YOGA FOR HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY

 Hamstrings are the group of 3 muscles that run along the backside of the thighs connecting the pelvis to the knee. These muscles are used to flex the knees and extend the hips and are regularly used in our day-to-day life activities like walking, running, climbing stairs, jumping, squatting, coming up standing from a sitting position etc.

The tight hamstring is a common complaint these days and it usually occurs due to nonactivity, repetitive movement or poor posture. Some of the common examples are marathon runners who don’t regularly stretch their hamstrings and suffer from a hamstring pull, a non-active person who spends most of his/her time sitting and working will have tight hamstrings which will further lead to back pain or sciatica.

Yoga is to create space in the body and in some postures, it allows the muscles to get some deeply relaxed stretches. Apart from very common postures like Adhomukhasvanasan (downward-facing dog) and Utanasana (Full forward fold), below are some more postures which one should keep practicing to release and relax the tight hamstrings

Parshvottanasa

Stand straight with feet together in Samasthiti

Join the palms in namaskar mudra behind your back in between the shoulder blades and reach as high as possible. If this is difficult, then below are the other options:

Make a fist with both hands and join them behind your back OR

Grab your elbows with an opposite hand behind your back OR

Interlace your fingers behind your back and straighten the elbows

The goal is to expand your chest

Swing the right leg back, turn the right toes out and left toes in and face the backside of the mat.

Make sure our hips are squared and facing straight in front of you. So keep space between both the legs, the right toe should face forward and the left toe should face the top left corner of the mat which will help to square the hips.

Inhale take a deep breath expand your chest up

Exhale a slight twist on the right side and fall forward on the right leg. Try to touch your belly to the thigh, chest to the knee and chin to the shin. Gaze at the right big toe. Stay here for 5 to 8 long breaths.

If you are not able to do a full forward fold with an expanded chest, then fold halfway down and stay there as it will give the same amount of stretch.

Keep the right knee very lightly bent in order to avoid hyperextension of the knee.

Make sure both the legs are active by pulling both of them towards each other without moving them. This will also help in getting better balance.

Keep pressing the palm or fist behind your back so your chest is open.

Inhale bend the right knee and lift yourself all the way up. Stay in the position and turn yourself to the front side of the mat by turning your left toe out and right toe in.

Repeat the same from the left side and then come back to Samasthiti

Paschimotanasana

Sit with legs straight in front of you and back upright also called as Dandasana or staff pose.

Inhale raise your chest up hands over your head and parallel to each other

Exhale bring your hands to your feet and grab your big toes with your first three fingers. If you are not able to reach the big toes then bend your knees.

Inhale tuck your tailbone in, raise your head and chest up

Exhale fall forward belly and chest on the thigh, chin to the knee and gaze at the big toe. Your elbows should bend outside of your knees. Stay here for good 8 to 10 breaths

If your knees are bent, try to straighten them to your best capacity.

If your knees are straight then point your toes, go deeper and then flex your toes to feel the deep hamstring stretch

Beginners can hook the strap around the feet soles and grab the strap with your hand

Try to tuck your tailbone in but without hunching your upper back, so the lower back is not compressed and the core is also engaged.

Inhale come back to the seated staff pose of Dandasana

Supta padangustasana

Lie on your back hands by your thighs and legs straight

Inhale raise your leg at 90 degree and grab the right toe with first three fingers. Below are the options:

Directly raise the right leg up straight and grab the toe with fingers

Bend the right leg at the knee and bring it close to chest. Now grab the toe with fingers and straighten the leg

Loop a strap around the right leg sole and grab the strap with right hand

Point the toe forward and pull them back at the same time using right arm strength to have a strong grip

Press the left palm on left hips to ensure the left hip is not lifted

Exhale lift your shoulders off the floor and try to pull the right leg towards you and touch the chin to the knee. Stay here for 5- 6 long breaths

Inhale rest your forehead and shoulders back to the floor and take the right leg to the right side but make sure the left hip is still pressed down with left palm. Gaze to the left shoulder.

Exhale bring the right leg back up at 90 degree, hold the heel of right feet with both hands, lift your shoulders off the floor and try to touch your belly and chest to the right thigh and chin to the shin

Inhale release the leg all the way down

Repeat the same on the left side

Improving hamstring flexibility is a gradual process and should be taken slowly, as forcing may lead to muscle tear which is the last thing that anyone may want. So use the props to take support, do passive stretching wherever required and slowly work on improving the flexibility of the muscle

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IS YOGA PRACTICE ENOUGH TO KEEP YOU FIT

 Yoga has won plenty of relevance in the latest times, because it performs a totally crucial position to reinforce the immune machine to combat plenty of ailments and infections. In 2021, the United kingdom identified the significance of Yoga and promoted International Yoga Day focusing on “Yoga for wellbeing” to elevate focus international on the various blessings of training in Yoga.

However, the crucial query right here is: if Yoga exercise is sufficient to maintain your health?

Well, if we examine our everyday fundamental sports and moves, they may be connected to the Yoga postures or asanas in a few manners or other, as an instance, Standing in Tadasana, if practiced nicely will have interaction all of the muscle tissue from head to toe with none motion and could make you stand sturdy like a mountain for an extended time, Chair pose or Utkatasana which allows to reinforce the knee joint through strengthening the muscle tissue round it and allows in fundamental sports like sitting down on a chair or the floor and getting lower back up with none support, Uttanasana or ahead fold works on lengthening the complete bottom of our frame and allows us to consciously bend ahead to select out some thing up from the floor, Crescent excessive lunge pose or Ashta chandrasana works on strengthening the quads and hamstrings and allows in mountaineering stairs or taking walks uphill, and many others. Most importantly, Pranayama makes us greater conscious and acutely aware of our Breath that's the anchor of our life. So, Yoga Training is a splendid addition to our health regime to make certain we're capable of do our fundamental and every day moves with manipulate and simplicity and additionally to maintain our minds calm, centered, and focused

What are your health dreams?

It is vital to recognize what might you want to be healthy for? Are you concerned in any type of sports activities or athletic sports like running, swimming, soccer, and many others? or are you into dancing, martial arts, and many others? Or are you simply involved to feature a health habitual for a healthful way of life? Yoga can surely assist you in all the above, however, might not be sufficient to construct the extent of energy and stamina required for all of them. Let’s tricky on  intense classes below (athlete and a person looking for a healthful way of life):

Athlete: An athlete, no matter any recreation will want energy, speed, endurance, mobility, and versatility on the way to carry out better. For energy, speed, endurance, and mobility, they may surely want greater funding of time and electricity in sports like resistance training, weighted energy training, aerobic training, and many others which may be typically executed in a health clubnasium or cross-teach studios. However, for flexibility, it's miles advocated that the Athletes must additionally exercise Yoga, because it will assist them loosen up their shriveled muscle tissue. For example, runners in most cases bitch approximately hamstring pulls, which typically arise because of tight hamstrings and may be progressed through frequently doing some yoga asanas like Adho Mukha Shvanasana / downward going through canine or Uttanasana/complete ahead fold because it works deep into the hamstring flexibility. Also, Yoga must be part of each athlete’s health regime as a restorative or restoration session. It allows in enjoyable the muscle tissue and the complete frame to carry out better. Postures like Malasan or Garland pose is a totally beneficial posture for restoration, because it releases the anxiety on your hips, groin, and occasional lower back at the same time as enhancing the ankle mobility; Viparit Karani re-balances the frame and decreases swelling withinside the toes through bringing the blood float lower back to the top and chest and farfar from the decrease extremities. Also respiratory physical games could be very useful to boom their lung capacity. So, is Yoga sufficient for an athlete? No, however is it crucial? Definitely yes!!

Someone looking for a healthful way of life: Someone who would really like to feature a exercise of their every day habitual for a healthful way of life and while not having any specific intention in thoughts can select to have Yoga because the handiest normal exercise, because it will paintings on all required elements like energy, stability, flexibility, and balance. Yoga may be custom designed as consistent with the extent of practitioner as an instance a totally novice degree man or woman can pass for a much less extreme yoga fashion like sukshma yoga which specializes in joint moves and smooth hatha yoga which specializes in alignment of the postures and could steadily paintings on growing the energy and versatility. However, an superior-degree man or woman typically receives demotivated to exercise yoga as there may be a standard delusion that Yoga is handiest approximately stretching and not anything greater. But there are energy-worrying yoga patterns like Ashtanga Vinyasa, superior Vinyasa float, Iyengar yoga, and many others in which it is easy to construct the specified energy and stamina in conjunction with flexibility. So, is Yoga the handiest manner to end up healthy for a regular man or woman? Maybe not, however, is it an awesome manner to begin and preserve a healthful way of life? Surely yes!

 Conclusion

In a nutshell, Yoga may be a splendid desire of complete-time exercise for a person who's simply looking for bodily health and a healthful way of life. But when you have any particular dreams or in case you are into any type of sports activities then Yoga is surely a splendid addition to the present health habitual. Ultimately motion of the frame is crucial, doesn’t be counted which fashion or health regime you select. Make certain it continues you motivated, lets you evolve, and rework into a brand new you!

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