Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer Over 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free (64 page)

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Lie down on your back. Open your legs hip width, or a bit wider, depending on what’s most comfortable for you.

Relax your arms a bit out to your sides, palms facing up. Take a big inhale through your nose, exhale all the air out through your mouth. Repeat the same breathing pattern twice more. Relax your entire self for three to five minutes.

When you are ready to come out of it, slowly start to deepen your breath. Roll your wrists and ankles around.

Gently hug your knees into your chest and rock up to sit up comfortably.

After you’ve finished your nightly yoga, tuck yourself in. Keep your journal handy if you want to write

anything down that comes to mind and sleep well!

Just a Few More Thoughts Before You Close This Book

My hope is that whether you are at the beginning of your efforts to fit yoga and healthy living ideas

into your life or are already a longtime yoga practitioner, teacher, guide, master, or fall somewhere in

between, you are inspired to practice and share yoga with everyone you know and care about. As I’ve

said a lot in this book, tailor yoga to work for your life, around your needs, and to achieve your goals,

as yoga is for everyone. I hope you claim it, make it as natural as waking up every day, and as routine

as drinking a glass of water. I hope you take wild advantage of the fact that yoga really does cure.

A regular yoga practice is entirely what you make of it. You don’t have to be able—or even want—to

put your foot behind your head or hang out in the splits to gain its incredible transformative benefits.

Those who practice yoga regularly will enjoy tremendous health and vitality, boundless energy, and an

increased zest for life. Yoga also shows us how to become sensitized to our needs, our wants, and our

selves, and builds the intuition we need to deal with stress, ailments, and any of the curveballs life

tosses our way.

Yoga shows us how to be easy and calm, no matter the circumstance. And for the situations that yoga

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doesn’t cure, a regular practice helps us to deal with them with grace and ease.

Whether shown through the efforts of researchers, personal stories of transformation, or every day

practices and ideas that have been passed down through the centuries, yoga is as natural in our lives as

breathing. We already have within us everything we need to live an inspired, healthy life full of vitality

and zest for each moment. It’s simply up to us what we do with what we have.

Your life does matter. Your contribution does matter. Anything is possible.

YOGA POSE LIBRARY

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The yoga poses compiled here were created by experimentation over the years to focus the practitioner inward to heal the body and mind.

Whether you practice for health reasons, mental clarity, spiritual connection, or all of the above, you can tailor yoga to your lifestyle, intentions, and goals. Remember to breathe, be easy on yourself, and most of all, enjoy. The practice of yoga allows us to experience our whole selves. It’s up to us what we do with that experience.

This index includes some of the major benefits of each pose. Remember to breathe long and deeply. Namaste!

Standing Poses

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1. Standing.
Improves posture, confidence, and body awareness.

2. Standing Arm Reach (Sun Salutation).
Improves posture and expands the lungs.

3. Standing Side Opener (wrist pull).
Improves posture and expands the lungs.

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4. Standing Forward Bend.
Calms the mind, opens the hamstrings, and releases tension in the upper back.

5. Standing Forward Bend (flat back arch) (Sun Salutations).
Lengthens the spine and opens the hamstrings.

6. Standing Forward Bend (elbow hold).
Opens the hamstrings, calms the mind, and releases tension in the upper back.

7. Standing Forward Bend (shoulder opener).
Opens the hamstrings and shoulders, and calms the mind.

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