Basic Yoga Postures (Asanas)

You can also practice some basic yoga postures to assist you in relaxing and allowing the body to become more subtle. Let us progress with these basic yoga postures.  There are 3 basic postures which anyone can start with.  These are the yoga pose, half-tortoise pose and cobra pose.   After finishing yoga postures one should do a self-massage of the body and finish with corpse pose.

Please practise the yoga postures below and see how you feel in a few days time.  A well tuned body is always good for meditation.

1. Yogasana (Yoga Pose)
 
Sit in cross-legged sitting position on a blanket on the floor. Put your hands behind you and grip the left wrist with your right hand. Draw in a deep breath (inhale) and  slowly let your torso drop down to bring your forehead and nose in contact with the floor. Exhale as you lower your head in this way. Keep your head on the floor for  about eight seconds, expelling or holding your breath.  Then rise up slowly, breathing in as you reach your initial position, and then exhale.
 
Practice this round eight times. 

2. Ardhakurmakasana (Half-Tortoise Pose)

Get down on your knees and sit down on your heels. While inhaling, extend your hands upward so that your arms touch your ears and join your palms together. Then  while exhaling gradually bow down forward and touch the floor with your forehead and nose. Stay in this pose while holding your breath for 8 seconds. Rise slowly while  inhaling back to your sitting position with hands and arms pointing upward - arms touching your ears with palms joined together. Strive to keep your arms straight and your  buttocks on the heels all the time. Then lower your arms to your side while exhaling.

Practice this round eight times. 

3. Bhujaungasana (Cobra Pose)
 
Lie down on your stomach and chest and put your forehead on the floor.  Slide your arms and hands, palms down to either side of your shoulders. Tuck the elbows to  your sides and keep your feet together. While inhaling, raise your chest off the floor, supporting the weight on the palms, roll your head and neck back and up and look  toward the ceiling.  Do in this way as if someone is pulling you back to make your torso go up, and thus raise your head, neck, and chest (in this order), as if attempting to  look behind you at your feet.  Remember, breathe in as you rise. Hold your breath and that position for eight seconds.  Reverse the whole procedure while going down -  i.e. lower your chest, neck, and head as you breathe out and exhale as you slowly come down to your original position. 

Practice this round eight times. 

4. Self massage

Once having finished the asanas, then it is time to relax.  But first, thoroughly massage your face, scalp, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, body, legs, knees and feet. Start  with your face and end with your feet. Pay particular attention to joints. Do not use massage (or any other) oils. Gradually your body will begin to secrete its own oils and  make your skin healthier and thus better looking.

5. Shavasana (Corpse pose)

Lie down on your back, spread your legs and hands a comfortable distance from your body and turn your palms facing upward. Imagine yourself completely relaxed, free  of tension - as if your life force has left your body making it a corpse. (Or if you are uncomfortable with the image of death, imagine that you are lying on a little white  fluffy cloud with sun gently caressing you with its loving warmth and taking all tension and worry away from you.) Clear your mind of thoughts.  Take long deep breaths  and be in a perfectly relaxed condition.

Duration: 2 to 10 minutes.