Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer Over 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free (36 page)

Lizard

From your last pose go into a low lunge, with your right leg forward. Move your right foot over toward your right hand, keeping your toes pointing forward. Lower your back knee down to the ground. If your hips feel super tight, stay here and breathe. If your body allows you more room to work within this pose, gently lower your forearms to the ground. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths.

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Lizard Twist with Ankle Hold

From your lizard, if there is room in your body without feeling tense, bend your back (left) knee, spin your torso toward your right (in the direction of your front leg), and grab your left foot with your right hand. Gently pull your foot in toward your hips. Stay here for three long, deep breaths and repeat on the other side beginning with the lizard pose.

Office Mind

Now that we’ve covered office body, we have the mind to take into consideration. When your brain

feels like it’s bursting from overflowing e mails, endless meetings, spreadsheets, and to-do lists, you

are having an attack of office mind! When your mind gets frazzled at the office, you might be going

through the motions of your work, but the clarity and focus is out the window, and forget about any joy

and ease. Culprits are dry and irritated eyes from staring at a computer screen, deadline-induced

anxieties, office politics, a lack of work/life balance, and whatever other challenges you deal with at

your workplace. They all add up quickly to a cranky, stuck state of being, or office mind. Not good.

Fortunately, yoga can help.

THE OFFICE MIND YOGA CURE

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Bringing a little more “you time” into your workdays will help a ton, by calming anxiety, releasing tension in
the eyes, and relaxing your entire body so when new tension tries to enter, it rolls right off you. Do this routine
in the morning before work and when you get home. If you can squeeze it in at midday, all the better.

Calm Eyes

Sit up comfortably, nice and tall. Rub the palms of your hands together pretty quickly to get a good amount of heat going. Close your eyes and gently press the heels of your hands into your eyelids. Rest your fingers against your forehead. Stay here for three long, deep breaths and gently relax your hands to rest on your thighs.

Four-Count Breathing

From your seated position take in a big inhale through your nose, and exhale all the air out through your mouth.

Inhale through your nose on a slow count to four. At the top hold your breath in for another slow count of four. Then file:///C|/...ures%20Simple%20Routines%20to%20Conquer%20Mlments%20and%20Live%20Pain-Free%20-%20Stiles%20Tara/index.html[5/29/2012 10:54:20 PM]

exhale through your nose for another slow count of four. Repeat this breathing pattern ten times.

Standing Forward Bend, Step on Hands

Stand up tall with your shoulders aligned with your hips. Bend your knees slightly and slowly roll down your spine, head first, until your torso is gently hanging over your legs. Step on the palms of your hands so that the tops of your hands are on the ground, toes on the insides of your wrists. Relax your head and neck. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths.

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Standing Forward Bend, Step on Palms

From your standing forward bend, step on hands, gently remove your hands from under your feet. Turn your hands outward and step on the tops of your hands (palms on the ground) so your toes are touching your wrists. Relax your head and neck. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths.

Overweight/Obesity

A regular yoga practice has been shown time after time to bring people to a healthy weight when diets

and other forms of exercise have failed them. Why? Because yoga is a sustainable, transformative

practice that teaches us how to pay attention. Simply put, practicing yoga makes people mindful of

what and how they eat, and that can help prevent the dread phenomenon of middle-age spread in

normal-weight people. In addition, it may promote weight loss in those who are overweight. We get

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