Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer Over 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free (18 page)

either practiced yoga or took part in recreational activities daily for sixty days. The researchers found

that the yoga group had a 30 percent decrease in eye problems, including dry eye and eyestrain.

However, the recreational group had an increase in eye complaints.

THE BLURRED VISION YOGA CURE

If we spend a lot of our day at the computer, it’s important to combat the eyestrain with yoga. There are

several techniques that can soothe and repair vision. It’s also a good idea to keep recreational computer time
to a minimum to avoid further eye damage.

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This routine is designed to ease stress on the eyes, improve relaxation of the muscles around the eyes, and
improve vision. Do it daily to improve vision.

Calm Eyes

Sit comfortably. Relax your shoulders and sit up straight. Rub the palms of your hands together to get some heat going. Close your eyes, press the heels of your hands gently into your eye sockets, and rest your fingers against your forehead. Breathe naturally. Release your hands and let them hang at your sides.

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Eagle

Stand up and bring your feet parallel to each other, directly under your hips. Inhale and bend your knees, sitting back into a chair pose. Shift your weight onto your left leg and cross your right leg on top of your left leg, and hook your right foot around your ankle. Wrap your right arm under your left arm and bring your arms in front of your face. To stay balanced sit down through your hips as much as you lengthen up through your arms. Keep your gaze forward, through your arms. This pose strengthens your peripheral vision. Stay here for three long, deep breaths then try the other side.

Broken Heart

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When your heart has been broken the last thing you might feel like doing is getting up and moving, but

it can be the best thing for you. The clinical term “stress cardiomyopathy,” known as “broken heart

syndrome,” can cause symptoms that mimic a heart attack. They typically occur after the death of a

loved one, or a big physical strain like surgery, and the triggers are subtle and hard for doctors to

pinpoint. A recent study published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association
has shown how

different “broken heart syndrome” is from other heart conditions. Unlike a heart attack, where heart

cells die, leaving scar tissue behind, with stress cardiomyopathy, the heart cells are temporarily stunned,

but not irreversibly damaged. “This definitely shows, using MRI, that the pathophysiology of this

condition is very different. It clearly separates this from other kinds of heart and muscle disorders,”

says Dr. Ilan S. Wittstein, a cardiologist and assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School

of Medicine in Baltimore.

Yoga brings us back to our center, grounds us. When we are going through times that shake us to our

core, troubling us emotionally, some gentle yoga poses can help us begin to heal. If you have a serious

heart condition, of course, consult your doctor.

When we feel tender emotionally we can actually take advantage of the openness to take a look at

how we feel about our life in general; we can use these hurts to gain some perspective. This perspective

will help us grow and feel stable and get back to our usual happy selves.

THE BROKEN HEART YOGA CURE

The yoga cure for a broken heart is to simply get back on your feet and do some yoga, one breath at a time.

It’s the first step in getting back to feeling like yourself again.

This routine is designed to open the chest (heart area), get your body moving so you can get out of your

head, and release tension, whether physical, emotional, or both, that is stored in your body. Try this routine
whenever you have a broken heart. Do it daily until you start to feel like yourself again.

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Standing Arm Reach

Stand tall with your feet a few inches apart, parallel to each other. Your arms should be loose, at your sides. Rest your shoulders down, and widen the area across your collarbones. Take a big, deep inhale and lift your arms up straight, as if you are embracing the sky. Drop your tailbone toward the ground and lift your chest up. As you exhale, lower your arms down to your sides. Repeat this twice more.

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Low Lunge, Back Knee Down Arch

Come into a low lunge with your right leg forward and your left leg back. Sink your hips low toward the ground.

Take three long, deep breaths here. Gently lower your back knee to the floor. Walk your fingertips back so they are under your shoulders. Sink your hips forward, drop your tailbone down, and arch your chest up. Stay here for five long, deep breaths.

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