___CULTURAL ASANAS___

These are asanas (postures) to develop and maintain the muscles at their optimum level of strength and flexibility. Here we are mentioning just the names of some of the asanas which you can include in your daily routine and should be practiced. A detailed study or practice should be done only under the guidance of an experienced yoga master or a guru. The reason behind not detailing the asanas with pictures is because people tend to practice from the bookish knowledge and end up in agony.

We can divide the Asanas as follows:

1. Standing posture         2. Sitting posture                              3. Supine postures

4. Prone postures            5. Twists postures                            6.Balancing poses

7. Inverted poses

STANDING / BALANCING POSTURES	SITTING POSTURES	SUPINE POSTURES
Tadasna	Dhandasana	Yastikasna
Ardha Chandrasana	Shashankasana	Merudhandasana
Urdhva Baddha Hastasana	Vajrasana	Uddhithapadasana
Utthita Hasta Padangushtasana	Adho Mukha Virasana	Viparitakarani
Utkatasana	Malasana	Naukasana
Hasta Padasana	Ushtrasana	Ardha Sarvangasana
Eka padasana	Paschimottanasana	Pavana mukthasana
Vrikshasana	Purvothanasana	Halasana
Veerabhadrasana	Baddhakonasana	Matsyasana
Garudasana	Yoga mudra	Sethubandhasana
Anjaneyasana	Akarshan Dhanurasana	Anandasana
Kakasana	Gomukhasana
	Janu sirashasana

PRONE POSTURES	TWISTED POSTURES	INVERTED POSTURES
Makarasana	Ardha Matsyendrasana
Marjarasana	Vakrasana	Sarvangasana
Parvathasana		Shirsasana
Adho mukha svanasana
Bhujangasana
Tiriyaka Bhujangasana
Ardha salabhasana
Shalabhasana
Dhanurasana

___RELAXATION___

SHAVASANA

                Relaxation is a blessing. It brings peace to body and mind. The mind is introverted developing the faculty of self awareness.

                Shava means a ‘corpse ‘. In relaxation the body lies as still as a corpse and the mind is at peace. Once the posture is mastered quietness can be called upon at will.

INSTRUCTIONS

Lie down on the floor with face up. Legs two feet apart, hands one foot away from the body with the palms facing upward. Close the eyes. Keep the breath normal. Make it quieter. Give auto suggestions to the body to relax each part and organs. Do not let the mind wander, but keep the attention on body. Keep the eyes still and relax the face. Allow the body to sink into the ground. Stay quietly for 5 to 10 min or more. Then slowly open the eyes. Bend the legs, turn to one side, and stay for a moment; turn to the other side. Then get up from the side.

CAUTION: Do not do shavasana if suffering from mental illeness, depression or phobias. If panic occurs during Shavasana keep the eyes open but quiet.

BENEFITS: It is important to be warm during Shavasana as body metabolism slows down. Normally done after the asanas.  It releases the stress, makes mind calm and conscious. Eases muscular and nervous tension, abstracts the senses from their objects, calms passion, quieting the mind, makes silence and concentration easy, and thus contributes peace of mind.