International Yoga Day- Yoga Poses That Will Improve Your Metabolism For Radiant And Youthful Skin

Today, I am going to share my most favourite poses in yoga for beauty which helps us get glowing and beautiful skin.

Mental peace and an emotional balance play a very important part in our beauty regimen. We do not realize but most of our skin problems often could be due to stress, no-exercise and various other imbalances in our body. Yoga, coupled with our other beauty recipes would lead to a beautiful skin that radiates from within. So, here are 5 yoga poses for beauty that will help improve your blood circulation and will give you a more radiant and youthful look and feel.

* Bhujangasana

Cobra pose opens up your chest and reduces the tension and fatigue in your body. This will help you take extra supplies of oxygen hence you get rid of the toxins accumulated in your body, rejuvenating your skin.

- Lie on your stomach with your toes flat on the floor and forehead resting on the ground.
- Keep your legs close together, with your feet and heels lightly touching each other.
- Place your hands (palms downwards) under your shoulders, keeping your elbows parallel and close to your torso.
- Taking a deep breath in, slowly lift your head, chest and abdomen while keeping your navel on the floor.
- Pull your torso back and off the floor with the support of your hands.
- Keep breathing with awareness, as you curve your spine. If possible, straighten your arms by arching your back as much as possible; tilt your head back and look up.
- Keep your shoulders relaxed, even if it means bending your elbows. With regular practice, you will be able to deepen the stretch by straightening the elbows.
- Ensure that your feet are still close together.
- Hold this pose for 30-60 seconds. Don’t overdo the stretch or overstrain yourself.
- Breathing out, gently bring your abdomen, chest and head back to the floor.
- Ensure that you are putting equal pressure on both your palm.

* Ustrasana

This pose is an intense back bend. It opens up your rib cage, this increases the lung capacity and allows you to inhale more oxygen. With the gravity pull, there is an increase in the blood circulation in your brain, this means that the sensory organs are stimulated and activated that helps with hair loss. This pose also helps to reduce stress by balancing the hormones in your body.

- Kneel down on the floor. Your knees, hips and thighs should be perpendicular to the floor.
- Draw your hands up the side of your body as you start to open your chest.
- Reach your hands back one at a time to grasp your heels.
- Bring your hips forward so that they are over your knees. Keep your thighs perpendicular to the floor, with your hips directly over your knees.
- Let your head come back, opening your throat.
- Hold for 30-60 seconds. To release, bring your hands back to your front hips. Inhale, lead with your heart, and lift your torso by pushing your hips down toward the floor. Your head should come up last.

* Matsyasana

This pose tones the muscles of your face and throat, thereby giving it a great stretch. This does wonders to your skin, it firms and smoothes your skin. It also normalizes the function of thyroid, pineal and pituitary glands and also normalizes the hormones; therefore leading to improving skin conditions.

- Lie on your back. Your feet are together and hands relaxed alongside the body.
- Place the hands underneath the hips, palms facing down. Bring the elbows closer toward each other.
- Breathing in, lift the head and chest up.
- Keeping the chest elevated, lower the head backward and touch the top of the head to the floor.
- With the head lightly touching the floor, press the elbows firmly into the ground, placing the weight on the elbow and not on the head. Lift your chest up from in-between the shoulder blades. Press the thighs and legs to the floor.
- Hold the pose for as long as you comfortably can, taking gentle long breaths in and out. Relax in the posture with every exhalation.
- Now lift the head up, lowering the chest and head to the floor. Bring the hands back along the sides of the body.

* Halasana

This pose also boosts the blood circulation all over the body and provides vital nourishment to all your organs. This pose also helps in sleeping problems, it will help in insomnia and restless sleep; we all know what an important role a good sleep plays in keeping us beautiful and glowing.

- Lie on your back with your arms beside you, palms downwards.
- As you inhale, use your abdominal muscles to lift your feet off the floor, raising your legs vertically at a 90 degree angle.
- Continue to breathe normally and supporting your hips and back with your hands, lift them off the ground.
- Allow your legs to sweep in a 180 degree angle over your head till your toes touch the floor. Your back should be perpendicular to the floor. This may be difficult initially, but make an attempt for a few seconds.
- Hold this pose and let your body relax more and more with each steady breath.
- After about a minute of resting in this pose, you may gently bring your legs down on exhalation.
- Avoid jerking your body, while bringing the legs down.

* Salamba Sarvangasana

This pose reverses the effects of gravity. Inversions are the best way to enhance facial radiance, plump your skin and reduce wrinkles. This pose sends the blood to your brain, which nourishes your body and skin at the deepest levels, making you look younger. This is one of the best anti-aging exercise that can give immediate results (It will definitely almost immediately make you feel light and young).

- From a relaxed, lying-down position with palms on the floor, lift your legs up, raising the hips off the floor and lengthening through the torso.
- Roll up onto your shoulders, finding the place of balance – wherever that is for you – using your hands and arms to support your back. Find the position where you feel the weight mainly on your shoulders. With more experience, you can practise balancing with the arms up along your sides
- Slowly lower your spine down to the floor. Either bend the legs, if necessary, or bring them down straight. Try to keep the head on the floor, rather than lifting it up.