Everybody wants happiness, and yoga is one of the best ways to obtain that happiness in life. Sukhasana is one of the Sanskrit words where sukh means pleasure and asana means pose. Sukhasana is also called Easy pose or decent pose. It is an introductory level yoga that can stretch your knees, ankles and also strengthen your back. It can be performed by people of all age groups starting from children to elderly persons.
This pose has been carried out for ages because if the inclination that the benefits of this asana are subtle but powerful. Sukhasana is mainly used for meditation purposes and is especially practiced at the time of the morning. Even though this pose can be done at any time of the day, it gives you more benefit when you perform it on an empty stomach.
Sukhasana is a pose found in any yoga practice at some point or the other. It is one of the best alternatives to a full lotus or half lotus pose and is one of the best places to rest for breathing exercises, meditation, and setting of intention. If you want to learn more about this asana in depth, then we highly recommend you to select one of the best yoga school in Rishikesh and take up the advanced 300 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh to know more in depth on this yoga asana.
How to do Sukhasana?
- At first, sit straight, keeping your legs stretched in front of your body.
- Then bend your left leg and then keep your left foot behind your right thigh.
- In the same manner, bend your right leg and then place your right foot behind the left thigh.
- Now keep the outer edge of the feet on the floor.
- Go to a comfortable position by adjusting your body and legs.
- The head, spine, and neck should be kept erect.
- Similarly, bend the right leg and place the right foot beneath the left thigh.
- Place your palms in your knees and thighs.
- Now relax your shoulder and your elbows little bent.
- Then keep your eyes closed and your whole body relaxed and took some slow and deep breaths.
- Keep feeling your breath that moves in and out of your body.
- Hold on to this position for a minute or even less if you feel any discomfort.
- Practice this twice by interchanging your leg position.
Essential things you should know about Sukhasana.
After practicing some of the complicated meditative yoga poses for a long time, Sukhasana is done for relaxing your body. Although Sukhasana is one of the easy poses, holding it for a long time is difficult. It is so because the whole weight of your body is supported by your buttocks that gives your body significantly less space for support.
Many Yoga studios have now taking their offline course online and if you are interested in learning the yoga from the best yoga instructors online then we strongly recommend you to check the best online yoga teacher training courses and select the best 300 hour online yoga teacher training course to become a certified instructor.
Some precautions to take while performing Sukhasana.
If you are suffering from knee pain, low backache, or sciatica, it’s better to avoid practicing Sukhasana.
Sukhasana has plenty of benefits based on what pose you are pairing it with, but Sukhasana also has some other benefits on its own:
- Stillness and serenity: By performing this pose, you can quickly eliminate anxiety. Sukhasana acts as a calmnant when practiced and when life is a little challenging. Add some breathing techniques or chant some mantra that fits into the situation, and this does a beautiful meditation practice.
- Stretches your knees: This pose encourages open knees, which is an area of tightness for several people, especially if you are driving a reasonable amount of sitting at a desk for an extended period every day.
- Opens up your ankles: This posture opens up your ankles very slowly, but for sure. You will realize you have tight ankles when you feel pain while doing child pose or feel slight pain in the ankle joint while sitting cross-legged. Try to sit in a cushion or a block to take some stress out from your ankles when they open up. With time, you will find that your ankles start opening up, allowing you to sit more deeply.
- Encourages groundedness: While inhaling, your chest rises, and exhalation to the ground using your sitting bones will assist you in feeling more grounded and less stressed.
- Unlocks your hips: To open up your hips, sit in the pose for about 5-10 minutes daily, changing the feet halfway to increase your stretch capacity. When your hips are very tight, place some blocks under your knees and slowly lessen the block height to allow gravity to lower your hips open for you.
- Stretches your back muscles and spines: When you sit up tall and spread the collar bones for lifting your heart, it encourages good posture. Take support while sitting for opening up your spine and broadening the lower back muscles.
When you have a history of knee or back injury, sit on a folded blanket or make use of a bolster so that your knees are positioned lower than hips, and there is no strain. You can also take support from a wall to lean on and see if you feel a little better.