What do you know about yoga? Well, yoga is no longer a common type of exercise but today yoga has becoming one of the lifestyle. There are a lot of benefits of yoga and yoga pose that you could do at home with a lot of health benefits and among the popular one is matsyasana or also well known as the fish pose.
What Is Matsyasana and How to Do It?
Well, compared to other types of yoga pose, matsyasana is one of the simplest but yet having a lot of health benefits. It is not among advance poses but the basic one so anyone even the beginner could do this pose easily at home. Matsyasana is also well known as the fish pose or fish posture and how to do it is quite simple.
- Lie flat to the yoga mat with your legs crossed at your middle with both thighs and knees flat on the floor.
- Place your palms facing down to the ground and bring your elbows close to your waist.
- Breathe in slowly while lifting your chest and then followed by your head until the crown touches the floor.
- Don’t use your crown to support the weight of your body but use your elbows.
- Hold the position until you feel comfortable for 30 – 60 seconds and breathe normally.
- Exhale and then release the position.
Before you redo the matsyasana pose, untangle your legs and relax for a while first. You could do it several time until you feel it is enough.
Health Benefits of Matsyasana
From the explanation of how to do the matsyasana pose above you could see that though it is really simple but there are some major muscles were affected from throat, navel, hips, neck, back and muscles between the ribs. Below are the health benefits of matsyasana you should know.
- Good Pose to Release Tension in Your Neck and Back
When it comes to pressure, neck, back and shoulder becomes the centre of the pain. This pose could help releasing the tension in your neck and your back.
- This Asana Helps Optimizing the Nutrient Absorption
Some studies and claims also stated that this asana helps optimizing the nutrient absorption by optimizing the function of digestive system. Some digestive problems like constipation and slow bowel movement could be overcome by this pose as well.
- Good for Respiratory Health
Not only good for digestive system, matsyasana pose is also good for respiratory health by boosting the oxygen and blood flow the lung. Just by doing this pose regularly could help fighting the symptoms of asthma and bronchitis.
- Prevents Back Pain
If you are suffering from regular back pain, doing matsyasana pose regularly could help you dealing with this condition.
- Strengthening the Neck and Upper Back Muscles
Well, it is not only good to release the tension of your neck and back but also good to strengthening the muscles. It means you could have a better posture and able to improve your performance.
- Improves Digestive System
Healthy digestive system is the key to healthy metabolism. When your digestion is working optimally not only nutrients will be absorbed optimally but also able to fight some digestive problems from constipation up to slow bowel movement.
- Enhances Your Posture and Improves Your Performance
Doing this pose regularly is great to help you enhancing your postures and improving your performance optimally.
- May Be Helpful to Fight Menstrual Pain
For women who should deal with chronic stomach cramp every single month as part of their menstrual pain routine could help reducing the symptoms by doing matsyasana pose.
- Natural Solution to Anxiety
There are a lot of factors that could cause anxiety. When you don’t deal with this condition properly, you may also suffer the symptoms of depression.
- Good to Improve Your Focus
One of the health benefits of yoga for students is good to improve their focus especially during study or exam. Matsyasana is one of the recommended poses to do to improve focus.
- Stress Relief Solution
Doing the matsyasana pose along with proper breathing technique could help you reducing stress, worry and nervousness that could lead to anxiety.
- Eases Up Chronic Fatigue
There is no easy way to fight body tiredness but matsyasana is proven to be one of the poses that could ease up even the chronic fatigue.
- Better Sleep Pattern
Having a good sleep patter is the key to good mood in the morning. Doing the matsyasana pose could help optimizing the production of melatonin hormone that has essential role in giving you a good night sleep.
- Makes You Feel Energized
Well, as mentioned in the previous point, when you have a good sleep patter, you will feel energized when you wake up in the morning and ready to face whatever things waiting for you.
- Effective Way to Fight Tired Shoulder
After you do a long journey or doing a lot of physical jobs, tired shoulder is a common condition that occurs. Just doing some poses of matsyasana could help you releasing the tension in your shoulder naturally.
Cautions of Matsyasana
Though this pose is simple and easy to do even by the bigger, still there are some cautions you should know first before you decided to add matsyasana as part of your daily routine.
- If you are suffering from the symptoms of high blood pressure or low blood pressure is better to not overdoing it. Well, it is even better if you do not do it at all.
- Though it is good to help you improving your sleeping pattern but those who are suffering chronic insomnia should avoid doing this pose because it could worsen the condition.
- Matsyasana or the fish pose is good to maintain the health of your back and prevent back pain. However, this pose is forbidden for those who have back injury.
Well, if you are not among those three cautions, you could get all the benefits of matsyasana anything you need it. The pose is very basic and simple so you could do it right away from the comfort of your yoga mat at home.