Due to coronavirus, most people are bound to work from home. Working from home requires commitment as well as discipline. However, sitting for 8 hours can be boring as well as harmful to the body. Most importantly, it can affect your spine. In order to work properly, there is a need for relaxation. Eating healthy food, meditating, and performing basic yoga asanas can help you cultivate focus as well as increase productivity.
Benefits of Yoga
When you sit for long hours at a desk, your body suffers a creaky neck, aching back, and tight shoulders as well as hips. Leaving the desk or a workspace for a workout can be difficult. However, getting up from a chair at regular intervals, taking 5 mins each hour can help. Along with this, by performing some easy yoga asanas you can reduce discomfort as well as relieve stress.
While working from home, you might need to attend to your child, help your spouse, or handle other home chores. This might lead to irregular eating habits, sleep deprivation, and stress. Practicing yoga would help to boost your memory as well as concentration levels. A short-term yoga session can help offset the body aches, strengthen the muscles, and clear your mind.
Easy and Beneficial Yoga Asanas for People Working from Home
Performing yoga is one of the best ways to detoxify the body. Moreover, performing yoga releases good chemicals in the body that help to improve the mood. When your mood is good, you tend to work productively.
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Tadasana
Tadasana calms the mind as it relaxes the central nervous system and creates self-awareness. This improves the overall body posture by strengthening the ankles, thighs, and feet as well as toning muscles of the abdomen. To perform this asana, stand barefoot on the ground with the feet shoulder. Keep your arms alongside the torso and then inhale.
Stretch out the arms and then interlock the fingers on top of your head. Lift the heels gently and then stretch the hands to the ceiling. After stretching your hand, breathe gently and tuck the navel in. You would feel the stretch in the body. Hold the breath and position for 10 seconds. Now exhale and release the pose to the starting position. Repeat this asana at least 8 times.
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Adho Mukha Svanasana
Adho mukha svanasana helps relieve the back pain. This asana strengthens the back, legs as well as arms. Moreover, it also supports deep abdominal muscles which help to stabilize the spine. To perform this asana, come on your hands and feet. Form a table so that your feet and hands are legs and back is tabletop. While breathing out lift your hips up, straightening the elbows and knees.
With your body, form an inverted V-shape. Keep hands at shoulders width as well as feet at hip-width and parallel to each other. Press the hands into the floor and widen through your shoulders. Keep your neck lengthened by touching your ears to your inner arms. Look towards the navel and hold this pose for while taking long deep breaths. Now exhale and bend your knees to return to the table pose.
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Santolanasana
Santolanasana is one of the easy yoga asanas that strengthen the arms, shoulders, and thigh. It improves balance in the nervous system, energizes the complete body as well as instils positive feelings. The main benefit of practicing this asana is that it makes the spine strong. To do this, begin with Adho mukha svanasana. While inhaling, drop the torso forward making arms perpendicular to the floor.
Keep the shoulder over the wrist and with the torso parallel to the ground, press outer arms inwards. Lower the knees to the floor and keep the skull’s base away from the neck’s back. Ensure you look straight down at the ground. While keeping eyes and throat soft, hold the position for a few seconds.
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Vrikshasana
Vrikshasana brings balance to the mind that leaves you in a rejuvenation state. It is an ideal yoga exercise for people suffering from sciatica. It helps in improving concentration also. To do this asana, stand 3 inches feet apart. Focus on a point that is in front. Exhale and bend your right leg to place the foot on the inner left thigh. Ensure heel touches perineum.
Inhale and join your palms in a namaste pose. Take deep breaths pulling tummy muscles in and while exhalation expand the spine upwards. Stand in the pose until you can and exhaling slowly bring arms and feet down. Repeat the same with the left foot.
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Naukasana
Naukasana helps in strengthening the muscles of the shoulders, thighs, arms, and abdominal muscles as well. This asana acts as a distress tool as it keeps the mind free as well as peaceful and eliminates lethargy. The best thing about this asana is that it stimulates the hormonal, circulatory, and nervous systems. To do naukasana, lie on the yoga mat with arms on the sides and feet together.
Ensure you keep your arms straight as well as fingers outstretched towards the toes. Start inhaling and when you exhale lift the chest as well as feet off the ground. Let the weight of the body rest on the buttocks entirely. Hold the breath and position for about 8-10 seconds. Now come back to the starting position slowly while exhaling and relax. You can do this asana 3-4 times daily.
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Pranamasana
Pranamasana is one of the basic yoga asanas centring yoga exercises. This asana instils spiritual energy, improves body posture, promotes relaxation as well as stabilizes the mind and body. To do this asana, stand with hip-width apart. Bring palms together in front of the chest. Ensure your eyes are straight parallel to the floor. Take a deep breath and follow it with more breaths. Close the eyes and then focus on the brain’s central part to relax the body.
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Brahmari Pranayama
It helps rejuvenate the body and calm the mind. It is known to balance blood pressure and improve concentration. The best thing is that it relieves anxiety and stress. For doing bhramari pranayama, sit comfortably and keep the spine erect. Using index fingers close your eyes, ears with respective thumbs, and nose with ring fingers. Inhale deeply and exhale making a deep humming sound. Ensure you repeat it five times.
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Vasisthasana
Vasisthasana comes with numerous benefits. The list of benefits of asanas includes improvement of emotional as well as mental balance, improved concentration, and focus. This also helps in boosting confidence and self-esteem. The best thing about this asana is that it strengthens and tones the legs and arms as well. To perform this asana, begin in a Plank pose.
With left hand on the ground, remove right hand off the ground. Turn the whole body to face the right side. Now lift the right leg off the ground and then place it over the left one. After that raise your right arm above and keep the fingers pointing to the sky. Ensure the arms as well as shoulders are in one line. Turn the head and then look at the right hand. Hold the position for 6-8 seconds and repeat on the left side.
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Uttanasana
It is a yoga pose that reduces fatigue as well as anxiety. It is known to strengthen the knees and thigh. The major benefit of practicing this asana is that it relieves headache, insomnia, and stress as well. To do this asana, stand and rest the hands on the sides of your hips. Take a deep breath and bend forward gently with an exhale. By spreading your toes, firm the feet on the mat. While leaving knees soft, stretch butts up.
Let hands rest on the floor by the sides of your feet. You might feel a hamstring stretch, however, it is advised not to be afraid as it is a positive outcome. Try maintaining a sustained breath when you hold the pose and sway the head from one side to another. With an inhale, rise and place the hands on the sides of your thigh. To regain a standing posture, use the core.
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Shavasana
It is one of the most popular and easy yoga asanas. This asana is done at the end as it is the last asana. It promotes relaxation while expelling stress. This asana benefits in numerous ways like it helps to lower the blood pressure, reduces anxiety, calms the mind, and promotes awareness of higher consciousness. It is quite easy to perform. First, you need to lay down on the back and close your eyes.
Place the feet at a comfortable distance apart and keep the arms straight along with the body. Ensure your palms has upside facing. While taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly, focus your attention on the toes and moving upwards to the top of the head. In case the mind wanders, bring your mind back to the body. Ensure you do not sleep, if you feel sleepy, try taking faster and deeper breaths. After around 8-10 minutes, roll over one side slowly and sit. While turning the attention outwards, open your eyes.
Practicing the yoga asanas regularly would provide you with good physical as well as mental health. You can enjoy numerous benefits of yoga asanas like an increase in energy, improvement in concentration, low-stress levels, and many more. This would help you stay healthy as well as improve your performance and provide peace of mind.