Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer Over 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free (17 page)

Down Dog

From all fours, tuck your toes, lift your hips, and press back into down dog. Reach your heels toward the ground.

Relax your shoulders toward the ground and relax your head and neck. Stay here for five long, deep breaths.

Down Dog, Lift Heels

In your down dog, inhale and lift high onto your toes, reaching your heels and hips straight up. Exhale and lower back into your down dog. Repeat twice more.

Bingeing

In a study published in 2009 by researchers in Australia, a group of women between the ages of twenty-

five and sixty-three who were diagnosed with binge-eating disorder participated in a twelve-week yoga

program aimed at reducing the severity of their disordered eating patterns. The group that practiced

yoga reported significant reductions in their binge eating behaviors. The control group reported no

significant change.

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THE BINGEING YOGA CURE

The yoga cure when it comes to binge eating and other eating disorders often deals with settling the mind and
curing it of anxiety, worry, fears, and the need for control. Yoga has a way of evening us out, and bringing us
back to balance. When we have a hard time getting out of our own way, yoga is there to help.

This routine is designed to ease the mind and engage the body in a relaxed way. Do this routine daily.

Down Dog Split

From your meditation, come onto all fours. Tuck your toes, lift your hips, and press your legs back into down dog.

Inhale and lift your right leg straight up. Keep your hips square so the toes of your right foot are pointing down toward the ground. Lift up from the very back of your upper thigh. Press down firmly through both hands evenly.

Reach out through both heels evenly.

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Warrior 2

Lift your right knee in toward your forehead and gently place your foot between your hands. Make sure your left heel is grounded, so that both feet are firmly planted on the ground. Press through your feet to standing, and bring your torso up in alignment over your hips. Angle your back foot so your toes are pointing slightly forward and your heel extends farther behind you. Open your arms straight out and away from your torso, right arm in front of you, and left arm behind you, palms down. Look over your front hand. Bend your right knee so your thigh is parallel to the ground. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths.

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Reverse Warrior

Keeping your legs where they are, lean back toward your left leg, letting your left hand drape down toward your calf. Extend your right arm straight up overhead. Stay here for two long, deep breaths.

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Extended Angle

Keeping your legs where they are, bring your torso forward over your front thigh. Press your right forearm into your right thigh and open your chest outward and up. Extend your left arm up and over your left ear. Look toward your left palm. Stay here for five long, deep breaths.

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Extended Angle Bind

From your extended angle, if there is room, wrap your right arm under your upper thigh. Wrap your left arm around your back and hook your hands together. Lengthen your torso upward. Feel as if you are reaching upward with the top of your head and back through the outside edge of your back foot.

Come back into a down dog and do the routine on your other side.

Blurred Vision

A lot of us spend long hours in front of a computer screen, which can cause dry eye, eyestrain, and

blurred or double vision. A recent study published in
Head & Face Medicine
reported the effects of eye yoga treatment on professional computer users in Bangalore, India. Employees of a software company