Yoga holds a unique place in the world of fitness and holistic health maintenance. It encompasses several sub-categories and poses that calm the mind and make the body resilient, strong, and more immune to various illnesses. At the same time, yoga is also a vast catalog of exercises, which means that it is easy for new joiners to feel a bit confused at first. To help such individuals, here are some key details about yoga.

Essential yoga equipment
Here are some tools that will help enrich one’s yoga routines to a great extent.

• Yoga mat
  Many yoga purists would say that a mat is all one needs to do the exercises. To some extent, that is even the right viewpoint. People mainly do yoga exercises while sitting on the floor. So, a mat acts as an essential layer of cushioning between the hard floor and one’s body.

  Mats are a staple requirement in all yoga classes. Yoga instructors in these classes ask learners to bring in their own mats for the exercises. Quality yoga mats offer better traction in downward-facing exercises (for example, the dog pose). This allows learners to maintain their poses for longer. While buying mats, one should focus on two aspects: their thickness and material. Thinner mats offer better stability for balance-related postures, while thicker ones offer great cushioning and protection from the ground for one’s knees and elbows.

  To strike the perfect balance, one can purchase mats with medium-level thickness. In terms of material, one can opt for rubber mats or PVC ones. Rubber mats offer good grip, feel cool to touch, and prevent odors. Further, they are more environmentally sustainable compared to PVC ones.

• Yoga towel
  People practicing hot yoga or power yoga generally sweat a lot during the exercises. This is why, having a towel comes in handy as it helps to absorb sweat from one’s face. One can use this yoga equipment as a cover for their mat. Additionally, it keeps people from slipping and risking injury.

  While purchasing these, one must particularly opt for yoga towels and not pick the ones meant to be used while bathing as they prevent bunching.

• Yoga blocks
  These blocks are foam-made cuboidal objects that make it possible for new yoga practitioners to reach the floor as they exercise. This increases their flexibility and safety, and reduces the possibility of injuries.

  One can buy multiple blocks and place them one atop the other to increase or decrease their reach toward the ground.

Yoga exercises for beginners
People just starting out can commence with the basic yet effective poses to transition into the incredible world of yoga. Here are some such simple yoga poses.

• Mountain pose (Tadasana)
  This is the most straightforward pose of them all. Tadasana involves standing with a ramrod-straight posture. In this exercise, the quads, thighs, arms, shoulders, and calves, among other body areas are targeted. Unsurprisingly, people having posture problems can resolve them through this incredible exercise. This pose draws a straight line from the crown of one’s head all the way down to the heels. As a result, it brings the pelvis, shoulders, abdomen, and the overall midsection of the body in a perfectly straight line. While doing the exercise, learners focus on rooting down with their feet and lengthening the spine to its full extent.
• Legs up the wall (Viparita Karani)
  There are very few exercises out there that help people lose extra pounds around their belly with such efficiency. In this exercise, all one has to do is initially sit with their right side flush against the wall. Then, they need to rotate and, resting their left elbow on the floor, raise their legs up the wall while lowering their torso. As the name of this exercise implies, the final pose involves lying on the back with one’s heels against the wall. In the beginning, one might feel a little strained in the abdomen, but over a period, it is easy to get used to this exercise.
• Cat-cow stretch (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana)
  One must crouch down on all fours in this exercise. To begin with, one needs to get on their hands and knees, with the neck in a straight/neutral position. After that, one can keep their wrists directly under their shoulders, and arch their back in a way that their belly approaches the mat (but does not touch it). One needs to inhale and lift the chest and chin. Thereafter, the individual doing the exercise needs to exhale into cat pose, and draw their belly button in while rounding their back. The head needs to be left loose towards the floor. This exercise is perfect for back pain and flexibility issues.