Inverted Yoga Asana
"As I drop into the stillness of my body and connect with the breath, I feel a tingling in my toes that spreads up my body and I feel the weight of my legs releasing. Opening my eyes, I am looking at the world from upside down and I sigh with pleasure to the new sense of a mild pulsation between my ears.
It is interesting how this inverted position offers a new perspective, a reversal of the mind from the literal change of position in life, and somehow a tremendous sense of a place to rest.”
What is inverted asaana?
An inverted asana is any pose where the heart is kept below the legs or lower abdominal area.
These are extremely important group of asanas.
They reverse the action of gravity on the body; instead of everything being pulled towards the feet, the orientation shifts towards the head.
On the emotional and psychic levels, inverted asanas turn everything upside down, throwing a new light on old patterns of behavior and being.
These practices improve health, reduce anxiety and stress and increase self-confidence.
They also increase mental power, concentration and stimulate the chakras.
It is interesting how this inverted position offers a new perspective, a reversal of the mind from the literal change of position in life, and somehow a tremendous sense of a place to rest.”
What is inverted asaana?
An inverted asana is any pose where the heart is kept below the legs or lower abdominal area.
These are extremely important group of asanas.
They reverse the action of gravity on the body; instead of everything being pulled towards the feet, the orientation shifts towards the head.
On the emotional and psychic levels, inverted asanas turn everything upside down, throwing a new light on old patterns of behavior and being.
These practices improve health, reduce anxiety and stress and increase self-confidence.
They also increase mental power, concentration and stimulate the chakras.
There are three major systems in the body that the practice of inversions positively influences:
1.Cardiovascular system
2.Lymphatic system
3.Respiratory system
Most inverted yoga poses, we use our shoulders to support the weight of the body, so even before we get upside down, first learn how to stabilize our shoulder blades with respect to the rib cage. One of the first things that you can work on prior to doing any inverted yoga pose is shoulder stability.
Start with working on scapular awareness. Some of the asanas that you can practice to bring shoulder stabilizing, stretching & strengthening:
Stabilizing:
Pavanmuktasana shoulder joint movements
Full arms movements engaging shoulder joints
Stretching:
Dhanurasana
Ardha Bhekasana
Purna Bhekasana
Strengthening
Dynamic:
Dolphin pose - initially 3-6 rounds and slowly build up
Static pose
1.Chaturanga dandasana (Half push up)
2.Bhujangasana (cobra pose)
3.Purna bhujasaana (full cobra)
4.Parvatasana (mountain pose or inverted V)
5.Bakasana (crow pose)
6.Santolasana (balancing pose)with all variations
1.Cardiovascular system
2.Lymphatic system
3.Respiratory system
Most inverted yoga poses, we use our shoulders to support the weight of the body, so even before we get upside down, first learn how to stabilize our shoulder blades with respect to the rib cage. One of the first things that you can work on prior to doing any inverted yoga pose is shoulder stability.
Start with working on scapular awareness. Some of the asanas that you can practice to bring shoulder stabilizing, stretching & strengthening:
Stabilizing:
Pavanmuktasana shoulder joint movements
Full arms movements engaging shoulder joints
Stretching:
Dhanurasana
Ardha Bhekasana
Purna Bhekasana
Strengthening
Dynamic:
Dolphin pose - initially 3-6 rounds and slowly build up
Static pose
1.Chaturanga dandasana (Half push up)
2.Bhujangasana (cobra pose)
3.Purna bhujasaana (full cobra)
4.Parvatasana (mountain pose or inverted V)
5.Bakasana (crow pose)
6.Santolasana (balancing pose)with all variations
Inverted Asana List