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10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing Your Body and Mind

10 Best Beginner Yoga poses for Relaxing Your Body and Calming Your Mind

Today juggling work, school, sports practice, appointments, family life, errands, etc can get very hectic! The body and mind are thus in a constant state of stress. All stressful activities stimulate the body's sympathetic nervous system, which triggers the "fight-or-flight" response and increases stress. As a result, your normal body functions (such as digestion) are put on hold, while your body tries to overcome this stress response. 

Yoga, however, creates an opposite reaction. It relaxes your body and mind, stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and creates a calming effect. This causes your body to calm down and resume its normal activities. 

Yoga, when practised religiously, helps you stay calm and maintains your overall well-being. This promotes a positive attitude and helps you face problems with a smile. You will experience mental clarity, inner peace and an inexhaustible burst of energy.  

Yoga reduces stress and relaxes your mind

  • Studies show that yoga helps in relieving your stress levels. Stress is related to many serious ailments like high blood pressure, strokes, anxiety, depression, etc. Yoga asanas relieve your physical and mental stress and decrease the risk of many diseases. 
  • Many hospitals and healing institutes have made yoga and pranayama classes compulsory along with medications. These asanas decrease the stress associated with the disease and also ease your pain and discomfort. Studies show that stress relief can boost your immune system and enables your body to fight different diseases, even cancer. 
  • Yoga involves deep and rhythmic breathing techniques. This relaxes your body completely and increases the flow of oxygen and blood throughout the body. Mediation is also seen to calm your mind.
  • It lengthens your muscles, limbers the ligaments and stretches your joints. Yoga can reverse some physical signs related to ageing like stiff joints, arthritis and body pain.
Let us look at 10 Best Beginner Yoga poses for Relaxing Your Mind:

1. Parivrtta Sukhasana or Sukhasana (Simple Cross-Legged Pose with a Twist)

This pose maintains the elasticity of the spine and increases side-to-side mobility. This posture also helps cure the disorders of the nervous system and stimulates the immune system.

Instructions:

  • Sit on the floor and cross your legs in front of you. 
  • Balance your weight evenly across your body. Align your head, neck, and spine in a straight line. Lengthen your spine, but soften your neck. Relax your feet and thighs.
  • Place your right hand on the mat, slightly behind you. Place your left hand on your right knee and gently twist to your right. Inhale to lengthen your spine, and exhale to twist deeper. Gaze over your right shoulder.
  • Hold your breath for 10 secs. 
  • Come back to the centre. Change the cross of your legs and twist to the opposite side.
  • To release, come back to the centre.
10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing Your Body and Mind
Sukhasana improves your spine elasticity

Benefits:

  • Stretches your back, knees, and ankles. 
  • When you sit upright with your spine aligned, it can decrease your stress and anxiety levels.

2. Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose)

In Sanskrit, 'supta' means reclining, 'baddha' means bound and 'kona' means an angle. This asana is considered to be a good restorative pose. 

Instructions:

  • Lie on your back with knees bent.
  • Join the soles of your feet, and allow your knees to open, to form a diamond-like shape with your legs. 
  • Rest your arms on the bed.
  • If you experience any strain in your legs, you can place a small pillow underneath your knees and elevate your legs.
10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing Your Body and Mind
Supta BaddhaKonasana

Benefits:

  • Stimulates your abdominal organs like the ovaries and prostate gland, bladder, and kidneys
  • Stimulates the heart and improves general circulation
  • Stretches the inner thighs, groin, and knees
  • This asana relieves the symptoms related to menstruation, menopause, mild depression, and stress.

3. Balasana (Child's Pose)

In Sanskrit, 'bala' means a child. Child's pose is a very relaxing and grounding pose, and it alleviates lower back pain 

Instructions:

  • Sit up comfortably on your heels.
  • Bend your torso in the forward direction, and rest your forehead on the mat in front of you.
  • Then, slowly lower your chest towards your knees, as much as you can. Extend your arms in the front.
  • Hold the pose and breathe.
10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing Your Body and Mind
Balasana

Benefits:

  • Releases tension in the back, shoulders and chest. 
  • Lengthens and stretches the spine. 
  • Stretches the hips, thighs and ankles, muscles, tendons and ligaments around the knee.

4. Ananda Balasana (Joyful Baby Pose)

In Sanskrit, 'ananda' means happy; while 'bala' is a child. This asana is very effective in relaxing your body by calming your mind. If you carry out the gentle stretches included in this pose before you go to bed, you will feel the tension being released from your hips and lower back, making you feel a lot more relaxed.

Instructions:

  • Lying on your back, pull both knees into your chest. Bring the arms through the insides of the knees and hold on to the outside edge of each foot (pinkie toe side) with each hand.
  • Tuck the chin into the chest and keep your head on the floor. Press the sacrum and tailbone down into the floor as you press the heels up and pull back with the arms.
  • Press the shoulders and the back of your neck into the floor, and try to get your back and spine flat on the floor. If you want a deeper stretch in the hips, let the legs open a bit wider.
  • Breathe and hold for 4-8 breaths.
  • To release, exhale and release the arms and legs to the floor.
10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing Your Body and Mind
Ananda Balasana

Benefits: 

  • Releases the low back
  • Lengthens and realigns the spine
  • Strengthens the legs and opens the hips.

5. Niralambasana or Makarasana (Crocodile pose)

The term ‘Makar’ in Sanskrit means a crocodile and ‘asana’ is a pose. The asana looks like a crocodile in the water, so it got its name as Makarasan. This asana is an extension of Bhujangasan.

Instructions:

  • Lie on your abdomen. 
  • Bend your elbows and place your chin on the hands. 
  • Breathe normally and look at a point in the distance. 
  • Bending the knees alternately, move the right and left leg up and down slowly and in a relaxed way.
10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing Your Body and Mind
Makarasana

Benefits: 

  • Has a very relaxing and balancing effect on your body and mind. 
  • This asana helps to relax your knees, hips and spine.
  • Relaxes the digestive system. 
  • Deepens the breath and promotes concentration.

6. Shavasana (Corpse Pose):

'Shava' in Sanskrit means dead body, corpse and 'asana' is a pose. This asana helps us get in touch with the Anahata Chakra. In this asana, when we relax completely and allow the full effect of gravity to flow through us, we restrain and retain Vayu Tattva.

Instructions:

  • Lie down on your back.
  • Slowly get your arms along your body, but keep them slightly separated from your body. Turn the palms upwards.
  • Relax the whole body, including the face. Let your body feel heavy, and breathe naturally.
  • To come out of the asana, deepen the breath. Move your fingers and toes, to awaken the body.
  • Slowly bend your knees towards your chest. Roll over to one side and keep your eyes shut.  
  • Slowly lift your back and come back into a sitting position.
10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing and Calming your mind
Shavasana

Benefits:

  • This asanas relaxes your body, calms your mind, relieves stress and lowers your mild depression
  • Reduces headache, fatigue, and insomnia
  • Helps to lower blood pressure

7. Dradhasana (Firm Pose): 

It is an ideal position to sleep in since it the best way to relax your body. Various studies have pointed out that regular practise of this pose aids in better sleep. 

Instructions:

  • Relax completely on the mat by lying down on the right side of your body.
  • Allow your head to rest on your right arm.
  • Keep your left leg atop your right one.
  • Close your eyes and breathe normally.
  • Stretch your body and be relaxed
  • Keep the spine erect.
  • Hold this position, breathe normally, till you feel light.
  • When you wish to leave this position, roll over to the shavasana and relax.
  • Make sure to rest on the right side when you do this. 

10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing and Calming your mind
Dradhasana

Benefits:

  • Lying on the right side in this asana, favours digestion, when at rest. 
  • When the peristaltic movements are minimum, then it facilitates ease in breathing movements.
  • Relaxes the body.

8. Shithilasana

The entire body is let loose (in Sanskrit, Shithil = loose) in this asana, so it is named Shithilasana

Instructions:

  • Lie flat on your abdomen.
  • Resting the right ear on the ground, stretch your right arm and right leg.
  • Keep your right foot straight.
  • Now fold your left foot at an angle of 90 degrees.
  • Bring the heel of the left foot and touch it with your right knee.
  • Place your left palm in front of your face.
  • Relax both your shoulders and let your chest touch the ground.
  • Breathe normally and stay in this posture for some time and repeat the same for the other side.
10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing and Calming your mind
Shithilasana

Benefits:

  • Shithilasana gives us complete relief from fatigue.
  • This asana is very useful for people suffering from insomnia.
  • It also normalizes the irregularities of blood pressure
  • Energizes whole body and mind.
  • It decreases tiredness and tensions of a busy day.

9. Yastikasana (The Stick Posture/ Pose)

Yastikasana or Stick pose helps in completely stretching your muscles. It helps negate the ill effects of sitting in a bad posture for long periods of time, relaxes tense abdominal and pelvic muscles, and offers rest and relaxation, helping you beat fatigue and stress.

Instructions:

  • Lie on the back. Extend legs fully.
  • Inhale 3 seconds stretch arms towards your head.
  • Stretch toes and fingers outwards.
  • Exhaling, return to normal.
10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing and Calming your Mind
Yastikasna

Benefits

This is an excellent pose as it offers a complete stretch to the thighs, arms and spine followed by complete relaxation.

10. Dandasana (The Staff Pose)

The term 'danda' in Sanskrit means a staff, and 'asana' is a pose. Dandasana is the simplest type of sitting position, and forms the basis of many other asanas. It is advisable to sit in this posture for a little time before practising other asanas based on Dandasana.

Instructions:

  • Start from a seated position, extend the legs straight out in front of you with your hands behind your hips and your fingers pointed away.
  • Press down your hips and lengthen your spine.
  • Drop your shoulders, and push your chest forward.
  • Use your arms to support your body, open your chest and straighten your spine.
  • Push your heels away from the body, but pull your toes towards your body.
  • Breathe slowly, and hold this position for 3-6 breaths.
10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Relaxing and Calming your mind
Dandasana

Benefits

  • It relaxes a person's body and mind when you are stressed and exhausted.
  • It also prepares a person for doing other asanas.
  • Staff posture lengthens and realigns the spine, gently stretches the backs of the legs, opens the chest and stimulates the respiratory and reproductive systems.

Bottom Line:

After a tiring day, yoga can definitely help you relax your limbs and instil you with a sense of calmness. Poses like Shavasana, Shithilasana, etc. are a great way to decrease the stress associated with your regular activities, both physical and mental. They allow your body to go into its restorative phase. This helps your body repair the daily wear and tear of the tissues and makes your body ready to face the world again. 

Restorative asanas can show many general benefits like-
• They keep your stress levels in check. 
• Allow you to sleep better. 
• They improve your mood 
• They improve your memory and concentration levels 
• They decrease physical illness in the long run. 

Try the above poses to relax your body and mind!

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