Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer Over 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free (16 page)

Cat/Cow

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Come onto all fours, with your wrists directly under your shoulders and knees directly under your hips. Spread your fingers wide like you are digging into wet sand. Bring your spine to a neutral position and take a few long, deep breaths here. As you inhale, drop your belly down toward the ground, allow your back to arch and look up into a cow pose. As you exhale, round your back like a cat and look inward. Repeat this movement several times as you breathe. Try to avoid pushing your body to achieve a shape, but rather breathe deeply and allow your body to open up to where your breath can take you right now.

Down Dog

At the top of your next inhale in your cow pose, with your back arched and your gaze upward, tuck your toes, lift your hips, and press back to a down dog. Reach your heels toward the ground. Relax your shoulders and relax your head and neck. Stay here for five long, deep breaths.

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Child’s Pose

From down dog, gently lower your knees to the ground, shift your hips back to sit on your heels, and relax your forehead on the ground. Stay here for five long, deep breaths.

Arthritis

If you have arthritis, practicing yoga can help in relieving joint pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited

range of motion. A recent study conducted in the United Arab Emirates examined forty-seven

rheumatoid arthritis patients who completed twelve sessions of Raj yoga (a gentle form of yoga). The

study’s author, Dr. Humeira Badsha, said, “While our study has been conducted in a small group of

patients, the results show clear benefits for patients who regularly practice. We believe that practicing

yoga for a longer term could in fact result in further significant improvements and we hope our study

drives further research into the benefits of yoga in rheumatoid arthritis.”

Meditation has also been shown to help people deal with arthritis. “Meditation is becoming

increasingly popular as a way to treat chronic illness such as the pain caused by arthritis,” said Dr.

Christopher Brown, who conducted a meditation study on arthritis sufferers. “The results of the study

confirm how we suspected meditation might affect the brain. Meditation trains the brain to be more

present-focused and therefore to spend less time anticipating future negative events. This may be why

meditation is effective at reducing the recurrence of depression, which makes chronic pain considerably

worse.”

THE ARTHRITIS YOGA CURE

To ease arthritis, practice meditation at least once per day for five to ten minutes. Work up to meditating
twice per day, right when you wake up and before bed, for better results.

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Hands and Knees Wrist Release

Come onto all fours. Make sure your wrists are directly under your shoulders, same for your knees and hips. Spread your fingers wide. Turn your right hand as far to the right as it will go, so the heel of your hand is facing forward and your fingers are facing your body. Press your palm into the ground. Gently put weight on the wrist and roll into the hand, breathing deeply into any tight areas that you find. Stay here for five long, deep breaths, then do the same with the other hand.

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Hands and Knees Fist Release

Staying on all fours, make tight fists with both hands, bend your elbows out to the sides, and place the tops of your hands on the ground, your knuckles should be facing each other. Begin to straighten your elbows but only straighten as much as you can while keeping a tight fist. You should feel a stretch on the tops of your wrists.

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