Yoga presents an almost never-ending list of benefits. It’s inclusive, meaning that regardless of age, gender, ability and body type – you can practice, and will benefit, from yoga.

Yoga contributes to physical health, improving your posture and making you stronger, more flexible and more mobile. It also makes you more in-tune with your body. This means that you become aware of your breathing, and the way you are holding tension in your body. It provides you with an opportunity to boost your mental health, be ‘in the present’, and begin to practice gratitude.

Below are some key areas that yoga can help with, and some specific poses for you to research and try.

Yoga poses to start your morning

Your morning routine sets the tone for the rest of your day. Creating a morning ritual that invites a good mood and positive mindset is the perfect way to kick off a new day.

Typically, a morning yoga practice should be soft and gentle, helping your body to transition from sleep to awake and revitalised. They also help improve blood and oxygen flow around the body. To gently wake up your organs, follow this flow with a glass of warm water, before a nutritional breakfast.

• Cat and Cow
• Twist Pose
• Figure Four

Yoga poses for better sleep

Put your hands up if you can remember the last time you had a truly great night’s sleep? It seems like waking up fully rested is a rarity these days. Our schedules are hectic, our eyes are accustomed to the bright lights of screens and we’re tuned in to an ‘always-on’ society.

It’s vital that we take back our right to good sleep! We need to prepare our minds and bodies to wind down, and we fully endorse the lighting of candles and misting the air with lavender spray in preparation for these sleep-inducing yoga poses.

• Bridge Pose
• Childs Pose
• Happy Baby

Alongside these, you can also practise Yoga Nidra. A deep, guided meditation that induces a deep state of ‘conscious’ rest that will leave you feeling rested and restored. Brain scans of individuals practising Yoga Nidra depicted a resting state similar to sleep, while the person was fully present and aware of their breath and body.

Yoga poses for good digestion

 

The action of stretching, breathing and movements like twisting can relieve digestive discomfort and work to rid your body of toxins. The movement encourages the flow of blood and oxygen, circulating nutrients throughout the intestinal tract and the rest of the body.

By focusing on your breathing, and intention of the poses, you can relive digestive issues, bloating and stress.

• Bow Pose
• Seated Twists
• Seated Forward Fold

Yoga poses for muscle soreness and tightness

If you are an active soul, you know that muscle soreness is part and parcel of working out. Whether you are introducing a new workout, or you have been ultra-committed recently, sometimes it’s hard to escape the muscle tension it causes. Below are some poses that can help release muscle tightness and prevent future injury by improving flexibility, mobility and strength.

• Downward-Facing Dog
• Pigeon Pose
• Runner’s Lunge

Want to learn more about fuelling your yoga sessions with healthy, wholesome foods? Read our guide.

Yoga poses for whole body strength

Yoga is great for combining a range of movements that improve flexibility, mobility and strength, as well as focus and relaxation.

There are flows and poses that targets specific areas of the body but, on the whole, yoga leverages body weight to build strength – it requires a lot of strength to hold your body in a balanced pose.

Below are some poses that can help build strength in specific areas.

Arms

• Crow Pose
• Crane Pose

Core

• Boat Pose
• Plank Pose

Glutes

• Bridge Pose
• Warrior Poses

Legs

• Warrior one Pose
• Extended side angle Pose
• Tree Pose

Yoga poses to ease stress and anxiety

This study identified the physiological effect that yoga has on our mental health. It found that yoga can temporarily elevate the level of gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) acid in the body. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, that can play a role in managing the emotions and symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression.

Stress and anxiety can impact sleeping and eating habits, whilst the ‘fight or flight’ response from the central nervous system can seriously affect your digestion and gut biome. By using yoga as a method of managing these pressures, we can work to create a harmonic mind-body environment.

• Child’s Pose
• Pigeon Pose
• Plow Pose

Alongside the poses listed above, Savasana or Corpse Pose, is the practice of relaxing the body one part at a time, until you are in a state of total relaxation while being conscious and aware. This pose is focused on relieving tension of the body, calming the nervous system and combating stress. It’s common to stay in this pose for up to 20 minutes.

As yoga is focused around a mind-body connection, it’s important to remember other areas of health, such as the importance of staying hydrated, exercising, self-care and good nutrition.

And there you have it! Yoga poses to help you with specific areas of discomfort, concern or intention.

What is your favourite yoga flow or pose? Let us know on our social channels!

 

---