If I’m being honest, the reason I got into Yoga is because its cool. Yoga poses can be really daunting but how many time have we read, heard and seen how awesome yoga is in movies? If there’s a female lead in a film and she’s a total badass, 9 out of 10 times there’s a shot of her in cute yoga pants and a mat. Am I lying?
Yoga is Sanskrit (a South Asian classical language) for union which translates to physical, mental and spiritual practices that strengthen the mind and body. Although highly spiritual, yoga poses are practiced by people of all faith and religions.
Why Should I Try Yoga Poses?
I partly do yoga because its a great form of exercise. Its important to note several people engage in the exercise for different reasons.
It has benefits that range from improved respiratory activity to relieving stress.
- It has great meditative techniques
- It improves flexibility
- It calms the mind
- It develops overall lung functioning
- It increases sex drive
- It can improve your breathing
In truth, I am as flexible as a wooden plank (which is to say that I am not flexible at all) and can only do a few poses so if you’ve never tried Yoga but you’re interested in getting into it, I’ve put together a list of great poses for beginners.
Yoga poses to try at home as a beginner
1. Child Pose
I started with this pose because its pretty popular and easy to begin with. This pose stretches your hips, knees, legs and ankles and can relax your neck and back area.
You can hold this pose for as long as you desire but I usually do it till my back begins to ache, which initially was like forty seconds to a minute.
I told you I was stiff.
Consequently, I was able to hold the pose for about 5 minutes.
2. Plank Pose
If there’s anything Chloe Ting taught me, its that planks are not easy.
I don’t know how people who do it for 5 minutes, manage.
You have to try not to hunch your shoulders and drop your back.
A great thing about this pose though, is that it engages your core and arms. It’ll tone your abs too!
Regrettably, this hasn’t happened for me yet.
Read: I tried The Chloe Ting 2-week Shred Challenge, Here’s How It Went
3. Downward Facing Dog
You can easily transition from a plank pose into a downward facing dog position.
This was the pose I did which made me take a week-long break.
It looks easy but it really isn’t. Or am I just lazy?
This was a bit difficult for me, especially after doing the first two poses. All I wanted to do was sleep. My back ached and I felt like my head was going to plop down when apparently this pose is supposed to relieve headaches.
4. Tree Pose
This particular yoga pose was fairly easy for me because I kind of always do it at leisure. It pose helps you improve on your balance and posture and also strengthens your legs. If you find it difficult to hold this position, you can support yourself with a hand on the wall. You’d be doing the tree pose for minutes in no time.
5. Corpse Pose
(Lol) This is my favorite pose. No question.
All I have to do is pretend I’m dead for a couple of minutes.
Some people find this quite daunting because they can’t stay in a position for a long while doing nothing.
That is practically my dream.
I could sleep there to be honest.
This yoga pose allows you to be calm and relaxed.
Be mindful of your body in this pose and think happy thoughts.
Take yourself to a place a relaxation but stay present.
Over the past few weeks, I have tried a few (and sometimes all) of these poses, and I know my limbs are relaxed and stretched now. I have also become more flexible. 10/10 recommend.
