Water Element Yoga: Poses For More Fluidity & Flexibility
In previous articles in this series, 7pranayama discussed earth element through a series of yoga poses. Next up is the balanced the water element with yoga.
Balancing the water element with yoga teaches your body to fluidity or flow and can greatly enhance your flexibility, creativity, emotions, passion, and pleasure. It is associated with the second chakra, Svadhisthana or Sacral chakra which keeps the various mood states unblocked or in balance such as emotions, passion, fluidity, and sexuality.
As humans and all, in fact, Water is one of the important elements of life as well as the five main elements of the universe – water, earth, fire, air/wind, ether/space. Its effect on our bodies can help us live healthier, more balanced, and happier life.
Water is fluid, soft, balancing, cooling, yielding, and calming force, when the water element is balanced, you can feel fluidity, acceptance, and receptivity, be content and calm, allowing yourself to flow more smoothly with circumstances. An imbalanced water element can make you feel emotionally unstable, dehydrated, have low libido, stressed, and stuck.
Interestingly, water is fluid, soft, cooling, calming, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard and dissolve old structures.
The following Water element yoga poses are very fluid movements. They addresses to balance the water element which are stimulated primarily through backbends and forward folds. Also focuses on releasing emotional energy, especially from the hip and pelvic area.
Elemental Flow: Water Element Yoga Poses
Move slowly and breathe deeply through your yoga practice and incorporate more of the following poses for water element and explore fluidity into your flows!
Skandasana/ Side Lunge
A wonderful water element flow that is seated, hip-opening pose, stretches your hips and hamstrings and helps build your core strength.
Stand straight on the yoga mat and then stand straight by giving a gap of 2-3 feet between the legs. Now keeping the leg with running tone straight, bend the knee of the other leg and sit keeping some distance from the calf. And after staying in the same position for 10 seconds, stand back straight and just like that keep the leg which was sitting bent straight, and the leg which was kept straight earlier, bend the leg from the knee and keep a little gap from the calf of the same leg. Go, stay in the same position for 10 seconds and take a deep breath for 5 to 10 times and slowly release it and get back up and stand straight.
Malasana/Squat pose
Another great pose to connect you to the water element has a grounding quality , and connects you to your breath.
Stand in a squat position on the mat. Then bend your knees to come into a squat and lower your hips toward the floor. Turn your toes out, but try to keep the feet parallel. Place the hands near your knees and bend the elbows to bring the palms together in Anjali Mudra. Place your hands near your heart center in Anjali Mudra. Now keep pressing the thighs with hands while in this pose. Stay here for five breaths, then come out by straightening the legs.
Kapotasana/Pigeon
Kapotasana is a special intense hip opener pose, with the help of which the joints of the hips can be made flexible and at the same time the problems of the lower back can be release tension.
First of all, sit in Vajrasana. Then lift the body on the knees. Keep in mind that you should not stand on your feet. After this, keep both your hands near the toes of the feet, i.e. below the waist. Taking the support of your palms, slowly start turning backwards. Now bend your waist comfortably and take your head backwards and rest your head on the ground. Carefully hold the ankles of the feet with both your hands. Maintain this position for a few minutes or according to your ability. Keep breathing deeply while doing the asana.
Janu Sirsasana/ Head-to-Knee Pose
Janu Sirsasana is powerful yet grounded. It opens the hips and offers a stretch from your ankle to your hips, and allows help calm your mind as well as stretch your body.
Spreading the legs in front, sit on the seat and bend the right leg from the knee and touch the sole of the foot to the thigh of the right leg. Raise both the hands up and hold the upper part of the left leg with both the hands and pull it inwards i.e. towards the head. While bending the nose slowly, apply it on the left knee, then while exhaling slowly, straighten the right leg. Again with the same method, bend the left foot and touch the nose with the knee of the right foot and pull the foot inwards with both hands. then exhale slowly
Bound Angle pose/Butterfly Pose
Butterfly Pose a useful addition to most yoga routines that strengthens the muscles in your legs, hips, and lower back. If the water element is imbalanced, you may feel it in your hips.
To practice butterfly pose, first of all sit in Dandasana by laying a yoga mat. Now, keeping the spine, neck and head straight, bend the knees and bring the soles of the feet together. Join the soles to each other and hold them with the palms. Also, try that while doing this your knees are touching the ground. Move your knees up and down like a butterfly’s wings 30 to 40 times.
Mandukasana/Frog Pose
Mandukasana is a simple yet intense pose among beginners as it is very easy to do. this pose gives relief from abdominal pain and helps in the smooth functioning of abdominal organs.
Sit in the posture of Vajrasana. Close the fists of your hands, keep in mind that the fists should be closed in such a way that the thumbs are on the outside. Now bring both your fists towards the navel. After bringing it towards the navel, press the navel with the fist, keep in mind that press it in such a way that your thumb touches the navel as well and the lower part of the fist is towards the front. Now leaving the breath, pull the stomach inwards. After this slowly bend forward and raise your neck and head and look in front.
