Uttan padasana- Raised legs pose

Uttan padasana

This is one my favourite morning poses, not too challenging and has immense benefits.This pose is good to prevent and cure varicose veins and increase overall circulation in your legs and eliminate belly flab.

Initial position – 1) Start with supine position.
2) Exhale to prepare, bring your feet together, inhale and raise both legs up, slowly and stabilize them when they reach at 90 degrees angle from the floor.
Holding the pose- Normal breathing. With every exhalation, try to straighten your legs more.

Duration – 1 min to 5 mins.

Releasing the pose- Exhale and bring you legs straight down, very slowly. If you have lower back problem, you can fold your legs and then bring them down.
Benefits – It improves digestive system by compressing stomach and intestines. It makes abdominal muscles stronger and eliminates flab. It helps with circulation of blood in legs and heals varicose veins.

Halasana -Plough Pose

Halasana
This asana should not be done as the first asana in the morning, as it requires extreme bending and can cause injury if your body is not warmed up. It helps rejuvenated abdominal organs. It helps spine stretch and get better supply of blood and hence it relieves back aches. It compresses the intestines and helps with digestion.
Initial position – Lie down on your back.
1) Inhale, lift your legs up straight and bring them perpendicular to the ground.
2) Lift you entire lower body and bring your feet behind your head.
3) return to normal breathing
Holding the pose- Normal breathing.
Duration – 1 min to 5 mins
Releasing the pose- Exhale and bring one vertebrae at a time, as slow as you can, keeping your legs straight.
Benefits – It will help get rid of stiffness from neck and shoulder. It increases circulation to the legs and helps prevents cramps due to sitting for long hours.
Tip - Keep your neck soft while holding the pose to prevent injury.

Ardha-matsyendrasana

A Yoga session should typically consist of forward bend, backdward bend, Twisting and inverted poses. Today's pose is a twisting pose. It gives your spine a lateral twist which helps fix lateral curvature of spine. The abdominal walls exert gentle pressure on stomach and intestines which make it improve digestion and constipation. It is good for people who have lower back pains and can’t do forward or backward bends.















Initial position – Sit with your legs straight in front of you.
1) Inhale, bend your left leg and exhale, put your right leg under your left leg so that right foot is close to left hip.
2) Inhale, Turn your upper body toward right side and try to grab your right hand with your left hand that goes under your left leg.
3) Turn your head toward right side as much as possible.
4) Repeat with the other side.
Holding the pose- Normal breathing.
Duration – 1 min to 5 mins
Releasing the pose- Exhale and turn toward front and release your arms and then legs.
Benefits – It stretches deep seated muscles in you hip area, squeezes and massages organs in abdomen region. It also relieves neck ache due to stress or poor posture and corrects hunched back.

Garudasana- Heal your joints.

Garudasana( Eagle pose)


Stiffness of joints can cause discomfort and limit your range of motion.Yoga poses provide relief to stiff and damaged joints. Yoga's controlled movements and gentle pressures reach deep into troubled joints. This posture helps to loosen the joints by flexing and stretching the tendons and muscles of shoulder, elbow, wrist, hips, knees and ankles.



Initial position- Stand with 2 feet distance between your feet.
1. Bring the left leg up and cross the left thigh over the right.
2. Hook the left foot around the right calf.
3. Bring the arms out in front. Twist your arms, right arm over left arm and bring your palms together
4. Lift the elbows while keeping the shoulders sliding down the back. ( Do not look down)
5. Repeat on the other side.



Holding the pose – Deep breathing.
Tip- Stare at one point for balance.
Beginners- 30secs
Advanced-2 mins
Releasing the pose- Release your legs first and then release your arms.
Benefits – It helps develop focus and concentration.It improves balance, coordination and has calming effect on your mind.

Cobra pose for neck and back.

When I had my baby, I realised how important it is to strengthen my lower back, baby weight puts undue pressure on your back. I had lower back pains, like most women, soon after the delivery. Doing Cobra pose has completely healed my back. It strengthens your lower back to prevent aches and strains. Aging can be pretty harsh on your back, if you don't take care of it now. Yoga lays great emphasis on the care of spinal column. Flexibility of spine is the key to a healthy life.This pose provides anterior stretching and posterior contraction. It massages your internal organs by putting gentle pressure on them with your body weight.


Initial position- Lie on your stomach, legs fully stretched out with toes pointing outward,arms kept on the sides, with palms facing down.
1) Inhale-Slowly raise the head , neck and chest, as if you are trying to look at the ceiling.
Benefits-
1)It adjust minor displacement of vertebra, relieves the vertebral column of undue pressure, exercises and tones the deep muscles supporting the spinal column and the trunk, promotes spinal circulation, and helps to maintain normal elasticity of the spine.
2) Alleviates neck pain due to slouching.
3)Strengthens lower back by compressing the muscles which helps in repositioning of tendons and muscle fibers.
Holding the pose- Normal breathing.
keep your heels together and naval close to the floor.
Beginners- 30secs
Advanced- 2mins
Releasing the pose-Exhale and bring down your chest and forehead to the floor and gently straighten your arms
Note- Not recommended if you have back injury.

Bow Pose/Morning stiffness

I have been asked by my students if there is one pose that they can do to stretch their entire body and my answer is Bow pose. This is the Pose that I recommend, to get rid of that morning stiffness which happens due to overuse to certain muscle group, lack of exercise or activity, inappropriate limb movement or collection of fluids in the joints. Yoga prevents and alleviates morning stiffness. No matter how experienced Yoga practitioner you are, morning is the time when your body is relatively stiffer than it is at later time of the day and that is reason you should not try to push yourself too hard. Do not stretch to the point of discomfort. Drink 10-12 glasses of water to keep your muscles hydrated as hydrated muscles stretch better.

Intital position-Lie flat on the stomach with the forehead resting on the floor.

1) Separate the knees.

2)Bend the kneed and hold both ankles.

3) Inhale while slightly raising the knees, head and chest, at the same time pull the feet upwards.

Benefits- It regulates the digestive, eliminatory and reproductive organs. It massages the liver and pancreas .It stimulates kidneys and tones the whole alimentary canal.The backward bend of spine adjust vertebral column and corrects posture.

Holding the pose-The final position can be held either with normal breathing or internal breath retention. The body can also be gently rocked forward and backward. Concentrate at the back of the neck, abdominal region or the midpoint where the back is bending.
Beginners- 30 sec with normal breathing
Advanced- 30 seconds with breath retention and 2 mins with normal breathing.

Releasing the pose- Exhale and bring your upper body and thighs down and release your feet.

Yoga Journey

I am Natasha Simplicio, I was born and raised in India before I moved to the U.S, 2 yrs back. I live in Oregon with my husband and my 7 month old son.

I am starting this blog to share my Yoga with everyone. I have been doing and teaching Yoga for more than 10 yrs and now I can't imagine my life without it. Yoga has given me everything that I need to stay healthy and happy. It is the treasure that I have found and I want to share it with every one. Yoga is for everyone. Depending on your level of comfort and flexibility, there is something for everyone. My Yoga is traditional and follow one rule more than any other " Sthirim sukham asanam", which means steady and comfortable pose.

The pose that I want to share today is Downward facing dog (Janushirasan)

Initial position - Sit down with knees touching the floor, toes tucked in and your palms on the floor. 1)Inhale and lift you hips and straighten your arms and legs.

2) Push your heels toward the floor so that your feet are flat on the ground.

3) Bring your chin close to your chest as if you are trying to look at your navel.

4) Breathe normally.

Benefits- It stretches calves, hamstring, glutes , lower back shoulder, neck and arms.

It is good for people who have sedentary lifestyle or desk job. It stretches the neck with the help of the weight of your head that gives it maximum and optimum pull. This pose is recommended to prevent and cure stiff neck that can be a result of staring at the computer or stress.

Holding the pose- Your breathing should be normal and rhythmic.

Beginners - hold for 30 secs

Experienced- Between 1- 5 mins

Releasing the pose - Exhale and come back to initial position and relax.

Note : Check with your doctor before starting Yoga if you have health issues. Stop immediately if you feel light headed. Never do Yoga within 3 hrs of eating.