5 Best Yoga Asanas (Exercises) for Weight Gain
Yoga and Ayurveda are two interconnected branches, that comes from wise sages of India in vedic times. Both Yoga and Ayurveda works to maintain the holistic balance between the mind, body and soul. These are two related holistic healing approaches that help to enhance the longevity and human health. Along with Ayurvedic Medicines or Supplements, yoga helps a lot to maintain the balance between body constitution and well being for body and mind. Yoga is an inner spiritual practice, which is known as sadhana in Sanskrit.
There are some poses which can help to Increase Body Weight by maintaining body balance.
1). Bhujangasana (The Cobra Pose): Bhujangasanas is helpful to strengthen back muscles and helps to increase flexibility of the spine and muscle around it. It helps to increase body weight and height and maintain the metabolism in the body. Avoid trying this asana, if you are undergo any abdominal surgery or pregnancy.
How to do Bhujangasana:
- Lie down on your stomach with hands on the side, toes touching together.
- Bring your hands to the front at the shoulder level, with palms resting on the floor.
- Slowly raise your trunk and head with the support of the palms alone. The arms should be bent at the elbows.
- Arch your neck slightly backwards, so that the pose looks like a cobra with raised hood.
- Breathe normally and feel the stomach press against the floor.
- Hold the asanas for few seconds in the beginning stages. One may go up to 2 minutes as one progress.
- You can release the pose by bringing the hands back to the sides and resting your head on the forehead. Then, place the hands under your head like a pillow. Bend and rest your head on one side and breathe normally.
2). Sarvangasana (The Shoulder Stand Pose): Sarvangasana is known as shoulder stand pose. It means whole body parts posture. It helps to improve the function of thyroid, parathyroid and pituitary glands due to increase oxygen and blood. It helps to balance Circulatory, digestive, reproductive and nervous system. Avoid trying this asana, if you are undergo any abdominal surgery or pregnancy.
How to do Sarvangasana:
- Lie on your back. With one movement, lift your legs, buttocks and back so that you come up high on your shoulders. Support your back with the hands.
- Move your elbows closer towards each other, and move your hands along your back, creeping up towards the shoulder blades. Keep straightening the legs and spine by pressing the elbows down to the floor and hands into the back. Your weight should be supported on your shoulders and upper arms, and not on your head and neck.
- Keep the legs firm. Lift your heels higher as though you are putting a footprint on the ceiling. Bring the big toes straight over the nose. Now point the toes up. Pay attention to your neck. Do not press the neck into the floor. Instead keep the neck strong with a feeling of tightening the neck muscles slightly. Press your sternum toward the chin. If you feel any strain in the neck, come out of the posture.
- Keep breathing deeply and stay in the posture for 30-60 seconds.
- To come out of the posture, lower the knees to forehead. Bring your hands to the floor, palms facing down. Without lifting the head slowly bring your spine down, vertebra by vertebra, completely to the floor. Lower the legs to the floor. Relax for a minimum of 60 seconds.
3). Vajrasana (The Diamond Pose): Vajarasana helps to enhance blood circulation in the lower abdomen and helps to improve digestion. It also helps to relieve from the excessive gas in abdomen and make joints such as knee and ankle flexible. Do not do this asana if you are suffering from ankle or knee pain or slip disk conditions.
How to do Vajaraasana (Diamond pose)
- Fold both legs, keeping your hips on the heels. Toes pointing out behind you and big toes touching each other.
- Sit on the pit formed by the parted heels.
- Keep the head, neck and spine in a straight line. Palms facing up, placed on your thighs.
- Hold the pose and take long deep breaths.
- Breathe out relax. Straighten your legs.
4). Pavanamuktasana (The Wind-Relieving Pose): Pavanamukt asana helps to strengthen abdominal muscles and tone the leg and arm muscles. It also helps to pacify body constitution and aggravated doshas. It helps to release excessive gas and massages the intestines and other organ in abdomen.
How to do Wind-Relieving Pose
- Lie on your back with your feet together and arms beside your body.
- Breathe in and as you exhale, bring your right knee towards your chest and press the thigh on your abdomen with clasped hands.
- Breathe in again and as you exhale, lift your head and chest off the floor and touch your chin to your right knee.
- Hold it there, as you take deep, long breaths in and out.
- Checkpoint: As you exhale, tighten the grip of the hands on the knee and increase the pressure on the chest. As you inhale, loosen the grip.
- As you exhale, come back to the ground and relax.
- Repeat this pose with the left leg and then with both the legs together.
- You may rock up and down or roll from side to side 3-5 times and then relax.
5). Matsyasana (Fish Pose): This pose helps to increased nutrient uptake and basal metabolic rate. Fish pose helps to gain weight to increase weight gain and strengthen the abdomen and back muscles. As the name suggest, in this asana body resembles to the fish or matsya.
How to do Fish Pose:
- Lie on your back. Your feet are together and hands relaxed alongside the body.
- Place the hands underneath the hips, palms facing down. Bring the elbows closer toward each other.
- Breathing in, lift the head and chest up.
- Keeping the chest elevated, lower the head backward and touch the top of the head to the floor.
- With the head lightly touching the floor, press the elbows firmly into the ground, placing the weight on the elbow and not on the head. Lift your chest up from in-between the shoulder blades. Press the thighs and legs to the floor.
- Hold the pose for as long as you comfortably can, taking gentle long breaths in and out. Relax in the posture with every exhalation.
- Now lift the head up, lowering the chest and head to the floor. Bring the hands back along the sides of the body. Relax.
To increase body weight, try these yoga asanas in the proper guidance of trained person along with calorie rich diet. Try Accumass Weight Gain Supplements for optimal results.