Yoga for Strong and Shapely Legs - Utkatasana

The picture you can see was taken near the great Mississippi river in Illinois, in a state park. The fresh breeze made it really a good experience to practice there. The previous night there was rainfall and because of that the ground was soft and muddy.

Standing poses give you strength all over the body and especially so in your legs and back. When I started trying the standing poses this pose fascinated me. This pose looks simple and at the same time looks tough. Usually you will feel that the you are lower than it actually is. When you see yourself practicing in front of a mirror or see the picture you realize how you are doing.

Practicing this pose is simple. Stand straight and raise the hands above the head with inhalation. Now with exhalation bend your legs as much as possible. Now with normal breathing stay in this position for as long as possible. This pose will strengthen the arms, shoulders, back and the legs. This also increases stamina.

While practicing at home you can place the back against the wall and practice. This will be more focused towards increasing the leg strength.

After you have stayed in the pose for the duration required come back to standing posture with inhalation.

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6 Simple Shoulder Exercises for Stiff and Frozen Shoulders

Stiff shoulders can be a real problem. It can be problem in lot of day to day activity from wearing a shirt to driving for work. Stiff shoulder problem can be caused due to many reasons like some injury or sitting continuously in office jobs. There are many nerves which pass through the shoulders to the brain via the neck. If the shoulders are stiff you will be exhausted very soon with little work. It can also lead to prolonged visits to the doctor.

Shoulders stiffness can be cured with some simple exercises. These should not take more than 10 minutes. If you do these exercise thrice a week your chances of shoulder problems will be greatly reduced. If you are already facing shoulder problems then you can do these exercises everyday.

All these poses are done while sitting in a comfortable position.

1. Fist Clenching
   Extend your arms in front with palms facing down. Arms should be parallel to the shoulders. With Exhalation clench the fists tightly and with inhalation open your fingers. Do this 10 times..


2. Wrist Rotation
   Close your fist and rotate the wrists clockwise 10 times and anti clockwise 10 times slowly and with awareness on the wrist. This will increase the wrist flexibility and strength.


3. Arms extension - Front
   Extend your arms in the front with arms parallel to the shoulders. Face the palms up and touch the shoulders with finger with exhalation. With inhalation extend them again. Do this 10 times with the awareness on the shoulders.


4. Arms Extension - Sideways
   Extend the arms sideways. With inhalation touch the shoulders and with exhalation extend them outwards. Practice this 10 times.


5. Shoulder Rotation
   Touch the fingers to the shoulders and rotate the shoulders. Try to touch the elbows with each other. Do this in both directions for 10 times.


6. Shoulder Pulling
   With inhalation extend the arms up. Hold the left wrist with the right hand and pull the left arms behind the head. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds with normal breathing. Repeat the same for the other arms. You can do this for 3 times on each side.

These simple exercise will increase the blood circulation in the shoulder region, increase the shoulder strength and remove the joint stiffness.

Related Posts

Treating Frozen Shoulder with Acupressure
Hasta Uttanasana (Raised Hands Pose) - Improve Back and Shoulder Strength
Improve your Upper Back and Shoulder Strength with Virbhadra Asana 1 (Warrior Pose - 1)

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Adhomukh Swanasana - Downward Facing Dog

Adhomukh Svanasana - Downward Facing Dog is the pose which is similar to a dog stretching with his head down. This asana is also known as Parvatasana (Mountain Pose) in some schools of Yoga. In this pose the hamstring and the calf muscles are stretched, and it is one of the preparatory asanas for Sarvangasana. This pose is also included as part of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations).

Steps to Practice Adhomukh Svanasana?

1. Lie down on the mat on your stomach.


2. Place your palms next to your chest on both sides. Move the toes inward so that the toes are perpendicular to the floor.


3. Exhale and lift your body so that you are on your palms and knees. Place your knees directly below your hips and your hands slightly ahead of your shoulders. Try to adjust the hand position by rolling the elbows inwards.



4. Exhale and lift your knees away from the floor. At first keep the knees slightly bent and the heels lifted away from the floor.


5. Straighten your knees and stretch the calves to place your heels on the floor. If that is not possible then try to bring them as close as possible to the floor. Gradually with practice you will be able to place the heels on the floor.



6. Try to move the head towards the stomach.


7. Now try to walk in a feet inwards and look into your stomach while trying to pull you tail bone towards the roof. Try to observer if you can move the head towards the stomach any more. You will observe that when you pull in the stomach that the head can move more towards the stomach. Stay in the final position for 10 to 20 seconds and repeat once more.

Benefits of Adhomukh Svanasana

1. Strengthens the shoulders, upper back and quadriceps for those with weak legs.


2. Stretches the shoulders and Hamstring.


3. Since there is increase blood flow in the head and throat region, it is good for Sinus and Common cold problem. For Sinus problems it is also recommended that you practice Jal Neti regularly.


4. This pose is an excellent way to provide relief to your tired legs after you have returned from a log walk in a park, or after outdoor activities.


5. Like all forward bending and downward facing poses this is good people suffering from mental tiredness and depression & insomnia.


6. Stretches the calves and makes them flexible. It also strengthens the ankles.


7. It is a good preparatory pose for Sarvangasana and Shirsasana because it gives a inverted perspective plus builds shoulder strength.

When to Avoid?

1. Injured wrist condition.


2. Neck Injury

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