Taking proper care of your health has never been more important. With a deadly pandemic raging across the world, the focus primarily shifts on staying healthy – mentally as well as physically.
When it comes to staying physically fit, we have to pay attention to our body’s immune system. It is the defence mechanism of our body that is responsible for fighting against all kinds of infections and viruses.
Apart from protecting our body from various diseases, the immune system is also considered to be an important factor for staying mentally healthy. A strong immune system has often been linked to relaxation as well as stress reduction.
One effective way of developing and maintaining a strong immune system is by including yoga in our daily lifestyle. According to various studies, regular practice of various yoga asanas may help boost the immune system.
So, here are some helpful and effective yoga asanas to boost immunity and stay healthy.
- Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)
When one talks about practicing yoga for immunity, this is one yoga asana that helps boost the immune system. It acts as an ideal stress buster as it helps improve the flow of white blood cells by applying pressure on the digestive system.
Practicing the Dhanurasana puts pressure on your belly, which in turn helps strengthen the digestive system. Also, it is one of the best yoga poses for the immune system.
How to do:
- Lie down on your stomach
- Now, bend your knees and hold the ankles with your palms
- Maintain a strong grip and lift your legs and arms as high as you can
- Look upwards and hold the posture for as long as you can
- Vrikshasana (Tree Pose)
During our hectic daily schedule, we are often left with a feeling of uncertainty and chaos. However, when we choose to practice yoga for immune system, the Vrikshasana helps us achieve a state of balance too.
As it symbolizes a sense of calm and serenity, the Tree Pose or Vrikshasana is one of the best yoga poses for immunity and relaxation.
How to do:
- Stand straight and place your arms at the side of the body
- Bend your right knee while lifting your right leg
- Place it on the inner thigh of your left leg
- Now, raise your arms over your head into a ‘namaste’
- Keep your back straight and hold for a few breaths
- Exhale and return to the initial position.
- Repeat the same process with your leg
Another yoga asana that may improve your balance is…
- Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Widely known to be helpful for the nervous system, the Tadasana is one of the most effective yoga asanas to increase immunity as well. It helps correct your posture and may flexibility of the thighs and joints.
Apart from being one of the best yoga poses to boost immunity, it may help tone your abdomen and body muscles as well. If practiced regularly, the Tadasana is also known to increase your height during formative years.
How to do:
- Stand straight with your feet together and keep your back straight
- Now, bring your palms together and interlock them
- Inhale and stretch your arms up with your palms facing downward
- Look up and then gently drop your head back on your shoulders
- Hold for around 5-10 seconds and repeat 1-2 times
- Shalabasana (Locust Pose)
When practicing yoga to boost immunity, this is one yoga asana that may help strengthen the spine, lower back, hip joints, arms, legs and pelvic organs as well.
It offers relief from constant backache and is one of the widely used yoga poses for immunity. It improves blood flow to the spinal area and applies enough pressure on the abdomens too.
How to do:
- Lie flat on the stomach and stretch your arms out ahead
- Keep your knees straight and your feet together
- Lift your legs and arms up together
- Now, lift your head up and raise your chest off the floor as much as possible
- Hold this posture for 10 seconds
- Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
One of the best ways to keep the mind and body strong is by practicing yoga to boost immunity and raising the immunity levels. The Seated Forward Bend or Paschimottanasana helps keep the brain calm while stretching the body.
While being one of the best yoga asanas for immunity, it offers relief from stress, headache and anxiety as well. Also, it applies pressure on the spine, hamstrings and may improve the digestive system as well.
How to do:
- Begin with Dandasana. Keep your knees are slightly bent and stretch your legs out forward
- Keep your spine erect and raise your hands upward
- Now, exhale and bend forward at the hip
- Place your upper body on your lower body
- Lower your arms and grip your big toes with your fingers
- If possible, try to touch your knees with your nose
- Anjaneyasana (Low Lunge Pose)
Some of the best yoga poses for immunity are the ones that work both, on your body and on your mind. One such yoga asana is the Anjaneyasana. One of the most helpful yoga poses for immunity, it works on muscles and joints at the same time.
It is a powerful yoga asana as it helps improve balance and has a positive effect on your knees as well. Since it is widely used to relieve tension in your joints, it proves the notion that practicing yoga for immunity is extremely beneficial.
How to do:
- Stand straight. Place your left leg back, drop your knee and extend your toes out
- Make sure your right knee is aligned with the right ankle
- Push your pelvis downward and raise your arms overhead
- Now, bend your upper body backwards and try to form an arch
- Utkatasana (Chair Pose)
When we speak of yoga to boost immunity or yoga asanas to increase immunity, the Utkatasana proves to be an ideal yoga pose. Mainly used to increase strength and stamina, this Chair Pose helps promote inner power.
It works on the muscles, joints and helps offer relief from any pain as well. Since, it is important to practice yoga for immune system, this yoga asana helps you lead a healthy and active lifestyle.
How to do:
- Begin with Tadasana. Bend your knees, move your hips backwards as if you are sitting on a chair
- Now, raise your hands upwards. Touch the ears and soften the shoulders
- Hold the pose for 5-10 breaths and try stretching upwards if possible
- Release your hands and return to the initial position
- Matsyasana (Fish Pose)
Another effective yoga asana to increase immunity is the Matsyasana. This yoga pose is widely considered to be the “destroyer of all diseases.” As you practice yoga to boost immunity, this yoga asana offers various benefits for the immune system.
Also, it may offer relief from fatigue and is one of the ideal yoga asanas to increase immunity and metabolism as well. Once you master this pose, the other variant that you could try is…
How to do:
- Lay down on the mat with your back flat
- With the help of your forearms, lift your upper body (chest, abdomen, shoulders) off the mat
- Push your head back so that the top of your head touches the floor
- Hold for 30 seconds and return to initial position
- Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half-fish pose)
Similar to the Matsyasana, this pose is also widely considered to be the “destroyer of deadly diseases” and is one of the most effective yoga poses for immunity.
Since, yoga and immunity go hand in hand, this yoga pose is another example of how we can practice yoga to boost immune system. The Ardha Matsyendrasana works on your shoulders and offers relief from fatigue as well.
How to do:
- Stretch both legs out front
- First, fold your left leg, placing the left foot on the ground beside your right knee
- Now, fold the right leg in and bring the right heel near the left buttock
- Take your right hand over the left knee and grab the big toe of the left foot from outside
- Twist the trunk of your body and turn to gaze over the left shoulder
- Now, encircle the waist from behind with your left hand with the palm facing outwards.
- Focus on twisting from the abdomen
- Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose)
One of the most effective yoga poses for immunity, the Chaturanga Dandasana activates your shoulders, arms, wrists and legs. Apart from practicing yoga for immunity, we can also improve core awareness through yoga.
The Chaturanga Dandasana works on your arm balance and helps improve full-body awareness as well. Since, we practice yoga to boost immunity, this four-limbed staff pose helps strengthen the immune system too.
Also, it is one of the most effective poses of Surya Namaskar and offers various other health benefits as well.
How to do:
- Start on all fours, place your palms under the shoulders and your knees below the hips
- Slowly lift your knees off the ground and align your pelvis with your shoulders for the Plank Pose
- Drop your elbows on the mat one by one, align your elbows with your shoulders and engage your core
So, these were some important and helpful yoga poses for immunity. While you can practice these yoga asanas to increase immunity, you need to also take care of other aspects of living a healthy lifestyle such as how to meditate better and taking care of your mental health.
When you inculcate a little bit of all these factors in your daily routine, you will be able to live a happy, healthy and stress-free life.
