Yoga is an umbrella for innumerable poses and postures to help you overcome stress, stay fit, live healthily, and improve your lifestyle. In exercising yoga, it is common to implement all the knowledge and tactics related to the various poses. Also, each of us has their own reasons for connecting with yoga. While some practice it for better flexibility and strength, others view yoga as an organic way to heal injuries. It does not stop here. Many take refuge in yoga to relax and destress amid the hectic grind of everyday life.

However, it is sometimes better to step out of your comfort zone, and yoga is no exception. Whether you’ve reached your goal of healing from an injury or touching your toes, there is always scope to push the limit. You can always learn new things in yoga and take an adventurous attitude when trying them out. What seemed like a challenging pose for you earlier may seem mundane now. That is a reason enough for you to continue to test new waters.

Here are some of the reasons for choosing to grow, advance, and expand your practice.

You…

• … are up for a new challenge.
• … practice a lot of yoga.
• … have a knack for learning new things.
• … are curious to practice a new step.
• … are ready to improve your lifestyle by advancing to new yoga poses.

Irrespective of your reason, it is always a good idea to move out of your orbit without the fear of failure. Yoga is for anyone willing to accept themselves in their entirety: their flaws and talents included. Most importantly, yoga is a way of life that can help establish a connection between your mind and body. This allows you to achieve inner peace amid the high and low tides of your life.

Advanced Yoga Poses

Here are some key yoga poses to help you advance your practice

Chaturanga Pose

Also known as the low plank or low push-up, this pose is vital for understanding and incorporating strength into your daily yoga routine. It strengthens and tones the lower back, wrists, arms, and abdominal muscles, aiding in improving your posture and body balance.

Crow Pose

This pose gives you the first taste of flying. Practicing this pose opens the groin, as well as strengthens and stretches your inner thighs, back, wrists, and abdominal organs. It is also known to build your endurance and help you focus and stay calm.

Plow Pose

It is one of the most essential postures that help in cooling down, decompressing, and relaxing after a vigorous routine of yoga practice. This pose helps calm the brain and stimulates the thyroid gland. It also stretches the spine and shoulders, thereby reducing stress and fatigue. The pose is highly therapeutic for insomnia, sinusitis, and infertility.

Bow Pose

If you are looking for a pose that focuses on stretching the entire front part of your body and strengthening every muscle in the back, this is it. Practicing this pose improves the spinal flexibility and posture of the body. The additional benefits of this pose include opening the abdomen, chest, ankles, groin, throat, and quadriceps.

Side Plank Pose

This is a wonderful pose that helps in building strength and improving integration and body balance. The pose increases flexibility in the wrists while toning the abdominal muscles. It is also known to enhance focus and concentration.

Wheel Pose

This posture makes you feel strengthened, energized and challenged. It literally cracks open the flow of energy. It is an intermediate posture that takes patience, consistency, and integrity. Practicing this pose strengthens the kidneys, pancreas, liver, legs, arms, shoulders, wrists, and spine. This one is excellent for the heart, keeping cardiovascular ailments at bay.

Here are some additional routines to follow if you wish to advance with your yoga practice

• Practice What You Ignore – Make it a priority to do what you resist ordinarily. It is easy to engage in what comes to us easily and what is familiar to us by habit. However, there’s no growth involved there. Choosing to do what is challenging helps you to stand out and advance, whether it is trying out an arm balancing or meeting tight deadlines.
• Be Open To Learning – When you are clear about the direction of growth in your yoga practice, both mentally and physically, you only need to focus on letting go of your ego. Be open toward learning new ways. It is alright to fail in your attempts, but it is not okay to refrain from trying at all.
• Adopt A Diet To Fuel Your Practice – Eating clean and light plays an important role in facilitating a healthy physical and mental well-being. This gives you a whole new level of enthusiasm and energy to practice and balance out your yoga schedule.
• Be Intentional – This a simple practice with a huge potential to change your life. While practicing any yoga pose, bring forth your focus toward your breathing to make your life lighter and brighter. Practicing intentionally and in earnest can help you go further and achieve greatness in any field, be it on or off your mat.
• Devise A Routine – Make it a habit to rise and set with the sun. This is the most important part of your practice. Starting your practice early channels your body’s energy and increases your body’s overall productivity. Following a routine of waking up before the sun rises and going to bed early helps you maintain a healthy body and lifestyle.

The most important part to advance your yoga practice is having an open mind and always be willing to push forward. There may be bumps along the way but overcoming them will only make you stronger and better. You can take your time in achieving what you want but remaining at the same point leaves no scope for growth. Move ahead in your journey with yoga when you feel ready.

You might also like our blog post about Wild Yoga Poses