5 Yoga Poses You Must Practice To Increase Height

Are you unhappy with your height? Did you not experience a moderate growth spurt during puberty? Is your appearance negatively impacting your confidence level? Yoga can be the solution! It is still possible to increase your height even after puberty by practicing certain yoga asanas regularly. If you are unaware of it, here are the 6 most effective yoga poses to increase height that you should explore.

A tall and slim figure is what all women want to have but very few are blessed with. While a slim body is still achievable with so many weight loss methods available around, it is not that easy to increase our height after a certain age. No matter how appealing a long and lean body looks, human height is mostly controlled by genetics, nutrition, exercises, and age. So, no commercial product can actually boost your growth and make you look taller even though it claims to do so. Here comes the importance of yoga. It relaxes the mind and eliminates stress to a large extent, thus stimulating the body to produce more growth hormones. It also detoxifies the body to encourage the growth of healthy cells in it, which results in a height increase. Moreover, yoga enhances our body postures by keeping our back straight and stretching our muscles so that we do not appear shorter than we are.

# Sun Salutation

Originated as a series of prostrations to Hindu Sun God ‘Surya’, the Sun Salutation celebrates the divinity of the sun. This yoga pose has been practiced since ancient times as a complete body workout and increasing height is one of the most common benefits of it. The Sun Salutation is basically a graceful sequence of 12 different ‘asanas’ or postures, which need to be performed as one continuous exercise. It is traditionally practiced at dawn, facing the rising sun. Practicing it daily twice a day – at sunrise and in the evening – makes the spine and the joints extremely flexible.

How to Practice:

* Pranamasana – Stand straight with your feet together and weight distributed evenly. Bring your hands in front of your chest and keep in the prayer position. Breathe out.
* Hastauttanasana – While breathing in, stretch your arms up and arch back from the waist. Keep your legs straight, relax your neck, and push your hips out.
* Padahastasana – Keep breathing out and bend forward. Press your palms against the floor with your fingertips in line with your toes.
* Ashwa Sanchalanasana – Inhale while taking the left foot back and resting the knee on the floor. Arch back from the waist. Now, look upward and lift your chin.
* Parvatasana – Bring the right leg back and place your weight on your hands and toes. Retain your breath throughout the step.
* Ashtanga Namaskar – Exhale and lower your knees gradually. Also, lower your chest and your forehead respectively. Your hips should be up and your toes should be curled under.
* Bhujangasana – Breathe in and lower your hips with your toes pointing outward. Bend back while keeping your legs together and your shoulders down. Your gaze should be up and back.
* Parvatasana – While breathing out, curl your toes under and push your hips up to form an ‘inverted V’ shape. Meanwhile, push your heels down and keep your shoulders back.
* Ashwa Sanchalanasana – Breathe in and bring your left foot forward to place it between your hands. Your other knee should be on the floor. Look up and lift your chin.
* Padahastasana – Keep breathing out and step forward with the right leg. Bend down from the waist with your palms pressing against the floor and your fingertips in line with your toes.
* Hastauttanasana – Inhale and stretch your arms up gradually. Then, take them back over your headband back slowly from the waist.
* Pranamasana – Exhale and return to the erect position gently. Also, bring your arms down by your sides.

# Hastapadasana

If the upper part of your body is shorter than the lower part, you need to practice this standing forward bend regularly. It is known to work on each section of our body by elongating the spine and stretching the hamstring. Hence, you become able to gain more height and look better.

How to Practice:

* Stand straight and tall with your feet together and shoulders rolled back. Make sure that your chest is puffed out. Also, tighten abdominal muscles and suck the belly button in.
* Now, breathe in and stretch your arms straight overhead.
* Breathe out and bend forward slowly in such a way that your head touches your knees and your hands touch your feet.
* Hold the posture for 30 seconds and return to the first position.

# Sukhasana

The Easy Pose, also called ‘Pleasant Pose’ or ‘Decent Pose’, is the basic posture of yoga from which all other postures are developed. By practicing this asana regularly, you can take control of your breathing. It also helps in toning up the lower back as well as the hip region, which eventually boosts your height by decompressing the cartilage.

How to Practice:

* Start by sitting on the floor with your legs extended.
* Bend the left leg inward from the knee and tug it inside the right thigh.
* Then, bend the right leg inward and tug it inside the left thigh.
* Place your hands on your knees and practice Chin mudra or Jnana mudra with your palms.
* Keep your spine straight and sit erect.
* Stay relaxed and breathe normally.
* Hold the posture for as long as you are comfortable with it.

# Chakrasana

Chakrasana, also known as Urdhva Dhanurasana, is extremely helpful in increasing height, no matter what your age is. It involves bending over in a backward direction like a ‘chakra’ or ‘wheel’, which requires building up strength and flexibility. As a result, the elasticity of the spinal cord increases a lot and the body becomes highly pliable. Both of these contribute to height significantly. This asana also counteracts the typical sitting posture by opening the chest, shoulders, and hips.

How to Practice:

* Lie on your back with the knees bent and the feet close to the buttocks onto the floor. At the same time, it is important to keep your feet parallel and hip-width apart.
* Fold your arms from your elbows and bring the palms underneath your shoulders. Your fingertips should be pointing towards your feet.
* Breathe in and press your palms as well as your feet against the floor while lifting the shoulders and the hips off it. Your elbows should be parallel to each other at this point.
* Now, lift your head off the floor while straightening your arms. Keep your feet parallel and your knees in line with them.
* Straighten your legs slowly and hold the posture for 30 seconds.
* Return to the first position by lowering down your body gently.

# Tadasana

This is one of the easiest yoga postures that you can practice since the early days for increasing your height. Being a foundational pose for all standing yoga posture, it has been found to make the spinal cord and limbs (arms and legs) stronger. It also helps in making the whole body agile, which is really beneficial for gaining height.

How to Practice:

* Stand erect on the floor with your feet slightly apart and your arms at the sides of your body. Your weight must be evenly distributed on your feet.
* Breathing in deeply, stretch your arms straight overhead and interlock your fingers.
* Lift your heels off the floor and come on your toes while keeping the arms upward.
* Feel the stretch in the region from your toes to your fingers and hold the posture for as long as you can. Maintain slow and deep breathing.
* Now, breathe out deeply and return to the first position.