One of the reasons why I wish to learn Yoga is because I heard it improves Posture. Now, is there a certain type of Yoga that improves posture, or does ALL Yoga exercises help your back? Thank you guys.
Yes Yoga Asanas can improve your posture if taught well.
There are many different schools/types of Yoga and the Asana practice is different and will also vary between teachers.
But if the teacher has a good understanding of anatomy and teaches well then whatever the school/style then the asana work will improve posture.
(look for teachers who emphasize keeping a long spine and open chest and not rounding the back in forward bends…lots of hamstring stretches…chest and shoulder stretches…etc)
Thank you. But what does “Asanas” mean? I am quite unfamiliar with these terms as I am a beginner. I have quite a busy schedule currently so finding a teacher wouldn’t be very likely. I am attempting to learn Yoga by myself… I don’t really know where to start though.
Asana means a body position. Physical aspect of practice consists of set of ansanas and transitions between them.
I would recommend joining some yoga studio or fitness center with yoga classes. Having a teacher and fellow practitioners around you makes a huge difference (progress, motivation, and overall effort put into practice).
[QUOTE=MatrixGravity;66316]Thank you. But what does “Asanas” mean? I am quite unfamiliar with these terms as I am a beginner. I have quite a busy schedule currently so finding a teacher wouldn’t be very likely. I am attempting to learn Yoga by myself… I don’t really know where to start though.[/QUOTE]
Asana means “seat” in Sanskrit. It is today commonly used in conjunction with the word yoga + asana = yogasana ( “योगासन”) to mean a yogic posture. A common greeting in older days was “आसन ग्रहण करे” which literally means “Take a Seat”.
As stated above, all styles of yoga ASANA (postures) if well taught, will improve your posture.
The definition of good posture is one that maintains the natural curves of the spine in a way that encourages some extension in the spine.
In most cases, our tendency is towards too much forward bending in our posture, so mild to moderate backbends will likely be of most help to you. In addition, you will want to strengthen your core in order to support your low back and open your shoulders to prevent them from slumping forward.
They do this in several ways:
- Heighten your awareness of body position.
- Strengthen the weak muscles that you need to hold yourself up.
- Stretch the places that have been restricted, possibly preventing the above muscles from doing their work.
For more information and a short routine you can do at home, please check out this blog post I wrote on improving your posture through yoga.