Why Namaz positions are healthy for you

Did you know performing Namaaz is as good as practising yoga?

Pavitra Sampath | Updated: June 15, 2016 3:05 pm

Read this in Hindi.

Namaz is something Muslims practice to offer prayers. But apart from bowing down to the divine, the poses taken in every stage of Namaz has various health benefits most of us don’t know. In this article, we tell you exactly how those positions help you stay healthy.

Niyat: This is the first stage of Namaaz where a person stands with his feet together, raises his arms and places them just below his chest with the palms positioned on one top of the other.

Health benefits

This position has immense benefits for a person’s mind and body as placing your hands just below your chest coincides with the position of the heart chakra. The heart chakra corresponds to the cardiac plexus and governs the working of the thymus. Apart from that it also controls the working of the heart, lungs, and circulatory system. The heart chakra also governs emotions such as love, compassion and is associated with higher and refined emotions such as empathy. You may also like to read how chakras affect your health.

Once activated this chakra helps relax and focus the mind, it also helps open up the chakra and is said to help the person connect with the cosmic energy.

Rukoo or Ruku : This is the second phase of Namaz and in this position the person bends at the waist and places his palms on his knees.

Health benefits

This position is similar to Ardha uttanasana — a forward bending yoga pose. Not only does this position help your back muscles flex and make you more flexible but the bending position also helps stimulate the organs in your abdomen and stomach. It also helps strengthen the muscles of your back and core. Apart from that the forward bending action helps stimulate the proper working of the kidneys, increase blood flow to your brain, eyes, face, nose and lungs. It also stretches out your hamstrings and helps beat back pain and stiffness. Finally, placing your hands on your knees also helps ground your body’s energies. You may also like to read more about how forward bending poses help your body.

Sajda: This is where the devotee sits with his legs folded under him, with is feet crossed under his buttocks. Once in this position he bends forward and places his forehead on the floor such that his nose and forehead are in contact with the ground. At the same time, he also places his hands on either side of his face.

Health benefits

This position is close to the way you would sit while in the yoga pose vajrasana. The yoga pose helps stimulate your digestive tract, improves digestion and relaxes the mind. Interestingly in this position your heels massage the kandha spot that is present about 12 inches above the anus and is the where 72,000 nerves converge — massaging the nerves that run through your entire lower body. The bending of the knees also helps keep them healthy and maintain the health of the cartilage in your knees.

Apart from this, placing one’s forehead and nose on the floor along with the palms touching the ground helps create a closed loop of magnetic energy that helps align their chakras stimulating them to work more efficiently.

The final stage: Once a devotee has finished Namaz he rises and turns his head to the right and left to signify the end of his prayers.

Health benefits:

On rising the movement of the head stretches out the muscles of the neck and shoulders, relaxing a person’s body.

The overall benefit:

Performing Namaaz 5 times a day and doing these positions as many times as deemed necessary in each Rakaat helps a person stay fit and healthy. Apart from that, it also helps ground their energies, allowing them to be more focused and calm.

With inputs from Nazneen Haider

Published: July 9, 2015 9:02 pm | Updated:June 15, 2016 3:05 pm

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