Bikram Yoga - Is it for you ?
Known as the ‘hot yoga’, Bikram is once again gaining popularity. Jodie Robertson, founder of Australia’s first Bikram studio, explains the ins and outs of this style of stretch.
Q. What is Bikram Yoga?
A - Jodie Robertson: It’s a series of two breathing exercises and 26 postures in a heated room. It took Bikram, his guru, doctors and scientists three years to put the series together. Within the 26 poses, each pose follows the next for medical and scientific reasons. We warm up some parts of the body before we get to other parts, so it’s a set sequence.
Q. How does it differ from other styles of Yoga?
A - Jodie Robertson:
The heat, the mirrors, and the fact that we do every posture twice. The reason for the mirrors is so you can watch your alignment and you can make sure that everything is in a straight line. The teacher constantly talks. Some other yoga styles don’t do that. Because we cater for everyone from absolute beginners to advanced people, we just give directions the whole way through. No matter what level you are everyone can follow along.
Q. What is the recommended temperature during class?
A - Jodie Robertson: Thirty seven degrees. Sometimes with the humidity in summer or if it has been raining, people seem to sweat more.
Q. Apart from warming up the muscles, what are the other benefits of exercising in the heat?
A - Jodie Robertson: It cleanses and purifies your body. The skin is the largest organ of your body, so when you sweat it really purifies. The flexibility aspect is a key aspect of the heat. The purification is the second aspect of the heat and also what we found is that it really builds up mental strength.
Q. What types of people are best suited to Bikram Yoga?
A - Jodie Robertson: Over 13 years-old to any age. Classes are also popular with men, not just women. We sometimes have more men than women.
Q. What about women who are pregnant, people with high-blood pressure, those arthritic sufferers and individuals with back problems?
A - Jodie Robertson: With Bikram, if you’ve been practicing for a year and you fall pregnant, we tell you to have the first trimester off and then you can come back and continue. But if anyone comes to us and they haven’t been practicing for very long and they fall pregnant we tell them to come back later. We do special pregnancy classes.
For those with high blood pressure, there are a couple of poses that we modify. For the arthritis sufferer, Bikram Yoga is great. The heat and stretching really gets their joints moving.
Q. How much time do you need to spend on Bikram to be in peak condition?
A - Jodie Robertson: Bikram says, ‘If you really want to change your life, come everyday for 60 days as a new person’. Some people have taken us up on that and completely turned their whole lives around. But we do recommend for beginners, two to three times a week as a minimum.
Q. Does Bikram have a spiritual development focus?
A - Jodie Robertson: Once you get your body and your mind aligned, your soul or spirit just comes alive. That’s what spirituality is. So again, we never preach about any religion. Through yoga, people find their own way to what they believe is a higher power, their own power or their own inner light.
How to build a home yoga practice
By Kara-Leah Grant at http://pranaflownz.com
As a yoga teacher, my goal is to inspire my students to practice yoga at home. It’s great when people get themselves to classes three times a week, but the true benefits of yoga really start to unfold when you commit to just showing up on your mat by yourself and seeing what happens. In a class, your focus is both internal and external. You’re listening to the teacher and watching the demonstrations while also paying attention to what’s going on inside of you. When you practice at home, there is no need to focus on anything external, so 100% of your attention is on how your body feels, what your breath is doing and how your mind is reacting. You can read more about this in my post How to start a home yoga practice. And hopefully you have started - now it’s time to build that practice further. When I talk about building a home practice, I’m not talking about using a DVD either. DVDs can be useful and it might be how you begin to get into the habit of practicing at home, but in essence, it’s exactly the same as going to class because your focus is still largely external. But making that shift can be extremely intimidating. How will you know what to do? What if you get it wrong? Trust me on this one - you will amaze yourself with how much understanding you’ve absorbed from going to class. And you will also amaze yourself with how much innate wisdom there is within you. This is one of the major benefits of practicing at home - it strengthens your connection to your internal Guru. We ALL have a yoga teacher living inside of us. Problem is, until we start listening to the voice of that teacher, it’s hard to distinguish them from all the other voices inside of us. Like those voices that say,” “You don’t know what you’re doing.” or “This is so silly, it’s just not the same.” Or, “I’m bored, let’s go watch TV.” These are the many voices of the mind, and hopefully through going to classes you’ve already begun the discipline of ignoring these voices, and you’ve begun to practice simply being the witness to them. The inner voice of your Guru comes from a different place and has a different tone. He or she is encouraging, welcoming, kind and compassionate. This guru will suggest things in a whisper that come from your heart. Things like, “Remember that triangle pose we did last week, let’s play around with that. If we just start with the feet position, I’m sure we can remember it.” Every time you ignore the doubts, criticisms and distractions of the mind, and instead listen to the gentle whisperings of your heart, you make a tiny shift toward a different way of living. Building your home yoga practice will greatly enhance and strengthen this shift. The easiest way to get started is to note that you don’t have to remember all the different postures exactly. All you have to remember are the principles of practice.
Work-Life Balance in Yoga
Yoga was a big thing during the 60s. However, it soon began to drop in popularity. People undertaking yoga as an exercise soon lost patience with the activity, due to its slow but steady results, and turned their interest to a faster pace of exercise such as aerobics. However, yoga has turned once again in the popularity ratings and become a very attractive form of exercise for people who are interested in working out rather than working towards a spiritual goal.
You will find that yoga is a great stretch and flexibility program. It is being used increasingly by those who have trouble balancing their work and personal life. The personal lives of modern day executives are affected by a stressful working environment and a frantic schedule, so they turn to yoga to help them bring a little peace to their mind and to adopt a perfect work-life balance.
It is also agreed by many runners, weight trainers, and aerobic dancers that exercise regimes do in actual fact add more stress to their lives rather than reducing it.
Many people use their lunch hour to work out, forcing themselves to keep up their exercise regime, and then return in a rush back to work. Yes, maybe this is good for them, but it is just an added pressure. Well, yoga is much less competitive, less stressful, and it gives you a wonderful sense of being.
The key to its renewed popularity is almost certainly its healing aspect. When people push their fitness levels they are bound to suffer with strained knees, aching backs and neck pains which are generated not only by the physical power that they put into it, but also the stress of making it a competitive world. Yoga is nowadays being recommended to patients by many orthopedic surgeons, chiropractors, and neurologists as part of their treatment plan.
The ancient practice is growing in interest in the mind-body connection and it is also boosted by research that suggests that it can reduce stress and blood pressure, as well as improve work performance and even slow down the effects of aging.
Mainstream hospitals and business are now teaching several techniques. This is being done using books, discussion groups, and even using the Internet.
The Army is even interested. It has requested that the National Academy of Sciences study meditation and other new age techniques that may enhance soldiers’ performance.
Details do differ. However, a common theme is relaxing the body while the mind is kept alert and focused, whether it is on an object, sound, breath or body movement. If the mind wanders, and it generally does, you can gently bring it back down and begin again.
Stress related problems do in actual fact account for 60% to 90% of U.S. doctors visits, whilst mind-body approaches are very often more effective and cost effective, than drugs or surgery. For instance, 70% of insomniacs become regular sleepers, 34% of infertile patients become pregnant within six months, and visits to the doctor are reduced by 36%.
Dharana (Yoga of Concentration)
A Zen Master was chased by a tiger. He jumped over a cliff to escape and found himself hanging from a vine. He looked up and saw the tiger waiting patiently. He looked down and saw a second tiger waiting below. Two mice began gnawing through the vine. Just then the Zen Master saw a strawberry growing wild on the cliff. He picked it. How sweet it tastes!
The Sixth limb of Raja Yoga is called Dharana. Dharana is the practice of Concentration. Most minds lack Dharana to a greater or lesser degree and thus are scattered, agitated, distracted, foolish, dull, and/or stupid. Without the ability to concentrate and focus, nothing can be mastered.
Once Dharana has been learned, the mind becomes closely attentive and the mental faculties are focussed upon a single point. Such a person has superior mental powers, and knows his desires. The ability to know one’s desire, and to marshall all aspects of body and mind in the pursuit of said desire can be dangerous. Such a person cuts through society like a hot knife through butter. There is a tendency to pursue the desired object with out regard to the cost to others, and thus to generate great misery. This power can also serve to inflate the ego and thus lead the student off of the path of Raja Yoga. For this reason, Dharana is attempted only After the senses (and thus desires) have been brought under control through the practice of Pratyahara.
For a person who has mastered Dharana it is not enough to avoid the trap of pursuing Desires, for this still leaves them adrift in life without direction. The seventh limb of Raja Yoga, Dhyana (contemplation), provides that direction. Once Dharana has been mastered and the mind has been focussed to a single point, that point is placed squarely and unwaveringly upon God.
How does one learn the practice of Dharana? There are many, many different techniques for mastering Dharana. In fact, Life can be viewed as nothing more than an ongoing series of opportunities to practice Dharana. Washing dishes can be approached as an act of worship. Through the perfection of the washing of dishes you can experience Zen. Walking is a great opportunity for Dharana. Walk without destination… slowly, reverently, with great attention to walking. Eyes focussed upon nothing, mind focussed upon nothing. Driving a car is a wonderful opportunity to merge with the car, the traffic, the ebb and flow of life. The two most reliable techniques for achieving Dharana is concentration upon the symbol AUM, and upon the breath using the optional silent mantra of So-Han with each breath.
Two things destroy concentration… boredom and fear.
Fear is always a result of your goals being set too high in relation to your abilities. For example, if someone holds a gun to your head and you experience fear, it is a direct result of your goals being set to high. You want to live, and this is no longer within your ability to control, and so you experience fear. If you can let go of the goal to live, and choose a new goal, in keeping with your abilities in the present situation you can again acheive focus. Perhaps your new goal could be to understand the person holding the gun. What is interesting is that once you choose an appropriate goal and regain your powers of concentration, you are able to maneuver more skillfully and outcomes improve.
Boredom is always the result of setting your goals too low with respect to your abilities. Choose goals that challenge with out intimidating and you will live a life with more flow, more concentration and less boredom and fear.
The state of deep concentration - Dharana - is what we all are looking for in our lives. At work, on dates, in our hobbies, we are all trying to avoid boredom and fear, we are all seeking flow or peak performance, or what we call inYoga… Dharana.
The story I opened this lecture with has grown to be one of my favorites. While camping on the Olympic Peninsula in late October I took a hike up into the virgin-rain forest covered mountains. I set off cross country and alone, with a hand drawn map and a heavy coat looking for an adventure. After several hours I found the creek that drained from ‘Mink Lake’ and set off to follow it up stream to the lake. This plan was soon abandoned as I faced a series of vertical waterfalls that spilled over 20-60 foot sheer walls. Now I started cutting up the side of the valley keeping the stream to my left. I climbed higher and higher and the terrain became more and more impassable. I drove myself relentlessly through the rain.
By three o’clock I decided to cut straight up the side of the mountain, the shortest route to the hike trail. The slopes ranged from 70` to 90` in places and I found myself climbing now. Still no trail. By four o’clock, the very real possibility of spending the night on the mountain encouraged me to abandon my search for the path. I started cutting diagonally down the side of the mountain towards the campsite. At one point I saw a lake far, far beneath me and I redoubled my descent, thinking I had somehow stumbled onto ‘Mink Lake’, but as I at last drew near, the lake dissolved into clouds and I found myself descending through heavy fog.
Time and again I found myself trapped by cliffs dropping away on three sides, and was forced to backtrack up and over, only to come to the top of another dizzying drop. As daylight faded I was overcome by waves of panic… I did not think I could find a way down the mountain before the dark set in, and my chances of surviving in my present condition through the night did not rate favorably. This resulted in my taking chances over and over again, and I could feel my luck running out.
When I found myself on level ground for the first time in hours, I broke into a run to try and make up for lost time - pushing through heavy, rain-soaked foliage. In a matter of minutes the bushes had done what 7 hours of rain had not. My coat was water logged and I was wet. I knew that I was losing energy due to dropping temperatures, lack of food, water and the most strenuous challenge of my entire life.
It was at this point that I noticed that the bushes were wild blueberry bushes, and that they were covered with ripe berries. I remembered the story of the Zen master and followed his example, eating berries, drinking water from the leaves and laughing at and to myself as the daylight drained from the sky. Renewed, refreshed, and calm, I set off again, more slowly and in the dark, felt with my feet, the faint difference in texture that betrayed a path. Had I been moving quickly, I would have crossed the path with out noticing it, and plunged on into the night. As it was, I found the path and followed it back to my camp site, where I soaked in hot springs while rain fell softly and mist drifted between the trunks of old growth trees.
Yoga for Anger Management
Almost all of us experience anger at some point or the other. Rather than get into a monologue of why anger occurs, I will try to touch upon why we should overcome it and how it can be done.
Why should anger be overcome?
Anger destroys the peace of mind: One constantly undergoes mental turmoil, uneasiness and frustration when anger is experienced. This disturbed mind is akin to a rudderless boat in a stormy ocean, being tossed around from place to place without it being able to focus on the task or destination ahead.
Anger is terrible for health: Besides symptoms of high blood pressure, ulceration etc., anger is invariably accompanied by stress, which is often referred to as the silent killer. The medical community is also coming around to the view that stress forms the basis of about 90% of all health disorders.
Anger causes hurt: Besides hurting the person whom it is targeted at (emotionally or physically), anger can boomerang causing an even deeper and longer lasting self-hurt in the form of repentance and remorse. Moreover, acts of anger invariably result in resentment and portray you as a highly egoistic person.
There may be many more ‘incentives’ to overcome anger but the above are enough to make you give a serious shot at tackling the problem.
Conventional remedies
Commonly preached remedies focus on the following ways of ‘curing’ anger
Suppression: Quick-fix ways like “take a deep breath unto the count of 10″ etc. come under this category. These, only provide a temporary respite (if at all). Honestly, these methods actually undermine our intelligence. As if to say, our mind is going to be taken in by some kind of breath control gimmick!
Expression: I was told that, in Japan, there is a concept of ’stress bars’ where you can take out your anger, frustration and stress by throwing objects and redeeming your frustration through these physical acts. These ‘pseudo’ expressive techniques can seldom be successful, as they do not take into account the complexity of the mind.
Diversion: Involving yourself in an activity that keeps you away from the source of anger is often suggested as a way out. However, more likely than not, the ‘ignored’ anger will return with a greater vengeance in due course.
In fact, suppression and diversion can be compared to the indiscriminate filling of your grocery bag (the mind) with objects. Up to a point, it is fine; however, there will come a point, where the bag can hold no more and will ’snap’ destroying the bag completely as well as everything around. Similarly, these are dangerous techniques that can result in irreparable damage to your brain.
The way out
Various spiritual leaders and faiths such as Buddhism, show us a way out. Significantly, yoga teachings provide similar solutions and also show the way to make these solutions a part of our personality.
The first step at anger management is - do not resist and do not ignore the cause of anger. Experience it fully.
What do we mean? It implies that one should develop an attitude of an observer or a witness. Learn to change your role from being the subject to becoming a bystander. See how the anger is operating. See what it is doing to your mind and how. When faced by an anger causing action, immediately get into the mode of exploring and rationalizing:
* Why am I getting irritated?
* What kind of thought pattern is forming in my mind as a consequence of this action?
* Why is it that I am feeling like this?
Continue to go deeper and deeper with the “whys” and “more whys”.
When you start doing this, two things start happening:
You start seeing the deeper ’subconscious’ elements that form the foundation of your conscious mind. It is these elements that shape your personality without you even realizing it. Just like you can see the bottom of the pond in all its beauty only when the waters are still, similarly, you start seeing the deeper elements in your mind and understanding them better.
Once you reach these elements, you resolve the deepest of neuroses and complexities of the mind. These automatically remove the cause of anger. You will be pleasantly surprised to see how you are no longer provoked by the automatic triggers of the past.
Without fighting your anger, you start training your mind to develop a witness-like attitude. This observer attitude results in the anger dissipating.
You start seeing some wonderful perspectives. You start appreciating that it is not necessarily the desire of the person to hurt you - getting angry is YOUR response. You realize that a person is seeing the situation from his point of view to the best of his intellectual and emotional capability - he may not be quite ‘capable enough’ to appreciate your point of view. This is only natural - because individuals are built in different ways. After all, aren’t you showing similar traits when you are getting angry!
Developing this observer attitude is NOT difficult. Yoga also has some very powerful tools in the form of “antar mouna” meditation techniques that help you cultivate this attitude. Moreover, as you start reaping the wonderful fruits of such an attitude, such a behavioral pattern only gets reinforced.
Over time, with such an attitude, you will see that not only do you get angry less often, but also each brush with an unpleasant situation provides a remarkable opportunity to know your subconscious mind in a better way. Every such insight brings you one step closer to the supreme goal - that is, Enlightenment (perpetual Bliss).
Source : HealthandYoga.com
Yoga for Depression - Part II (Yogajournal.com)
In Yoga for Depression, Part I I discussed the two major types of depression, rajasic and tamasic, as conceptualized by my teacher Patricia Walden (and her teacher B.K.S. Iyengar), whose work has heavily influenced my own. That article described asana practices that can help lift students out of depression. Now let’s review other useful yoga practices.
Pranayama Practices for Depression
For students with tamasic depression, pranayama practices that emphasize inhalation may be useful. Of course, getting your students to focus on engaging their abdominal muscles to help squeeze additional air out of the lungs on the exhalation facilitates an easier, deeper inhalation on the subsequent breath. Such breathing practices as three-part inhalation, and Ujjayi on the inhalation with normal exhalation, are examples of practices that increase the length of the inhalation relative to the exhalation.
Students with more rajasic depression may benefit from practices that bring attention to and lengthen the exhalation. Examples include three-part exhalations and 1:2 breathing, where, for example, you inhale for three seconds and exhale for six. Strong breathing practices such as Kapalabhati (Skull Shining Breath, sometimes called Breath of Fire) and Bhastrika (Bellows Breath), which tend to activate the sympathetic nervous system, may sometimes be too agitating for those who are already restless and fidgety. Let direct observation of the student be your guide, since finding the appropriate practice is ultimately a matter of trial and error. Furthermore, since a student’s condition may change day to day, what’s appropriate may also vary.
Other Practices for Depression
Chanting and other bhakti (devotional) practices can be useful for depression. Walden says that these practices bypass the brain and go directly to the emotions. Not all students respond to bhakti yoga, but in those who do, it can be powerful. Chanting tends to keep the brain occupied, and it’s a natural way to extend the exhalation without thinking about it. You’d therefore expect it to be particularly useful for students with busy, rajasic minds.
Meditation can be a powerful tool over the long-term to facilitate greater levels of happiness. Dr. Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin has done research that shows that meditation tends to increase the activity of the left prefrontal cortex of the brain. Left-sided activation has been associated with greater levels of calm and happiness and well as more emotional resiliency, rendering practitioners better able to withstand the inevitable ups and downs of life. Students who are severely depressed may not be able to meditate, even if they keep their eyes open. If that’s the case, try to initiate meditative practices when they are out of the depths of depression to help insulate them against recurrences.
Yoga philosophy can also be of help. Yoga teaches that the more you do or think something, the more likely you are to do it or think it again. Any habit—what yoga calls a samskara—tends to get deeper with repetition. Thus a negative and self-flagellating inner dialogue may not just be a symptom of depression, it may help fuel it. One practice that Walden suggests is to consciously cultivate gratitude. “Count your blessings every day,” she tells her students.
It can be useful to get out a pad of paper and try to list all you have to be grateful for. When you think about all the things that had to happen even for you to be born, it’s a miracle you are here. Then there are all the people who’ve loved you, fed you, cared for you, and educated you throughout your life. It’s also helpful to be thankful for the practice of yoga, which has been passed to us from masters who lived thousands of years ago, and the line of teachers extending from them to the present day. Such an exercise is an example of what Patanjali called “cultivating the opposite.” The more you practice this—even if it’s torturous at first—the deeper your “gratitude samskara” will become, and the more it can contribute to your well-being in the long run.
Taking a Step, No Matter How Small
Your students’ journey out of depression begins with a single step from wherever they are right now. If they are severely depressed, it may be a struggle for them to practice at all. In that case, could you get them to commit to doing a single Sun Salutation, or even a single Down Dog Pose, every day? (Of course, once they get on their mats, they may find themselves doing more.) Or perhaps you could encourage them to study their interior dialogues to understand how recurrent thoughts may be sabotaging recovery. In severe cases, especially if suicide seems like a possibility, don’t hesitate to refer your students to a doctor or psychotherapist. Even if such professional help is necessary, yoga can play a complementary role, likely rendering any psychotherapy or medication more effective.
Better still, even though yoga tends to help reverse depression slowly, its ultimate aim is much higher than achieving the “everyday discontent” that Freud viewed as the goal of psychoanalysis. Yoga, in contrast, teaches that life can be peaceful, full of purpose, happy, and even joyful, and that the source of that joy and contentment is found deep inside in each of us. Various yoga practices are simply tools to help get us there.
Demystifying Yoga
Few of the most prominent question asked questions about Yoga are
Is yoga a religion? Do I have to be able to twist up like a pretzel to do yoga? And
lastly, do I have to add aerobics and weight training to yoga to stay in shape?
This article should help you find a way to make a decision !
The Spiritual Side of Yoga
Yoga pre-dates any organized religion and is over 4000 years old. It is an oral
tradition and was codified approximately 3500 years ago by the sage Patanjali in
a text called the “Yoga Sutras”. Yoga is a science of techniques or philosophies
whose purpose is to bring the individual closer to their divine whoever that may
be. Yoga’s two main goals are to remove the root cause of pain and suffering
and to attain enlightenment. This is done through the eight limbs which are
documented in the Yoga Sutras”. Yoga means to yoke or unite and Sutras are
threads. The eight limbs (translated from Sanskrit) consist of restraints,
observances, postures, breathing, sense-withdrawal, concentration, meditation,
and enlightenment.
Benefits of Yoga
Hatha yoga ( mostly postures related to animals ) which is what most people are familiar with consists of the postures
and breathing techniques and can be practiced alone to achieve the health
benefits that come along with yoga. The following are some of the benefits of
yoga:
• Increased flexibility
• Improved memory and mental focus
• Relaxation
• Toxin release
• Improved Sleep
• Improved Digestion
• Self awareness and cultivation of compassion
You do not have to be extremely flexible or strong to practice yoga; a good
teacher will provide you with props or pose modifications to make most poses
accessible to everyone. With enough practice flexibility and strength comes along
with doing yoga. Focus on the proper alignment and keeping yourself from
getting injured are the keys to a beginning yoga practice. When looking for a
school or instructor it is important to not be forced into attempting anything
beyond your ability. If your first class involves doing headstands or
shoulderstands and no modifications are provided you may wish to seek another
school or class structured around the beginning ability level. It is even wise to
set up your first class as a private session with the instructor.
There have been studies conducted that discuss whether or not other
types or strength training or aerobics are needed, and results have varied. There
are different styles of yoga and many of them really get your heart pumping! The
advanced breathing techniques learned in yoga will also improve cardiovascular
fitness. Even beginning levels of yoga practice will begin to sculpt and tone your
body, it just takes patience and results may take longer than lifting weights. A
basic physiological premise in yoga is that muscles that are tone have the ability
to contract and relax and yoga is ultimately a non-muscular activity and one of
balance but this takes years, maybe even a lifetime to achieve. Hardened
muscles and six-pack abs mean you are in a constant state of contraction and
that is not muscle tone! Overall the practice of yoga is health for the mind, body,
and soul and the changes you notice through practice can begin to change your
entire life!
I hope you make a wise choice and take up Yoga as a way to improve yourself and people around you .
Yoga for Anxiety And Panic Attacks
Anxiety and anxiety related illnesses have been on the rise. Between the stresses of home, work, school, children, war and the economy anyone would feel pressure. When enough anxiety builds, it can cause a lack of mental alertness, mental illness, physical illness and a whole host of other issues. The core issue however starts out as anxiety. It is therefore necessary to find ways to relieve anxiety before it can build. On way is through the practice of Yoga. Yoga poses, breathing techniques and the benefits of yoga can help relieve anxiety and promote a positive and calm outlook.
In recent years, yoga therapy and anxiety has been a topic of conversations for many people both professionals and those who are looking for ways to relieve anxiety. Some professionals have even created specific yoga for anxiety programs. These yoga for anxiety programs use specific yoga poses for anxiety, that is to say they contain a grouping of poses, which have the yoga benefits of anxiety relief. These various programs use yoga equipment for many of them some do not.
Some of the positions and poses that research shows to work with yoga and anxiety are the standing prayer breath, Seated Yoga Mudra, and Breathing Meditation. These three poses are the basics that will promote the relief of anxiety. The best time to learn these poses is when you are already relaxed. Breathing needs to be steady, slow and deep, this will help promote the feeling of relaxation and help your body to relax. The standing prayer breath pose, in order to perform this pose stand with feet hip width apart and bring your hands together in a prayer position. As you raise your hands, inhale relaxing your shoulders into your back. Then exhale as you do, move your hands from the prayer position and sweep them down to your sides then back up to the original prayer hand position. Repeat somewhere between three and ten times depending on how much you want to do and how much time you have. Then reverse the breathing order and make each breath longer while your movements become slower.
The seated yoga Mudra pose consists of kneeling on the floor, keeping your spine straight, then sit back onto your heels. This can be slightly uncomfortable, if you find it so, place a pillow on your calves. You arms need to behind your back, you can either clasp them or hold something if clasping is not something easy for you, squeeze your shoulders together and lower towards your back. The next step is to exhale and bend forward as you exhale from your hips, keeping your back straight until your forehead touches the floor, hold for three to ten steady breaths.
The breathing meditation, this works great for relieving anxiety and creating a peaceful moment. Sit in a chair or on the floor, place your hands on your knees, close your eyes and breathe through your nose.
Trianga Mukhaikapada Paschimottanasana :
Trianga means three limbs or parts thereof. In this posture the three parts are the feet, knees and the buttocks. Mukhaikapada corresponds to the face touching one leg. In Paschimottanasana the back of the whole body is intensely stretched.
Technique :
Sit on the floor with the legs stretched straight in the front.
Bend the right leg at the knee and move the right foot back. Place the right foot at the side of the right hip joint, keep the toes pointing back and rest them on the floor. The inner side of the right calf will touch the outer side of the right thigh.
Balance in this position throwing the weight of the body on the bent knee. In the beginning body tilts to the side of the outstretched leg, and the foot of the outstretched leg also tilts outwards. Learn to balance in this position, keeping the foot and toes stretched and pointing forward.
Now hold the left foot with both the palms, gripping the sides of the sole if you can then extend the trunk forward and hook the wrists round the outstretched left foot. Take two deep breaths.
Join the knees, exhale and bend forward. Rest first the forehead, then the nose next the lips and ultimately the chin of the left knee. To achieve this widen the elbows and push the trunk forward with an exhalation.
Do not rest the left elbow on the floor. In the beginning one looses the balance and topples over to the side of the extended leg. The trunk should therefore be slightly bent towards the side of the bent leg and the weight of the body should be taken by the bent knee.
Stay in this position from half a minute to a minute, breathing evenly.
Inhale, raise the head and trunk, release the hands, straighten the right leg and come to the position.
Repeat the pose on the other side, keeping the right leg stretched out on the ground, bending the left knee and placing the left foot by the left hip joint. Stay for the same length of the time on both the sides.