Best Way to Do Three Simple Yoga Poses

Want to relax, get in better shape, and reduce your stress? Try yoga. Yoga is the hot new thing. Well, not exactly new, I guess. It’s been practiced for about 5,000 years.

Sarah Thomas-Fazeli, a yoga instructor, explains why: “Yoga is part of a body-mind system that combines breath, physical exercise, and meditation to bring about the very best you. Yoga’s physical poses bring about countless benefits, including physical attributes like strength, tone, and flexibility, as well as mental improvements in focus, control, and calmness.”

Test the waters. Try these three simple physical poses that Sarah suggests:

Child’s Pose. Child’s pose can rejuvenate and relax you. From an all-fours position, press your hips back so they rest on your heels. Stretch your arms out in front of you and rest your forehead on the ground. Breathe smoothly and feel your breath expand in your ribcage, belly, and back. Imagine lots of space in between each vertebra—the air you breathe in lengthening you all the way from the tailbone up through the neck. Imagine the spinal cord goes even further, all the way through the top of your head. Rest here as long as you like. For variation, adjust the arms to lengthen down next to your sides.

Downward Facing Dog. Strange name, but it offers benefits, such as improving concentration and energy levels. Kneel on all fours, keeping your back flat like a table. After a few breaths, adjust the feet so they are pressed sole-to-floor as you straighten your legs and press into both hands. Your body resembles the shape of a jackknife. Engage the thigh muscles (think of squeezing them, or hooking your kneecaps up into your thighs). Press through the arms and keep hips lifting high toward the sky. After a series of five slow breaths, come to sit on heels. Gaze out in front of you toward the horizon.

Full Cobra. Full cobra can help with your digestion and with menstrual cramps. Lie on your stomach with hands under shoul­ders, palms open, and your toes facing the floor. In smooth succes­sion, lower your nose, chin, then your chest toward the floor. Then use your back muscles to lift the upper body up and away from the floor. Do not overarch the back, which will cause strain. Gaze ahead, head lifting, neck in fine with your spine. Keep elbows bent and ro­tating inward slightly. For a modified floor version, simply rest your elbows (in line with the shoulders) on the floor in front of you, bringing the hands, in loose fists, toward each other.