Health Benefits of Vajrasana Yoga: Pose, Procedure and Precautions

Elaborate working hours, less sleep, and fatty foods are reducing our physical activities to zero. As a result, we are developing complicated issues in our bodies, like obesity, rising cholesterol levels, and anxiety issues.

To combat these health issues, Thunderbolt pose or Vajrasana can be of great help. It relaxes your muscles, improves posture and restores the digestive system. Read to the end to know what it is, the benefits of Vajrasana, procedure and precautions!

‘Vajra’ in Sanskrit means Thunder, and ‘Asana’ is posture. Deriving its name from the Hindu God of Thunder, Lord Indra’s weapon Vajra, this yoga pose has multiple benefits for your mind and muscles.

Vajra Nadi (nerves), the primary nervous of humans, also adds relevance to this Yogasana’s name. Nerves run in our body like a thunder network, and this asana impacts our mind, thus the name Vajrasana.

Also popular as thunderbolt or diamond pose, you can practise Vajrasana after a day’s meal.

1. Improves Digestion

As Vajrasana is the only Yogasana you can perform after lunch or dinner, it benefits your digestive process in several ways. 

Performing Vajrasana after a meal, say, lunch or dinner, ensures proper bowel movement while eliminating chances of constipation. This asana also reduces gas and acidity disorders in your body.

Sitting in Vajrasana posture reduces blood flow in the lower parts of your body. However, on the other hand, this increases blood flow in the stomach and other upper body parts. This, consequently, improves digestion and absorption of nutrients by your body.

2. Prevents Obesity

Obesity is one of the growing issues among today's generation. Unfortunately, owing to today's lifestyle, obesity brings with it multiple diseases and illnesses.

Practising Vajrasana poses daily can help you fight against obesity by ensuring weight loss as your body digests the food.

Moreover, better digestion means your body does not allow fats to be easily stored in the abdominal region. Thereby, it ensures weight loss while driving away obesity.

3. Helps Reduce Menstrual Cramps

Although periods are regular and occur every month, menstrual cramps can be hard to bear for several women. In addition, these cramps are so excruciating that most women opt for painkillers, which are long-term harmful.

So, what is an easy and healthy way to ease period cramps?

Period cramps happen due to tensing of your uterine muscles. Vajrasana is one of the yoga poses that help relax muscles in your waist region, including in your uterus. This consequently eases blood flow and reduces cramps.

4. Increases Concentration

Sitting in the Vajrasana pose and focusing on your breathing helps increase your concentration power. Not to mention regularly practising Vajrasana poses can help you focus on one subject without getting distracted easily.

5. Helps Fight Against Anxiety

Like every other Yogasana, Vajrasana too involves repetitive and rhythmic deep breathing. Focussing on your breathing during Vajrasana calms your mind and relaxes you from anxiety and stress.

Therefore, try Vajrasana to relax your mind as you inhale positive energy from your surroundings to combat anxiety.

6. Reduces Lower Back Pain

Vajrasana helps lessen lower back pain by relaxing your muscles here. It also helps resolve discomfort and lower back pain due to sciatica.

7. Helps Keep Blood Sugar Level in Control

Vajrasana stimulates organs like the liver and pancreas. As a result, it boosts insulin production, helping manage your blood sugar level. In addition, diabetes patients can perform Vajrasana to improve fasting glucose levels in their blood.

8. Provides Relief From Rheumatic Pain

Vajrasana enhances the flexibility of our thighs, hips, knees, feet and ankle muscles. If you are facing discomfort due to stiffness in these areas, try practising Vajrasana to relax these muscles.

9. Improves Your REM Cycle

Many people complain of insomnia and sleep disturbances today. Vajrasana yoga is one of the oldest cures for these sleep-related issues.

Performing Vajrasana helps release anxiety and stress as you exhale out all the negative energy while performing this pose. Thereby, you experience a sound sleep.

10. Helps to Improve Posture

While performing Vajrasana, you need to maintain a straight back. Thus, when you practice it regularly, it helps you to hold the perfect posture for a long time.

This, in turn, benefits you in sitting straight. Additionally, it improves your concentration and eyesight. Also, it is suitable for your spine. Lastly, sitting with a straight spine lowers back pain and helps lower a hunchback posture.

To perform this yoga, follow the below procedure for Vajrasana. It has been mentioned in steps for clarity:

Step 1: Sit on a yoga mat in a kneeling position.

Step 2: Take your weight from your knees as you sit back on your legs.

Step 3: Let your butt rest on your heels and thigh on your calves. If it is your first time, you may feel a straining pressure on your ankle.

Step 4: Keep your back straight, gaze forward and fix it on a particular thing right before you. Also, keep your head straight and your chin parallel to the ground.

Step 5: Place your hands on your lap with palms facing upwards or downwards as it suits you. You can also join your hands in a praying posture to absorb the positive aura around you.

Step 6: As you sit in this posture, pull your attention away from the surroundings and focus on your breathing. Take slow deep breaths and let your mind focus on the rhythmic breathing as you try blocking other thoughts.

Step 7: Hold this position for 5-10 minutes at the initial stages. Gradually you can increase it to 30 minutes or more as you practise and improve.

Vajrasana can bring drastic changes to your health over time. However, patience and practice are the two important ingredients to reap the benefits of Vajrasana.

Here are a few tips to consider while performing this yoga for effective results:

• Focus on Your Breathing: While performing Vajrasana, you need to narrow your concentration from the surroundings to yourself. It is also necessary to block your chain of thoughts from diverting your attention. To achieve this state, you need to focus on your deep breaths. You can also focus on your heartbeat to get into the zone of total self-awareness. This can seem tough at the start. However, with practice, you can control your concentration from being diverted.
• Do Not Make Your Body Stiff: Vajrasana helps relax your muscles and therefore is an amazing relief from cramps. While performing this asana, your body must not feel any pain or strain, especially in the ankle and knees.
• Sit Up Straight: Keeping your spine straight while doing Vajrasana benefits in lowering back pain and improving your posture. Slouching your back, whether intentionally or unintentionally, may feel comfortable. However, later this can increase your back or neck pain. Therefore, it is necessary to keep your spine straight.
• Lower Your Head: Another common mistake people make while doing Vajrasana is hanging their head down. You must hold your head up with your chin parallel to the floor while sitting straight. Fix your eye on one object, and do not let your head swing down. Sitting in the wrong posture might lead to neck pains in future.
• Hold Your Posture for Enough Time: Releasing the Vajrasana posture too soon will not have any impact on you. It may feel uncomfortable at the start, and holding your pose for 5 minutes might seem a hard nut to crack. However, you must hold patience and sit for 5 to 10 minutes in Vajrasana posture. As you gain confidence, slowly increase your time for Vajrasana meditation.
• Choose a Convenient Time: Time plays a great role in meditation. As most meditation is impactful if done with an empty stomach, we usually prefer performing it early in the morning. However, most of us undergo a time crunch to run to work. Therefore, it becomes quite tough to devote some time to yoga.

As we can do Vajrasana after any meal, it becomes easy to choose a convenient time to perform it. For instance, if we perform Vajrasana at night after dinner, we can devote quality time to yoga without the rush to work.

Pregnant women should maintain a comfortable gap between the knees to avoid putting pressure on their abdomen. There are many other precautions and contraindications of Vajrasana, like such, in which people must completely refrain from performing it. Some of these conditions are:

• People suffering from knee pain due to any underlying issue or have recently undergone any knee surgery.
• Individuals having hernia or any other intestinal problems.
• Patients who are suffering from back issues like slip-disc.
• Overweight individuals (They should only perform Vajrasana under proper professional training).

For beginners, sitting in Vajrasana can be tough. Therefore, you can opt for the following modification or variations to Vajrasana to warm yourself up:

• Different Knee Poses: If you feel strain in your knees while performing Vajrasana, start out with other sitting asanas like Siddhasana, and Janu Sirsasana. In contrast, you can also opt for Dandasana or staff pose to release pressure from the knees. Other easy poses you can begin with are Paschimottanasana (Seated forward bend) or Siddhasana. It will help you get accustomed to Vajrasana.
• Place a Folded Blanket Beneath Your Knees: Take a blanket, fold it several times and position it below your knees. This will allow your feet to hang down while cushioning your joints. Thereby reducing strain on your knees.
• Use a Cushion or Yoga Block In Between Your Feet: To maintain your balance while performing Vajrasana, place a cushion or yoga block between your feet. This will provide your feet with slight support without straining or hurting them.
• Staff Pose to Reduce Stress on Your Knees: If you cannot bend one leg, try extending it straight and bending the other. Sit straight and take deep breaths holding this position. This is the staff pose or Dandasana. It will help release stress from your knees.

Vajrasana is the basic pose for a few other yogasanas like Shishuasana, Gomukhasana and Ustrasana. Practising the pose daily can tap into several benefits of Vajrasana. This pose can cure your body and mind of many complex issues like insomnia, anxiety and body pain. You do not need to opt for expensive medical assistance to get rid of these.