Namaste and Welcome to Namaste Yoga.
My name is Surbhi. I am a Yoga Teacher.
The Goal of my Channel is to tell you
all those little tips and tricks that
many Yoga teachers know
but somehow in class setting
they do not get conveyed to the students.
In today's video we are going to dissect Anjaneyasana or Lunges.
Many people might think that
a low lunge is a low lunge, there is no big deal about it, you just do it.
But very minute details can make a huge difference.
So today I will tell you first, the benefits of Lunges.
Then precautions that you need to take.
And also before we do Anjaneyasana,
it is very important to warm up our body.
So I will also tell you couple of asanas that you can do,
to warm up your body, before attempting to Anjaneyasana.
So lets get started.
Anjaneyasana gives a really deep stretch to your hip flexors.
It is a very good asana for people who have Sciatica problems.
It strengthens your legs,
and it also provides flexibility to your hamstrings.
Athletes, runners, walkers, this is a very good asana for them.
Although you need to take some precautions
If you have some severe hip injury,
or knee injury, I would not recommend you to do Anjaneyasana.
If you have any heart condition, please do not do this asana.
If you have high blood pressure, you have to be very precautious while doing this asana.
To do this asana properly, we are going to need
two yoga blocks and a cushion.
So before we start Anjaneyasana, as I said that
we need to warm up our body.
You can warm up your body in many different ways.
You can just go for a walk.
And it is a very good pose to do after your walk.
Because your legs are all warmed up.
Or you can do Frog Pose.
For Frog Pose, sit in Vajrasana.
Expand your knees, so you feel a real good stretch on your pelvic muscles.
Inhale, lift up your spine, keep the spine straight.
Exhale, bend forward.
Stop, again inhale.
lift up your spine, keep the spine straight, exhale, bend forward.
And then go as far down as you can.
If you cannot go all the way down, you can use a block.
And just rest your head on the block and stay there.
And keep breathing, do not hold your breath.
If you can go far down, you can do that.
And feel the stretch on your pelvic muscles.
Keep breathing. Do not hold your breath.
Do this for about 30 seconds to one minute.
Then take one last inhale.
On the exhale slowly come up, keeping your spine in its natural curve.
And bring your knees together.
Now if you have any kind of knee problem and you are not able to do this.
Or you cannot sit in Vajrasana.
You can do the same pose, working the same muscles
Just spread your legs like this
If you have problems sitting like this, you can always sit on the cushion.
So your pelvic is tilted a little bit.
And your spine comes automatically in its natural curve.
Feel the stretch on your inner thighs.
Inhale, lift up your spine. Exhale, keep the spine straight, move forward.
And you should feel a good stretch on the whole inner side of the leg.
And stay in this position for about 30 seconds to one minute.
I am enjoying the sun on my face.
And relax, come back.
So you can do either of these asanas to just get a little warm up.
Now lets start on Anjaneyasana.
For that, come on your knees.
Keep both of your blocks on your sides.
Stand up on your knees.
Make sure your knees are hip width apart.
Knees and hip bones parallel to each other.
Keep the blocks handy. If you are a beginner, these will come really handy.
Keep your spine straight, look forward.
Keeping the blocks in your hands to keep your balance,
inhale first, on the exhale take your right leg forward.
And as you can see, I am keeping my spine fully straight.
Doing Anjaneyasana the first mistake that people make is:
They take their knee way beyond the ankle.
This is wrong.
Knee and ankle should be in one line.
The other mistake is: people try to reach the ground.
While doing that their spine is not in its natural curve.
You have to make sure that your spine is at its natural curve.
This is why I recommend using blocks.
Rest on the blocks so you keep your balance.
And the placement of the block is based on your personal needs.
Just make sure that its not so far that you again end up curving your spine.
Spine at its natural curve.
Use the block as high or as low, depending on your personal needs
And also make sure that your foot is straight.
Many times when we have tight muscles, automatically our foot
goes sideways. Because our muscles are tight.
So if that is the case then come closer.
Shorten your span and straighten your foot.
Because if you don't stretch your muscle too much
your foot will get straighten automatically.
And then slowly slowly build the strenght to make longer strand.
Keep your spine straight and then stay in this position
for 4-5 breaths.
If you can do it, I would recommend for at least a minute.
Keep breathing. Do not hold your breath.
Keep your core engaged.
And then take one last inhale.
On the exhale, use your block to keep your balance.
Exhale and very slowly go back.
Because all of your muscles are really stretched out.
You do not want to break them, slowly go back.
And down in Vajrasana.
I will show this to you one more time on the other leg.
And this I will make some counting, so you can remember the steps.
So first step, have your blocks handy.
Second, stand on your knees, make sure your knees are hip width apart.
Third, first inhale, on the exhale take your leg forward.
Now this is on you to figure out,
how far you want to take your leg.
How much stress you want on your leg.
Once you have enough stretch,
make sure your foot is straight, its not bending sideways.
Fourth step: make sure your knee and ankle are in same line.
And your spine is at its natural curve.
Then based on your capability and flexibility,
you can use the block, as high or as low as you want, keeping your spine straight.
And the last thing is engage your core.
Once you have all of these correct, watch yourself.
Once you have everything down, then just stay in this position.
You can close your eyes if you want.
And breathe.
Keep your core engaged.
Take few breaths.
As long as you can.
Then one last inhale,
On the exhale very slowly go back, very slowly.
And relax.
Now I forgot to tell you about the cushion.
Its nothing but for your knee.
If you have problem on your knee.
Your knee is hurting when touching the ground,
you can just use the cushion to support your knee,
and do your lunges.
Everything else remains the same.
This is just for extra cushion
so your bone is not hitting on the ground and bothering you.
I hope you enjoyed the dissection of Anjaneyasana.
If you have any questions or comments,
please feel free to write them in the comment box.
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links are in the description box.
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as I will be making more videos like this.
For now I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy Day.
Namaste.