Easy pose - Sukhasana

Sukhasana literally means ‘easy’ or pleasant ‘pose’. Sukha means “easy,“ “joy,” and this pose should feel so good that it fills you with joy! Sukhasana is an optimal yoga pose for practicing Pranayama, the pose calms the mind, and stills the body. Sukhasana is one of a number of meditative poses. Like all meditative poses it shares certain common characteristics.

A solid, triangular base for trunk and head.
The spine is kept straight and thus nerve flow along spine and between vertebrae is uninhibited.
The lungs are free for exercises in deep breathing performed in Pranayama.
It helps to awaken the Kundalini (latent locked energy).

Sukhasana has explicit physiological and psychological advantages. Physiologically the internal viscera are relaxed because of the ‘tailor-fashion’ crossed legs; while psychologically the mind and body are brought into a harmonious state of stability through the consciously willed attempt to remain motionless, which is in itself a great support for concentration.

Sukhasana, the Easy Pose is the easiest of all the asanas and is also suitable for older people or too stiff to be able to perform the other asanas.

Another great aspect of Sukhasana is that this is the ideal technique for those who wish to condition themselves for shutting the door upon everyday business worries, and thus prepare themselves for the meditative peace to be found within the recesses of their own mind. This technique is also valuable for nervous disorders involving poor neuromuscular coordination, twitches, nervous movements and ‘tics’.

Method:

Place your yoga mat on floor. Sit upon your yoga mat with legs stretched out in front of you. Bend the right leg at the knee and place the foot under the left thigh, using your hands to do it. Check that the knee-caps are roughly level with each other. If they are not the trunk will lean slightly to the lower side, thus disturbing body symmetry and balance.
Next bend the left leg and place the left foot under the right leg. (The order in which the legs are bent can be reversed: Left-handed persons will generally find themselves naturally doing this in regard to many positions).
Keep the spine erect and the head nicely poised upon the shoulders. Keep the body balanced and easily erect. Extend your arms so that the wrists rest on your knees, palms turned upward. The tips of the thumbs should touch the tips of the index fingers, with other fingers tying straight out. Place the hands, palm down, upon the knees in such a fashion that they will not slip off. Be certain that the elbows relax naturally against the body.
Firmly close the eyes and continue to keep the eyelids under control for the duration of the session.
With practice you can become introverted within yourself. Place your attention upon the natural rhythm of your breath, control yourself from dreaming, reasoning or otherwise becoming mentally active, and keep the body erect, motionless and as relaxed as possible. Concentrate upon just ‘Being’. If you find the mind wandering and attention upon the body position and breathing insufficient for concentration, try visualizing and holding a simple object in the mind’s eye, i.e., a flower, color or image. Minimum performance: three to five minutes.

Do not be concerned if your knees do not yet rest on the ground. This will come in time as the hips open. If your back starts to arch, put a pillow under your tail bone to align the spine. If it is hard at the beginning to find support for your back in this pose, perform the pose sitting with your back lightly touching a wall, if you don’t mind to touch the wall or are at easy to lean against the wall. The wall can act as a guideline for your spine to help prevent you from rounding your lower back and shoulders.

At first your knees will persist in sticking up into the air, which is only natural. Therapeutic Value: This exercise helps concentration induces mental and physical stability through the nervous system.

Check Points

1. At the beginning of exercise check elbows to see that they are relaxed and swing freely.
2. Check eyelids to see that they are steady and controlled. Any flickering of the lashes indicates mental agitation and lack of absorption in the exercise.
3. Make certain that you do not unconsciously slip into a slouch and thus bend the spine.

As with any of the classical Hatha Asanas very distinct performance problems arise. Let us list them along with appropriate remedies.

1. Pressure of floor upon feet may cause pain and thus distract attention. This is overcome by practice in which the feet are gradually conditioned.
2. The spine may tend to slouch. The remedy lies in sustained, disciplined effort.
3. The mind becomes agitated and refuses to calm down. We follow the same principle of quieting a bored or upset child. We provide something suitable in the way of distraction, such as concentration upon simple objects, etc. This particular problem is the crux of the exercise. What happens is that you eventually train yourself to relax mentally upon beginning the exercise, and this conditioning becomes stronger with repetition.

Sukhasana should be practiced consistently for a week before starting practice of the next yoga exercise. All routines should be commenced with Sukhasana and the minimum time of three to five minutes lengthened to ten minutes maximum.

In review, remember that Sukhasana, practiced in the described manner, is a specific therapy for nervous disorders arising from lack of neuro-muscular control. In this exercise control over the body is increased and willpower is strengthened. Above all the mind is trained into a quiet state of mental ’set’, and this conditioning prepared the yoga practitioner for advanced exercises.

In the video is a step by step how to practice sukhasana (Easy pose) in yoga for hip opening and relief mild sciatica and lower back pain. This pose is perfect for people with tight hips to start of because it stretches the buttock, outer thigh muscles and lower back, improve flexibility on the hip joint.