pose (Vrksasana), Eagle Pose (Garudasana), or Crescent Lunge, we challenge our stability while learning to use our core muscles constructively to coordinate our upper and lower bodies. Because we only work on one side of the body at a time, we have the opportunity to spot little differences between the left and right sides before they become significant. The downward-facing dog position also promotes mental, emotional, and physical resilience, as well as increased stability as we age.

5: Side Plank

Standing balance postures help us keep our bottom body strong and stable, while Side Plank helps us keep our upper body strong and stable. Because we lose upper body strength as we age, this is a significant benefit for women. Side Plank activates the rotator cuff (the small muscles that correctly position the head of the upper arm bone in the shoulder socket), tones the often neglected muscles of the side waist and outer hip, and forces us to recruit core, chest, back, and leg muscles to maintain our balance, whether we use the regular version or a modification.

6: Prone Backbends

Many of us slouch over time, allowing the head and shoulders to slip forward and the upper back to round. The slipping of shoulders restricts our breathing capacity and organ function, lowering our vitality, and putting unequal strain on our neck, back, and shoulder joints. These are not simple yoga positions for some people, but they can help make a stiff body flexible. Simple belly-down backbends like Cobra (Bhujangasana) and Locust (Salabhasana) help to counteract this habit by strengthening the posterior shoulder, spine, buttocks, and legs muscles. This yoga practice not only improves the posture but also improves our energy levels.

7:Inversions

Inversions alter our relationship to gravity, transferring blood and lymphatic fluid from the legs and hips to the heart and head, much like shaking a snow globe. It also relieves pressure on our feet, ankles, and knees, allowing our hardworking joints to relax. Yogi experts’ favourite inversion is Legs-Up-the-Wall-Pose (Viparita Karani), which also helps to reduce neck and back strain. There is a level of surrender that many of us are lacking in our hectic lives.

8: Supine Twist

A gentle twist is the yoga equivalent of pressing the reset button on our postural habits, releasing myofascial tension patterns across the torso and allowing the intervertebral discs between the bones of the spine to plump up by absorbing fluid from surrounding tissues. Twists can also increase circulation to our abdominal organs, which is good for digestion and thus energy.

9: Meditation

Regular meditation has been demonstrated to improve immunity, focus, and creativity while lowering anxiety, stress, and perceived pain, regardless of the style or duration of the practice. These strong and lasting advantages are available to anyone who can locate a comfortable seat to rest, contemplate, and observe without judgement for only a few minutes a day, regardless of what yoga postures we can or cannot execute.

Key Takeaways

To sum it up, yoga can be practised with many variations and there are numerous benefits that can be derived from each of them. A simple 15 minute practice can lead to a healthier life and an improved mindset if it is done regularly. The best part is that yoga doesn’t need any prior experience and is for anyone who is willing to change their lifestyle.