Yoga Asanas: The Variations

Retaining youth and long live on this world is still an achievement far away from man even at this century, in spite of all new medicinal inventions and cosmetics.

But yogis who lived several centuries ago have left us their secret invention which is ‘ yoga asanas .' Yoga is an exercise which demands both mental and physical attention. The various postures in these exercises are said to be asanas in yogic terms .

“Yoga asanas demands flexibility of body tissues, and also involves a lot of breath exercises along with physical exercise.”

Like any other exercises, yoga also has its own poses . But the most important variation is that, yoga involves a massive role of breath control along with physical exercise. There should be a merge between the breath and the asanas as such it helps to improve our vitality.

Yoga also needs a lot of grace while doing it, as the main role of yoga is to provide stress free, relaxed, body tone up and a refreshed mind. That is why unlike any other exercise pattern, yoga reveals refreshment, stamina and energy after its session rather than fatigue and exhaustion.

According to yogic principle, the body is a vehicle that carries the soul on its journey towards perfection and yoga is always blended with the effect of spirituality in order to bring clarity for inner consciousness. Yoga asanas usually gives major concentration to the spine movements as it increases blood circulation, which provides sufficient oxygen that the body requires.

All traditional yoga asanas starts with the sun salutation which is known as Surya Namaskar in yogic terms. As per the scriptures say, there are more than 8,400,000 asanas in the entire yogic practice. But people in today's world have neither the time nor patience to learn as many asanas.

So they choose certain asanas according to its nature and benefits which suits their life style and practice only them. In such a way some of the most commonly practiced asanas these days are sirshasana (headstand), sarvangasana (shoulder stand), halasana (plough), matsyasana (fish), paschimothanasana (forward bend), bhujangasana (cobra), shalabhasana (locust), dhanurasana (bow), ardha matsyendrasana (spinal twist), mayurasana (peacock pose), pada hasthasana (standing forward bend), trikonasana (triangle).

Vinyasa Yoga: One Of The Best Yoga

Yoga originated in India and it generally means the balance or co-ordination of the mind, body and spirit or soul.

The word ‘ yoga ' means ‘ union '. Asana's refer to the physical postures or yoga steps performed as exercises , which give total flexibility to the body, balances the breath and calms down the mind.

There are different styles of yoga and Vinyasa is just another type of yoga which is generally practiced for breath synchronization.

It is also known as sun salutation or ‘ Surya Namaskar ' in Sanskrit. In this form of yoga the sun god is worshipped through a number of combined postures which give the practitioner a good breath balance, and body flexibility making it strong and increasing the general health and immunity.

“Sun salutation warms up the body and that if fact serves as a foundation for the more vigorous asana's to be followed.”

It helps the body to handle more intense stretching exercises, which is generally harder to perform. There is no set hard and fast rule to define Vinyasa and different teachers practice and teach in different ways. Thus the diversity is what makes Vinyasa yoga unique.

Vinyasa is thus a combination of various yoga postures which is followed by the flow of breath. A Vinyasa practitioner is benefited by a calm mind and it is a great mind silencing technique benefiting not only the mind but also the ‘ body ' and ‘ soul .'

After the yoga practice the body becomes light or weightless. You feel relieved and peaceful. In this form of yoga for each movement there is a breath which is either inhaling or exhaling or holding. It cleanses the practitioner internally and prepares him for the acquisition of the higher yogic knowledge.

Heat is generated while practicing this yoga thereby helping the blood circulation. It relieves body pain and joint pain. The heated blood becomes thin and flows freely removing all impurities and diseases.

These postures generate a lot of sweat which pushes out all the impurities of the body. When the physical impurities are removed a strong base is laid for the mental purification .

Yoga Positions-Learn The Art To Practice Better For Yoaga

To maintain health and good body fitness we follow different exercise patterns and routines like going to a gym, early morning walks and jogging.

Yoga is an ancient form of fitness process well formulated by the ancient Indian saints keeping in mind the overall development of a human being like the physical, mental and spiritual health. There are different types of yoga like the raja yoga, Hatha yoga, Pathanjali yoga etc. the best yoga for an aspirant should however be chosen keeping in mind his physical condition and the need for undertaking the yoga lessons.

“Yoga as we all known has many yogasana's or yogic body postures. There are sitting postures, standing postures, the back and forward bends, balancing postures and resting postures.”

These postures increase the body flexible and make it strong and balanced . Our stiff body might resist or hesitate to accept the posture at the beginning but as time goes by and as you continuously keep on practicing the postures set in perfectly and you can with ease advance to more complex yoga practices.

Certain things however have to be borne in mind before starting the yoga positions.

1. Always do yoga on an empty stomach. At least 3-4 hours after meals or one hour after any liquid consumption


2. Do not strain too much to get the posture right. And follow the strict instructions to breathe in or out as it effects the posture too


3. Stop and retrieve back to normal posture if you feel pain or discomfort in any body parts


4. People having heart ailments or high blood pressure should do yoga under the supervision of expert and under the supervision of a health care professional.


5. It takes time to master a yogic posture, so don't try to rush up or try doing advanced yogic postures without mastering the basic steps


6. Do not practice yoga using DVD's, self help books or videos. Always learn yoga from a professional yoga teacher


7. And last but not the least always don't forget regular practice to keep the health and fitness level optimized