Yoga poses and positions can have names like frog, eagle, tortoise, peacock or lion. They might remind you of your latest trip to the city zoo. But these names are actually only just a handful of the hundreds of yoga positions that are available. Yoga ,as a practice, arose out of Hindu spirituality. With its expansion to the west, however, it has taken on numerous other roles, including as a form of exercise. Yoga training offers a person numerous benefits, ranging from overall physical health to psychological and spiritual well-being. The practice of yoga centers around poses and postures performed for certain lengths of time.
Yoga poses, called Asanas in Sanskrit, can very from very simple to quite difficult. One of the most basic yoga posture is the downward-facing dog. In this pose, a person goes down on all fours, with feet flat, and slowly brings the head toward the feet, forming a human triangle. Another simple pose is called the tree, where beginning from a standing position, you bring your foot to the thigh of the other leg and put the palms of your hands together above your head.
Each yoga pose is believed to offer a diverse set of benefits. For example, the tree pose is believed to improve balance, posture, strengthening of the leg muscles and even concentration. Some other benefits that yoga poses are believed to offer are improved blood-flow, increased flexibility, release of tension and even improved immune function.
The postures that a yoga practitioner will use will depend on their skill level and teacher. Certain positions will go by different names, depending on the origin, school and person teaching it. Certain basic yoga positions and poses exist in common yoga practice, however, the variations on those basics can be quite large.
What is common to almost all of yoga is how these postures should be performed. It is always emphasized that the movements should be slow, steady and comfortable. There should be no discomfort in any position used. Other traditional practices for yoga including having an empty stomach, steady movements without trembling and controlled breathing. The latter is particularly considered important as it is held as parallel to the verses on life force written in the Hindu scriptures. In fact, variations on breathing and the life force are encouraged to correspond to the pose which you are performing at the time.
Yoga poses and positions are beneficial to a wide variety of people in a wide variety of ways.
Author Resource:
For a more in-depth discussion of the variety of yoga poses, their benefits and techniques, you can visit www.theyogabalance.com . You'll find articles on the benefits offered to a wide variety of people, ranging from children to pregnant women.
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