Every new year is an opportunity to start life on a clean slate. To celebrate your achievements and learnings from the last year and open your arms to embrace all the good that’s stored for you in the next 12 months. And all good things start when you listen to yourself, and keep some time aside for self-love and self-care. Every single day. This year, start with a daily fitness routine, especially after all the fat-loaded finger foods, delectable desserts, and booze you must have indulged in during the last few days of the year gone by. Yoga, balanced with a balanced diet, is sure to do wonders in ridding your body of all the toxicity and starting life on a new note.
The Channel 46 caught up with Nikita Agrawal, Founder of Isira Yoga, who recommends 7 yoga poses that can help your body detox and start the new year afresh.
1. Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose)
Instructions to reach the pose:
- Sit with your legs straight out.
- Bend your knees and allow them to fall open to the sides.
- Draw the soles of your feet together and use your hands to open them like a book.
- For little advanced practice, lean forward by flexing at your hips while keeping a long spine.
2. Marjarasana (Cat Pose)
Instructions to reach the pose:
- Come onto all your fours with your knees hip distance apart.
- Bring your hips over your knees.
- Push your toes against the mat.
- Inhale and tuck your tailbone and round your back.
- Draw your navel towards your spine.
- Lower your head and bring your chin to your chest.
- Hold for a few breaths and repeat a few times.
3. Supta Matsyendrasana (Supine Twist)
Instructions to reach the pose:
- Lie on your back.
- Bring your knees close to your chest.
- Extend both arms out.
- Let both knees drop to one side, stacking knees on top of the other.
- Both shoulders are on the mat.
- Repeat on the other side.
Caution:
- Avoid doing this yoga if you have a knee, hip or back injury.
4. Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose)
Instructions to reach the pose:
- Lie down on your back, bend both knees (knees facing the ceiling and hip-width apart)
- Move the feet closer to the buttocks and press the feet into the floor.
- Inhale and lift the hips up.
- Press down into the arms and shoulders to lift the chest up.
- For advanced practice take the hips up higher
Caution:
- Avoid if you have recently undergone a neck, back, or shoulder injury.
5. Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand)
Instructions to reach the pose:
- Lie on your back with hands on the side
- Draw the feet close to the hips then exhale and push your thighs to your core
- Support your back with your palms
- Lift the lower part of the body vertically, feet away from the head
- Draw your elbows towards each other
- Bring your thighs in line with your torso
- Bring chin to chest
- Breathe normally while holding the posture.
- To release the posture continue using your palms to support the back and slowly and
- Carefully lower the hips to the mat.
Caution:
- People with high blood pressure should refrain from performing this asana.
- This yoga should not be performed if you have a neck injury or a spinal ailment.
- People with heart problems should also avoid performing this asana.
6. Viparita Karani Asana (Legs Up The Wall)
Instructions to reach the pose:
- Lie down with your legs resting up a wall.
- Place your arms in whichever way you are comfortable.
- This simple inverted posture helps with circulation and releases stiff neck and fatigue.
7. Ardha Matsyendra Asana (Seated Twist Pose)
Instructions to reach the pose:
- Sit cross-legged on the mat.
- Lift your right knee and place its sole on the mat outside your left knee.
- Inhale and raise your left hand to the ceiling stretching it up, exhale, and bring your left elbow down to the outside of your right knee while twisting your torso to the right side from the base of your spine.
- Place your right hand on the mat behind your hips for support or if comfortable wrap it around your waist, and turn your head to the right looking past your right shoulder.
- Keep shoulders in one line.
- Breathe normally while holding the posture.
- Release slowly, unwind and repeat on the other side.
Caution:
- Listen to your body, and twist accordingly.
- Don’t strain your neck while doing this asana.
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