Hello Hivers and to all the Yogi's here on Hive. I'm back with another yoga-related blog. I have shared to you guys my Yoga Journey here (@asasiklause/my-yoga-journey).Some of you might know already that yoga has many benefits. Not only into our physical health but also for mental, emotional and spiritual self. It's been over a year since I've been consistently practicing yoga. It is considered to be my me-time / quality time / self-love / self-care activity. I've enjoy doing yoga alone or with friends or even with strangers.
In my continuous practice I have come across lots and lots of poses and I came up with a list of my favorite ones.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not saying that someone should have favorite poses in practicing yoga. This list of poses are considered my favorite because it makes me proud to execute it well and it took a lot of practice and patience for me to achieve it.
BAKASANA or CROW POSE
This arm balancing pose took me a lot of months to practice. When I started practicing, I don't have much arm strength but with consistent practice and the right technique and guidance I was able to achieve this pose. Bakasana will help you strengthen not only your arms but also your wrists. It also helps strengthen your abdominal muscles.
This was around January when I was on a 14 day quarantine.
TRIKONASANA or TRIANGLE POSE
This pose looks very simple but achieving this requires several stretching and flexibility. The thing I love about this pose is that it helps you in opening up your chest / heart. This is one of the first few poses I learned after practicing yoga. Trikonasana helps a lot in balance and stability. With proper foot alignment and gaze you will be able to hold the pose in 5 deep breathing. This pose is also great not only for stretching your spine but also lengthening it. If you slouch a lot this would definitely help your spine.
That's me and Manu. As what you can see, I was able to reach for my big toe while Manu used a block to achieve the pose. Same benefits with or without blocks.
This pose is called Parivrtta Trikonasana or Revolved Triangle. In order to achieve this pose, you will have to reach your right foot with your left arm and your left foot with your right arm.
NATARAJASANA or DANCER'S POSE
Standing in one leg while grabbing your other foot all the way to your back is your thing, then you can definitely do the Natarajasana. It's probably one of the most common pose you see yogis does when they do photo ops and I can't blame them. This pose is beautiful and creates so much space within our body. This pose helps you with balance, flexibility, strengthen your core and stretches your shoulders.
When your friends are also into yoga.
One of my favorite photo in our Bantayan trip which I will blog real soon.😉
HALASANA or PLOUGH POSE
The first time I did this pose I was so amazed with myself. As a guy, I never thought I have that flexibility in me but after discovering that I'm capable of doing this, I consistently do it and make sure to get better at it. I was told by my friend who is also a yoga teacher that this pose helps relieve stress and stimulates the thyroid glands and abdominal organs. It also help in strengthening your legs, shoulders and arms.
CHAKRASANA or WHEEL POSE
I don't know why I love back bending poses. This pose is memorable because it was this pose that I won a Yoga Pose Challenge from Bliss Yoga Cebu. Chakrasana helps streghten your arms, wrists, legs, shoulders and chest. It also helps in stretching your spine for flexibility.
This dog is Enzo and he's all grown up now.
I used my Wheel Pose as a frame for my girlfriend and our dog's photo.
***NO DOGS WERE HARMED IN TAKING THESE PHOTOS.😬
EKA PADA RAJAKAPOTASANA or ONE-LEGGED KING PIGEON POSE
I was able to achieve this pose by attending Hatha Yoga classes. My teacher was really amazing and flexible. She shared a technique on how to achieve this pose, and it's breathing. Yes, you required a lot of flexibility to achieve this pose but proper breathing could help a lot too. It took me months of practicing and learning about my body in order to unlock this pose. This pose is good for hip-opening and strengthen the back muscles.
Yes, some might think that we only do the poses for pictures but with all honesty, we also need to do it for us to see our process. We need to see the improvement in our journey. We don't practice yoga in order to achieve these poses and take pictures. Our main goal in our practice is for us to be aware with our body. It's about knowing our body and the things it could do. In yoga, we hold simple to difficult poses for some time while breathing calmly and it also applies in life. That no matter how many sticks and stones people throw at you or the difficult situations when anxiety, pressure and stress come along you need to know if its worth to respond or you will carry on, keep breathing, stay grateful, spread kindness, love and positivity. I hope you will chose the latter.
Disclosure: Some of the photos were taken by my friends during our trips, travel and practice in the yoga studio.