Meruvakrasan
 (Simple spinal twist)
Meruvakrasan is a simple twist pose. The term meruvakrasan is derived from Sanskrit. Meru means mountain,Vakra means twist, Asana means pose.
Hence, meruvakrasan is defined as a mountain twist pose. Here, the mountain is our spine. The simple twist pose will strengthen your spine and abdomen. your spine is the soul of your body. To keep your body healthy, it is very important to have a healthy spine. The spine plays an important role in our daily life. Hence, it becomes very important to have a healthy spine. Though various poses involve our spine and thus increase the overall health but meruvakrasan or simple spinal twist focuses completely on the health of our spine. A simple spinal twist is an asana for beginners. Meruvakrasan will help you to get rid of unnecessary tension that was created in your spine. Nowadays, spinal problems are the most common. Tension, spasms, pain in the spine can be seen easily in adults and elders. This problem is common and not life-threatening but that doesn’t mean you have to live with this condition forever. You can cure such problems by simply practicing meruvakrasan for 5 to 10 minutes daily with an empty stomach. Yoga keeps our whole fresh and tension-free. Meruvakrasan has lots of hidden health benefits. It will make us feel light, relaxed, free, grounded, and calm. This is such a simple pose and hence, can be practiced by every age group.
Benefits:

• Enhance spinal health: Meruvakrasan is known for enhancing the overall health of our spine. It improves flexibility in your spine and reduces pain and stiffness. This pose reduces lengthen and strengthens your spine.
• Vertebrae: The simple spinal can twist can be beneficial in relocating your vertebrae.  The dislocated vertebrae can be treated without any medical treatment by just practicing this pose.it loosens up the vertebrae and reduces stiffness.
• Tone muscles: The twist will tone your spine muscles. It helps you in toning your waist and nerves within you and the surroundings too.
• It is scientifically proved that this pose enhances the health of your organs. It gives a good massage to your organs and is found useful for relieving backache, neck pain, shoulder pain, lumbago, and mild form of sciatica.
• Reduce fat: The turns and twists in the pose help you in reducing the excessive fat from your waist and thighs. This pose gives a good stretch to your spine and legs and reduces the excessive fat from the body.
• Nourishes: This yoga posture nourishes the abdominal organs such as the liver, pancreas, kidneys, small intestines, gall bladder.
• Pranic flow: Pranic flow is the source of all moments of your body. This pose activates the Pranic flow and helps in distributing the energy.
• Reduce stress: This posse increases the blood flow to our body. The increased blood flow carries oxygen to the brain and helps in reducing stress and anxiety.
• Digestion: This pose helps in the secretion of digestive juices and enhances the health of our digestive system. It improves our digestion and helps an individual to get rid of constipation.
• Adrenal glands: This pose helps an individual in maintaining healthy adrenal glands.
• Sexual health: This pose helps an individual in improving the sexual health of an individual. Practicing this pose will enhance the sexual health of an individual. It strengthens the sexual organs.
• Maintain blood pressure: This pose helps in maintaining blood pressure. It enhances the blood flow in our body and balances the blood pressure.
• Practicing meruvakrasan will strengthen our abdomen. it increases the health of our abdomen.  
• Menstrual cycle: This pose will help you in maintaining your menstrual cycle. It will regulate the menstrual cycle and reduce cramps. This pose hence is very beneficial for mensuration.
• Increase flexibility: This pose will increase flexibility in your legs, shoulder, and spine. Practicing this pose will help you in increasing flexibility and strengthen your shoulders, spine, neck, and thighs.
• Strengthen shoulders: This pose will strengthen your shoulders and enhance the flexibility in your shoulder.

Techniques:
Step 1:  sit on the floor with your legs straight. Your legs must be in the forward direction and wide apart.
Step 2: Place your palm on the ground, straight to the shoulder.
Step 3: fold your left leg place it on the right side by crossing over the right leg. Your right leg must not move. it should be straight.
Step 4: tilt your upper body along with your hands to the right side and look behind. Tilt your body as much as you can without bending or forcing yourself.
Step 5: hold the pose for at least 30 seconds to the longest you can.
Step 6: Relax and get back to the initial position.
Step 7: Repeat the pose to the other side also and practice at least 5 times.
Precautions:

• Do not practice this pose in case of neck, back, spine, leg, shoulder, hips, knee injury.
• Consult your doctor if you have pain in your spine.
• In case of sciatica, consult a doctor or yoga instructor before practicing this pose.
• Do not practice this pose if you are suffering from vertigo. This may worsen your situation.
• You must consult a doctor before practicing this pose if you have just recovered from surgery.
• Stop the pose immediately if you feel strain anywhere in the body while practicing this pose.
• Do not practice this pose if you are suffering from a peptic hernia.
• In case of an ulcer this pose could be dangerous and worsen your situation.
• Do not overdo this pose. You must be very careful while practicing this pose. Overdoing it might cause trouble.

Props and modifications:

• Use a blanket if you are not comfortable on the floor.
• Use yoga bricks under your palms or legs to support yourself accordingly.
• To avoid any injury, take the help of a wall to support your back.