15 Sitting Yoga Asanas: How to Perform and Their Benefits

Sitting yoga asanas involve a lower risk of falling and injury. They are ideal for improving flexibility and strength in your lower body as they build stamina by toning your abdominal organs. In addition, practising sitting yoga poses daily will help in stretching your hamstrings, quads, glutes, back muscles, and calves. 

Further, read this article to learn about these yoga asanas and how they provide greater control over your body.

1. Lotus Pose

Also known as Padmasana, this yoga pose is extremely beneficial for developing your overall body posture as it stretches your backbone. Additionally, Lotus Pose strengthens your bones and joints, relieves you from pains and cramps caused during menstruation, and massages your lower abdomen and pelvic organs.

How to Do Lotus Pose:

Step 1: Sit on a floor mat and gently stretch your legs in front.

Step 2: Now, slowly bend your right leg and place your right foot on your left thigh.

Step 3: Fold your left leg gently, and holding your left foot, place it on your right thigh.

Step 4: Ensure that both your feet are closer to the navel and the soles of your feet are moved upwards.

Step 5: Now, stretch your arms gently outwards, resting the palms on your knees.

Step 6: Sit straight and maintain this posture for 5 minutes.

2. Psychic Union Pose

Psychic Union Pose is also known as Yoga Mudrasana, which helps to revamp your body's flexibility. In addition, it provides increased mobility to your muscles and joints. Further, it helps to stretch several muscles near your hips, knees, thigh, abdomen, ankles, arms, upper chest, and shoulders.

How to Do Psychic Union Pose:

Step 1: Start by sitting in a Padmasana posture, meaning cross-legged posture.

Step 2: Make a fist with your right hand and move your arm behind the back. Take a deep breath and hold your right hand with your left hand.

Step 3: Bend your torso forwards, keeping your spine straight. Exhale slowly.

Step 4: Without exerting much pressure on your body, try to bring your forehead to the floor.

Step 5: Remain in this position for 5 minutes and release.

3. Spinal Twist Pose

The Spinal Twist Pose or Ardha Matsyendrasana strengthens your back muscles and the spinal column as it increases the elasticity of the spine due to twists and turns. Additionally, this posture enhances your health and stimulates the performance of the kidney, spleen, and bowels. 

How to Do Spinal Twist Pose:

Step 1: Start by sitting on the floor mat and stretching your legs in front.

Step 2: Now, against the inside of the left thigh, slowly bend your right leg and move your right foot close to the anus.

Step 3: Proceed by raising your knee and bending your left leg. Now, place your left foot on the floor overlapping the right knee.

Step 4: Slowly stretch your right hand towards and place your palm on the floor mat behind your back.

Step 5: Stretch the left arm over your head and move it gently around your right knee, holding the right ankle.

Step 6: Remain in this posture for 1 minute and breathe evenly.

Step 7: Repeat this pose on the other side.

4. Diamond Pose

A recent study proved that regularly practising the Diamond Pose of Vajrasana helps reduce hypertension as it keeps your mind and body stable. One of the best sitting yoga asanas, it helps treat urinary problems and cures digestive issues. This posture also boosts blood circulation to the lower abdomen and reduces menstrual pain and cramps. Moreover, you get relief from chronic back aches and knee pains as it strengthens the muscles around this area.

How to Do Diamond Pose:

Step 1: Begin by kneeling comfortably on the yoga mat.

Step 2: Now, gently move your knees and ankles closer and align with the legs. Ensure that the sole of your feet faces upwards. 

Step 3: As you sit back on the legs, exhale. Ensure that the hips rest on the heels and the thighs on the calves.

Step 4: Place the hands on your thighs comfortably and move the pelvis back and forth slowly to ensure you are comfortable.

Step 5: Inhale and exhale slowly, positioning yourself to sit upright and stretching your spine. Allow your head to move your body upwards, pressing the tailbone to the ground.

Step 6: Now, straighten the head to look forward. Keep the chin parallel to the ground, place your palms on the thigh and relax the arms.

Step 7: Remain in this posture for 5 minutes and then release.

5. Easy Pose

One of the best seated asanas, Sukhasana is also known as Easy pose, Decent pose, and Pleasant pose. It has an overall impact on your mind and body as it reduces stress and discomfort. It improves focus and concentration levels while strengthening your lower abdomen and back muscles. Additionally, Easy Pose enables blood circulation towards your stomach, boosting digestion and allowing nutrient assimilation.

How to Do Easy Pose:

Step 1: Start by sitting upright and stretching your leg in front of your body.

Step 2: Place your left foot under your right thigh and bend your left leg. Again, bend your right leg and move the right foot under your left thigh.

Step 3: Ensure that your foot's outer part rests comfortably on the floor. Adjust your body accordingly.

Step 4: Now, place the palms on your thighs, keeping your spine and shoulders straight. Relax your shoulders a bit and bend the elbows.

Step 5: Close your eyes, inhale gently and relax your entire body.

Step 6: Remain in this position for 5 minutes before interchanging the legs.

6. Monkey Pose

Monkey Pose or Hanumanasana enhances muscle strength, endurance, and flexibility, thereby boosting agility. Further, you will notice relief in your chronic back aches as you consistently practise this yoga posture for eight weeks. In addition, Monkey Pose helps to stretch your groyne muscles, hip flexors, and hamstrings, stretching the quadriceps. 

How to Do Monkey Pose:

Step 1: Keep your thighs perpendicular to the ground. 

Step 2: Lower your hands to the ground in front of your knees. Tent them carefully, ensuring you are sitting on your fingertips.

Step 3: Move the right leg in front of you and place your heels on the floor mat. Now, flex the right foot properly.

Step 4: Move your right foot forward, ensuring your right leg is straight as you extend the left leg straight behind your back. 

Step 5: Allow the hips to face forwards. Now, push the toes of the left foot under and hold this posture for 10 minutes. Then, repeat on the other side.

7. Cockerel Pose

One of the challenging sitting asanas, the Cockerel Pose, is an advanced level yogasana that requires patience and persistence to master the posture. Also known as Kukkudasana, the Cockerel Pose strengthens your upper body and improves your balance and stability. Additionally, it improves digestive function, tones your biceps and triceps, enhances heart health, and reduces extra belly fat.

How to Do Cockerel Pose:

Step 1: Begin by sitting in the Padmasana pose.

Step 2: Place your hands between the thighs and calves, placing your hands downwards.

Step 3: Push through until your palms rest on the floor mat. Place the palms near each other parallelly, allowing the thumbs to touch each other too.

Step 4: Exhale steadily and lift the body slowly off the floor mat. Then try to balance your body weight on your palms.

Step 5: To maintain better balance, ensure you are breathing evenly.

Step 6: Remain in this posture for 5 minutes and release.

8. Tortoise Pose

The Tortoise Pose or Kurmasana invokes total body relaxation as your upper body comfortably relaxes on your lower body. This pose involves a lot of stretching and flexing and helps to improve body flexibility required for practising other yoga postures. Further, it helps to deeply stretch your hamstrings, thighs, hips, backs, shoulders, and chest muscles.

How to Do Tortoise Pose

Step 1: Sit on the floor, stretch your legs forward, and place them wide.

Step 2: Now, inhale slowly and stretch your arms over your head. Move your knees and bend them.

Step 3: Lower your arms to either side of the body, facing the palms downwards.

Step 4: Point your fingers backwards by turning your wrist. Then, slide your arms slowly beneath the raised knees.

Step 5: Ensure that the torso is parallel to the floor. Now, touch your head to the floor gently.

Step 6: Slowly stretch the legs to straighten your knees. Ensure to inhale and exhale evenly while performing this exercise.

Step 7: Remain in this position for 5 minutes and then release.

9. The Shooting Bow Pose

An intermediate posture, the Shooting Bow Pose, also known as Akarna Dhanurasana, includes several benefits. It stretches, lengthens, and strengthens the muscles of your abdomen. Thus, it improves the flexibility of your leg muscles.

How to Do Shooting Bow Pose:

Step 1: Start by sitting on the floor mat and stretching your legs in front of you. Then, move the legs closer together.

Step 2: Now, bend forward gently and stretch the arms to grab your toes. 

Step 3: Now, inhale and lift the left leg and move it foot upwards near your left ear while holding the other leg.

Step 4: Remain in this posture for a few seconds and breathe evenly.

Step 5: Repeat the posture on the other side.

10. Forward Bend Pose

Paschimottanasana, or the Forward Bend Pose, is one of the best asanas to do in a sitting position that benefits the health of your abdominal organs. Apart from stimulating your digestive system, liver, kidneys, uterus, and ovaries, it helps you to get relief from constipation. It is an ideal exercise for the obese and stretches your hamstrings, shoulders, and spine.

How to Do Forward Bend Pose:

Step 1: Sit in an upright position and stretch your legs outwards in front.

Step 2: Inhale gently and stretch the arms above the head. Then, exhale slowly and bend your torso forward.

Step 3: Now, lower the arms and hold your toes. Bend further to reduce the gap between the chest and thighs and allow your forehead to rest on your legs.

Step 4: As you breathe evenly, remain in this posture for about 1 minute before releasing.

Step 5: Inhale slowly and lift your torso. Now, raise the arms over the head and then relax the arms before lowering them.

11. Head to Knee Pose

Janu Shirshasana, or Head to Knee Pose, is an excellent therapeutic posture that calms your brain and relieves you from stress and anxiety. Apart from that, it releases the stiffness in muscles and provides you with a toned body.

How to Do Head to Knee Pose:

Step 1: Start by sitting upright and stretching the legs in front of you.

Step 2: Bend the left leg near your knee in a way that your calf remains against the ground.

Step 3: Turn down the left foot alongside the floor, pressing your heels to the inner side of the right thigh.

Step 4: Bend forward and hold the outstretched right foot with both your hands. During this posture, ensure to keep your chin and head high.

Step 5: Exhale slowly and bend your lower abdomen at the waist, comfortably placing the forehead on your right knee.

Step 6: Breathe deeply and remain in this posture for more than a minute. Release the right leg and come back to the upright posture as you stay seated.

Step 7: Repeat this posture with the other leg.

12. Leg Over Shoulder Pose

Eka Pada Shirshasana or Leg Over Shoulder Pose is a complex posture in the list of sitting yoga asanas benefitting your lumbar and thoracic areas. It improves your body flexibility as it releases stiffness from your body. Further, lengthens the hamstrings, glutes, and psoas, gradually increasing mobility, and body balance and strengthening the muscles in the lower abdomen.

How to Do Leg Over Shoulder Pose:

Step 1: Begin by sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Step 2: With both hands, hold the right foot pulling the sole upwards, closer to your chest.

Step 3: Raise the foot to the level of your nose and then move it slowly to your forehead.

Step 4: To place the right leg onto your right shoulder, move your head forward a bit.

Step 5: Move the leg further, aligning your toes with the backside of your head.

Step 6: Move the arms closer to the level of your chest in a prayer position and maintain the posture for a few minutes.

Step 7: Repeat this pose with the other leg.

13. Staff/Stick Pose

Dandasana or Staff Pose is an excellent yoga asana that helps strengthen the core muscles, improving your posture and stamina. Additionally, it stretches your hamstrings and spine, increasing body flexibility.

How to Do Leg Staff/Stick Pose:

Step 1: Begin by sitting upright, extending the legs in front of you.

Step 2: Flex your feet by slowly engaging the thigh muscles. Try to bend your knees to keep them grounded.

Step 3: Move your shoulders and align it with the hips. Now try to move the shoulder away from your ears.

Step 4: Straighten the arms and keep the palms on the floor to either side of your hips, ensuring support to your spine.

Step 5: Inhale slowly and stretch your spine.

Step 6: Remain in this position for 5 minutes and release.

14. Bound Angle Pose

Baddha Konasana or Bound Angle Pose is an excellent posture if you want to open your hips and stretch the inner shin muscles. A very simple posture that improves your body posture by strengthening the core and stimulating the back muscles as you stretch your spine.

How to Do Bound Angle Pose:

Step 1: Start by sitting in Staff Pose.

Step 2: Slowly bend your knees, allowing them to rest to the sides.

Step 3: Move the soles of your feet closer and use your hands to open them as you flap the pages of any book.

Step 4: Slowly press the shoulder blades against your upper back. Try to lift via chest or sternum and hold your ankles so that you can raise them properly.

Step 5: Remain in this pose for 5 minutes and release.

15. Cow Face Pose

Gomukhasana, or the Cow Face Pose, allows you to stretch and strengthen the muscles around your chest, shoulders, ankles, and knees. This further improves the body posture, and since all the joints operate while you practise this asana, it stimulates blood circulation. 

How to Do Cow Face Pose:

Step 1: Sit upright on the floor, stretching your legs to your front in Dandasana position.

Step 2: Slowly bend your left leg, gently placing it underneath your right hips. Bring your right leg onto your left thigh.

Step 3: Move both your knees closer. Place the heels at an equal distance from your hips, keeping the right heel closer to your left hip.

Step 4: Move your feet away from one another and return to sit evenly between your sitting bones.

Step 5: Inhale deeply, bending your left elbow. Now, bring your left arm towards the back of your neck, fold your arm upwards and place the palm outwards.

Step 6: Stretch your right hand to ride, bend your elbow, moving your arm towards the backside.

Step 7: Stretch the right arm allowing it to reach your left hand.  Remain in this posture for 5 minutes and repeat on the other side.

Apart from all these seated postures, the other sitting yoga asanas are Hero Pose or Virasana, Fire Log Pose or Agnistambhasana, Wide Angle Seated Pose or Upavistha Konasana, and Heron Pose or Krounchasana. All these yoga asanas help to develop flexibility in your legs, improve your digestive system, and develop brain power.

Now that you know about some sitting asanas and their benefits, before practising them, you must consider the following safety precautions. This will benefit your overall body structure and prevent any discomfort or injury.

• Before practising any yoga pose, it is better to practise any other micro exercises.
• In case you feel uncomfortable doing any posture, do not force yourself to continue practising the same as it may lead to sprains and pain.
• There are certain postures that you must not practise if you are pregnant. In that case, it is better to consult your doctor or trainer.
• If you are practising any specific posture, take the help of your trainer. In addition, take support of a chair, wall, or cushion in case you feel uncomfortable.
• In case you feel weak, shaky, fatigued, or numb, immediately stop doing the postures.

The following people must avoid practising these seated yoga poses:

• In case you have undergone any surgery or have a fracture, sprain, or injury, avoid practising sitting yoga exercises.
• During menstruation, avoid doing certain yoga poses if you feel uncomfortable.
• Avoid doing seated yoga postures during acute stress, as this might prompt you to perform the wrong postures.
• If you are undergoing increased knee and joint pain, stop doing the yoga postures. 

So, here are some sitting yoga asanas that you can practise to enhance your mobility and flexibility in your lower body part. For those who are involved in work that includes standing for long hours, seated yoga postures are extremely beneficial. However, ensure to practise these postures keeping in mind the safety precautions to avoid any sudden injury.