If you are new to yoga, this practice can be very intimidating, especially if you regularly see people do complicated poses on your social media feeds. However, these fancy poses aren’t all that there is to this practice. As a beginner, seated yoga poses are a great way to start. Not only are they easy to do, but they are also safer – and you don’t have to worry about face planting and embarrassing yourself. If you are curious about how to do yoga while seated, then you are in the right place. In this article, we shall be introducing you to some easy seated yoga poses, informing you about the benefits of seated poses in yoga, and much more.
Also known as sitting yoga, this is an umbrella term that covers a large number of yoga asanas that start with an individual sitting down. These asanas can be done while simply seated straight, with your legs crossed, folded forward, while twisting your torso around, etc. the variations are endless.
Here are some reasons why you should consider adding sitting yoga to your weekly routine
Flexibility is the ability of a joint or multiple joints to move through an unrestricted, pain free range of motion. Because basic yoga poses are essentially a form of stretching, our bodies become more limber and flexible over time.
In a 10 week study done on male college athletes, researchers found that doing bi-weekly yoga sessions helped the study participants become more flexible. The athletes were able to do exercises like lunges and leg extensions better as their knees had better range of motion. Researchers also noticed significant improvements in the flexibility/ranges of movement in the athletes hip, ankle and shoulder joints (2).
An earlier study published in 2014, 9 healthy women were asked to take yoga twice a week for 5 months with the aim of increasing joint mobility as well as stretching shortened skeletal muscles. After the 5 months, results showed that the women had increased mobility in their shoulder, hip, and ankle joints. There was also significant improvement in their spine flexion and rotation as well as significant improvement in the flexibility in their chest muscles (the pectoralis major), quad muscles (the rectus femoris), as well as the knees themselves (4).
Read More: Unwind With These Relaxing Yoga Poses While Lying On Your Back
Functional fitness relates to exercises that prepare your body for real life daily activities like reaching up for stuff in cupboards, bending over, twisting, pulling, pushing, etc. Functional fitness training helps your muscles and joints work together seamlessly and has been shown to help relieve muscle and joint pain (1).
A study published in The Journals of Gerontology in 2016 revealed that not only is doing yoga just as good and effective for your functional fitness as doing any kind of stretching-strengthening exercises, but it is also more accessible to the public as well as older adults, since it requires minimal equipment and is adaptable to anyone including the elderly and those with disabilities (6).
This is especially important for older adults who fall often and thus have a higher risk of fractures. A study review of six studies involving over 300 participants showed that doing yoga-based exercises helped improve balance in older adults – 60 years and above (7). Remember that better balance in older adults also increases their independence which gives them a sense of purpose as well as higher levels of happiness and satisfaction.
It should be noted that better balance isn’t just good for older adults. Younger people, especially those who like being active can also benefit from it. Better balance can help reduce the risk of injury to your joints during exercise and improves neuromuscular coordination – connection and communication between the brain and the muscles (5, 3).
Unlike the standing poses that we often see or think about when yoga is talked about, seated poses in yoga are very beginner friendly and easy to do. Because you are closer to the ground, you have more stability in your poses which reduces the risk of falling and injury.
Before getting into these seated yoga poses, here are somethings to note:
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Here are six easy seated yoga poses that you can try right now:
This pose is said to help stretch your spine.
If this feels uncomfortable, raise your hips by sitting on a towel or blanket. You can also place blankets or towels under your knees for extra support.
As the name suggests, this pose helps stretch your neck and well as your spine.
Described as the seated equivalent of mountain pose, improves posture and also stretches your hamstrings and calves.
This pose helps stretch both your glutes, hamstrings, calves, and spine.
Here’s how to do yoga seated forward fold pose:
Read More: 10 Different Yoga Poses to Relieve Upper Back Pain
The seated wide legged straddle helps stretch the spine, hamstrings, calves and inner thighs.
Like all other poses listed here, the half lotus pose helps stretch the spine and improve your posture. It also stretches the muscles around the hips, pelvis, legs, and ankles.
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Not necessarily. Yoga sequences refer to the order in which yoga poses should be done. Sequencing is said to help a class flow seamlessly. Some practitioners believe that doing this also helps safety and helps people meditate better.
In some cases, a teacher leading a class will set his/her own sequence, but in other cases, some types of yoga like Bikram and Ashtanga have set sequences that do not change. If you are doing any of the above poses at home, you do not need to follow a specific sequence. Just do what feels easy and natural for you. Just aim to start with easier poses and work your way to more complicated ones.
There is no one specific seated yoga pose. As described above, seated yoga is basically an umbrella term for any yoga pose that starts in a seated position.
While seated yoga poses are mostly for beginners, not every asana can be done by a beginner. Poses like the Parivrtta surya yantrasana (aka compass pose), and the Gomukhasana (aka cow-face pose) should be left for intermediate and advanced yoga practitioners. They require more twisting and stretching than your body is used to. Attempting them too soon will very likely lead to injury.
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