Oordhwa Pada Hastasana - The Hand-to-Raised-Feet Pose

"Oordhwa" means "raised", "Pada" means "foot" and "Hasta" means "hand" in Sanskrit. You have to touch your raised feet with your hands in this posture.

Sequence:

1. Lie flat on your back.
2. Stretch out your legs fully and keep them together.
3. Place the palms on the respective thighs with fingers pointing to the feet.
4. Join the heels and the big toes.
5. Keep the knees stiff.
6. Breathing gently, raise your head, neck, shoulders, trunk and legs together slowly and simultaneously without bending the knees and elbow.
7. Keep the toes pointing outwards.
8. While doing this, slide down the palms along the thighs, keeping the arms fully stretched over the corresponding thighs.
9. Hold the legs straight at an angle of about 60 degrees to the ground.
10. Without altering the position of the legs, bend the trunk and head further forward and reach out to touch the ankles with the tips of your fingers.
11. The back should be well arched.
12. Balance the entire weight of the body on the posterior.
13. Focus your eyes on the big toes.
14. Maintain this posture as long as comfortable, breathing gently.
15. While breathing gently, return very slowly to the starting position in the reverse order.

Benefits:

* Oordhwa Pada Hastasana exercises well the neck, shoulders, diaphragm, arms, posterior, thighs, knees, calves and feet.
* It keeps the uterus healthy.
* The lower back, hips and the pelvic region become more flexible.
* This position strengthens the hamstring tendons and the muscles in the back of the knees.
* It strengthens the organs of the abdomen and tones up the solar plexus.

Naukasana - The Boat Pose

"Nauka" means "boat" in Sanskrit. The final position of this asana resembles a boat. Hence the name.

Sequence:

1. Lie straight on your abdomen and chest with your forehead resting on the floor.
2. Keep the feet together and the arms on the sides.
3. Stretch out the arms on both sides of the head and keep them parallel.
4. Turn down the palms on the floor with fingers close together.
5. Keep your forehead on the floor between the upper arms.
6. Inhaling, raise the arms, head, neck, shoulders, trunk and legs all together slowly and simultaneously as high as possible without bending the knees and elbows and without any jerk.
7. While doing this, keep the upper arms touching the ears and the feet together.
8. Bring the head up as high as possible and keep it between the raised upper arms.
9. Bend the extremities as far back as possible, and the back should be well arched.
10. The whole body should be curved from the fingertips to the toes, both of which should be on the same level.
11. Balance the entire weight of the body on the lower part of the abdomen which alone should touch the ground.
12. Maintain the posture motionlessly, as long as you can comfortably hold your breath.
13. Exhaling return slowly to the starting position.
14. Relax completely in Savasana.

Benefits:

* Naukasana bends the middle of the spine and makes it flexible.
* Deformities of the spinal column are corrected.
* It strengthens the hips, arms, thighs, knees, calves, feet and the pelvic region.
* It expands the chest and strengthens the lungs.
* It strengthens the muscles of the back, abdomen, the lower limbs, neck and shoulders.