Once you are in a Yoga class, it is quite common to hear instructions like chin towards chest, knees aligned with hips, chest towards thighs and so on and so forth. While such instructions have a huge role in making the exercises more meaningful for your body, doing them the wrong way can lead to serious health consequences. Most of the beginners fail to find anything wrong with their postures and continue doing them the same way unless checked by an instructor. Having said that, it is quite evident that yogasanas can be useful only if done the right way and it remains no brainer that postures can be corrected only if the mistakes in the postures are identified.
To ease out such identification of mistakes by beginners, here are 5 common mistakes that most yoga beginners commit:
1. Down dog position
Rounding the neck, standing on tips of the toes with heels raised and taking a short stance between the hands and feet are common postural mistakes done during down dog posture.
Actual posture warrants you to have a good distance between your feet and hands and keep the ankles and heels as close to the ground as you comfortably can. It is also important to push the chest towards the thighs keeping the gaze on the legs.
2. Plank pose
Curving the spine beyond a certain extent defeats the entire purpose of cobra posture. Curved spine is a strict no-no in this pose, whether concave or convex.
The plank pose is aimed at engaging your core muscles. With the abdomen tight, try creating a straight line of the body with shoulders and hips in the same line. Remain on top of the toes with heels lifted and head in line with the rest of the body.
3. Cobra
The wrong posture which is very often taken up by beginners involves shoulders lifted towards the ears, toes curled under and the neck and spine tensed.
The correct cobra pose needs your legs lengthened out behind you with your feet firmly on the ground. With palms planted on the ground, lift up your chest and chin off the ground. Elbows should be bent slightly and shoulders pressed towards the ground to prevent hyper-extension. Look towards the sky instead of looking ahead.
4. Warrior
Most beginners do not leave enough space between legs in this stance and reduce the bend in the front knee which prohibits them from getting enough out of this pose. They also lift the shoulders towards the ears which results in the neck getting tensed.
The correct way to do the warrior posture is to stand with a reasonable distance between the legs and bend the front knee as much as possible pushing through the back foot. The ankle and knee should be in a straight line instead of being offset with each other. Extend the arms in opposite directions keeping your gaze on the front hand to get a powerful stance.
5. Tree pose
Most beginners place their foot on the knee of the other leg which is a big NO for the Tree pose. The correct position for the foot of the non-supporting leg is either above or below the knee of the supporting leg.
These 5 mistakes are very common among yoga beginners. Not only do they prevent the yoga lessons from benefiting the body but also cause injuries at times. It is wise to scrutinize each of your postures and rectify the mistakes with the corrective measures mentioned with each of them.
Author Bio:
Allan Hall is the Business Development Manager at Modern Yoga Online and Yogasync.tv. He is a veteran yogi, futurist and technology geek. His series of online quality video classes are designed to help with your daily yoga practice. Allan is also committed to guiding beginners on a path of physical fitness.
