While there are many standing twist asanas or postures in yoga, the basic standing twist asana is a fairly easy and stress-free posture to practice while warming up. It helps promote spinal mobility and tones the muscles of the abdomen and waist.
In order to begin the standing twist asana, you should start by positioning yourself in the standing upright pose or samasthiti. This asana is also referred to as the mountain pose or tadasana. It helps promote good posture, and it is recommended that you incorporate this asana into all aspects of your daily life, including when you walk, sit, work, and relax. Samasthiti is also important, because it is the beginning point for most standing postures in yoga, so you should learn it early on in your training.
1. To assume the samasthiti asana, stand upright with your feet together and your arms at your sides.
2. Your shoulders should be relaxed, and your entire body, including your head, neck, spine, and legs, should be standing upright in a vertical line. You should not be slouching in this posture, nor should you be standing too rigidly. Your head should be relaxed with your chin held level, but not stiffly.
3. Now, to move into the standing twist asana, extend your arms in front of your chest so that your palms are facing downward and your thumbs are touching.
4. While keeping your eyes on the backs of your hands, carefully swing your body as far as possible to the left without shifting the positioning of your feet.
5. Stay in this position for about five seconds before swinging your body toward the middle.
6. Repeat the posture by swinging your body as far to the right as possible without shifting the position of your feet.
Although breathing is very important in yoga, many practitioners will caution against focusing one's attention too much on the breath. While it is definitely wise to make sure that you continue to breathe deeply throughout your yoga posturing, you should not worry too much about getting the exact breathing techniques mastered until you have learned how to truly perform the yoga asanas and have practiced yoga for at least one year. Even so, if you are interested in the breathing techniques for the standing twist asana, make sure to breathe out as you initially twist to the left, and breathe in as you twist back toward the center. Repeat this sequence while twisting to the right.
Health and Fitness
The benefits of yoga are plentiful. Yoga is known for increasing strength and flexibility while helping to decrease stress and athletic injuries. If there is someone on your list who is interested in getting started practicing yoga, there are some great gifts you can purchase that will help them get going. See the guide below for how to purchase gifts for the beginning yoga.
Step 1:
Get the gear. The good news is, yoga doesn’t require a lot of equipment. A beginning yogi needs a mat and some mat cleaner. Go to shareyoga.com and find several choices of mats for $49.00. A few options include the Flower Power mat and the Peace Prayer mat, but if those don’t suit your yogi’s personality, there are other choices. The Wicked Witch Hazel Cleaner for $16.00 will help your recipient keep their mat clean and sanitized.
Step 2:
It’s in the bag. You’ll need to get the yoga learner on your list a bag to keep their mat in. Yoga.com sells a simple embroidered yoga mat bag for $20.99. The bag is small, portable, well made and comes in various colors such as coffee brown, wine, and pink. The embroidery options include the words Peace, Harmony, or I love yoga, among other options.
Step 3:
Clothes to fit the part. If you’re feeling generous (and you know your gift recipient’s size) you can try to purchase some yoga clothes, but be warned, they can be pricey. Yoga-clothing.com has a large selection of yoga pants, capris, shorts, leggings, and tanks. (A beginning yogi can usually suffice with some comfy sweat material pants for the time being.)
Step 4:
Yogis need models. Someone new to yoga needs to see the poses being modeled for them by a real person. At amazon.com you can purchase the DVD titled AM PM Yoga for Beginners for $14.99. The AM routines are designed to awaken the mind and body; whereas the PM routines are meant to help you release stress and get to sleep relaxed.
Step 5:
Resources are resourceful. Yoga beginners can benefit from a book as a guide. At yogalifestyle.com you can purchase the book 28 Day Yoga Exercise Plan by Richard Hittleman for only $14.00. The 28 day guide boasts that beginners can spend a half hour a day learning the practice, but claims that it’s also good for those returning to the practice. The book design was well thought out, as it even lays flat for use while practicing.
Step 6:
Music is a must. At shantiommusic.com you can purchase the Yoga Motions White Swan Yoga Masters Vol. 4 CD for $16.98. This CD features selections by various artists; the website says the selections were chosen by Lauren Peterson, who is a nationally recognized yoga practitioner whose client base includes many entertainers and athletes.
Step 7:
Set the mood with incense. Some people who practice yoga like to burn incense while they are practicing. A nice gift for a beginning yogi can be found at mandalacollection.com. The Puja Buddha Tibetan Incense Travel Altar Box Set is $36.00 and was made in Nepal. It includes a 3” herbal Buddha statue, totala seeds, sandalwood resin incense, a hand-glazed terracotta leaf burner and a story card.
If your gift recipient wishes to wrap their mind and body around the practice of yoga, you won’t go wrong by purchasing the gifts above for him or her. The beginning yogi will surely catch the yoga bug, and in no time you’ll find yourself shopping for gifts for the advanced yogi.
Yoga is a tried and true, centuries old practice that has been demonstrated to improve the body's flexibility, balance and stamina. In addition to the physical benefits, practitioners of yoga also are rewarded with lower blood pressure and a reduction in stress.
There is a wide array of positions - several of the most popular yoga positions are listed below. When starting to practice these poses it is suggested that they be held for 30 seconds, increasing the hold time with practice. Be aware of breath; experience the inhale and the exhale when performing these moves.
The Tree Style. This balance pose appears simple but does take a bit of practice. Stand on the right foot; bend the left leg, placing the left foot just above the inside of the right knee. While maintaining this balanced position, extend arms directly overhead with palms facing. Feel the stretch to the spine. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Return to a standing position and repeat, standing on the left foot.
The Triangular Style. Standing, spread legs as far apart as is comfortable, making sure to maintain balance, and bend the right arm in an arc over the head. Reach the left arm down to touch the right foot. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Straighten to a standing position and repeat with the left arm overhead and the right arm touching the left foot.
The Cobra Style. This yoga pose stretches the spine and helps to strengthen the abdomen. Lie flat, face down, with arms to the sides of the body and feet together. Take several deep breaths, slide the arms upward so that hands are flat, palm down at about waist-level. Raise head and chest, extending arms, lifting up to navel level. Hold for 30 seconds, and slowly lower to return to a flat position. Repeat.
The Sun Salutation. This popular yoga pose begins in a standing position, with feet touching. Hands are brought to the chest, palms together. Inhale and raise arms upward, slowly bend backwards allowing arms to extend back. Exhale; bring arms overhead, and bend down with the goal of touching hands to the feet.
The Corpse Style. This yoga pose is performed at the end of a session to relax the body. Lie flat, face up, with arms spread out in line with the shoulders. Close hands into fists, with thumbs inside. Bend legs at the knees, placing feet slightly apart flat on the floor. Turn both knees to the right, while turning head to the left and hold. Return knees to starting position and turn both knees to the left and the head to the right.
In a world where everyday stress is at an all time high, we all need practical moment-by-moment methods to deal with the bombardment of stimulus coming at us. Everyone tells us to let things go, but they don't give us any clue how to better train ourselves to do so.
Yoga offers many techniques in which to practice conscious relaxation, so that even in extremely challenging situations you can center yourself and skillfully deal with the situations at hand.
One of the best ways to deal with stress is to learn how to bring your awareness to your breath. Merely watching and being conscious of a single inhalation and a single exhalation, a complete cycle of breath, can work miracles. This may sound ridiculously easy and simplistic but on so many occasions, this simple meditation has lifted me out of dark situations.
1. Take a comfortable position. The best way to start any breathing awareness exercise is to lie down on the floor on your back. Your legs are straight, about eight inches apart and dropped open, completely relaxed. Your arms are straight, with your hands about eight inches from your hips, palms face up. If this position is uncomfortable or painful for your lower back, place a rolled up blanket under your knees. Place a thin pillow under your head, enough to keep your forehead slightly higher than your chin.
2. Scan the body. First just scan your body, from toe to head, and feel every part of yourself relax deeply. Let every part of your body be supported completely by the earth. Especially relax your face and your sense organs.
3. Begin to focus on the breath. In this deep state of relaxation, begin to notice your breath. Continually bringing your attention back to your breath is the main practice. To help you do this, begin to watch the completion of the exhalation and the natural pause at the end of the exhale.
4. Extend the pause at the end of the exhale. Spend at least 10 minutes completing your exhalations and slightly extending the natural pause at the end of your exhalations for one to two seconds. If at any time this exercise brings tension, go back to just scanning your body and observing any place in the body that is binding or uneasy.
5. Winding down the practice. After 10-15 minutes of this breathing practice, return to normal breathing without any manipulations. Come back to simple conscious relaxation for about five minutes. Bend your legs and roll to your right side and then use your hands and arms to push your torso up to sitting. This simple breathing exercise will help you become more aware of your breath all day long. Your breath is always in the present moment, so by observing your breath it will bring you to the here and now. Especially when you are irritated or angry, returning to the breath will become a sanctuary, the eye of the hurricane.
Other Tips:
* During the day, pick something to remind you to come back to your breath. Sometimes I pick something irritating like the ringing of cell phones to remind me to take one conscious breath. Throughout the day, when I hear a cell phone, I am reminded to return to my breath. This centers me and returns me to balance, even if it is only for a second. Little by little these seconds compile into something significant and at the end of the day I have succeeded in being free of so much stress.
* Additional focus during breathing practice. You can further the effects of this breath work by visualizing that you are receiving golden light every time you inhale and that you are becoming amazingly light every time you exhale. Also, relax your neck and head as you inhale and lengthen your body as you exhale. Your inhale can absorb all the vibrations of the present moment while your exhale can return you to profound silence. Your breath is one of your most powerful tools in achieving and sustaining peace. Learn how to utilize this ally through daily attention to your breath. Take it slow and be consistent in your observations and experiments with your breath. It takes many years to learn the language of your breath, but after some mastery you will see how the breath is the ruler of the mind and the body.
Peace and compassion,
Rodney Yee