During your Yoga workout, the muscle stimulation and increased mobility you get from warmup exercises can be very beneficial. So, if you are wondering what are some of the best warm-up exercises before Yoga, then you are at the right place. Today, we’ll walk you through the best warm up exercise before Yoga that you need to employ in your Yoga routine.
Benefits Of Warm-up Exercises
Warming up before a yoga practice may provide the practitioners with several advantages, including those listed below.
- Increase the amount of blood that flows into the muscles: Doing warm-up movements before practising yoga may increase the amount of blood that flows into the muscles. Before beginning the yoga practice, it is beneficial to the muscles to meet the requirement on a physical level with these exercises.
- Enhances Awareness: When we start moving different body portions in a certain way, the muscle movements in that direction guide blood to give adequate oxygen to the brain. This enhances our awareness. The practitioner can cultivate a greater capacity for attentiveness and concentration during yoga.
- Muscles are loosened: Muscles are loosened up due to the warming-up stretches in yoga, which stimulate blood circulation and cause the muscles to repeatedly contract and relax for as long as the practitioner is warming up. This helps muscles follow the motions more gently.
- Increases the body’s flexibility: Before beginning the yoga asanas, it is vital to attain a reasonable level of flexibility. Therefore, warming up before yoga gives some leeway to increase the range of motion in the body.
- Reduces the risk of injury: Yoga practitioners are more likely to sustain injuries, such as hamstring, muscular, or muscle ripping if they do not do a warm-up before beginning their practice. So, it’s best to go through warm-up yoga before the yoga asanas.
Now, we will look at some of the best warm up exercises before Yoga according to their targeted body part.
Shoulder Warm-up
The shoulder is a fundamental support point in various balancing yoga asanas. Therefore, it is essential to have a stable foundation structure that is both strong and flexible since this facilitates the safe practice of future yoga.
a) Shoulder Rotation
- To begin, ensure that you are standing in an upright position. Next, bend your hands at the elbows and put them on your shoulders.
- Now, while still having your fingers on your shoulder, inhale gently while expanding your chest and spin your hands in a clockwise motion (up and back).
- Exhaling completely, move your hands in a counterclockwise direction around your body (down and forward).
- Perform five rotations in both directions of the exercise.
- Now, move your hands down to rest alongside your hips while gently breathing to relax.
b) Alternate Up & Down Hand Movement
- Maintain your posture by standing tall and bringing both hands to the level of your shoulders. Then, as you inhale, bring your right hand up over your right shoulder and your left hand down to the side of your hip. Ensure that both continue in their straight positions.
- As you exhale, raise your left hand over your left shoulder. At the same time, lower your right hand to the side of your hip.
- After making this motion five to ten times, bring both hands down to rest alongside the hips. Then, practise calm and deep breathing to relax.
Neck Warm-up
When it comes to yoga, one of the most important parts of the body to focus on is the neck. Neck warm-up helps to lengthen the back neck muscle and release any tension. A dull, inflexible, and paralysed neck could become an obstacle to doing asana when the neck plays a vital part.
a) Neck Rotation
- Maintain a straight posture with your legs and hips width apart, and ensure your shoulders are stabilised so you can gaze in front.
- Maintain your composure, and after a moment, start to turn your head in a clockwise manner. After taking a minute to recover, you should walk in the opposite direction of the clock.
- As the exercise comes to a close, place your head in a neutral posture and focus on taking long, calm breaths until you feel like your eyesight has returned to normal. Then relax.
b) Side Tilt
- You may practise by sitting in any position that is comfortable for you, or you can come into a standing stance that is upright.
- Before you start moving your neck in either direction, it’s important to take a few slow breaths in and out before you do so.
- Now, continue with a semi-rotation of the head to the right side of your body while you continue the exercise. In this position, your chin should be in the area of your left shoulder.
- Inhale to return it to its original position in the middle. In addition, exhale as you tilt your head to the right and do another half circle of your head towards your right shoulder.
- After then, come back to the middle so that you may inhale. This will finish the one cycle of the exercise for your neck, after which you may rest.
Spinal Warm-up
A spinal warm-up before practising yoga is necessary for removing any stiffness and improving flexion motions in various yoga postures. When we stand upright, it is because of the spine that allows us to bend forward and backwards in various yoga asanas.
a) Tabletop Posture
- Come into the “tabletop” position to start. Your hands are positioned just under your shoulders, and your knees should be situated such that they are a hip distance apart. The soles of the feet are towards the ceiling while the tops of the feet are lying on the floor.
- Take a deep breath and move your hand forward while extending your chest. Balance your upper body on both hands and knees as you do this. Feel how the back of your neck and your tailbone is gently stretched.
- After some time to relax, you should walk your hand back to where it started when you are ready to exhale. You may also try propping your back up with pillows to alleviate the pain from the inside and then relax.
b) Superman Twist
- Lie down on your abdomen, legs straight, lying on the floor. Put your hands behind your ears and bend your elbows to create this position.
- With an inhalation, raise your arms, chest, and legs off the floor. Maintain your position here.
- While holding, rotate your body to the right side, lifting your elbow upwards. You should feel a tightness in your back muscles simultaneously as a twisting motion.
- Return to the start position and repeat on the left side.