6 Best Yoga Poses and Exercises for Mindfulness

Yoga is a practice, much like mindfulness, that can help you calm, focus, and center. With practice, mindfulness can become a way of life. You can simply bring it to every moment of your life, including conversations and interactions with others.

Yoga is also a great workout that helps you strengthen and improve your general fitness. It’s not just about the physical aspect; it’s also about the body, mind, spirit, and soul.

Six Best Yoga Poses For Mindfulness

Here's a look at six such workouts:

1) Hero's Pose

The hero's pose is ideal for stretching the quads (thigh muscles), tops of the feet and ankles, and lengthening the spine. It can also be done after a big meal to aid in digestion.

Here's how you do it:

Kneel with your heels on the floor and knees directly beneath your hips. If that's too uncomfortable, support your buttocks on a cushion or block.
Place your hands in your lap; lengthen your tailbone towards the floor, and lift through the entire spine.
Widen your collarbones so that the shoulder blades kiss gently together. Remain for a minute or so, following only the very gentle rhythm of your breath.

2) Child's Pose

It eases lower back aches and tightness, and opens the inner thighs, groin, and chest. This yoga pose lengthens the breath and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, giving you a calming effect.

How to do it:

From the hero yoga pose, widen the knees about shoulder-width apart, and stretch your arms forward.
Rest your forehead on the ground, or block if it doesn’t come all the way down.
Imagine the breath moving in from the tip of each nostril, through the back of your throat and down into the very base of your lungs.
It may even help you visualize a thread of breath and giving it a color. This is a mindfulness tool to keep you in the present. Stay for a minute or so in this stance.

3) Seated Moving Meditation

This flowing sequence of movements is great for experiencing meditation through simple movement and developing breath. With these arm movements, you lengthen your side waist and spine. Begin the stretch lightly in the intercostal muscles as well as chest and shoulders.

Here's how you do this exercise:

From the child’s pose, slowly lift up, and come into a cross-legged pose.
Place your hands on your heart to close your eyes, and get in touch with the rhythm of your breath. Stay for a few breaths till you feel grounded.
Bring your arms out to the sides and up above your head.
Bring them back behind you as you interlace your hands at the small of your back.

4) Seated Forward Fold

This pose is great for stretching the hips, glutes, and lower back. When paired with breathwork, it can help relieve tension in the digestive system.

How to do it:

Sit on the floor with your legs crossed, and bring your heels about six inches away from your sitting bones.
Flex your feet so that your toes curl back towards the shins.
Grounding through your sit bones, inhale as you lift your arms out in front of you and up.
Exhale as you tilt forward from your hips, and place your hands shoulder distance apart in front of you.

5) Mountain Pose

The mountain pose is often viewed as a transitional one between standing postures but is foundational to all standing postures.

To do this posture:

Stand with your arms by your sides, keeping your feet rooted into the floor in a wide stance, pelvis tucked under, and spine tall.
Shift your weight onto both feet, keeping the heels planted.
Imagine that your pelvis is a bowl with a rim level front to back and side to side.
Lift your chest, and open your heart; relax your shoulders.
Keep your chin parallel with the floor and ears centered over your shoulders.

6) Tree Pose

The tree pose can help improve balance as well as body awareness. In addition to the physical benefits, this pose also provides a calming and relaxing effect—relieving anxious thoughts or feelings.

How to do it:

Bend your knees, and stand with your arms by your sides.
Breathe inm and lift your left leg, turning it outward.
Use one hand to place the sole of your foot on the inside of your right thigh.
Bring your hands together at the chest, in a prayer position.
Your left foot should rest against your right thigh and vice versa.
Hold this pose for 5-10 breaths, and switch sides.

Takeaway

The aforementioned yoga poses and exercises can significantly help you become both mindful and healthier. However, yoga should not be taken as a substitute for a meditation practice.

Yoga is often practiced to train the body before meditation.