Yoga Nidra - calm down and get some sleep
July 23rd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Have you tried Yoga Nidra? It’s a great yoga exercise if you have trouble getting to sleep, or are an insomniac.
In its simplest form, Yoga Nidra is a meditation and relaxation exercise, in which you focus on each area of the body in turn, over a period of ten to 15 minutes.
Once you’ve learned this “body scan meditation”, use it at bedtime. You’ll become so adept at it, that you’ll gain complete relaxation in just a few minutes, which transitions easily to sleep. It’s the best relaxation ever, and once you’ve learned it, the process is yours forever.
“After the group was set up in the supported reclining child’s pose, Ms. Buffington led a Yoga Nidra visualization. The soothing, rhythmic quality of her voice allowed consciousness to drift. In fact, one of two men attending the workshop fell sound asleep.”
If you haven’t tried Yoga Nidra, do try it. You’ll love it.
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Bridge Post - Yoga
July 6th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
This active version of Bridge Pose calms the brain and rejuvenates tired legs.
Benefits include:
Stretches the chest, neck, and spine
Calms the brain and helps alleviate stress and mild depression
Stimulates abdominal organs, lungs, and thyroid
Rejuvenates tired legs
Improves digestion
Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause
Relieves menstrual discomfort when done supported
Reduces anxiety, fatigue, backache, headache, and insomnia
Therapeutic for asthma, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and sinusitis
Use caution if you have a neck injury.
Lie supine on the floor, and if necessary, place a thickly folded blanket under your shoulders to protect your neck. Bend your knees and set your feet on the floor, heels as close to the sitting bones as possible.
Exhale and, pressing your inner feet and arms actively into the floor, push your tailbone upward toward the pubis, firming (but not hardening) the buttocks, and lift the buttocks off the floor. Keep your thighs and inner feet parallel.
Clasp the hands below your pelvis and extend through the arms to help you stay on the tops of your shoulders.
Lift your buttocks until the thighs are about parallel to the floor. Keep your knees directly over the heels, but push them forward, away from the hips, and lengthen the tailbone toward the backs of the knees. Lift the pubis toward the navel.
Lift your chin slightly away from the sternum and, firming the shoulder blades against your back, press the top of the sternum toward the chin. Firm the outer arms, broaden the shoulder blades, and try to lift the space between them at the base of the neck (where it’s resting on the blanket) up into the torso.
Stay in the pose anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. Release with an exhalation, rolling the spine slowly down onto the floor.
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Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend - Upavistha Konasana
July 3rd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Upavistha Konasana is a good preparation for most of the seated forward bends and twists, as well as the wide-leg standing poses.
Benefits include:
Stretches the insides and backs of the legs
Stimulates the abdominal organs
Strengthens the spine
Calms the brain
Releases groins
Use caution with this exercise if you have a lower back injury.

Sit with your legs extended out in front of you, then lean your torso back slightly on your hands and lift and open your legs to an angle of about 90 degrees (the legs should form an approximate right angle, with the pubis at the apex). Press your hands against the floor and slide your buttocks forward, widening the legs another 10 to 20 degrees. If you can’t sit comfortably on the floor, raise your buttocks on a folded blanket.
Rotate your thighs outwardly, pinning the outer thighs against the floor, so that the knee caps point straight up toward the ceiling. Reach out through your heels and stretch your soles, pressing though the balls of the feet.
With your thigh bones pressed heavily into the floor and your knee caps pointing up at the ceiling, walk your hands forward between your legs. Keep your arms long.
As with all forward bends, the emphasis is on moving from the hip joints and maintaining the length of the front torso. As soon as you find yourself bending from the waist, stop, re-establish the length from the pubis to the navel, and continue forward if possible.
Increase the forward bend on each exhalation until you feel a comfortable stretch in the backs of your legs. Stay in the pose 1 minute or longer. Then come up on an inhalation with a long front torso.
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