Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer Over 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free (15 page)

Interlace your fingers loosely and place the sides of your hands on the floor. Place the top of your head in the space formed by your cupped hands. Stay here for a few breaths to get comfortable. If this is not comfortable, back out of it and go back to child’s pose. Tuck your toes, straighten your legs, and lift your hips toward the sky. In this position you are getting a lot of the benefits of a headstand without your feet ever leaving the ground. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths and when you are ready, gently lower your knees to the ground and relax into child’s pose.

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Headstand

Mastering a headstand usually takes time, so remember to have patience and also to have fun.

If you are comfortable in the headstand prep position, start to walk your feet in toward your body so that your hips line up over your shoulders and your back is straight. Stay here for a few breaths. If you feel good, bend one knee in, bringing your heel to your hip. Bring it back down and try the other leg. If you are steady with one leg, try both legs at the same time. When your heels are pulled in toward your hips and you feel sturdy and stable, slowly extend your legs straight up. Stay for twenty long, deep breaths. When you are ready to come down, slowly lower one leg at a time and rest in child’s pose for a few breaths.

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Anxiety

We all experience some anxiety from time to time. Whether we are stressed about an upcoming event or

deadline, the outcome of a test, or in anticipation of an important meeting, how we deal with the

feelings surrounding these moments is important. Stress is a part of life and doesn’t necessarily

disappear the moment we begin a regular yoga practice. But we do learn how to handle it a whole lot

better. Yoga gives us physical and mental space between ourselves and a potential stressful situation.

In a German study published in 2005, twenty-four women who described themselves as “emotionally

distressed” took two ninety-minute yoga classes a week for three months. A control group maintained

normal activities and was asked not to begin a stress-reduction program during this time. At the end of

the three months, women in the yoga group reported improvements in perceived stress, depression,

anxiety, energy, fatigue, and well-being. Their depression scores improved by 50 percent, anxiety

scores by 30 percent, and overall well-being by 65 percent. The control group reported no improvement.

THE ANXIETY YOGA CURE

Whether the stresses of daily life are a little or a lot overwhelming, yoga can help ease anxiety big-time and
lead you back to feeling great again.

This routine is designed to ease excess tension in the body and mind. Do it daily to ease anxiety and calm the
mind.

REAL-LIFE CURES: Tyler’s Anxiety Disorder

Tyler started yoga for exercise. He soon found that after a few classes the yoga helped him relax and deal with feelings of overwhelming anxiety that he experienced on a daily basis. Tyler soon learned yoga is very different from other forms of exercise that he’d been involved with, like gym training and running. He found that when he moved his body with the direction of his breath instead of willing his mind to push his muscles, he experienced a profound sense of ease in his own skin. He was able to cultivate a lasting ability to relax and be easy in his body and mind through a regular practice.

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Alternate Nostril Breathing

Begin with a few moments of seated meditation. Staying seated, curl the index and middle fingers of your right hand, so that they touch the insides of your palm.

Press your ring finger over your left nostril and inhale for four counts through your right nostril. Close off your right nostril with your thumb so both nostrils are closed. Hold the air in for four counts. Release your ring finger and exhale the air out through your left nostril for four counts. Reverse this pattern starting with inhaling through the left nostril, holding both closed, and exhaling out the right side. Repeat this breathing pattern for three to five minutes.

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Seated Easy Side Bend

Staying seated, gently lean over toward your left side and press your left palm and forearm into the ground alongside your body. Extend your right arm straight up overhead. Stay here for three long, deep breaths then try the other side.

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Seated Easy Twist

Staying seated, inhale and lift your left arm straight up. As you exhale, grab your right knee with your left hand.

Press your right fingertips into the ground behind your hips. Inhale and sit up tall. Exhale and twist your torso further toward the right.

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Seated Arm Cross, Hold Knees

From your seated twist keep your left hand on your right knee, inhale and lift your right arm up and over to grab hold of your left knee. Your hands should now be holding opposite knees. Relax your torso forward over your legs.

Relax your head and neck. Stay here for three long, deep breaths then slowly roll up to sitting. Perform the same movements beginning with seated easy twist on the other side.

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