Reduce Stress and Fatigue with Yastikasana (Stick Yoga Pose)

Men are stressed at job or performance stress,

Homemakers are stressed about homework to house help,

Children are stressed about exams and results,

Families are stressed about maintaining relations .., so name it and you are sure to find stress

Stress is a silent killer. Today everybody is stressed. It can be work-related stress, performance stress or stress due to strained relationships. High levels of stress can cause high blood pressure and even lead to heart attacks and anxiety or depression. But how can stress, do all that? The stress hormones when overstimulated and when they go unchecked can cause chronic activation and damage to our brains.  Stress disturbs our Neuro-muscular balance. Numerous researchers indicate that chronic psychological stress can even cause inflammation in the Heart muscles.

Yoga is the preventive answer. So let’s learn to de-stress with a simple asana-Yastikasana or Stick pose.

Yastikasana-Stick-pose

Yastikasana ultimate simple asana to de-stress and remove all fatigue. Before any individual attempts to practice advanced yoga asana learn the correct way to do Yastikasana. This particular posture improves body strength, resilience and boosts immunity.

Ideally suited to all the office goers or desk job holders take note and practice this asana. When practised regularly by children it benefits in increasing the height. Get rid of excess fat and reduce the belly fats the yoga way.

Yogendra Yastikasana or the stick pose.  This all-body stretch avoids undue strain (done supine position).

Watch Video How to do Yastikasana:

Starting position:  Lie supine (on the back) on a mat, legs fully extended, feet together, and the hands stretched above the head parallel to each other. Keep the mind relaxed and passively aware.

The sequence of steps for Yastikasana:

  1. Inhaling, in 3 seconds, stretch the body at full length, the toes and the fingers pointing outwards (as if trying to reach something farther from them).
  2. Maintain the stretched position for 6 seconds, retaining the breath (final position).
  3. Return to starting position: exhaling, in 3 seconds; relax the hands and toes, attaining the starting position.

Dynamic practice:

Starting position- Lie supine (on the back) on a mat, hands beside the body. Keep the mind relaxed and passively aware.

 Sequence of steps

  1. Inhaling, raise both the hands in a semi-circular arc, keeping the hands-fully stretched and parallel to each other, to take them above the head.
  2. Simultaneously, stretch the toes outwards. Synchronise the above two steps in 3 seconds, while inhaling.
  3. Maintain this fully extended position for 6 seconds, retaining the breath (final position).
  4. Return to starting position: exhaling, in 3 seconds, relaxing the body and toes, bring the hands back to the starting position, beside the body, to complete 1 round.

Static practice:

  1. Practice the static pose only if the health condition is normal.
  2. Attain the final position, as explained, above, breathing normally in the stretched position. Breathing should be normal–slow and rhythmic; focus on the gentle rise and fall of the abdomen.

Recommended practice: For dynamic 4 rounds /session. In case of static practice, maintain the final position for 30 seconds, gradually taking it up to 1/2 minutes with regular practice.

Limitations/Contraindications:

  1. Kyphosis and other spinal injuries.
  2. Frozen shoulder and arthritis.
  3. Recent surgery in the abdominal region.

Benefits of this Yoga asana:

  1. Facilitates maximum stretching of the body and aids in increasing height.
  2. Causes deep pressure on the muscular tissues as well as on the organs, enabling the muscular tissues to either use up or put into circulation surplus deposits of fat.
  3. It aids better circulation of blood.
  4. Tones the usually relaxed abdominal and pelvic muscles.
  5. The thoracic area opens up and improves breathing
  6. Helps in correcting the faulty posture of rounded or drooping shoulders
  7. Benefits the nervous system and calms you down.

Say goodbye to stress and fatigue with Yastikasana. Learn and practice Yoga asanas from one of the oldest organised yoga Institutes in the world.

Try our regular yoga asana classes for men and women. Multiple time slots make it an easy choice. Join us and learn from the seasoned yoga teachers.

Click here for more details. http://theyogainstitute.org/special-regular-classes/