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Essential Yoga Poses for Everyday Health

Yoga exercises can be some of the greatest, low-impact, exercises for strength, balance, and endurance training. Did you know that different poses can even influence the health of different body systems and organs? Here are some essential yoga poses for your everyday health.

Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Downward-facing dog is one of the most well known of essential yoga poses, and is a rejuvenating stretch that can calm the brain to help relieve stress and ease mild depression. It stretches the shoulders, hamstrings, calves, arches and the hands, as well as strengthens the arms and legs. This essential yoga pose is also known to help ease the symptoms of menopause, improve digestions, help prevent osteoporosis and can help relieve headaches, insomnia, and back pain. Be careful doing this pose if you suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, diarrhea, or high blood pressure, and if you are in late-term pregnancy you should avoid this essential yoga pose until you get word from your doctor.

Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)

This essential yoga pose stretches the chest, lungs, shoulders, and abdomen, strengthens the spine and firms the buttocks. It's therapeutic for asthma and can help relieve stress and fatigue as it stimulates your abdominal organs. Traditional books also say that this essential yoga pose awakens kundalini, a compassionate energy that rests in the tailbone of your spine. Caution is given to those with back injuries and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, as well as pregnant women. If you are unsure of whether you should be trying any yoga, definitely get approval from your doctor.

Child's Pose (Balasana)

Beautifully relaxing, this essential yoga pose lightly stretches the ankles, hips and thighs while calming the brain and helping to ease away stress and fatigue. If you support your head and chest while resting in this essential yoga pose it has been known to relieve back and neck pain.

Pregnant women and those with diarrhea should take care when attempting this pose and if you have a knee injury, consult your doctor and even have an experienced teacher to supervise you.

Lotus Pose (Padmasana)

One of the most well known of essential yoga poses, the lotus pose is also one of the most difficult ones to master. It requires open, flexible hips and regular practice, but the benefits of this pose are not to be denied. This essential yoga pose can ease menstrual discomfort, calm the brain, and even ease childbirth if practiced consistently late into pregnancy. This challenging pose stimulates the abdomen, spine, pelvis and bladder while stretching the knees and ankles. That said, those with knee and ankle injuries should get word from their doctor on whether it is okay to attempt this essential yoga pose. If you're not given the okay, there are toned down versions of it that might be more forgiving to those tender spots.

There are many other yoga poses out there, each of which are essential in some way or another; these are just a few of the most popular ones.