Mastering Basic and Advanced Seated Yoga Poses

Have you ever tried seated yoga poses? The benefits of seated yoga are many including improved flexibility and range of motion in the body. This is a useful way to challenge your physical and mental states and loosen up stiff muscles.

Seated yoga poses do not necessarily need to be part of a yoga practice but can also be practiced and mastered repeatedly at home, without the guidance of an instructor.

Basic and beginner friendly seated yoga poses:

1) Staff Pose

Staff posture is an easy seated yoga pose that stretches the legs, chest, and shoulders and promotes postural awareness. For sitting yoga poses, Staff Pose serves as an alignment baseline. It appears simple at first glance, yet it involves close attention to detail, much like the Mountain pose.

Staff seated yoga pose. Image credits: (Pexels/ Marta Wave)

To do this exercise:

Sit in a comfortable position with your legs straight out in front of you. Take a prop under your seat if your spine is rounding.
Shift your butt flesh to either side with your hands so that you sit on your bones & have a solid base on the floor.
Engage your legs by flexing both feet.
Gently draw your navel toward your spine by breathing in.
Move your shoulders away from your ears and relax.
On either side of your seat, press your palms to the floor.
Maintain a neutral neck position with your chin neither tucked nor elevated.

2) Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana)

Seated forward hold. Image credits: (Pexels/ Elina Fairytale)

The rear body is stretched with a seated forward fold, including the hamstrings, calves, glutes, and back muscles. This seated yoga position must begin with a forward tipping of the pelvis (anterior rotation) rather than with flexion (rounding) of the spine.

How to do the seated forward fold:

In Staff Pose, bend your knees and bring the hands to the floor in line with your knees.
Take several deep breaths and exhale fully to come into the pose.
Lift your arms toward the ceiling as you inhale, making sure not to arch your back.
Moving slowly and pausing at the top of each breath will help you avoid straining.
If your knees are touching and you cannot reach your feet, use a strap or other object to help you come into position.
Keep breathing into the pose until you can stretch your legs without rounding the spine.

3) Head To Knee Pose (Janu Sirsasana)

Stretching the hamstring on the extended leg, and the inner thigh and hip on the bent leg is beneficial. Janu Sirsasana seated yoga pose allows you to work on each leg separately, resulting in a deeper hamstring stretch than you would obtain with both legs outstretched. On the bent leg, it also helps to expand the inner thigh and hip.

Janu Sirsasana seated yoga pose. Image credits: (Pexels/ Miriam Alonso)

To do this exercise:

If you're in Staff Pose, step your left foot onto the inside of your right thigh.
Lift your arms up overhead, and flex your right foot.
Exhale as you forward bend over your right leg, keeping a flat back by thinking of your trajectory as forehead to shin.
When you've reached your deepest bend, hold for several breaths before sitting back up and switching legs for the other side.

Advanced seated yoga poses:

1) Half Lords Of The Fishes Pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana)

Ardha Matsyendrasana seated yoga pose stretches the rectus femoris, upper back, side body (serratus anterior and erector spinae), and pelvic muscles.

Ardha Matsyendrasana. Image credits: (Pexels/ Klaus Nielsen)

To do this posture:

From cross-legged position, bring your left knee toward the center of your body and place the sole of your right foot flat on the floor outside of your left thigh.
Bend your right knee so it is pointing towards ceiling, and then place your right hand behind you and your left elbow outside that knee.
Make sure to activate both hands by brightening through the fingertips and also press strongly into the floor from heel to toe-tips with your right foot.
Next, lengthen spine on each inhalation, deepen twist on each exhalation by looking over shoulder or keeping nose in line with navel.

2) Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana)

The upper arms, back muscles, glutes, and outer thighs are all stretched in the cow face pose. Consider using a folded blanket to put under your seat and a strap for the arm bound.

Cow face yoga pose. Image credits: (Pexels/ Miriam Alonso)

To do this pose:

Sit in a seated position with your bottom leg’s heel on the outside of your opposite hip.
Pull your other heel in so you can stack your knees, and make sure both glutes are on the ground.
Sit up tall while extending one arm up toward your shoulder blades and reaching behind you with the other arm.
Hook your fingers or grab a strap, and lift your chest while bending over at the waist.

3) Compass Pose (Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana)

Compass pose is a difficult seated yoga pose that necessitates a great deal of flexibility. Take it slowly and stop whenever necessary to allow tight places to open up over time.

Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana. Image credits: (Freepik)

Here's how you do it:

From a cross-legged position, draw your left foot into your chest with both arms, threading your left arm under your left leg.
Take a grip on the outside of your left foot with your right hand and straighten your left leg and right arm to pull yourself through the opening between the left leg and right arm.
Open your chest to the side as you look up.

These seated yoga poses are useful in so many ways, from calming your mind to allowing your body to take a break from more active postures. It is certainly worth it to spend the time learning them and enjoying the many health benefits of yoga practice.