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Yoga

Prasarita Padottanasana – Wide Legged Forward Fold

March 12, 2020

Prasarita means expanded, spread, extended.  Pada means a foot.  The pose is one where the expanded legs are stretched intensely.  (Light on Yoga, p 81)

Are you unable to do the Sirsasana?  But still want the benefits?  Well, this pose is for you!

It helps to:

  • Stretch the hamstrings, calves, glutes and lower back.
  • Gently open up tight hips, thereby helping to increase hip mobility.
  • Improve posture.
  • Relieve fatigue.
  • Strengthen the feet, improving flat foot.
  • Speed up healing.

 

Contraindications

Avoid practicing the prasarita padottanasana when you have a headache or migraine.  The rush of blood to the head may exacerbate the condition.

 

Busting the Myths

Widening the distance between your feet will not help you in getting your head closer to the floor.  This just makes your stance unstable.  Read on for some practice pointers…

Practice Pointers

  • The body weight should never rest on the head.
  • Many students compromise on the straightness of the legs in an attempt to bend down more.  Instead of focusing on the head reaching the floor, focus on extending the torso forward.
  • As with Uttanasana, rest your head on a block or a chair to enable further extension.

 

Incidentally, I wrote about the adho mukha svanasana a few weeks ago.  Check out the blog, it may shed more light.

Stay tuned for more from our Yoga to Boost Immunity Sequence.

[ddownload id=”8170″] the Daily Yoga Practice Checklist.

Follow Amrutha Bindu Yoga here.

Follow Medha Bhaskar here.

Follow me (Pragya Bhatt) here.

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Yoga

Downward Dog – Adhomukha Svanasana

March 11, 2020

This pose resembles a dog stretching itself with head and forelegs down and the hind legs up, hence the name.  (Light on Yoga, p 110)

Adho means “down,” mukha, meaning “face,” svana, meaning “dog,” and asana, meaning “pose”.

It helps to:

  • Relieve pain and stiffness in the legs and heels, so great for runners and sprinters.
  • Strengthen and shape the legs.
  • Open up the shoulder blades and shoulder joints.
  • Strengthen the arms and legs.
  • Relieve fatigue.

 

Contraindications

Avoid practicing this asana when you have a fever or are feeling lightheaded.  Also if you have diarrhea, avoid this asana.

 

Busting the Myths

Most yoga students feel touching your head to the floor is the ultimate goal in this asana (a la BKS Iyengar).  Guess what?  Forcing your head to the floor makes you curve your spine, which is definitely not what you want to be doing.  Read on for some practice pointers…

Practice Pointers

  • Resting your heels against a wall and pushing into the wall will enable you to engage and extend the back of the legs.
  • If you are menstruating, have high blood pressure or a headache, rest your head on a bolster or block.

 

Incidentally, I wrote about the adho mukha svanasana a few weeks ago.  Check out the blog, it may shed more light.

Stay tuned for more from our Yoga to Boost Immunity Sequence.

[ddownload id=”8170″] the Daily Yoga Practice Checklist.

Follow Amrutha Bindu Yoga here.

Follow Medha Bhaskar here.

Follow me (Pragya Bhatt) here.

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Yoga

Uttanasana – The Standing Forward Bend

March 11, 2020

 

Ut is a particle indicating deliberation, intensity.  The verb tan means to stretch, extend, lengthen out.  In this asana, the spine is given a deliberate and an intense stretch. (Light on Yoga, p. 92)

The Uttanasana is the first posture in the immunity sequence, and, if practiced  correctly, very powerful.

It helps to:

  • Stretch and tone the entire back of the body.
  • Cures stomach pains, including menstrual cramps.
  • Tones the liver, the spleen and the kidneys.
  • Because of the reversal of blood flow, the mind is refreshed.
  • Relaxes the nervous system and reduces stress.
  • Improves balance and coordination.
  • Pacifies anxiety and depression.

 

Contraindications

Practice with the utmost care if you have chronic back pain or injuries to your ankles and knees.

 

Busting the Myths

In many yoga classes there is an emphasis on straightening the legs.  Guess what?  Your legs do not need to be straight.  Read on for some practice pointers…

Practice Pointers

  • Instead of focusing on straightening the knees at any cost, focus on lengthening the spine, as though you want to extend your head to the floor.
  • Spread your soles firmly to the ground, distributing your weight evenly.
  • Lift your hips up, as though the tailbone has to reach the ceiling.  You will feel an extension on the hamstrings too.
  • When you have a cold or flared up sinuses, you will feel very uncomfortable with your head hanging forward.  Rest your head on a block or a chair and et viola!  your Uttanasana feels good again.  Same thing if you have vertigo or a fluctuating BP.

Stay tuned for more from our Yoga to Boost Immunity Sequence.

[ddownload id=”8170″] the Daily Yoga Practice Checklist.

Follow Amrutha Bindu Yoga here.

Follow Medha Bhaskar here.

Follow me (Pragya Bhatt) here.

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Yoga

Yoga to Boost Immunity

March 8, 2020

When Women’s Day rolls around we talk about women.  Strength, equality, acceptance, rights.  This year I wanted to talk about something more relevant.  Immunity.  Immunity to ‘what will people say/think/do’.  Immunity to unrealistic expectations. Immunity to trying to please everyone.  Immunity to self-doubt, self-sabotage.

The key to fighting any kind of external attack is your immunity.  The higher your immunity levels, the less likely you are to fall prey to pesky germs.

I suggested a collaboration to my friend Medha of Amruta Bindu Yoga a day before Women’s Day.  Within two minutes we were ready.  The deadly Corona virus spreading like wildfire across planet earth, we decided to focus on how yoga can help.  Yoga’s positive impact on boosting your immunity is proven and well documented.  A regular yoga practice helps in lowering your stress hormones and stimulates the lymphatic system (which eliminates toxins from your body).  Inversions (asanas where your head is below the level of your heart) help in increasing blood circulation.  This increased circulation helps in taking oxygenated blood to your organs, which helps in keeping the organs healthy.

A couple of days ago I came across a yoga sequence to strengthen the immune system, designed by BKS Iyengar.  It’s being widely circulated on Instagram and I came across it on the IYNAUS page.  Medha and I decided to share the sequence with our followers.

This sequence was created by BKS Iyengar to boost immunity to fortify the body against the invasion of germs, bacteria and viruses. Fun fact: it’s Medha and I performing the asanas in the images.

 

Daily practice is a challenge, specially when you’re practicing solo.  We decided to help by putting together this checklist for you.  You can print this out and place it where you’re likely to see it, be it your practice space, your dresser, your bathroom mirror, in front of your desk etc.  It’s a reminder to you that all of us need a little help with our yoga practice.  You can also download the Daily Yoga Practice Checklist by clicking on the ‘Download’ button at the end of the blog.

Over the next few days we’re going to be discussing how each of these asanas improve your immunity.  We’ll discuss the asanas at length, giving you new insight into them.  Please reach out to any of us (on Instagram/Facebook) with your queries and we will help you out!  We’re incredibly excited about this challenge and hope it really makes a difference to you.

[ddownload id=”8170″] the Daily Yoga Practice Checklist.

Follow Amrutha Bindu Yoga here.

Follow Medha Bhaskar here.

Follow me (Pragya Bhatt) here.

 

You can read about the individual asanas below:

  1. Uttanasana
  2. Adhomukha svanasana
  3. Prasarita Padottanasana
  4. Sirsasana
  5. Dwi pada Viparita Dandasana
  6. Halasana
  7. Sarvangasana
  8. Viparita Karani
  9. Savasana
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