seated poses,back stretching exercises,seated yoga poses,

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Seated poses

Seated poses serve several purposes. They allow us to rest a little, stretch more deeply and transition from standing to seated postures. Ashtanga yoga short form seated postures begin with

Dansasana, The staff pose allows us to learn how to sit up tall.

Press the thigh bones into the floor and flex the feet. Inhale, raise the arms and exhale, press the hands into the floor beside the hips.

Inhale, look up, exhale press the chin to the chest, hold for 5 breaths.

Dandasana, with arms extended to the sky, allows us to transition to the next posture.

Paschimottanasana has three variations: A, B, and C.

From the Dandasana, arms up we exhale and fold over the legs.

Grasp the big toes with the peace fingers (thumb and index).

Inhale, look up to lengthen the spine, press the thigh bones down and gently draw

your heart to the thighs using your arms. Try to draw your back forward and down at the same time.

As with all other seated yoga poses, you want to utilize the effect of gravity on the body. Let your chest sink and lengthen through the legs at the same time.

The next variation is to reach past the feet and to clasp the hands behind the feet. Press your thumbs on the bottom joint of the big toes and wrap the fingers around the sides of the feet. Inhale,and look up to lengthen and exhale fold heart to thighs. Inhale look up and exhale fold deeply, hold for 5 breaths.

The last variation is when you reach both hands behind the feet,the hands are completely clasped, or one hand reaches the wrist.

Baddha konasana, the cobbler's pose is great for opening the hips. We have to pay attention to drawing the lower back up and in, so the chest hovers over the feet and the chin tucks toward the neck. Press elbows into the knees and draw yourself in a little more.

Matsyendrasana or the half lord of the fishes pose is a great spinal twist. The trick here is to draw the elbow across the opposite knee and use the elbow across the knee as a gentle form of leverage. Open your heart and twist from the belly up, turning the neck last.

Marichiyasana is a good pose to use when you want to stretch the hamstring. Two variations are shown.

Dhanurasana, the bow pose is a great way to strengthen the back, tone the arms, stretch the quadriceps and open the chest. Not necessarily a seated yoga pose, but it fits nicely in this category as it is done on the floor. It has a few steps and all are pictured here.

Begin on the belly, drawing the arms back to clasp the ankles or shins. Exhale deeply so the chest sinks into the mat. Feel the ground beneath you. Let the shoulders drop to the floor.

Inhale and press the legs back to elongate the arms strongly.

Tuck the tailbone down and continue to lift up and back.

Hold for 5 breaths.

A gentler version is a modified bow pose like the one pictured below.

Navasana, the boat pose, is a great core workout and back toner. Three variations pictured.

Keep the neck soft and focus on bearing down on the core to keep yourself up. Don't over do it.

This seated yoga pose allows you to use your limbs as weights, therefore increasing strength and adding resistance.

Utilizing this posture to transition to kneeling or a table posture is very simple. On the exhale, cross the ankles and using momentum roll forward, place the ankles down and come onto the hands and knees. Pull the feet apart and walk the knees back slightly.

Padmasana, the bound lotus posture. One of the most iconic seated yoga poses in history. It is the posture the Buddha sat in during meditation. It is a difficult pose to get into for many people, but as time and flexibility grow; so too will your ability to comfortably "be" this posture.

The easy pose is a nice modification if knee pain bars entering fully into the padmasana.

From raised arms dandasana, we can plant the hands behind the hips and press the chest to the sky for purvottannasana. This is an awesome front of the body stretch, and tones the shoulders and deltoids.

This seated yoga pose can be difficult for some, especially if there is a shoulder injury we are working through. You can modify by using the reverse table posture as seen below.

Check back as more seated poses will be added in the future.

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