Do you ever have an out-of-control mind, racing from one thought to the next? Or simply feel overwhelmed by that nagging stress of exams, social situations, or just daily life? You are not alone! We all get stressed and anxious at times, but that stress and anxiety will take a toll on our bodies and minds.
But what if I told you a simple but powerful tool would help you calm your mind and body while also relieving stress and boosting focus? Is yoga.
200 hours Yoga teacher training is not about mastering different poses or showing your strength by easily performing hardcore asanas in full daylight. It is a practice of bringing balance between mind and body through physical postures, breathing exercises, and mindfulness.
In this post, we are taking a close look at five yoga poses that are easy enough for a beginner and can be easily performed in daily life. We will be going a little deeper than the postures and exploring how each pose affects the mind, emotions, and energy. Be ready to see how these simple yet profound poses will help you handle school- and work-related stress and improve your overall sense of peace and well-being.
Read More
- The Living Blueprint: Unveiling the Human Body—A Journey Within
- Your Complete Guide to Hatha Yoga & Five Foundational Poses
- Unwind & Thrive: The Complete Guide to Child’s Pose (Balasana) for Students & Beyond
- The Core Catalyst: Unlocking Strength & Stability with the Plank Pose (Beginner to Advanced)
- What are RYT 200 and E-RYT 200?
Pose 1: Child’s Pose (Balasana)
It feels like a warm hug from the earth. Child’s Pose is a soft pose that acts as a reset on your mind and body.
How to:
- Kneel on the floor, with your big toes together and sitting back on your heels.
- Fold forward: Gently fold your torso forward, placing your forehead on the mat or a block.
- Extend the arms: Extend your arms forward, with the palms facing down, or bring the arms back toward the body.
- Breathe deeply: With a long, slow breath, allow your exhalation to release some of the mental or fiscal tension you carry.
Five-Angle Anchor:
- Physical: This pose is like a long, nourishing stretch into your hips, back axis, and shoulders. Its admission gently compresses your internal organs, which can feel really good.
- Mental: In this pose, we again affect our nervous system entirely, quieting down busy thoughts and instilling calm.
- Emotional: Child’s Pose is essentially about putting ourselves in a place of protection and comfort; it can bring up feelings of caring, calm, and maybe simple nostalgia.
- Energetic: It is a position for grounding, releasing remained energies with tension and anxiety, and releasing cola-like energy trapped within the earth.
- Spiritual: This pose can be a very meditative one; it invites you to turn deep inside yourself for some moments of stillness and presence within you.
Benefits for Students:
Child’s Pose is a great pose for study breaks. It relieves tension and fatigue and prepares you to concentrate thereafter.
Pose 2: Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
Consider the Downward Facing Dog as the most preferred yoga pose. This refreshing inversion serves to strengthen your body’s function and is wonderfully beneficial for you to practice when you feel you have been sitting for quite some time.
How to:
- Begin on hands and knees. Line your hands slightly wider than your shoulders, and keep your knees stacked beneath your hips.
- Lift your hips. Press your hands and feet to the ground as you lift your hips upwards and back, so your body forms an inverted V.
- Straighten your legs. Remember to keep the heels down, but don’t worry about it if they’re too tight.
- Tighten the torso. Draw the belly button in toward the spine to engage the core muscles.
- Breathe deeply. Breathe in and out slowly, feeling the stretch through your hamstrings and calves right down.
The 5-Point Anchors:
- Physical: Downward-Facing Dog is an absolutely fantastic full-body-strengthening posture. It strengthens the arms, legs, shoulders, and core muscles. In addition to this, it improves flexibility in the hamstrings, calves, and shoulders.
- Mental: This inversion brings blood flow to your brain and is good for sharpening your focus and concentration. It’s great to do when you can feel your mind confused.
- Emotional: The Downward-Facing Dog is relaxing, which helps in improving your mood and driving off fatigue. Perfect to sink the breath into if the afternoon slump is getting you.
- Energetic: This inversion reverses the flow of energy in your body, giving a refreshing and renewing boost.
- Spiritual: Downward-Facing Dog builds strength, stability, and calmness within you. It reminds you that you have that strength within you, which you can use to face the life’s challenges posed before you.
Benefits for Students:
Think about including Downward Dog in your study stretches. It improves body posture, refreshes energy, and increases focus and concentration.
Pose 3: Easy Pose (Sukhasana)
Easy Pose might seem very simple, but don’t take it to be that weak of a pose! It builds up a foundation for meditation and mindfulness.
How to:
- Sit on the floor. Cross your legs comfortably in front of you, placing one leg onto the other.
- Sit up. Keep your back straight and your spine erect. Feel free to place a bolster or a block under your sit bones.
- Ground yourself. Sink your sit bones gently into the ground.
- Soften your gaze. Soften your gaze to the floor, or let’s say close your eyes.
- Take deep breaths. Inhale and exhale on your side, deep and slow, breathing yourself right into the moment.
The 5-Point Anchor:
- The body: Easy Pose helps with your posture, strengthens your core muscles, and improves flexibility in your hips and ankles.
- The mind: Great for calming the mind! Easy Pose reduces distraction and allows your mind to narrow in on focus, making it a great choice for meditation or studying.
- The emotional: Easy Pose helps foster a sense of peace and calm. It helps you communicate with yourself and release any stuck emotions.
- The energy: Helping to bring out the static energy stressing the body’s energetic flow.
- The spiritual: Easy Pose is a strong, stable pose that can be used for reflective thinking or meditation.
Benefits to Students:
A great way to increase concentration during study sessions. This will help to quiet your mind, reduce distractions, and focus your concentration.
Pose 4: Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)
Although it may seem difficult, this pose is simple to perform and feels genuinely healing, much like a moderate inversion. It’s the ideal method of relaxing right before bed or after a hard day.
How to:
- Find a wall. Look for a corner or straight wall in your room and sit with your side very close to it.
- Throw your legs up. Swing your legs onto the wall while keeping your buttocks as close to the wall as possible.
- Support your back. Place a blanket or pillow under your lower back for extra comfort.
- Let go. Close your eyes and relax your entire body, letting gravity be your best friend right now.
- Breathe deeply. Inhale and exhale slowly while breathing deeply and soothingly in this inversion.
The 5-Point Anchor:
- Physical: The Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose improves circulation, mostly in your legs and feet. It can relieve tired legs and feet and soothe your nervous system.
- Mental: This beneficial pose helps quiet a rushing mind. It reduces anxiety and calms the mind. It’s a great way to spend time alone before going to sleep.
- Emotional: The Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose is a good way to relieve tension and stress. It improves one’s mood and gives them the energy and motivation to continue their usual work in both office and school.
- Energetic: Your entire body might feel a great sense of relaxation and a refreshing energy from head to toe as gravity slowly drains your legs during this inversion.
- Spiritual: This position is a great tool to promote letting go and surrender. It enables you to let go of any stress or opposition and just be okay and satisfied with what you have in the present.
Benefits for Students:
After a long day of studying or after a particularly stressful test, Viparita Karani Pose is a great way to feel peaceful and relaxed. It can lower stress of any kind, better the quality of your sleep, and leave you feeling energized and prepared to take on your next task with great energy and motivation.
Pose 5: Corpse Pose (Savasana)
Although the word “corpse pose” may sound a little dreadful and awkward when you first hear it, it includes nothing awful, although it is one of the simplest poses out there as it strongly promotes the state of deep relaxation. It’s a great way to wrap up a yoga session or any other form of relaxation at the end of the day.
How to:
- Lie on the back. Remember how you sleep? Just do it now, as to do this pose, you will have to begin lying flat on your back on the floor or on a yoga mat.
- Spread your arms and legs. Spread your arms and legs out, a little away from your body.
- Close your eyes. Try to be as relaxed as possible, and with great gentleness, close your eyes and let your body relax completely.
- Breathe deeply. Inhale and exhale slowly and deeply, and allow the breath to lead you into deeper relaxation.
- Release tension. With awareness, begin to scan your body and allow any tension that you find to escape your muscles, your mind, and the emotions.
5-point Anchor:
- Physical: Corpse pose deeply relaxes your entire body. It frees up tension in your muscles, allows for better circulation, and removes physical fatigue.
- Mental: This pose often brings the mind down in a calm way. It reduces racing thoughts, thereby quieting the mind, and invites the state of deep relaxation.
- Emotional: When you perform this pose, it helps you to let go of any pent-up emotional stress. It is also a great pose to improve your mood, reduce anxiety, and promote feelings of calm and well-being.
- Energetic: One of the most important and helpful benefits of this pose is on our body’s energy, as this pose heals the mind and body as a whole. It helps the body regain its energy, which leaves you feeling renewed and refreshed.
- Spiritual: On a spiritual level, Savasana helps you get an intense feeling of inner calm and peace. It enables you to appreciate the truly peaceful condition and establish a connection with your inner self.
Benefits for Students:
Corpse Pose is essential for every yoga practice, particularly for students. as kt works as a closing asana for this relaxation series of asanas, and it reduces stress, improves sleep quality, and improves overall well-being. Just a few minutes of Corpse Pose can significantly change the way you feel.
Conclusion
After you’re done, you’ll have five simple yet powerful yoga positions that will help you
- focus better,
- reduce tension,
- and relax your body and mind.
Remember that even if you are not a yoga expert, you can still benefit from these poses.
Daily practice, even for just a few minutes, can have a great impact. Include these positions in the daily routine and find a peaceful area where you feel relaxed and focused.
Here are some other pointers to improve your yoga practice:
- Use props: If you are a beginner and are dealing with issue in performing these postures, then you can use anything that offers additional support, such as a blanket, blocks, or a strap.
- Put on some calming music: It might sound strange but is quite helpful as putting some relaxing music on in the background can create a relaxing setting.
Yoga is a journey that you should enjoy, not a race, so be kind to yourself. Enjoy your journey and go slowly.
Additionally, keep in mind that your school might provide additional resources for your welfare. Check any yoga groups or wellness initiatives that may be offered. Try out all of the positions and see which one suits you the most. The primary goal is to attain mental and physical calm.
I hope it encourages you to bring yoga into your life; keep in mind that even a short daily practice can have a significant impact.
Namaste!