Tips to Overcome Exhaustion

Many cases of tiredness are due to stress, not enough sleep, poor diet, and other lifestyle factors. Tiredness is very common. No matter the reason, tiredness can push us to our limits emotionally and mentally. Loss of motivation, a feeling of weakness, or drowsiness are a few signs that indicate you are exhausted. You may experience it at any time of the day, but it is most common during the mornings and afternoons between 1 and 4 pm. Just before bedtime, and after meals.

Try these tips to overcome exhaustion that helps to restore your energy levels

1. Hydrate

Consuming a sufficient amount of fluids helps your body function smoothly. When you are low on fluids, your body may feel tired and weaker than usual. Make sure to keep a water bottle close at all times and watch your water intake. Many fruits and other foods contain water so natural fructose from fruit juices is also good for enhancing moods and for instant energy.

2. Get moving

Even a single 15 minute walk can give you a energy boost. So take a stroll around your house, workplace or outdoors to re-energize your body. A walk may be better than a nap for boosting energy and fighting fatigue. Wall stretches are also a good approach to relieve muscle tension instantly.

3. Avoid caffeine and alcohol

Caffeine and alcohol impact the quality and length of your sleep. Try to stay off caffeine completely for a month to see if you less feel tired without it. Skipping consumption will make you feel lighter, healthier, more active, and more energized. Your body will adjust to this change in a few days.

4. Sleep well

Take some time to relax before you go to bed. Poor bedtime habits like eating right before bed, sleeping late, watching TV, or mobile before bed time can hamper the quality of our sleep. Going to bed and getting up in the morning at the same time every day and avoiding nap during the day time may help you to sleep well.

5. Adopt yoga, exercises, or meditation

Make sure to manage some time for yoga, exercises, or meditation. This will boost adrenalin and also keep all diseases and sickness away. It also regulates your blood sugar levels.

6. Work on your mindset

When you are mentally tired, your whole body is exhausted. As our exhaustion comes from our mental state, you must change your mindset about the struggles, obstacles and whatever problems you are dealing with. Just try to remain calm and stress-free. Stay active, focus on yourself, your habits and patterns and also manage your lifestyle habits. Sometimes we are unhappy, going through a phase or are emotionally drained out, which causes exhaustion of our minds. This affects our energy levels and makes us feel physically tired and fatigue.

7. Eat healthy meals every 3-4 hours

A good way to keep up your energy throughout the day is to eat regular meals and healthy snacks rather than a large amount of quantity. Our body needs proper nutrition to function. A well-balanced diet provide us the energy we need to get through the day.

Shatkarma is the key factor in establishing the two main flows of prana: harmonization of ida and Pingala. It results in physical and mental purity and balance. The shatkarmas also balance vata, wind, pitta, bile, and Kapha, mucus, the three disorders created in the body. According to Ayurveda and hatha yoga, any imbalance in these three disorders gives rise to disease. The shatkarma is also utilized before pranayama and other higher practices of yoga so that the body becomes free from disease and does not create any obstacles on the spiritual path.

These powerful practices should never be undertaken just by reading about them in a book or by learning from just by reading about them in a book or by learning from inexperienced people. According to the traditions, a person has the right to teach others only after being instructed by the guru. It is essential that these instructions are given personally, including the knowledge of when and how the practices are to be done, according to the needs of the individual.

The shatkarmas purify the body. Their purpose, however, is not only physical purification, but inner purification as well. When the body is purified, internal disorders are removed and good health is achieved. Without such purification the body will not be ready for the higher practices of yoga.

After purification, a human being lives longer on this earth. The Upanishads and Vedas, state in the number of places that human beings live for a hundred years, jeevema sharadam shatam. This is not only the thinking of the Vedas, Upanishads, or ancient philosophies, it is the truth. If a human being remains healthy and free from disease, living for a hundred years or more is natural. Accurate genetic copying of the cells can continue for that length of time if the programming is not disrupted by impurities or imbalances.

Causes of ill health

The root cause of ill health is impurities in the body that create disorders. Impurity does not simply imply waste matter, but physical, mental, emotional and spiritual impurity.

Physical and dietary imbalances

Physical impurity is mainly related to diet, its qualities, and defects. For example, meal times are not often based on what is best for the body. Many people rise late, have breakfast at ten, lunch at two, and dinner between eight and nine at night. Also, food contains many impure elements, including residues from fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture. Such impurities cannot be completely removed from the diet because most people depend on purchasing food, but certainly, some adjustments to meal times can be managed to be in accord with the natural routine of the body. The result will be a health improvement.

The Vedic tradition stresses that meals should be taken after sunrise and before sunset, but people today do not believe in this way of thinking or adhere to this advice, although the jains still observe strict dietary disciplines. Why not eat before sunrise or after sunset? There is a scientific reason behind this theory, linked with the biorhythms of the body. The solar plexus is linked with the digestive system and is activated by the sun. This important fact should always be kept in mind. It explains why observing this simple rule is the first step in remaining free from disease.

The second rule for keeping the body disease-free, as emphasized in Ayurveda, is that fifty percent of the stomach should be filled with nutritious food. The remaining twenty-five percent with water and the remaining twenty-five percent should be kept empty. Generally, however, people’s eating habits are quite different from this model. When there is good food, they tend to eat more than they require, due to greed and the sense of taste. Diseases, such as high blood cholesterol, are often the result. Disorders of the blood or stomach are often caused by an uncontrolled diet because the quantities of vata, pitta, and kapha are unbalanced.

The third rule that yoga recommends is that meals be taken twice or three times a day, no more. The stomach needs to be regulated in this way because whenever food enters the stomach, digestive juices are produced in the same quantity. The stomach does not distinguish between a biscuit and full plate of food, it simply produces digestive juices. So If a biscuit is eaten every ten minutes, the stomach produce the same amount of digestive juices ten times, which may contribute to stomach ulcers or hernia, and possibly liver damage or kidney failure. If everyone ate a balanced diet at regular times, eighty percent of diseases and disorders would end.

Mental tension

The second cause of disorders in the body is related to the type of thinking. If the mind is unhappy or tense, worried or disturbed, the appetite may disappear and one will not feel like eating. When there is deep involvement in an external situation or a mental state, it has an effect on mental tensions arise, they have detrimental effects on the body and disorders or diseases take root.

Emotional anxiety

The third cause of physical disorders is emotional. Medical science describes it beautifully. It has been shown that when a person is in a state of happiness or sorrow, a hormone called adrenalin is secreted by the adrenal glands. This secretion over-excites the body. It is also closely related to the senses. When one fights with someone, adrenalin is secreted, increasing the rate of respiration. The heartbeat also speeds up and the senses immediately become alert. The ‘fight or flight’ response occurs in both happiness and sorrow.

Internal turmoil

The fourth cause is spiritual. This may manifest as an unsteady mind, as mental or inner turmoil or in the expression of samskaras and karmas, all of which may have a negative effect on the body. Modern civilization is deeply involved in materialism, but the shatkarmas are part of a complete yoga practice oriented towards the whole person, not just the physical body.

Shatkarma Practices

Those practices which regulate the functioning of the internal organs and make them free from disease can now be explained.

1. Dhauti kriya: The first practice is dhauti, cleansing of the stomach and alimentary canal or digestive tract. There are four types of dhauti: antar dhauti, danta dhauti, hrid dhauti and moola shodhana. Three methods are used: with water, with cloth, or with air. These techniques help to remove many stomach ailments. Indigestion and other abdominal disorders such as constipation, irritable bowed syndrome, and hyperacidity can be cured by practicing dhauti.
   
2. Basti kriya: The second practice is basti, a yogic enema. In basti, water is sucked up through the anus and kept in the large intestine for some time. The water does not enter the small intestine but remains in the large intestine. After some time the water is expelled, just as in a regular enema. The only difference is that in an enema a tube is used. Basti is more natural and more appropriate. When an enema is given, excessive force may be applied, resulting in scratches inside the body with the potential for internal injury and bleeding. The waste matter is toxic, so when it comes into contact with a wound, infection can result. Therefore, yogis recommend basti instead of enema. However, first, the practice has to be perfected, and while learning the technique a rubber tube or catheter is required.
   
3. Neti Kriya: The third practice is neti, nasal cleansing. Neti works like an ENT specialist, cleansing the nose, ears, and throat. It is a simple practice. Sage Gheranda describes the variation in which a thread is passed through the nostrils. Alternatively, water is poured in one nostril and flows out the other. The benefits are experienced as soon as the practice is done, as it clears the nasal passages and sinuses. Neti is beneficial for people suffering from sinusitis, rhinitis, eyesight, eye fatigue, headache, migraine eye congestion, pain in the eyes, and minor ailments of the ears such as excessive wax and hardened wax, which may injure the eardrums during its removal. Neti can also relieve throat irritation.
   
4. Lauliki Kriya: The fourth practice is lauliki, which is also called nauli. It is powerful technique which massages and strengthens all the abdominal organs. It should be practiced by those suffering from indigestion, loss of appetite or intestinal worms. It is also useful for removing excess vata or wind.
   
5. Trataka: The fifth practice is Trataka, steady gazing which is useful for removing eye defects and balancing the nervous system. It can, for example, help to remove nervous tics or uncontrolled nervous activity such as one eye blinking very fast. Trataka can relieve eyestrain, short-sightedness, far-sightedness, myopia, or other eye defects in a healthy body. Experience has also shown that with the practice of trataka alone, many people no longer need to wear spectacles.
   
6. Kapalbhati: The sixth practice is Kapalbhati. This is a breathing technique that clears the head and can help to remove defects in the lungs. The trachea or windpipe becomes free from disease and the blood is purified, as a greater volume of oxygen is taken in and a greater volume of carbon dioxide is expelled. Kapalbhati is useful for correcting imbalances in the autonomic nervous system and mental disorders. It is also useful for a weekend memory. Research conducted at an American university found that memory retention in older people can be improved by practicing pawanmuktasana part 1 and kapalbhati for six months.

Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskar is a complete series of postures. It is a very good exercise that takes only a few minutes to do and serves as a warm-up routine before the practice of yoga asanas. It is one of the best home exercises requiring little space, only eight by three feet. Be sure to have enough space to lie down, and enough clearance to stretch the arms above the head while standing.

It consists of 12 series of postures which are performed continuously and combines with synchronized breathing. Each position counteracts the preceding one producing a balance between flexions and extensions. Close your practice with Shavasana, and start your day energized and centered.

Reasons to Do Sun Salutation Everyday

1. Increase your energy circulation

Doing Surya Namaskar, your body will be energized. Doing the Sun Salutations help in increase in the bodily function which in term These Sun Salutations will improve blood circulation, purify your blood, and strengthen the physical body.

After practicing Sun Salutations, the lungs, digestive system, muscles and joints all will be benefitted. This practice also increases the vital energy of prana in your body, which helps remove energy blockages. A series of Sun Salutations can, in itself, be a nice cardiovascular exercise benefitting the whole body.

2. Lengthen and tone your muscles

Sun Salutations practice will bring more strength, flexibility, and tone to the body. This Practice will open up the hamstrings, shoulders, and the chest, as well as release tension. Sun Salutations offer a great release of tension on the spine, which creates length and increases flexibility. Forward Bends and the slight back bend of Cobra Pose help us add space and breathe into areas of tightness. The health of the spine helps maintaining a healthy mind and body.

3. Experience moving meditation

The Sun Salutation is a series of 12 asanas combined with each together with the breath. With every transition of the asanas, you follow the breathing. The breath provides a bridge between the body and the mind, and this gives a perfect moment for a quiet, moving meditation.

Let the mind follow the breath, and when it wanders, bring it back to the breath. Practice being present. Practice enjoying the moment, and not thinking about how many rounds you have done already or how many there are still to go. Be aware of the stories in your mind, and try to find a place beyond them.

4. Practice honor and respect                      

Practicing Sun Salutations daily gives us the perfect place to observe our body. We are different every day, and the practice should reflect this. Some days the body feels supple and capable, and on other days it may feel stiff and tired.

Respect your body everyday as it is. Watch it grow with your daily practice, and modify the sequence as needed. Try not to let your ego dictate the practice–you don’t need to go faster or deeper, as there are no end goals or requirements in yoga. It’s just you and your body, slowly moving and enjoying the journey.

5. Be centered and grateful

With these Sun Salutations, you can rehearse this feeling of thanks in each morning. Be always thankful to have woken up, that there’s a new day, and that you’re suitable to move your body as you wish. There are so numerous possession we take for granted and appreciate only when they’re gone.

Sun Salutation, as the translation indicates, is a gesture of respect and acknowledgment to the sun, but you can also tout any area of your life for which you’re particularly thankful. Save each round to one thing you’re thankful for, no matter how small or big, and soon after, you’ll feel the uplift in your mood and spirit!
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Himalaya Yoga Academy presents an article on ‘Yoga for Diabetes Mellitus’. Diabetes Mellitus is a disorder in the metabolism of sugar. In the diabetic, the primary problem is the defective utilization of sugar by the body. Dietary sugars and starch are broken down to glucose by the process of digestion, and this glucose is the major fuel for the various processes, organs, and cells of the body.

Glucose metabolism is under the control of the hormone insulin, which is secreted by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach. When this gland becomes stressed or exhausted, the hormone insulin becomes deficient in quantity or sensitivity and the blood sugar level becomes high and uncontrolled as a result. The symptoms of diabetes are due to excessive sugar in the blood.

Diabetes is a very common disease today, especially in our affluent communities. Its incidence has paralleled the rising affluence of our lifestyle.

The cause of diabetes

Yogic science recognizes two interrelated causes of diabetes. Firstly, long-term devitalization and sluggishness of the digestive processes due to dietary abuse, overeating, obesity, and lack of exercise. High intake of a sugar and carbohydrate-rich diet is especially implicated. If a person takes a large amount of sugar, sweets or chocolates, etc., their pancreas is ready to respond by pouring out a large amount of insulin to rapidly manage the rocketing blood sugar level without incident.

However, if such a sugar-rich diet is eaten every day, the pancreas is being called upon constantly to secrete enormous amounts of insulin, and sooner or later it begins to tire and become depleted. Insulin production in response to sugar stimulation becomes increasingly inadequate. As a result, the blood remains saturated with sugar for long periods of time. It is then only a matter of time before diabetes is diagnosed. This usually occurs when the patient attends the doctor for investigation of one of the symptoms of high blood sugar, for example, excessive thirst or urination, a resistant skin or urinary infection, or failing eyesight.

The second causative factor is that diabetes is stress-related. The stress and frustration of modern sedentary humans are largely manifest on the mental and emotional planes. Unlike those of our ancestors who had to wage a physical battle for survival. Nevertheless, the adrenal glands are in a constant state of activation, spilling the ‘stress hormone’ adrenalin into the bloodstream. This is a potent stimulus for the body to mobilize glucose into the blood. In this way, a constant heavy burden of worries and anxieties imposes a constant demand for insulin secretion which can ultimately precipitate diabetes, especially in conjunction with a diet rich in sugar.

Two types of diabetes

The less prevalent but more severe form of diabetes occurs in young people. This is juvenile-onset diabetes where the capacity of the pancreas to produce insulin has been partially or even completely lost. This may be due to a genetic defect, or may follow a viral infection or a severe psychic, mental, or emotional trauma. This form of diabetes tends to occur in thin, sensitive, intelligent people. The medical treatment consists of daily injections of replacement insulin.

The more common form is late-onset diabetes, which develops gradually in middle-aged, stressed, overweight, under-exercised persons, whose diet contains an excess of sugars, starches, and fats. This long-term overloading of the digestive system, especially the pancreas, leads to progressive deterioration of the insulin-secreting mechanism, and de-sensitivity of the body tissues to insulin.

In this form of diabetes, the body releases insufficient insulin and does so too late. Since some insulin-producing capacity remains, dietary restrictions can initially control the condition. When this becomes inadequate, doctors prescribe oral hypoglycemic drugs to directly lower blood sugar levels. Over time, due to diminishing control or increasing side effects, patients stop using these drugs and begin daily insulin injections, which are usually needed for life. However, through a system of regenerative yogic practices, many people can often cure this form of diabetes.

The dangers of diabetes

Because insulin is required to push sugar from the bloodstream into body cells, insulin deficiency causes high blood sugar but low intracellular sugar. Though sugar is freely circulating in the blood, it is useless because it is not being put to use by the body’s cells. Therefore, the cells may actually be starving. It is case of “Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink!”.

The muscle cells which form the walls of the blood vessels are particularly affected by sugar starvation, leading to a whole range of degenerative vascular changes, including heart disease, arteriosclerosis, hypertension and kidney failure. Secondary effects of poor circulation, which are frequently seen in poorly controlled diabetes, include skin infections, gangrene, retinal destruction leading to blindness, loss of sensory nerve functions in the extremities, and impotence.

A blood sugar level that drops below normal, hypoglycemia, poses a further dangerous problem for the diabetic. This can occur for a variety of reasons, such as excess insulin injection, and is probably the most dangerous situation the diabetic faces. Because the brain is dependent on a constant supply of glucose, brain cells immediately begin to die of starvation when this supply is cut off.

Unconsciousness (diabetic coma) and even death will occur unless sugar is rapidly replaced. When blood sugar is unavailable, the body releases fats from storage tissues for fuel. As the body burns this fat to produce energy, it creates a state of high acidity (metabolic acidosis), which severely disrupts the delicate acid/base balance of the body. This imbalance is another common cause of death in uncontrolled diabetes.

The role of insulin

Before insulin replacement therapy, diagnosing diabetes was equivalent to a death sentence, as victims quickly wasted away and died from starvation, drowning in a sea of sugar. Insulin has undoubtedly saved or prolonged many lives over the past fifty years. However, over time, people have recognized that insulin therapy has certain drawbacks, including the inconvenience of lifelong dependence on daily injections. In recent years, yogic science has proven to offer an effective alternative treatment for controlling diabetes, especially before complications arise.

Holistic Management of diabetes

The first important principle is nutrition. Many diabetics are overweight. This often causes the body’s tissues to become resistant to the effects of naturally secreted insulin. Evidence shows that a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates assists in increasing muscle bulk (which increases insulin sensitivity) and thus helps to diminish fat mass. These changes alone can eliminate diabetes in some sufferers. In addition, several nutrients assist in improving the process of sugar metabolism and prevention of damage to the eyes, the nervous system, the kidneys, and the cardiovascular system, which are inevitable in any diabetic patient. These include vitamin C, lipoic acid, magnesium, zinc, chromium picolinate, vitamin E, B complex, and selenium.

The Yogic Alternative

When medical science claims diabetes is incurable, many studies have proven that it responds very well to yogic management. In clinical trials, newly diagnosed diabetics have reduced their blood sugar to normal levels. While insulin-dependent diabetics have either discontinued insulin usage completely or significantly reduced their insulin consumption. Newly diagnosed diabetics have excellent prospects of completely controlling and correcting their condition if they adopt yogic practices and lifestyle under guidance.

Yoga does not accept that a lifestyle based on excessive consumption of rich food, obesity and lack of exercise is a natural or desirable state. To simply prescribe insulin or other drugs to counteract the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle is a disease promoting rather than a health promoting practice. The yogic treatment of diabetes is directed at the underlying causes of the disease as well as to its symptoms. It is based on the internal readjustment of the whole organism through stimulation of the body’s own regenerative processes.

The yoga practices are thought to act in two distinct ways to overcome diabetes. Firstly it seems that the cells of the Islets of Langerhans, the secretory portions of the pancreas which have been prematurely exhausted due to oversecretion of insulin, are rejuvenated. This would mean that insulin production is stimulated and that its release is better timed so as to be appropriate to the level of pranic energy in the mid-digestive tract are restored.

Secondly, yoga seems to bring about a more general re-sensitization of muscle and fat tissues to the body’s own(endogenous) insulin. This is achieved specifically by the anti-rheumatic series of pawanmuktasana. It removes blockage of energy in the peripheral muscles and tissues. The anti-gastric series of pawanmuktasana part 1 selectively activates and mobilizes the body’s fatty adipose tissue stores. Surya namaskar is a powerful pranic generator that also helps to restore a balanced metabolism.

Rejuvenating the pancreas

Rejuvenation of sluggish pancreatic secretion patterns in the diabetic occurs gradually by the performance of specific asanas, pranayamas, shatkarmas and bandhas, including uddiyana, and nauli. These probably act by increasing the diminished flow of blood to exhausted and atrophied glandular segments of the pancreas.

Performance of the hatha yoga shatkarmas of laghoo shankhaprakshalana and kunjak kriya on a daily basis greatly aids the process of pancreatic restoration. This process removes toxic wastes from the whole gastrointestinal tract. It cleans and irrigates associated ducts and glands.

The provision of physiological rest is the greatest of all medicines in recuperation from diseases of depletion and exhaustion in any bodily system. The pancreas is no exception and restriction of dietary starch and sugars enables the gland to rest and recuperate from past abuse.

Restoration of normal insulin levels in the Islets of Langerhans gradually occurs. This is aided by gradual withdrawal of external insulin injections incases where the body has become accustomed to the regenerating Islets of Langerhans to produce insulin is halted by the adoption of the correct diet, regular meal times, no snacks and not overeating.

Yogic Management of Diabetes

Yogic management of diabetes is demanding and it is best undertaken while the patient is fully resident in a properly equipped yoga ashram. At least one month should be allowed for the initial period of training and treatment. So that the new attitudes and practices can be thoroughly integrated into the patient’s lifestyle.

Diabetics must undertake yogic therapy in conjunction with qualified medical supervision. Laboratory facilities should be available, so that in therapy can be objectively measured by serial assessment of blood and urinary sugar levels. This is especially important in the period of training when blood sugar levels begin to drop.

The gradual withdrawl of daily insulin can be dangerous procedure, and in our opinion should not be attempted lightly, as the risks of precipitating the patient into keto-acidosis and hypoglycaemic coma are considerable. However, with the proper medical collaboration this objective can be safely achieved.

Simplified months yoga programs:

The yoga sadhana and progress will vary for each individual. This program should not be considered absolute for all diabetics. But should serve as a general guideline from which programs can be devised according to individual’s needs and capacities. Here is a general program of practices for diabetes management, modifiable according to individual needs.

First week

1. Asana: Pawanmuktasana parts 1 and 2, Vajrasana
2. Pranayama: Bhramari and nadi sodhana stage 1.
3. Shatkarma: Neti
4. Relaxation: Abdominal breathing in shavasana.

Second week

1. Asana: As for the first week plus shakti bandha series.
2. Pranayama: Nadi sodhana stage 2;bhastrika (20 breaths).
3. Shatkarma:Kunjal and neti
4. Relaxation: Yoga Nidra.
5. Meditation: Ajapa japa stage 1

Third week

1. Surya Namaskara: Practice according to capacity.
2. Asana: Vajrasana series.
3. Shatkarma:Nadi Sodhana stage 3 with jalandhara and moola bandhas. Bhastrika (30 breathe), with antar kumbhaka and jalandhara bandha. Sheetali and sheetkari
4. Shatkarma: Full Shankhaprakshalana once. Laghoo shankhaprakshalana each subsequent day. Kunjal and neti.
5. Relaxation: Yoga nidra (full one hour practice).
6. Meditation:Ajapa japa stage 2.

Fourth week

1. Surya Namaskara: Up to 12 rounds.
2. Asana:Practice sarvangasana, halasana, matsyasana,paschimmotanasana , ardha matsyendrasana, mayurasana, bhujangasana, gomukhasana.
3. Pranayama: Nadi sodhana stage 4 with maha bandha. Bhastrika with antar and bahir kumbhaka and maha bandha. Sheetali and Sheetkari.
4. Shatkarma: Lagoo Shankhaprakshalana, kunjal and neti daily.
5. Relaxation:Yoga nidra and prana vidya.
6. Meditation: Ajapa japa stage 3.

Further recommendation

• Diet- A low carbohydrate , sugar free , natural vegetarian diet should be adopted from the outset of therapy. Avoid rice, potatoes and all sugar products. Minimal spices, oils, and dairy products. Eat wholemeal chapattis,leafy and watery vegetables, lightly boiled or steamed, salads andn fruits.
• Exercise- Daily walking is recommended.
• Insulin- Withdrawl should begin in a stepwise manner at some stage in the  first two weeks when laboratory results show that yoga is effectively lowering blood sugar levels. Continue reduction under medical supervision according to serial tests.
• Drugs- Oral drugs should be reduced and then stopped once therapy commences.
• Time: Yoga program and dietary restrictions should continue for at least  six months, and longer to prevent recurrence.

Bhramari Pranayama also known as the Humming Bee breathing technique is a calming breathing practice. It is derived from the Sanskrit word “Bhramar” which means Bumble Bee. Bhramari is an effective breathing exercise for meditation. It is the action of making a light humming sound in a comfortable seated position.

Bhramari Pranayama helps to release your mind of agitation, frustration, anxiety, and anger. The humming sound vibrations have a natural calming effect. The activity of this respiratory exercise helps to bring a chilling impact on your mind rapidly. It is a simple technique that can be done anywhere at work or home, it is an instant option to de-stress yourself.

In Bhramari Pranayama the exhalation sound resembles the humming sound of the bee so, called Bhramari Pranayama. While practicing Bhramari breath you have to close your eyes, block your ears, and make a humming sound. This can help to block out external distractions.

How To Perform Bhramari Breathing

Technique

• Sit in a comfortable meditation asana, preferably padmasana or Siddha/siddha yoni asana with the hands resting on the knees in jnana or chin mudra.
• Close your eyes and relax the whole body.
• The lips should remain gently closed with the teeth slightly separated throughout the practice. This allows the sound vibration to be heard and felt more distinctly.
• Raise the arms sideways and bend the elbows, bringing the hands to the ears. Use the index or middle fingers to plug the ears or the flaps of the ears may be pressed without inserting the fingers.
• Bring awareness to the center of the head, where the Ajna chakra is located, and keep the body absolutely still.
• Inhale through the nose.
• Exhale slowly and in a controlled manner while making a deep, steady humming sound like that of the black bee.
• The humming sound is smooth, even, and continuous for the duration of the exhalation. The sound should be soft and mellow, making the front of the skull reverberate.
• At the end of exhalation, the hands can be kept steady or returned to the knee and then raised again for the next round. The inhalation and exhalation should be smooth and controlled. This is one round.

While practicing Bhramari breathing, you can feel the vibration of humming in your face. You may notice a vibration sensation in your cheek, bones, teeth, or maybe even on the surface of your skin. Practice balancing the effort while producing humming so that is strong enough to feel the vibration but gentle enough to feel relaxed.

Benefits of Bhramari Pranayama

1. It is the instant way to release your stress, anger,, and anxiety.
2. Pranayama helps to reduce blood pressure, which relieves hypertension.
3. Calms your mind before entering into meditation.
4. Builds confidence.
5. It strengthens your concentration and memory power.
6. It soothes the nerve.

Precautions

1. Make sure that you are not putting your finger inside the ear but on the cartilage.
2. Don’t press the cartilage too hard. Just place your thumb gently on it.
3. Be sure to keep your mouth closed, and gently press your lips while making a humming sound.
4. Do not put pressure on your face.
5. You can also do Bhramari pranayama with your fingers in Shanmukhi mudra.
6. Do not exceed the recommendations repetitions of 3-4 times.

Shanmukhi Mudra

Note: Please make sure to wash your hands with soap and water before and after touching your face.

Shanmukhi Mudra is a hand position that represents closing the six gates of perception. In this hand position the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears are symbolically closed. To use Shanmukhi Mudra in Bhramari Pranayama, Close your eyes and place your index fingers over your closed eyelids. Use your thumb to block your ears, your middle fingers on either side of your nose, your ring fingers just above your closed lips, and your pinky fingers just below your lips. Do not block your nose or hold your breath if you use Shanmukhi Mudra. Make sure your fingers are in the right position in a comfortable position so that you can continuously breathe in and out through your nose.

Why Yoga for Obesity?’ First of all, what is Obesity? Obesity means excessive body weight. This imposes unnecessary strain on the body’s various physiological systems. Especially the heart, circulatory, respiratory, and eliminative systems. It predisposes the person to the development of many serious metabolic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, and arthritis. In addition, it leads to lowered vitality, mental dullness, and depression.

The most common cause of obesity is overeating, pure and simple. The problem is not only too much food but also that the wrong type of food is taken. A diet composed of excessive oil, spices, starches, sugars, and refined products leads to excess weight. A diet based on natural grains, fruits, and vegetables leads one automatically towards correct body weight and optimal health.

Obesity typically occurs in two types of people. The first type is the competitive, passionate, acquisitive person who eats too much too quickly. They use food as a channel to release pent-up mental energy, unfulfilled ambitions, and desires. Here there is an excess of rajo guna, the activating principle in the personality.

The second type is the household person who overeats out of boredom. Here there is an excess of tamo guna, the principle of inertia. Where lethargy and dullness predominate. As people put on weight, they tend to become even less happy with themselves and their appearance, and thus eat still more. In general, we can say that overeating is due to frustration, where unfulfilled creative energy becomes wrongly channeled into an excessive desire for food.

All obese people suffer from a glandular deficiency in that their endocrine glands cease to function correctly, leading to mental, emotional, and hormonal imbalances. A small number of obese people, however, suffer from a primary glandular disturbance or imbalance, usually of the thyroid, adrenal, or reproductive glands.

Treatment of obesity

Almost all people with obesity will return to a normal body weight and an inspired life if a daily program is followed and determination. The problem is that the obese individual needs inspiration and willpower. He or she needs to lift themselves out of a rut of habits and patterns based wrongly on food. They should redirect their energies into more healthy, creative outlets. Yoga practice provides an excellent means for achieving this goal.

The tense rajasic overeater benefits especially from yoga nidra. He or she habitually sits to eat with a tense, preoccupied mind, takes an enormous meal without really relaxing, tasting and enjoying it at all. They should learn to relax for ten minutes in Shavasana before each meal, dropping their mental preoccupations and relaxing the digestive and other bodily organs. In addition, an object of awareness while eating helps enormously. For example, one may follow a formula of filling the stomach one-half with food, one-quarter with water, and one-quarter empty, or one may fill the mind with the idea that with every piece of food placed into the mouth, one is feeding Agni, the deity of fire.” I am feeding Agni”. “This is the mouth of Agni”. This transforms eating into a form of medication and awareness, which automatically ensures a reduction in the amount of food consumed.

On the other hand the bored, tamasic overeater should be initiated into karma yoga. Some mode of self-expression which will get him or her out of her kitchen. In fact, out of the house away from the constant temptation of food, and into some more stimulating and useful activity. As other interests awaken, the obsession with food will fall away.

Holistic management of Obesity

Yoga program

1. Asana: These are essential to remove blockages, liberate prana, revitalize the mind and activate the endocrine glands. Obese people  should be encouraged to practice to their limit, but never to exhaustion. Let them practice with enjoyment, relaxation,and awareness, and their problems will fall away. It is not necessary to try to sweat off excess ppounds. This  is not the  way to lose  weight. The obese person has poor stamina and willpower and will soon drop out of such a demanding and exhausting regime. Permanent loss of weight demands a total overhaul of the pranic energy structure of the body and mind.

Yogic Asanas For Obesity

1. Chaturangadandasana – Plank pose
2. Virabhadrasana – Warrior pose
3. Trikonasana – Triangle pose
4. Adho Mukha Svanasana – Downward Dog pose
5. Sarvangasana – Shoulder stand
6. Sethu Bandha Sarvangasana – Bridge pose
7. Parivrtta Utkatasana – Twisted Chair pose
8. Dhanurasana – Bow pose
9. Surya Namaskara – Sun Salutation

Asanas build up vitality slowly but surely. They rebalance the nervous and endocrine pathways gradually and effortlessly. In Yoga, the slimming and rebalancing process occurs on an altogether different level from the gymnastics program aimed at sweating off a few kilograms, at best a temporary measure. Weight will surely reaccumulate quickly unless the psychic and pranic energies are rebalanced and glandular mechanisms readjusted. Best practices are pawanmuktasana and the Shakti bandha series followed by Surya Namaskara. Major asanas, especially useful in balancing the endocrine glands and spinal nerves, can be adopted after some months of daily practice of these simple ones.

1. Pranayama: Bhramari and nadi Sodhana are especially useful in awakening diminished vitality. Excessive pranayama, which stimulates appetite, should be avoided. Mild bhastrika helps speed up the metabolism and reduce fat.
2. Shatkarma: Kunjal and neti should be practiced daily, and poorn shankhaprakshalana should be practiced once guidance in an ashram. Laghoo shankhaprakshalana should continue once or twice weekly. These practices will relieve a clogged up and devitalized digestive system, overtaxed bowels, and depleted liver and pancreas. As a result, long-forgotten mental and physical lightness, increased vital energy, and clarity of mind are experienced.
3. Relaxation: Yoga Nidra is essential each day. A negative sankalpa (resolve) should not be adopted, as this is suppressive and may lead to overeating on the rebound. A positive resolve, in a form such as ”My vitality is increasing daily” or “My creative energy is being liberated from food more and more each day” is a powerful means of overhauling a faulty, uninspired lifestyle.
4. Diet: Fasting is not recommended for obese people as it is extremely difficult to maintain proper fasting programs, free from the inevitable rebound be made wholesome with simple food, regular meal times, and no snacks in between. Sugar, sweets, oils, spices, milk and milk products, and, rich and refined foods that overtax the liver, digestion, and heart, should be vastly reduced, in the flavor of whole grains, fruits, and green vegetables.

      Obesity Education

The community needs to be educated on the importance of eating for hunger and physical needs rather than for taste. The fashionable belief that a fat baby is a healthy one should be discarded, as this penalizes the child. This leads to a weight problem in adolescence and later life. A child who lives in a house where frustration and creative energy are wrongly channeled into overeating develops into overeating develops a similar samskara and carries it into later life.

Diversion of  the creative impulse and energies into eating leads to physical , mental and emotional heaviness and dullness. People with creative genius are very active and seldom obese. They are usually consumed with their work, often forgetting to eat in the process. Daily practice of yoga under guidance goes a long way towards rectifying wrong eating habits and towards the proper expression of instincts and desires in creative, inspiring, healthy ways.

Buti Yoga can be explained as a new type of yoga with a hottest craze among women. It combines traditional yoga poses with  jump training (plyometrics), tribal dancing, and burst of cardio-vascular movements .

It’s a classroom full of high-energy individuals with high intensity workouts and loud music. Buti yoga is far different than traditional yoga but focuses in the deep awareness of the mind and body’s connection. Buti is a practice of going within to discover your power potential.

The Buti Yoga system is marketed specifically to women as a female empowerment workout. This workout uplift, motivate and allow women to set aside ego and embrace their own beauty and build confidence.

Physical Benefits of Buti Yoga

The physical benefits differ from the traditional form of yoga because of the amount of movement and stress added to your body. It utilizes the method of Spiral Structure Technique (SST), which forms the basis for Buti yoga’s dynamic flow sequence. Spinal movements mean that it’s strengthening all parts of the abdominal muscle groups, from the inner to top, top to bottom. SST uses spinal movements to tone the core, rather than the linear movements found in many yoga practices. These spiral movements are thought to be more appropriate for a woman’s body. The amount of sweat is considerable in comparison to a traditional yoga classroom. During one class, one can burn 800-1000 calories.

How is Buti Yoga Unique ?

Buti Yoga creates the link between traditional and modern yoga practices while adding unique dance moves to keep the audience active and more interested. In Buti Yoga, the major movements are designed to activate all the abdominal muscle groups using the Spiral Structure Technique (SST). It not only prioritizes transforming the body from the outside, but helps to unify and balance body, mind, and soul. Buti yoga intends to tone the core and energize the divine feminine energy inside.

Through Buti yoga, the Divine feminine energy also called shakti that lies dormant at the spine gets released through exercises such as hip rotations, or powerful yoga movements, to sculpt and mold the body from the outside, incorporating the strong feminine power from within.

Who Created Buti Yoga?

Celebrity trainer Bizzie Gold founded Buti Yoga in 2010, creating it as a way to use movement to heal her body. Known for coaching and working with celebrities to shape their bodies for Hollywood, Gold infuses all her teachings and advisory services with the core belief that people should build the world they want to live in, not just complain about it. Her empire has grown to include over 1,000 instructors across more than 15 countries worldwide. Buti Yoga is generally marketed towards women as a tool of empowerment.

Buti came from the Indian Marathi word that means “the cure to something hidden or kept secret.” Buti yoga is a Shakti Awakening yoga practice that fuses power yoga, tribal dance, and plyometrics into a high-intensity workout. It is empowering a growing tribe of women around the world. It created a deeper connection between the body, mind, and soul.

Bizzie wanted to create a yoga that tones and sculpts the entire body while facilitating complete inner transformation, encouraging the power, confidence, and knowledge to know we can help ourselves.

What are the spiritual and emotional benefits of Buti Yoga

Buti yoga focuses on removing the blockage in our chakras, especially in the first and second chakra. They are responsible to activate our sexuality, power, and confidence. We all are born with these qualities. The result of this blockage usually leads to tighten hips and closed minds.

The movement in Buti Yoga helps to open and align these chakras by cultivating a new awareness of our mind and body’s connection. It defines our views of ourselves and considers our potential and limits.

Is Buti Yoga only for women?

Buti Yoga is for both men and women, and it is designed to be an engaging, fast-paced workout that finds comfort in their sexuality. A lot of  women are attracted towards the practice, but  plenty of men have too. It is the practice of developing self love and confidence. The exercises aim to spiral the body, working into the core and stabilizing the muscles.

This can also be popular choice for women after childbirth, as the core stabilizing exercises can help women with diastatis recti-the  abdominal separation women often experience during pregnancy.

What to expect during a Buti Yoga?          

You can expect to have a best time in your life. You will feel far better physically, emotionally and mentally than when you came in.

The buti yoga welcome individuals from the different backgrounds of yoga as well as all ages. Here , we can see the individual just be starting yoga in their sixties or a teacher in their thirties and still in the classroom. That`s the beauty of the classroom.

This practice is quite challenging as intentional shaking, tribal dancing, and cardio-intense practice are done. It feels like the dance class, with a couple of traditional yoga poses chuckled along the way but it meets individuals at the level they are. Whether you are just a beginner or an advanced yogi, you can just attend a class and feel out of place. Partly because you don’t need to have a lot of yoga experience to prepare for this course.

You can expect music and most of women wearing shorts and sports bra. This clothing practice is intentional within the classroom as there is a mirror that helps patrons visually see abdominal muscles to know when they are fully activated and when they’re not.

Of course, if you don`t feel comfortable wearing these clothes, you can wear whatever makes you comfortable. It’s a practice to develop your self-love and self acceptance.

The class’s energy is high; you can expect shouting from the instructor, who will make patrons feels motivated with hoots to maintain engagement. Class runs about 60-90 minutes.

What are some moves of Buti Yoga?

When entering in the Buti Yoga class, expect more than the traditional yoga moves. Consider the most fast paced dance moves, with the jumping movements that will cause to produce good amount of sweat making you feel more awakened, relaxed refreshed and revitalized.

Climber: It works in the abdominal muscles, and strengthens the arms, back, and legs. To start this move, first, be in a plank position. Inhale to engage the core, and to drop the hips down. Exhale and slowly raise your hips, round the back towards the ceiling, keep your head lifted, pull the left knee towards your chest, and then return – alternative side.

Slide exercises: This mainly focuses on the legs, shoulders, abdominal muscles, and rear. Squat with feet together with a slight forward bend, keep palms together in front of the chest. Move right leg out towards the side, with toes touching the ground. Staying in the squat, extend the left arm diagonally overhead, while allowing the right arm to fall to the side- Alternative sides.

Straddle Exercises: These exercises stimulates abs, obliques and back while strengthening shoulders, arms and hips. For this exercise, you have to stand on your feet wider than your shoulder level. Keep legs straight but not locked. Lean backward and engage the upper half of the abs by taking inward. Extend both arms towards the sides at shoulder level and shift torso from the left to right . Repeat quickly from side to side.

Break it down: This exercise stimulates the abdominal muscles, and back and strengthens the butt and legs. To start, start with parting feet at shoulder length apart, bending over, and keeping the legs straight. Engage and move feet to the left and bend both knees. Drop right knees towards the center but keep lifted. With palms remaining on the floor, hop legs back.

Butt workout: This exercise strengthens abs, legs, butts, or hips. Squat with feet slightly apart, toes pointed outwards, resting hands on the top of your thighs. Inhale, squeeze the abdominal muscles, and push to pelvis forward. Then exhale, engaging the lower back muscles, and pushing the tailbone backward. Continue moving quickly between two positions.

Is Buti Yoga worth a  try ?

It is obvious that it is a different approach to yoga than the traditional yoga and to answer that question depends on what the individual looks for when attending. For variety, and something fast paced, Buti yoga will deliver. As with any class, there is handful of pros and cons that depend on what someone is  hoping to take away.

However, observing the praises, it seems like it’s worthy of giving it a shot. Not only on the physical aspect, it focuses on the emotional elements and insight alone.

The community that surrounds Buti yoga cultivate the idea of inclusively, self awareness, and promoting self- love. Surrounding people with like – minded viewpoints and perspectives that wish to build others up , support and encourage growth, we think it is always a positive environment that promotes the positivity. That is still something to try.

Himalayan Yoga Academy presents an article on ‘Yoga Postures for Relaxation’ considering the hectic lifestyle of the individuals. Daily we go through a lot of task and activities that makes us stressed and fatigued. Our bodies and mind become tired and we lose a lot of energy. The whole body becomes tired and we always look for ways of relaxation. Our daily life has become influenced by these modern lifestyles of working like machines which have made us tired from the body to mind. We need these relaxation yogic asanas to energize our vital energies and feel the relaxation from the whole body to mind. So here are Yoga Postures for Relaxation.

1. Shavasana (Corpse Pose)
2. Makarasana (Crocodile Pose)
3. Balasana (Child Pose)
4. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
5. Supta Matsyendrasana (Reclining Fish Pose)

Yoga Postures for Relaxation

1. Shavasana (Corpse Pose)

Shavasana, ‘Shav’ – Corpse/dead body; Asana – Pose; Corpse Pose, or is an asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise. It is often used for relaxation at the end of a session. It is the usual pose for Yoga Nidra meditation as well. Shavasana is the Sanskrit name for an important restorative asana. It is a key component of asana practice in almost every yoga tradition. It is most commonly used at the end of a sequence as a means of relaxation and integration. This pose gets its name from the recumbent posture of a dead body. It is a position of rest and is usually practiced towards the end of a yoga session. A session that typically begins with activity and ends in rest; a space or pause when deep healing can take place.

Shavasana is believed to stimulate the Muladhara (root) chakra since the entire length of the body is connected with the earth. Energizing this chakra through shavasana is deeply grounding, and cultivates the inner stillness and stability necessary for personal growth. While giving a class the teacher can also chant a mantra and ask the students to focus on the sound and the vibrations it produces in the body. This is particularly helpful for beginner students who find it difficult to calm their minds. Shavasana is particularly useful for a full-body reset. If you can enter into 5 minutes of proper Shavasana, you can remove the fatigue and stress from the body, get back up energized ready to carry on.

 2. Makarasana (Crocodile Pose)

Makaraasana (मकरासन, “makara posture”) is a Sanskrit word referring to a type of posture (Aasana) used in Yoga. The name comes from the Sanskrit मकर makara meaning “crocodile” and आसन  Aasana meaning “posture” or “seat”. Makaraasana is described in the 17th-century Gheraṇḍa Saṁhitā (Chapter 2, Verse 40). It is one of the thirty-two Aasanas (postures) taught in the second chapter of the Gheraṇḍasaṃhitaa: “Lie prone, the chest touching the ground and the two legs stretched out. Hold the head with the two arms. This is Makaraasana that increases the heat of the body”.

Makaraasana is a very useful and effective Aasana that is for all levels of practitioners. After and before traveling, walking, working, and also driving for a long time, it prepares and gives instant relief. It is affordable for all. It is bed exercise. It is the best pose for low back pain and cervical spondylitis as well. This pose is best for relaxing after doing other Asana.

 3. Balasana (Child Pose)

Balasana is an easy yoga asana that can even be performed by beginners. In Sanskrit, Bala means child and asana refers to one’s posture. Thus, this pose is also called Child Pose. It is a ‘counter’ asana for many asanas and is performed preceding and following Sirsasana as it is a resting pose. This is often the first pose taught to beginners. It is easy to follow and highly beneficial. If perfectly performed, the body faces the floor in the fetal position (thus the name). It is also called Garbhasana and Shashankasana.

The key to yoga is regulated breathing. If you get that part right, the rest just flows. T. Krishnamacharya, in his paper ‘Salutation to the Teacher and the Eternal One,’ says, “One important thing to be constantly kept in mind when doing asanas is the regulation of the breath. It should be slow, thin, long, and steady: breathing through both nostrils with a rubbing sensation at the throat and through the esophagus, inhaling when coming to the straight posture, and exhaling when bending the body. ”This is one of the relaxation poses that relaxes your body.

4. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

Bhujangasana (भुजंगासना) or the Cobra pose is one of the gentle backbends that helps relieve backache. It also helps in improving digestion and the overall health of the spine. Cobra pose is often used within a sun salutation or vinyasa as a transitional pose in a collection of asanas

Benefits

• Strengthens the back and legs
• Stretches the front of the body, opening the chest and shoulders
• Energizes and mobilizes the spine

5. Supta Matsyendrasana (Reclining Fish Pose)

Supine Spinal Twist — Supta Matsyendrasana (Soop-tah-MOTS-yen-drAA-SUN-aa) — is a restorative spinal twist, that lengthens and strengthens the spine while detoxifying the internal organs. Supta Matsyendrasana is a gentle posture that stretches the spine, shoulder, back, thighs, and neck and stimulates internal detoxifying processes, all while the body rests. Regular practice of Supta Natarajasana can relieve lower back pain and tight shoulders. The pose gets its name from the Sanskrit words, Supta, meaning supine or reclined, Matsya, meaning fish, Indra, meaning ruler, and asana, meaning pose.

Benefits

• Stretches the spine and quadriceps
• Massages the back and hips
• Lengthens, strengthens, and realigns the spine
• Encourages fresh blood flow to the internal organs
• Improves digestion
• Provides deep relaxation

During 200-hour, 300-hour, and 500-hour Yoga Teacher Training in Nepal, we highly focus on yoga asanas for various situations like relaxation, etc. The teaching of which asanas are beneficial for a particular situation and which are suitable for another situation. We teach the teachers standing, sitting, supine, and prone asanas and also balancing asanas where we separate the asanas based on people’s wants and demands. So the students during the yoga teacher training course at Himalayan Yoga Academy will be able to demonstrate these super relaxation asanas with proper management of the alignment.

Cervical spondylitis refers to the long-term stiffening and degeneration of the spinal column in the neck. It causes pain and muscular spasms in the back of the neck and shoulders. Tension headaches often accompany it. The pain may radiate into the shoulders, arms, and forearms, with sensations of pins and needles or tingling in the same areas. Neck movement becomes restricted, and individuals may experience muscular weakness, muscle wasting in the arms, giddiness, and ringing in the ears.

In some cases of spondylitis, doctors can easily see signs of vertebral degeneration in the neck on X-rays. However, paradoxically, an X-ray of the neck in many sufferers appears normal and healthy, showing little or no classical signs of degeneration. Visible degeneration includes the narrowing of the intervertebral disc space. It makes the area appear worn away, and the presence of new dense bony projections, called osteophytes. The foramina, or bony tunnels through which the blood vessels run, become narrowed. These blood vessels supply not only the spinal cord but also the rear portion of the brain, including the cerebellum and medulla.

Bony constriction of these vertebral arteries will cause decreased blood flow to the brain and faintness and giddiness will result. Similarly, bony overgrowth may impinge on the delicate cervical nerve roots emerging on the either side of the vertebral column  in the neck. Aches and pain in the back and arms will result.

Cause of Cervical Spondylitis

Osteoarthritis of the vertebral bones of the neck may be precipitated by a previous injury. The neck is the most delicate part of the spinal column and is also one of the most vulnerable. Even a jerk due to a moving vehicle stopping suddenly can cause such an injury in the neck.

Damage can also occur as a gradual degenerative process, due to wear and tear of the joints, bones, muscles ad ligaments of the neck. Hence it is more common after middle-age and especially in the middle-aged sedentary workers who sit with their heads held rigidly forward the whole day.

Medical Management

Modern medicine mainly offers physiotherapy as a remedy for this malady, in addition to anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain-relieving) drugs. Intervertebral injections of corticosteroids into painful areas often provide effective pain relief by damping down inflammation in the short term. However, many sufferers report that their overall state worsens after receiving a series of injections, with the pain becoming ultimately worse. Physiotherapy often provides effective temporary relief but rarely cures the condition. It is administered in the form of short-wave diathermy, massage, cervical traction, and the wearing of a cervical collar.

Yogic Management

Yogasana prove both palliative and curative in spondylitis. Especially in early and newly diagnosed cases, where minimal changes are detected in X-rays. Asanas act by reducing muscular tension and spasm and also by correcting posture. In addition, they restore pranic balance in the neck, leading to regeneration of damaged tissues and reversal of abnormal bone growth.

The following practice program is prescribed for sufferers of cervical spondylitis. It should be adopted slowly and carefully under skilled guidance, and then practised each morning.

Asana: Pawanmuktasana part 1, especially poorna titali asana (full butterfly), skandha chakra (shoulder socket rotation), and greeva sanchalana (neck movements). The neck rotation exercises should be performed carefully.

One can perform Vajrasana, Shashankasana, Shashank Bhujangasana, Bhadrasana, Shavasana, Akarna Dhanurasana, Makarasana, Marjari-asana, and Sarpasana.

Later on, as the range of pain free movement increases, the following asana can be gradually adopted: padmasana, matsyasana, yoga mudra, supta vajrasana, saral dhanurasana, and ardha matsyendrasana.

• Pranayama: Nadi shodhana stages 1 and 2.
• Meditation: Kaya sthairyam is most effective in spinal diseases and deformities. The head should be held erect but with the slightest tilt backward, the spine upright and shoulders relaxed. An experienced yoga teacher will demonstrate the position
• Relaxation: Yoga nindra in shavasana. A neck support in the form of a soft pillow may be necessary.
• Shatkarma: Neti Kriya daily
• Diet: as for arthritis
• Additional aid: a cervical collar is often helpful.

What are Kidney stones? Why Yoga for Kidney Stones? Kidney Stones occur due to metabolic and dietary imbalances in the body and reflect disturbances in the body’s fluid and acid balance. Under different conditions, various substances precipitate out of the urine and form sludge, sediment, gravel, or large stones. Sediments or even stones may pass in the urine, accompanied by severe pain and blood (hematuria). Here we will learn some yogic kriyas for kidney stones.

Types of Kidney Stones

There are three most common forms of kidney stones:

1) Oxalate stones are likely to occur with persistently concentrated urine. Some people assume that a diet including too much oxalic acid-enriched foods is necessary for stone formation. Such foods are spinach, tomatoes, rhubarb, etc. But this is yet to be scientifically proven.

2) Calcium or Phosphate stones are large and staghorn shaped. They may form rapidly under excessively alkaline conditions, or where there is a disturbance of calcium metabolism. This could occur due to an imbalance of the parathyroid glands, excess of calcium food such as milk, or where calcium is being mobilized into the circulation from the bones of the skeleton.

3) Uric acid and urate stones may form due to acidic conditions. For example, consuming a diet too rich in protein sources such as meat, fish, and eggs.

Kidney Pain

Ureteric colic is an excruciatingly severe form of pain. It arises when a stone of relatively large diameter enters the narrow ureter. Then, begins its passage down towards the bladder. This pain radiates from the loin into the groin and may occur in recurrent bouts of two or three hours, or a single bout may continue for twenty –four hours or more. It usually comes on acutely, causing the sufferer to draw up his knees and roll about in agony. It is frequently accompanied by vomiting, profuse sweating, and a great desire to pass urine (strangury), though only small amounts are passed. This is a clear sign that the urinary tract is obstructed.

The acute bout of agonizing renal colic may require a morphine injection for immediate relief and surgery may be indicated in chronic cases where the presence of one or more large stones in the pelvis or the kidney is detected.

Cause of Kidney Stones

Several factors combine to lead to kidney stone formation. They usually occur in the presence of some metabolic disorder and when the urine remains persistently highly concentrated. An unsuitable diet containing excessive meat protein, acid-forming foods such as refined flour and sugar products, too much tea and coffee, chemically preserved and treated foods, and pungent and sour condiments and spices helps to precipitate stones.

An unhealthy diet congests and overloads the liver, and what the liver cannot effectively detoxify and metabolize is passed on to the kidneys. There it may cause inflammation or gravel and stone formation. The kidneys pass as much as possible into the urine, which is usually foul-smelling and highly irritating to the urinary bladder.  The long-term effects of this may be inflammation, ulceration, and tumor formation in the bladder.

Other factors contributing to kidney stone formation may include excessive salt or reduced water intake. These leads to a highly concentrated urine obstruction to urinary outflow, and chronic tract infection, leading to stagnant urine. Lack of exercise, especially prolonged immobilization in a recumbent position during convalescence or recovery from injury, is another precipitating cause.

Yogic Management of Kidney Stones

Adopting the following yogic management program and general recommendations can prevent the formation of kidney stones and help remove old stones and urinary sediments. Those who have experienced mild or severe renal pain or have prevented recurrences of the condition can benefit from this approach. However, large stones may present a difficult therapeutic problem, and if yoga fails to provide relief, surgery may become necessary.

1. Surya Namaskara: Up to six rounds.
2. Asana: Trikonasana, vajrasana, marjari-asana, vyaghrasana, supta vajrasana, ushtrasana, shashank bhujangasana, shalabasana, ardha matshyendrasana, naukasana, ardha padma paschimottanasana, ardha padma halasana, chakrasana, merudandasana, hamsasana, mayurasana, koormasana, dwi pada sirsana, tadasana, triyaka tadasana, kati chakrasana, udarakarshanasana.
3. Pranayama: Bhastrika with bandhas.
4. Mudra and bandha: Pashinee mudra and yoga mudra, moola bandha, Vajroli mudra, uddiyana bandha.
5. Shatkarma: Agnisar Kriya or Naulil is practiced daily. Shankhaprakshalana in an ashram environment. Laghoo shankhaprakshalana once a week.
6. Relaxation: Yoga Nidra and abdominal breathe awareness.
7. Meditation: Ajapa japa, nada yoga.
8. Diet: A fresh wholesome natural diet is recommended. Fruit, juices, and lightly cooked succulent vegetables are recommended to alkalinize the urine. Avoid or reduce the intake of meat, eggs, fish, and milk products as they produce uric acid and waste in high concentrations. Avoid acid-forming foods and highly refined flour and sugar products such as cakes, sweets, biscuits, etc. Restrict the intake of tomatoes and spinach, which are high in oxalic acid. Decrease the intake of salt. Try to drink at least four liters of water per day, especially in the summer months. It is claimed that pears can dissolve kidney stones if up to a dozen are consumed per day.
9. Fasting: In conjunction with increased water intake fasting is highly recommended in order to flush , cleanse, and purify a sluggish urinary system.

Further Recommendation

1. A short walk each day is recommended, particularly after the evening meal.
2. Try to get some outdoor exercise at least once or twice a week.
3. Parsley tea is said to be very beneficial. Take a small glassful every three hours.