Yoga Twist Sequence Basics

Series Summary

Yoga poses have become increasingly popular as a form of exercise and meditation. The focus of yoga is a holistic one, employing a broad range of practices which focus on a new way of living, thinking and being in the world. Aimed to unite the mind, the body, and the spirit, the health benefits of yoga are also great and varied. From relieving stress to strengthening and toning muscle, integrating yoga positions and exercises into your daily routine can be beneficial on many levels. Anusara yoga was founded by John Friend in 1997. This style is a hatha yoga influenced by trantric philosophy. It focuses on principles of alignment for the body. In this series of free workout videos, our Anusara yoga instructor will demonstrate how to do a yoga twist sequence for beginners. She will demonstrate all of the poses you need to know, such as the Ardha Matsyendrasana pose and the downward dog pose, and show you how to combine them into an effective workout and fitness routine which benefits your internal organs.

Video Transcript

"So twists are some of the most powerful cleansing, harmonizing poses that you could do for your body; they're very much internal, meaning that a lot of our Yoga poses we use the muscles and the bones and we're holding postures. But with twists uniquely we focus on what's going inside the body, especially on the internal organs. The way that we do that is first one part of the body has to be stable and steady, particularly the legs and the pelvis. Then you'll see once we have that stability, the spine and all of the internal organs and the torso even like the heart will have the freedom to twist deeply. So one part stays stable and the other part is free and as a result all the internal organs actually get compressed and then upon the release of the twist, they reopen and flesh; fresh blood and fluid and lymph, all of that like good clearing out stuff goes into the internal organs and is incredibly healing and rejuvenating for the body. So twists are considered really to be like harmonizing poses because they're very detoxifying and if you are feeling really agitated a twist can actually help you relax, if you're feeling really heavy and lethargic; twists will actually help you feel more energized. So let's try some together now."