Garudasana - The Eagle Pose

Garudasana is an advanced yoga pose. Garuda is the king of birds and the vehicle of lord Vishnu.   The word "Garuda" is usually rendered into English as the "Eagle".  Now let us see how to perform the Garudasana in a step by step manner.

Step by step practice of Garudasana

• First stand in Tadasana
• Now bend your knees slightly and lift your left foot up and balancing on your right foot, cross the left thigh over the right.
• Point your left toes towards the floor and press the foot back and then hook the top of the foot behind the lower right calf.  Balance on the right foot.
• Now stretch your arms straight forward, parallel to the floor and spread your scapulas wide across the back of your torso.  Cross the arms in front of your torso so that the right arm is above the left, then bend your elbows.  Snug the right elbow into the crook of the left, and raise the fore arms perpendicular to the floor.  The backs of your hands should be facing each other.
• Now press the right hand to the right and left hand to the left so that the palms are now facing each other.   The thumb of the right hand should pass in front of the little finger of the left.  Now press the palms together as much as possible.  Lift the elbows up, and stretch the fingers towards the ceiling.
• Stay like this for 30 seconds and then unwind the legs and arms and stand in Tadasana again.  Repeat the same thing with the legs and arms reversed.

This asana is very good for people suffering from asthma and low back ache.  Some of the benefits of the Garudasana are listed below.

• Strengthens and stretches the ankles and calves
• stretches the thighs, hips, shoulders and upper back
• Improves the concentration
• Improves sense of balance

Sankatasana - Difficult Yoga pose

As the name of this yoga pose suggests,  Sankatasana is an advanced yoga pose,  but it is not that much difficult as the name suggests. The Sankatasana provides lot of benefits like -  strengthening of leg muscles, increasing the blood supply to the leg joints..  The asana is a good cure for Rheumatism.

How to practice Sankatasana     

• Stand in tadasana.
• Now bend  the right leg slightly and shift the weight of the body onto the right leg.
• Now try to lift  the left leg up by bending it slightly at the knee. The body is now balanced completely on the right leg. 
• Now cross the left leg over the right leg and hook the top of the left foot behind the right calf. 
• Raise the both hands above hand and wrap the same way as legs are wrapped. 
• The upper body should be kept straight. 
• Once the left leg is wrapped over the right, the right leg should be straightened in order to feel the strain on the left leg. 
• Gaze forward at a fixed point to maintain balance. 
• Remain in the position for atleast 30 seconds on each leg. 
• Then release the hands from twisted pose and return the arms to the side of the body. 
• Release the left leg and bring the left foot back onto the ground to standing position.

Caution : 
People suffering from arthiritis should perform this asana under expert guidance.

It may be slightly difficult initially for the beginners to wrap one leg around the other leg fully. Bending the right leg more would allow the left leg to be more easily wrapped around it.   

If you do not have knee pain,  you can repeat the same on the other side.

The duration of the asana should be at least 30 seconds on each side.

Vatayanasana - Horse Pose

The Vatayanasana also called as the Horse Pose is an intermediate level pose and so should not be practiced by beginners in Yoga.  The pose looks like the face of the horse and so its name is Vatayanasana.  'Vatayana' means a 'horse'.  This asana resembles the face of the horse.  Hence it is termed as Vatayanasana.

The Vatayanasana provides strength in ankle region and is an excellent therapy for the neck, spine, waist, knees, calves.  Now let us see how we can practice Vatayanasana.

How to practice Vatayanasana

• First sit on the ground.  Now place the right foot at the root of left thing in half Padmasana position.
• Now exhale slowly and raise the trunk from the ground and place the top of the right knee on the floor.  Keep the left foot near the right knee and keep the left thing parallel to the ground.
• Stretch forward and raise the hands slowly.  Bend the elbows and raise the arms near the chest (refer Fig. 19.0). Place the back of the upper right arm near the elbows.
• Hold in this position for about 20 second with normal breathing.
• Now slowly release the arms first, and then sit on the floor and relax. 6.  Repeal this process on the other side also.  Note:  In the initial stage it will be very difficult to maintain balance as well as twisting the hands.  But with regular practice one can attain perfection and  balance.

Benefits of Vatayanasana

Some of the benefits of the Vatayanasana are listed below.

• HIp joints receive proper blood circulation
• Leg pains and joint pains will be cured
• Provides flexibility to hands and fingers.
• Small deformity in the hips and thighs are corrected
• The leg muscles and knee joints are strengthened
• Reduces hyper activity of kidneys

Here is a video showing how to practice Vatayanasana

Mayurasana - The Peacock pose

Mayurasana also called the peacock pose is a balancing pose which strengthens the shoulders, arms ans wrists.  The Mayurasana also helps to improve digestion.  The Mayurasana is one of the advanced yoga asana which is the best pose for detoxifying the body.  The final position of this Mayurasana resembles the peacock,  hence this yoga asana is also called as Peacock pose.   This asana has its name derived from the Sanskrit term ‘Mayur’ which means ‘peacock’ and ‘asana’ which means ‘pose’.  Here are the steps to perform Mayurasana.

Steps to practice Mayurasana

The peacock begins in the same way as the crow, by coming to a squatting position on your feet.

• Place your hands on the floor between the knees with the palms down, fingertips pointing back towards the feet. Keep the hands touching together.
• Bring your elbows together and place them on the abdomen. Try to keep the elbows close together throughout the pose.  Try to place your forehead on the mat in front of you.
• Straighten out both legs behind you. The body is now resting on the head, hands and feet.   Now lift your head.
• Keep the head up, gradually shift the weight of your body forward and as you do this lift the feet. The body should be parallel to the floor. In the beginning it is easier to lift each foot one at a time until you get the feeling for shifting the body weight forward and build up strength in the arms.
• In the beginning, hold the posture for 10 seconds, gradually working up to 30 seconds or more.

To come out of the posture exhale and gradually lower the feet back down to the mat.

Benefits of Mayurasana

• Strengthens the shoulders, arms and wrists and improves the balance
• The Mayurasana puts pressure on the abdomen thereby improves digestion.  So you will be relieved of indigestion and constipation.
• The asana stimulates the abdominal organs
• Stretches the muscles of the forearms, wrists and fingers
• Beneficial for repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, and for people who spend a lot of time on the computer

Energetic (Pranic) Benefits

• Helps arouse the Kundalini Shakti

Mental Benefits

• Improves mental equilibrium and sense of calm
• Improves concentration and determination

Here is a video showing how to practice mayurasana.