Category: Break Asanas (Page 1 of 2)

Strong, Firm and Balanced. Apart from the Down Dog, the warrior is the upmost prominent Asana in yoga.

How to: Having made a big step you lean forward ankling the front leg to 90° and lift your arms creating a horizontal line on the level of your shoulders. Virabhadrasana is a great Yoga  pose reconnect with your body and the temporal and spatial situation you are. I advise to close your eyes take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. When doing so, you’ll realise you’re deepening into the Asana feeling the ground as your anchor. In this Asana you try to stay in as long as possible and then change the position of your feet. In this pose you work with your whole body, so it is not only very good for your back, but every part of yourself, physically and mentally.

Information retrieved from Yoga-Welten.

In this Asana you stretch out one leg completely while the other is positioned at a 90° angle. You place the same sided arm on your upper leg and raise the other over your head, aligning it with your stretched leg to create a straight line. Stay in this position for 5-8 breaths inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth and then reverse the movement.

Information retrieved from Yoga-Welten.

In this Asana you activate all upper body parts by rotating your body. This is an easy exercise that can be done anywhere at any time.

How to: When sitting you lay out one leg (let’s say is the right one in our case) and cross it over with the left leg. Make sure to have the left foot firmly on the ground. With the outer right arm you push your left leg to the right and turn the rest of your upper body in the contrary direction (so, the left.) You stay in this pose for approximately 5-8 deep breaths inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Relax in the twist you’ll find yourself in.

Information retrieved from Redbull.

The Cat and Cow Asana (or in my order Cow and Cat) is one of the fundamentals of Yoga. This exercise is extremely refreshing and good, especially for your back.

How to: You start this Asana in the Four Point position (the two hands and the knees as your points). When you breath in through your nose you bend your back inwards with your belly pointing to the ground. Your head moves towards the ceiling meanwhile. When you exhale you reverse the movement pointing your back to the sky and the head in between your shoulders. You repeat the movement 12 times.

Information retrieved from Redbull.

When doing the Thomas Stretch you can either lay on the floor or on an elevation such as your bed or the table (perhaps not as your mates might think you’re crazy). You grab your need and pull it towards your upper body. The other leg can relax. In this Asana, you try to stay in the stretch as long as possible.

Information retrieved from Redbull.

Well. This pose has definitely won the price in placing the most ‘a’s’ in a word. This knotty exercise is a great and easy one for your back.

How to: There are different ways of how to commence this pose. The way I do it is to sit up, place one leg straight to the front and place the other foot on the upper part of my knee and with a little momentum I lean back until my back reaches the ground. There are other ways of how to start this Asana. Do it like the way you feel good with and get a little creative and find your own one into this position. With your hands you embrace the leg that has been straight in the first place and you pull a little towards your upper body. Only pull as much as you feel comfortable. The prior straight leg is positioned in a horizontal posture. Your head can relax on the ground during this exercise. Try and stay in this pose around 5 to 8 breaths and then change the leg constellation and repeat.

Information retrieved from Yogabasics.

When talking about the bridge, you probably would have imagined something different. The full bridge requires a lot of work though and should be acquired slowly. This simple bridge is a good exercise to start with and very beneficial for the back.

How to: Lay down on the floor and place your feet in an upright position.  Place your hands next to your body since this will give you extra support for the balance. You then move up your bottom from the ground, hold it for a breath and then lowering it again. I recommend to start with 1 set of 15 repetitions. When you advance, you might add more reps or even another set or two.

Information retrieved from Liebscher-Bracht.

This is the first step to mastering (the following) full back bend. Please only do it when you have thoroughly warmed up since the muscles can be damaged severely when doing such bends with cold muscles. 

How to: Kneel down and place one hand on your foot. Lift the arm parallely to the head. Look up and breath in firmly through the nose and out through the mouth. Since this is an intermediate Yoga pose don’t overdo it and start small with 1-2 breaths and then loosening the pose again. In the next step, you might want to try it out with the other arm.

I have come across this pose in my life Yoga classes, so no link that I provide you with this time.

This is an Asana on the intermediate Yoga level. It requires prior stretching or warming up. Please don’t do this pose if you haven’t warmed up thoroughly before and don’t feel confident enough. For me this exercise took a lot of practice before I was able in the slightest sense to master it. Since this is one of my current personal achievements, I was keen on sharing this one with you.

How to: When having thoroughly warmed up, get down on your knees and place one hand after the other on your feet. These are either upright for balance or if you are flexible enough they can lay completely on the floor. This makes the Asana more challenging. Lean your head backwards as much as it is comfortable for you. You might feel at the same time that you’re body pushes forward a little bit. It happens to me sometimes. Breath in firmly through the nose and out through the mouth. At the beginning, you might just be able to hold the pose for a breath or two. That’s completely normal. I, after having it done regularly for weeks now manage around 3 to 5 breaths. In this exercise your whole upper body, including hips and shoulders, will be activated. You might be feeling a slight tension on the front body.

Here it is important to listen to your body and not overdo the exercise since it consequently can cause severe damage. I have come across this exercise in my personal instructed sessions. So, no link this time.

In this Yoga pose you will stand with your feet a fair bit apart. Move down with one hand along the same sided leg and lift up the other arm to create a vertical line. Look up to the ceiling/ sky or whatever will await you looking upwards. Stay in this position for about 5-8 deep breaths (in through the nose and out through the mouth). If you concentrate on your breathing, you’ll find it easier to keep the balance, reach your foot and create the vertical line and there the Trikonasana.

Information retrieved from: Yoga-Welten.