Types of asanas and their benefits
Standing Asanas
This group has a strengthening effect on the back, shoulders and legs. They improve our posture, balance, muscular coordination and they increase the oxygen level in our bodies. Do you work in an office, most of the day in front of a computer? [Read more...] |
Backward Bending Asanas
Here the spine is curved backwards, the chest is expanded, the inhalation is stimulated and the whole body is turned out to face the world. These postures stretch the abdominal muscles and tone the structures around the spine. Performed properly, [Read more...] |
Forward Bending Asanas
In general, forward bending asanas are postures in which gravity is used to help to stretch the muscles. In a physical level, these asanas create a space in between the vertebrae that stimulates the nerves, which has positive effects [Read more...] |
Spinal Twisting Asanas
The asanas included in this group are very important for health, because they exercise the muscles of the whole trunk, stimulate directly the spinal cord and nerves, activate the abdominal muscles and organs like pancreas, liver, gall bladder, kidneys, stomach and small intestine; such a stimulation help to relief disorders associated with them [Read more...] |
Balancing Asanas
The center of balance in our body is the cerebellum. Just by doing our daily chores this organ may not have many possibilities of stimulation or specific training. To compensate this, the balancing asanas activate the cerebellum, being quite beneficial [Read more...] |
Inverted Asanas
Inverted asanas reverse the action of gravity: the feet get free and toxins that may be accumulated on them get released in the blood stream and are eliminated. At the same time, the head receives a higher blood supply, [Read more...] |
Relaxation Asanas
This group of asanas could seem very easy to perform at first, yet to perform them properly can result a really difficult job: all the tension in all the muscles need to be completely released. Sometimes, not even when we sleep the tension is properly released! [Read more...] |
Meditation Asanas
The goal of the meditation asanas is to allow the person to sit comfortable for a long period of time without moving. As Swami Sivananda said:“The steadier you are in your asana, the more you will be able to concentrate" [Read more...] |
You may also be interested in:
General Bibliography for this section:
All pictures included in this section are part of the book Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha, from Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
- Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha. Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India, 1969.
- Yoga and Ayurveda: Self Healing and Self Realization. David Frawley. Lotus Press, Wisconsin, United States, 1999.
All pictures included in this section are part of the book Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha, from Swami Satyananda Saraswati.