Yoga Asana of the Week Easy Pose - Sukhasana

August 24th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

In Easy post, it seems that you’re just sitting, but this is an active pose. The asana opens the hips, lengthens the spine and promotes grounding and inner calm. You’re sitting cross legged; your aim is to touch your knees to the ground. To achieve this, it helps if you sit on a small cushion or bolster..

Sit on the floor, with a small cushion under your rear, and cross your legs.  Rest your hands on your knees with the palms facing up. Relax your hips.

Press your hip bones down into the floor and reach the crown of the head up to lengthen the spine.  Relax your shoulders  and back and press your chest gently towards the front of the room.

Relax your face, jaw, and belly.

Remember that the post is active - relax, and lengthen your spine at the same time.

Let your tongue rest on the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth.

You can relax in Sukhasana for as long as you wish.


Yoga Postures - there’s no need to twist yourself into a pretzel

June 10th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Considering doing yoga but scared by all the weird yoga postures? Some of them look painful.

Don’t worry: while there are thousands of yoga postures, as a beginning yoga student, you’ll only learn a few, and these postures will improve your health, as well as relieving stress.

For example, Sukhasana, or Easy Pose, is just sitting cross legged. It helps you to focus on awareness of your breathing and your body and strengthens your  back muscles and opens your groin and hips.

Sit cross-legged with your hands on your knees, and focus on your breath. Make sure that you keep your spine straight and push the sitting bones down into the floor. Allow the knees to gently lower, and remember that if the knees rise above your hips, you need to sit on a cushion or a block.

Dog and Cat Pose is another posture you’ll be able to handle as a beginner; it increases the flexibility of the spine. It’s really two poses, one flowing into the other. You begin on your hands and knees, keeping your hands just in front of your shoulders, with your legs about hip width apart.

Then, as you inhale, tilt the tailbone and pelvis up, and let the spine curve downward, dropping the stomach low, and lift your head up. Stretch gently, and as you exhale, move into the cat position by reversing the spinal bend, tilting the pelvis downward, and drawing the spine up and the stomach in.