Best Yoga Warm Ups

By Sangeetha Saran

Before engaging in a Hatha or Vinyasa session, it is important to warm up one’s body.  Serious practitioners and teachers spend time warming up before a class.  If one is a beginner in the world of physical Yoga, then it is especially recommended that he or she invest some time in doing proper warm up exercises before partaking in asana practice.

Doing some warm up exercises will allow a person to loosen joints and ligaments in the body. This warm up time will contribute to a better yoga session and prevent injuries.  Every movement based form of Yoga incorporates warm ups.  Yoga teacher training courses cover this subject for the safety of all students.

The supine breath is a popular warm up exercise. This simple warm up simply allows one to achieve better breathing before starting a yoga session. To partake in the supine breath, a person should lie on one’s back and then exhale deeply. As one breathes in, it is then important to raise the arms as high as one can. Then, a person should pause for one or two seconds before letting go of this position. As one breathes out, then one can lower the arms to his or her side. This exercise should be repeated about ten times before a yoga session.

Supine single knee hugs are another type of warm up exercise any person should do before starting a Yoga training session. Single knee hugs allow the hip joints to loosen. For this exercise, a student will need to lie on his or her back. Then, this student needs to draw his or her knees to the chest. After this, a student should gently clasp the shins or knees.

Then, the student should deeply breathe in and hold the knees directly to the chest. One should then ease up on the pressure and repeat this exercise again. After releasing this pose with the one knee, then a person should do the same thing for the other knee. This exercise should be done about ten times for each knee.

The easy forward bend is another great exercise for loosening joints and ligaments. For this warm up, a student merely needs to sit on the ground with his or her legs straight forward. Then a student should put his or her arms straight forward. After this, a person should try to touch his or her toes. One may grip the legs, ankles, or heels when doing this sort of warm up. When the back muscles and leg-biceps are thoroughly warmed up, the more one will be ready for a Hatha Yoga training session.

Overall, these are some of the best warm up exercises a person should do before any Yoga session.

© Copyright 2011 – Sangeetha Saran / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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