De-stress with yoga

Gulf News

De-stress with yoga. Relaxing ways to calm the mind and soothe the body with stress busting moves from Artistic Yoga. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

Transcript

00:00Namaste and welcome to Artistic Yoga's class for de-stressing you.

00:22It's been a very hectic year and the stress levels have been crazy, so we are looking

00:27at a few positions, especially breathing techniques and a simple meditation technique that will

00:32help us to de-stress, unwind and better cope with the stressful times.

00:39The first breathing technique that we look at is actually a neuromuscular lock that we

00:43call Bandha in Yoga, Jalandhar Bandh.

00:47Inhale while holding your breath, touch your chin to your chest and retain the breath inside.

00:55You must hold your breath for only as long as you can.

00:58Those who have high BP hold for just 3 or 4 seconds and those who have a cervical problem

01:04make a fist with their hand and place it between chin and chest.

01:09Once you have held for about 20 seconds, come up and exhale through the nose.

01:15Doing this practice 3 times.

01:17The next position that we look at is called Udhyana Bandha.

01:21To do this, take in a deep breath, exhale and blow out completely.

01:27Without taking in a breath, contract your stomach.

01:31See that your stomach is being pulled inside.

01:35Hold for as long as you can comfortably.

01:38Those with high BP don't hold for more than 4 to 5 seconds.

01:43And then release and come back.

01:45We do this 3 times.

01:47The benefits include working on the adrenal gland to regulate the levels of adrenaline

01:53in the body and hence stress levels are balanced.

01:57The next breathing technique that we look at is called Brahmari Pranayama.

02:02Brahmari or bumble bee breathing is done like this.

02:06Firstly, block your ears and place your fingers on your head.

02:10Take in a deep breath.

02:13As you exhale, make a HUN, H-U-N, HUN sound.

02:21And you are experiencing this vibration on the top of your head.

02:25As a response to this vibration, your brain secretes 2 hormones, Relaxin and Serotonin

02:32which help you de-stress and bring down the blood pressure levels.

02:41Those of you who have high BP, this is a very beneficial position and it's also good

02:45for everybody to reduce stress.

02:50The next breathing technique that we look at is called Anulom Vilom Pranayama or alternate

02:56nostril breathing.

02:57To do this, with the right hand pull the first 2 fingers inside and now place your thumb

03:03on your right nostril.

03:06Inhale through the left nostril, close both the nostrils and retain the breath inside.

03:16Release the right nostril and exhale.

03:22Again breathe in through the right, close your nostrils, hold the breath and exhale

03:32through the left.

03:34This completes one round of Anulom Vilom.

03:37We do about 5-6 going on to about 20 as our practice improves.

03:47Finally we finish with a simple meditation technique.

03:50There's too much of confusion in today's world about meditation.

03:53So we start with the most simple and basic of procedures.

03:57Sit in a comfortable position.

03:59If you're not able to sit in the lotus or padmasana, you may even sit on a bench, a

04:05chair, you may even lie down while watching your breathing.

04:09The meditation we are doing is called witnessing your breath.

04:13Sit comfortably, start to breathe slowly.

04:18We are not trying to regulate the breathing, just bringing awareness to the breathing itself

04:24is enough and the breathing will get slower and deeper.

04:29As soon as we tune into the body's rhythm, we begin to de-stress, unwind and calm down.

04:38We are breathing like a baby with the stomach going out when we breathe in and coming in

04:44when we breathe out.

04:47You may do this outdoors, if that's not possible you may also do it indoors, play a little

04:52good music in the background, you may light a few incense sticks to create an atmosphere

04:57of relaxation.

05:00We do this for about 3-4 minutes and if this practice can go up to about 20 minutes, you'll

05:05find you're a completely new person.

05:08With that we finish this session of artistic yoga.

05:12I hope it helps you to de-stress, unwind, take stock of your life and approach the new

05:17year in a completely new way.

05:20Namaste.

Category

Transcript

Recommended