Hatha Yoga Poses For Back Pain, Stress Relief and to Tone Your Muscles

Hatha Yoga Moves For Your Body And Mind

Hatha Yoga Moves To Help Tone Your Muscles

Yoga poses are generally thought of as ways to help your stress level.

You may also think about them as a way to drop unwanted weight. What you may not think about is how beneficial certain yoga moves or poses can be in help you tone your muscles.

Here are a few of the poses that are traditionally used for muscle tone and fitness.

Though there are more, these are the easiest for many beginners to take on.

Cobra Pose

The cobra pose is the ideal pose to help with toning back muscles and upper thigh muscles. This pose is fairly simple. Lay flat on the floor with your stomach facing down. Move your hands to either side of your body as if you were doing a push-up.

Now, slowly push your body up while moving your chest outward and arching your back. Keep your thighs firmly planted on the ground.

This is cobra pose.

Hold the pose and move it only slightly to arch your back more.

This will stretch your muscles even more.

Last update on 2024-09-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Forward Bend

The forward bend is an easy enough yoga pose for most people, but doing it completely and getting the most benefit from the pose takes time. This pose is done by standing straight with your feet flat to the floor.

Take in a deep breath and exhale slowly as you slowly move down forward and bend at the waist.

The full pose is done when the palm of your hands can lay flat on the ground in front of our beside your feet and your face is flat to your legs.

Keep in mind, most people will do this pose slowly and start off with your fingers touching your ankles and overtime, moving to the flat on the floor position.

Forearm Standard

The forearm standard pose is one that many people have not heard of and may not hear of. This pose is done by starting off with a headstand. That’s right, a headstand. This is a slightly modified headstand, though.

The pose is done with your forearms pressed flat to the floor and your body in a headstand position.

You can start off with a headstand, but you will want to move to the forearms bracing your body weight and holding you in the pose.

This works your arms, forearms, shoulders, and back.

These are only a few of the more traditional muscle-toning poses.

Several more can be added to a muscle-toning routine as you move on. Keep in mind, most yoga that involves a lot of stretching and holding poses will help for your muscle tone as opposed to traditions that may seek out more intense or fast-moving poses.

Easy Hatha Yoga Poses Video

Hatha Yoga Poses For Stress Relief

Yoga is usually mentioned as a natural remedy for stress relief. This is due mostly in part to the meditation aspect of the practice.

In addition to the meditation aspect of the tradition, there are also poses that can help with stress relief.

If you are new to practicing the Hatha yoga style, you may be wondering if the style has the same types of poses or which poses the style has that can help with your stress.

Here are a few poses to consider for your routine stress relief.

Bridge Pose

To help with stress relief you can start with the bridge pose. This pose must be done on your knees or with your feet flat to the ground.

If you have a lot of stress or tension, start with the pose on your knees.

Slowly lean back until your shoulders are on the mat or floor and bend your back like the hump of a bridge.

This is a modified bridge pose.

If you are more flexible, move your feet out so they are flat and create the bridge with your back again.

Cobra Pose

From bridge pose, release your back slowly out of the arch.

Slowly roll over onto your knees and then lay with the front of your legs flat to the ground. You can also lay flat with your stomach on the ground or mat.

From either of these poses, move your arms into a pose similar to one for push ups.

Push up slowly and move so your chest is open and facing out, like a cobra.

This releases stress from your chest and chest muscles as well as your back.

Corpse Pose

When you are finished with cobra pose, you can roll slowly onto your back and go into corpse pose.

Lay flat on your back with your arms out to your sides. They should be out at a slight angle with your palms facing up.

Your legs should be spread at a shoulder width apart. Breath slowly in this position.

This is a pose that many people use to simply stay relaxed when they do not have the time to do a full yoga pose routine.

Lotus Pose

If you still need a bit of meditation at the end of your stress relief yoga routine, then try the lotus pose.

You sit with your legs crossed, palms up on your knees, and back straight. Breathe in and out slowly and start your meditation.

This is a good way to end your routine if you do it in your home and out of bed.

If you are doing the poses in bed, consider ending with the corpse pose instead.

These are just a few of the more common Hatha yoga poses that can aid in stress relief.

The ideal option is to mix these Hatha yoga poses with a stress relief routine such as a bedtime ritual or meditation ritual.

The combination will give you a full relaxation option and help reduce stress throughout the body and mind.

Hatha Yoga Poses For Back Pain

One of the biggest complaints people have about body aches and pain is back pain.

This can be due to your job, especially if you work in a manufacturing or labor industry.

You may also have back pain due to extreme weight gain or loss, an accident, or because you are sitting for too many hours a day in a non-ergonomic environment.

Regardless of the reason for the pain, there are some ways to help it.

If you do yoga at all, consider these Hatha yoga poses for back pain.

Downward Facing Dog

One of the more common poses is downward-facing dog. It is used in a number of traditions, including Hatha.

The downward-facing dog pose starts with your feet together and flat on the floor.

You will breathe in deeply and exhale as you fold forward. Once your hands are on the floor, you will crawl outward until your body is in a triangle pose.

This is a downward-facing dog.

Standing Forward Bend

You can move from downward-facing dog into the next pose that is good for back pain, the standing-forward bend.

Walk your way slowly back up until you have your fingers at your toes and your face at your legs.

You are bent over the same as you would be if you were sitting down and bending forward. Do not over strain in this position.

The idea is to stretch out your back muscles.

Some tension may be there, but if it does start to hurt, slowly raise up until the pain stops.

Bridge Pose

After you have completed downward-facing dog and standing forward bend, move onto the floor on your back. You will want to sit on your knees for this pose. Once you are on your knees, slowly bend back and arch your back.

You are going for a back arch that is like a bridge hump. T

his pose will bend your back a bit and help you to stretch muscles in a different direction and work out some of the tension that may be causing your back pain.

These are the most common poses in Hatha yoga that aid in back pain and pain management.

If you find you need to add more to your routine, consider seeing a yoga instructor for some one on one training.

They can help you find the right Hatha yoga poses for your needs and ensure you execute them properly.