Seated yoga exercises: valuable asanas
The neck is an area of our body that often receives too little attention. It's often overshadowed by the back, which we all want to treat when it's tense or in pain. Yet our neck is a particular area where many problems can originate. Muscle tension here can manifest itself in headaches, shoulder and arm pain, and even insomnia. The neck is often strained or even overstressed in everyday life. You may notice this particularly clearly if you frequently work at a computer.
There are many yoga exercises that help you strengthen your neck and also learn to relax. Seated yoga poses are ideal for this. We'll introduce you to some of them in this blog post.
Four seated yoga exercises
- Yoga Mudra: Forward Bend in Lotus
In Yoga Mudra, you experience a long neck at its finest. By bending forward, you not only bow to creation, which gives you roots and wings at the same time, but you also relax your neck, increasingly as you become more and more aware of the gentle stretching of this area in this pose. You also bend forward at your desk. But this lengthening of your neck is completely different from that offered by yoga exercises in a seated position: While mental work at your desk can lead to a tense neck and you often look left and right, Yoga Mudra is a true act of letting go. You sink deeper and deeper into this pose, lengthening and relaxing your neck area, and learning to let go more and more, physically and mentally.
- Bandha Padmasana: bound lotus pose
The bound lotus pose is one of the seated yoga poses well-suited for advanced practitioners. It relaxes your neck just like the forward bend in the lotus pose, but the posture is a bit more intense: By tying your arms behind your lower back, you gently draw your shoulders down. This creates the freedom for the neck that you may have often heard in yoga or exercise classes with the phrase "shoulders away from your ears." Unlike hunched shoulders, the neck can be optimally relaxed, making the bound lotus one of the ideal seated yoga poses for the neck. Try it out and see how your neck feels in this pose!
- Garbhasana: Fetal Pose
The fetal pose is one of the asanas that offers perfect protection and relaxation. Is there a more relaxing posture than that of the child in the womb? Child's pose, as it is also called, is naturally also one of the seated yoga exercises that can benefit your neck. A holistic exercise that helps you relax your body, mind, and soul and gives you strength for the challenges ahead in life. It is one of the seated yoga exercises that is also suitable for balancing after strenuous asanas or at the end of a yoga class.
- Virasana: Warrior
Warrior pose is also one of the seated yoga exercises that can promote neck health and thus your well-being. Here, too, lowering your arms relieves pressure on your neck by increasing the space between your shoulders and ears, thus giving your neck freedom. Virasana is also one of the seated yoga exercises that also relieves pressure on your back. Hero's pose, as it's also called, also helps relax your legs after a long day at work. Your mind can also find peace in this position. If you wish, you can also practice meditation or breathing exercises (pranayama) in the warrior pose to regain strength and rejuvenate yourself.
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