Poised for the right vibes
Learn these yoga moves to improve your posture and the way you carry yourself
Your posture says a lot about you. If you have a good posture, you appear confident and self-assured. But these days, with the number of hours we spend hunched over a computer or driving, we develop terrible postures.
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We slouch, let our shoulders drop and with so much going on in our heads, we hardly pay attention to the way we carry ourselves.
Yoga is one of the best exercises for posture improvement. You'll find that those who practise yoga have great postures.
They carry themselves gracefully and radiate confidence. Yoga helps you both stretch and strengthen muscles. It also relieves tension in the back and the shoulders.
Our sedentary lifestyle destroys the natural curvature of the back, which has a mild forward curve in the neck and the lower back and a mild backward curve in the upper back and the mid-back.
Due to awful sitting postures, these curves either get flattened or overly curved. Yoga can help bring back the spine to its natural shape. You also start paying attention to how you carry yourself. Let us take a look at some asanas that will help in correcting posture.
Tadasana
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart.
- Raise hands and join palms above head.
- Now raise body up on toes.
- Keep looking at a point to maintain balance and hold position for 30 seconds. Breathe normally.
Shalabhasana
- Lie on stomach with legs together. Sole of feet should face upwards.
- Arms may be placed either under body or by side, with palms downwards or hands clenched.
- Rest chin on floor.
- Keeping legs straight and together, raise as high as possible by applying pressure with arms on floor and contracting lower-back muscles.
- Hold final position for as long as comfortable and without strain.
- Slowly lower legs to floor.
- Relax.
- Repeat 3-5 times.
Note: This asana should not be practised by those who have a weak heart, coronary thrombosis or high blood pressure.
Marjariasana
- Get down on all fours with knees in line with hips.
- Inhale, raise head and look up so there's an intense dip in the back.
- Hold position and breath for a few seconds.
- Exhale and drop head down and arch back.
- Hold breath and maintain position for a few seconds.
- Slowly go back to start position.
- Do 10-15 rounds.
Setu asana
- Sit with legs stretched out and feet together.
- Place palms behind and on either side of body, fingers pointing away.
- Lift hips and body, keeping legs and arms straight, soles flat and chin up.
- Hold for 10-30 seconds, breathing normally.
- Slowly lower hips and go back to start position.
Gomukhasana
- Sit with legs stretched out. Cross legs with right knee on left knee.
- Lift left arm towards ceiling. Bend left elbow, bringing left hand down centre of back. Stretch right arm out to right, bend elbow and bring right arm up centre of back.
- Hold hands behind back.
- Draw both elbows towards centre.
- Hold posture for 30 seconds. Relax arms.
- Repeat on other side.
Veerabhadrasana
- Stand with legs wide apart and hands on hips.
- Turn one leg and upper body to one side and bend knee in front.
- Raise arms above head, palms together.
- Lower hips and bend backwards as much as possible. Look up.
- Hold for 10-30 seconds.
- Repeat with other leg.
Not only will these asanas make you appear taller, thinner and more confident but your body will also feel better. You will be able to sit longer without experiencing backaches and your body will feel light and tension-free. So yogis, stand tall!
— Bharat Thakur is the founder of Bharat Thakur's Artistic Yoga. For questions on yoga, write to dubai.artisticyoga
@gmail.com. For more information, log on to www.bharatthakur.com
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