Top 10 Yoga Poses For Beginners To Achieve A Healthy Mind, Body And Soul

Today’s hectic schedule of most people has made them neglect their health, thus deteriorating their overall body development. In addition, this fast-moving world has made it difficult for us to balance personal and professional stress.

We constantly run for our job, business, or family, leaving us with no time for ourselves, and thus, we struggle to achieve mental peace. Yoga not only helps with physical benefits for our body, but it can also bring a big change in our mental behavior.

Yoga is nothing new but is a practice continuing for centuries and has been passed down from generation. Yoga is a form of attaining inner peace and gaining spiritual knowledge. For a balanced and healthy body, one must practice yoga every day, any time of the day.

There are major four paths in yoga:

1. Karma Yoga – Based on olden principles according to the Holy Bhagavad Gita, this form of Yoga teaches us to be selfless without worrying about the fruit or reward. It helps us get rid of materialistic paths and guides us towards spiritual growth.

2. Jnana Yoga – This form is also known as wisdom yoga; this form is the most complex to practice. It requires strong will and a disciplined mind to achieve this. This yoga principle is to separate from the materialistic world and merge yourself with your inner self. It is advised to practice this form under the guidance of a teacher or guru.

3. Bhakti Yoga – This form is associated with devotion towards the mighty God and leads to the spiritual path. Great saints have practiced bhakti-yoga to gain spiritual knowledge. Devotion or bhakti leads to the purification of mind and soul.

4. Kriya Yoga – It includes many levels of mantra, pranayama, and mudra to enhance spiritual development. It means the internal action of the body and helps in the development of the mind, body, and soul. While practicing this form, the human body becomes energized and activated.

Yoga makes the body flexible, along with relaxing the mind. In addition, if you practice yoga regularly, you can control your emotions as well. Yoga helps to develop self-awareness and improves concentration. With different postures, you feel differently, and each pose offers multiple benefits for your body, and it enhances intelligence and patience. Yoga is good for the heart’s health. Try downward dog pose to prevent heart diseases or even obesity.

People suffering from regular back pains can try the Cat-cow pose, which will help them achieve a life free from back pains. Studies have shown that yoga helps to overcome depression and insomnia too. In this busy world, migraine is a common problem seen nowadays, mostly triggered by stress and exhaustion.

Yoga has the power to relieve migraines and reduce their frequency as well. Therefore, 21^st June is celebrated as International Yoga Day to create awareness among people about the importance of yoga.

Here is a list of the top 10 yoga poses for beginners which you can do daily and easily.

10. Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Fold)

Sit with your legs stretched out in front and kept your spine erect. Breathe and lift your arms over your head. Slowly bend forward towards your legs and breathe out. Rest your head on your knees or beyond that. You can either hold your big toes or keep your hands on the mat. Repeat this for a few breaths; breathe in, come up, and elongate your spine. Breathe out and bend towards your knee.

Benefits of Paschimottanasana:

• This resting position can help calm your brain.
• It is good for insomniac people as it helps in good sleep.
• It also burns down fats and thus helps in weight loss.
• It stimulates digestion.
• It helps in reducing fatigue and stress.

9. Balasana (Child Pose)

Sit on your knees by keeping them together or apart, making sure your big toes touch each other. Then, slowly bend forward towards the floor so that your forehead touches the mat or floor. As you feel comfortable, your arms should be facing in front of your body or alongside the body.

Your chest and stomach either rest on the thighs or are in between them (if your knees are apart). Once you are in the pose, take long deep breaths, and repeat for 6-12 breaths.

Benefits of Balasana:

• This pose is one of the resting poses and helps your body to relax.
• It reduces anxiety, stress and also helps calm your mind.
• It stretches the spine and shoulders.
• It helps with proper digestion as well.
• This pose relieves neck and back pain.

8. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog)

On the mat, come onto your hands and knees. Make sure your hands are slightly in front of your shoulders and knees below the hips. Stretch your legs up to the hips-width. Slowly push your body and knees from the ground towards the ceiling.

Straighten your legs as much as you can. Your hips should be towards the ceiling. Keep your head down towards the mat and breathe steadily.

Benefits of Adho Mukha Svanasana:

• This pose helps blood flow to the brain.
• It strengthens the arms and legs.
• It helps ease back pain and stretch the back.
• It also strengthens the bones.

7. Vrikshasana (Tree Pose)

 

Place your right foot slightly towards the right making sure your body faces front. Now place your right foot on your left shin, and for balance, keep your hands on your waist. As you get comfortable in this position, move your right foot from the shin to the upper thigh, close to the groin. To make it challenging, join your hands in prayer and raise your arms above your head.

Maintain your concentration at a non-moving spot in front of you. Don’t worry if you keep falling. Similarly, do this on the other side as well.

Benefits of Vrikshasana:

• It helps to increase balance and stability.
• It helps strengthen the legs.
• It helps to enhance concentration and awareness.
• It strengthens bones in the entire legs up to the hips.

6. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)

Separate your feet 3-4 inches apart and turn your right foot at about 90 degrees to the right side. Keep the left foot slightly towards the right, and make sure your body faces in front, not to the right side. Your feet should be firmly placed on the ground, and both feet’ weights should be equally distributed.

Now, raise your arms to shoulder level in a straight line and then move to the right from the waist and touch your shin, ankle, feet, or floor, whatever you are comfortable with. Keep your body in the right straight position and your knees straight as well.

Don’t lean forward. The left arm stretches toward the ceiling. Take long, deep breaths and then repeat this on the left side as well.

Benefits of Trikonasana pose:

• It relieves digestive issues.
• Good for relieving back pains.
• It enhances mental equilibrium.
• It helps in strengthening of legs, knees, chest, and arms.

5. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Tadasana is a great base for all standing postures in Yoga. Keep your feet slightly apart, lift the toes, spread them apart, and firmly place them on the floor. Breathe steadily and try not to lean forward or backward.

Slowly lift your heels, stand at the toes of your feet, and try to maintain balance. Concentrate your vision at one point in front of you, and to challenge yourself, raise your arms above your head. Don’t worry if you’re falling back out of balance, come back and try again.

Benefits of Tadasana:

• This Yoga pose is perfect for those who want to increase their height.
• It helps in relieving constipation and keeps the digestive system healthy.
• It improves body postures and blood circulation.
• Tadasana enhances concentration and awareness.
• It also helps in weight loss.

4. Bidalasana-Bitilasana (Cat and Cow Pose)

Come to your hands and knees and keep your feet flat on the ground. Your hands should be directly below your shoulders, and your knees should be below the hips. Place your knees hip-width apart, keep your eyes to the ground and neck neutral.

Now, as you inhale, drop your belly towards the floor, lift your chest and look up at the ceiling, and this is called cow pose. Now, as you exhale, round your back towards the ceiling, draw your belly to the spine and look towards the floor.

Benefits of Bidalasana-Bitilasana:

• It helps to improve the flexibility of muscles.
• It helps in relieving tightness in the spine.
• It stimulates the adrenal glands and kidney.
• It helps to achieve a peaceful state of mind and relieves stress.
• It helps in stretching the abdomen and hips.

3. Baddha Konasana (Butterfly Pose)

In this butterfly pose, while sitting, bring the soles of your feet together and keep your spine straight. Then you can hold your feet together with your hands or flap your legs up and down. Take deep breaths. You can feel the stretching in your inner thighs.

Benefits Of Baddha Konasana:

• It relieves lower back pain.
• It opens up tight hips and helps if you spend a lot of time sitting.
• It improves blood circulation.
• It is believed that this pose helps to get rid of fatigue.
• It gives flexibility to the legs and hip region.

2. Parivrtta Sukhasana (Seated Twist)

Bring attention to your breath. First, place the left hand on the outside of the right knee and then place the right hand behind the right hip. As you inhale, turn from the belly, roll the shoulders back and look over your right shoulder.

If you are unable to keep your spine straight, then place a book under your right hand. Take long, deep breaths as you are seated in a seated twist. Repeat on the other side as well.

Benefit of Parivrtta Sukhasana:

• Twisting asanas detoxify the body.
• It stimulates digestion and metabolism.
• It increases flexibility through spine and shoulders.

1. Sukhasana (Easy Pose)

This pose is easy and comfortable for meditation. It is a good starting posture for any yoga practice, and cross your legs and sit. While sitting in Sukhasana, lift your sitting bones and ensure the weight is evenly distributed in both legs. Next, lift your spine and chest and relax.

It might not be easy for everyone to sit like this. In this case, place a pillow under your hip for support. Once you are comfortable, draw attention to your breath.

Benefits of Sukhasana:

• It helps in calming the mind and helps in achieving peace.
• It takes all your worries and tiredness off your body.
• It strengthens the back, giving you a good body posture.
• It broadens the chest and collarbones.

Conclusion

Yoga maintains the mental and physical health of the body. It can be practiced by any age group and people of any body size no matter what. Incorporate it into your routine, and you will definitely see a change in your lifestyle.

Taking only 20 minutes daily or alternately can benefit your body and mind. After all, health comes first before anything else.