Important things to remember before doing Yoga Asanas and Pranayamas!

When it comes to Yoga we all love moving and doing asanas. Every yoga class you go has different styles of teaching. Some correct the posture you do, some don’t and some even don’t instruct the whole thing correctly. Below are the points you must remember before going to any yoga class to avoid injuries and physical or mental problems.

Awareness

While doing asana practice it is very important that you are aware of what you are doing and which are the muscles that are being stretched or is your breath proper, what is the position of your spine, head, neck, and other body parts. When you have awareness it will help you deepen your practice. Listening to the instructions of the yoga trainer is not enough you should also see and be aware if you are actually doing what the trainer is asking and following each and everything.

Breath

It is very important that you keep breathing throughout the yoga practice. If you stop your breath while you are in the posture for a very long time it might harm your muscles and make you feel tired. When you don't combine your breath with your posture the chances of injury increases plus you don't get the effect you are supposed to from that particular posture plus you get tired easily. For example: For all forward extension asanas you must first inhale and then exhaling extend down because when you exhale and go down you can extend more compared to when you inhale and go down. (Try it!)

Spine

The spine is the most important part you must be aware of throughout the practice. The spine should always be straight no matter which asana you are into, except for hand balancing asanas where your back should be bent [example: Bakasana(crow/crane pose)]. The spine is where your Kundalini energy flows through. All the practices combined with proper breath generates energy and opens up your chakras and help energy move up in your body. If the spine is bent the energy flow is disturbed and you might not get the effects you are supposed to from the asanas or breathing practices  (Pranayamas).

Alignment

The most important thing while doing asanas is the alignment. We all hurry for getting into the pose without realizing that our alignment is going wrong in that process. Some say alignment is not that big of an issue, but if you keep doing the wrong asana it will end up causing you severe injury. For example: In Uttanasana A which is the basic forward bending asana, we are in a hurry to touch our head to our knees but in proper alignment- the goal is that we have to extend our spine so much that our chin touches our shin with a straight back or spine. Otherwise, we might end up curving our back and then landing up with a back pain in future. Hence it is very important that you align yourself in each and every asana.

Rest

Yoga is not an exercise. Of course, it helps in weight loss and burning calories but comparing it to the exercises done in the gym would not help. When you are performing dynamic asanas it is important you take little rest in between. Because, if you are not able to breathe you won't be able to do the further practice in a correct way. As mentioned above about breath- Combining breath with asanas will help you get faster results and deepen your practice. Also, it is very important that you take Shavasana (corpse pose) at the end of your practice to cool your body down, bring your breath to normal and relax every part you have worked on.

Pranayamas/Breathing Practices

First- throughout the practice of pranayama your back and spine should always be straight. Second- Your breath should be normal before starting the practice and should not be done if your breath is fast or tired. Third- If you are a beginner or if you don't practice pranayama regularly then not more than 30 rounds of pranayama should be done at a time because if you do, it has a very high effect on your mind and body and the person might also act crazier than normal if counts are exceeded. Fourth- Do not practice if the technique is not known to you, always do a guided practice. Five- Pranayams are very powerful and if done in a wrong way might cause severe injury or in some cases, the person might even die or go crazy. Hence. it is advised to be practiced under professional guidance.

Emotions

When you are practicing Yoga asanas or pranayamas, it might happen that you have a sudden outburst of emotions like anger, love, crying etc. You might sometimes feel like crying out loud after or during a practice. You might also go so deep into the practice that you fall down unknowingly. All this is normal for a yoga practitioner. Be aware if this happens. Know that those are only emotions you have been suppressing for years that are coming out and you are cleansing your mind and body from inside. Everything is temporary.  So just let go of your suppressed emotions and don't think much on it or make the situation panicking.

For questions, you can mail me in the contact section and I would be glad to answer.

Thank you for reading!!

Nikita Shinde