5 indispensable floor asanas for your yoga practice
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Floor asanas are part of any complete yoga practice. While standing asanas work for awakening and warming the body and have a long-term effect of strength and balance, floor asanas work flexibility, core strength and allow you to work with your energy.
What are floor asanas?
Floor asanas are all the poses done on the floor, which mean that they can be subdivided into other categories, namely: twist asanas, flexions, hyperextensions, lying postures and sited asanas.
Twist asanas
In the twist, the base remains firm and resists the movement of the trunk; they improve the nutrition of the intervertebral disks and improves circulation in the primary systems of the body.
Flexion asanas
There are the asanas in which the basin flexes, and the spine remains elongated or bent forward. These poses stretch the hamstrings, gluteus and lower back.
Hyperextensions
The most active group of asanas to release complex emotions in the body are stimulating and invigorating.
Lying poses
Lying poses can work multiple parts of the body, more relaxed or intense; it can also refer to postures with belly down or back down.
Other categories or divisions can be proposed, but this one is quite elucidative of all the diversity possible in floor asanas. Some of the floor poses are important to any practice, so we gathered a few and the most relevant information about it.
5 important floor asanas
Vajrasana
It means diamond or thunderbolt and consists of sitting on your heels with your back straight, leaving your hands on your thighs. This asana strengthens the back and relieves lower back problems and sciatica.
It also increases the pelvic muscles force. It can be done at different times of the practice, but it’s an excellent pose to start the training, practice pranayama exercises or even meditate.
Sukhasana
Also called the easy pose, it can be a good alternative as a sitting pose for meditation. It consists in crossing your shins, widening your knees, and slipping each foot beneath the opposite knee as you bend your knees and fold the legs in toward your torso, you must see the shape of a triangle when you look to your legs.
If you lean your upper body forward, it’s a great pose to stretch the gluteus, and it can also be the base pose for a twist.
Gomukhasana
The cat pose can be performed in many different variations, but the traditional pose consists of crossing legs with knees on the same line and feet pointing sideways.
One of the arms gently folds and you must place it behind your back, while you the other over your shoulder and stretch it trying to reach your hands between your shoulder blades. Besides reducing stress and anxiety, it’s one of the best asanas for improving your shoulders mobility.
Salabhasana
Lying down, it consists of raising legs, head and chest without the pressure of your hands, legs must be stretched and strong.
There are multiple variations of salabhasana all of them excellent because the extension only happens to the extent of the strength and flexibility of the practitioner which reduces the risk of injury.
It’s a relevant asana for those who want to strengthen the muscles of the back.
Navasana
This pose focus on the core strength and although it might seem easy, it takes a lot of body consciousness to perform it with the correct alignment.
Sitting on the floor with the sternum lifted the feet raise and the legs can be bent (keeping the feet on the high of your knees) or legs can be stretched. The hands can hold the legs or the arms can be stretched forward.
It strengthens the abdomen, hip flexors, and spine, stimulates the kidneys, thyroid and prostate glands, and intestines.
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