Yoga is a very popular and fashionable sport that is available to almost everyone these days. But few people know that yoga is, first of all, work on the mind, and not on the body. Even if you perfectly perform all yoga poses, while thinking about work or any everyday problems, you are unlikely to comprehend this high art. Hence the next question: where to start your yoga classes?
First, let's understand a little bit of terminology. Yoga poses are called asanas. Shavasana is the easiest of asanas where you lie on your back. It would seem that what could be simpler? But the most important task in this position is not the lying itself, but your sensations. You have to plunge into the so-called borderline state, in which you are between the states of sleep and wakefulness. The most important thing is not to fall asleep, keep this state for as long as you can. Relax, breathe evenly and calmly. And in order not to be distracted by extraneous sounds and objects, focus all your attention on the sensations of the body, throw all extraneous thoughts out of your head.
After completing the exercise, carefully remember all these sensations, since when practicing the following asanas, you must achieve the same borderline state. To do this, follow the simple rules below:
1. Having taken the chosen posture, concentrate on sensations: are you comfortable or not? When performing asanas, you should not feel any discomfort, be it numbness, excessive blood flow, or just an uncomfortable position. In this case, repeat all over again until you feel complete relaxation. If this still does not work, use an auxiliary object, such as a wall or a chair, to begin with.
2. Once you find a position that is comfortable for you, relax as you would when doing shavasana. Just remember that different asanas involve different muscle groups that are supposed to support you. That is, the muscles that will be relaxed and that will be tense will alternate in different positions.
3. Concentrate all your attention on breathing: it should be smooth, free, light, in no case harsh or noisy, while the stomach can rise and fall.
4. After successfully completing all the manipulations given above, hold your chosen asana as long as you can. To begin with, it can be a few seconds or minutes, then the execution time should be lengthened. After each asana, rest for at least a few minutes before starting the next one.
There is no need to chase unimaginably difficult asanas or hope for a quick result. Only in small steps can you reach a great goal!
