Tag: yoga

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Daily Stretches – Touch Your Toes!

Can you touch your toes? Can you touch your toes without experiencing back pain, neck pain or pain in the knees? Can you touch your knuckles to your toes? Can you touch your wrist to your toes and place palms flat on the floor? Can you touch your elbows to your toes? Can you go even lower bringing your forehead to your shins?

You see, touching your toes is no ordinary business and it doesn’t stop there. One of the simplest and best daily stretches I like to practice is Hastapad asana (hand to feet pose), or Uttan asana (standing forward bend) and it’s seated variation – Paschimottan asana (seated forward bend).

Hastapadasana or Uttanasana – Standing forward bend
Paschimottan Asana – Seated forward bend

I start by maintaining the right body position with correct breathing and I am mindful of good pain and bad pain so as to avoid injury while performing this simple exercise.

Body Position

  1. Feet

Feet are placed parallel to each other, together or apart. Place toes together but heels two inches apart, or, keep your feet one foot apart with toes pointing slightly inwards so that the outer outline of each foot is parallel to each other and also in line with your hips. Positioning your feet is important to avoid knee and hip pain.

Alignment of your entire body depends on how you place your feet.

  1. Neck

Neck at all times is in a straight line with the spine. Keep your chin tucked in slightly to ensure the same. When in final position, we have a tendency to lift our head – this arcs the neck and can cause neck pain. Make sure the crown of your head is pointing towards the floor; this will keep your neck in line with your spine.

  1. Abdomen

Stomach is compressed and held in during the final position.

  1. Chest

Chest is pulled in towards the thighs to prevent curving of the back.

  1. Spine

Back is held straight in standing position and up to half way down. Stretching the spine works the spinal extensors (mid and lower back muscles). In the final position the back drops down straight and is relaxed. Pain in the lower back is bad pain. To avoid this pain make sure your core is strong and held in firmly. If pain persists, come out of the posture and avoid all forward bending exercises.

  1. Knees

Do not lock your knees. Especially if you have over extended knees, bend them slightly.

Breathing

  1. Deep Inhalation – We breathe in as we stretch our hands upwards, bringing our stomachs out with back slightly arced. As we lift our hands up, our rib cage expands enabling a deep inhalation.
  2. Prolonged Exhalation – Breathing out we bend forward dropping our hands towards the floor. When we exhale slowly, our stomach is pulled in.
  3. Inhale gently – Breathing in, we come up again, stretching our hands upward.
  4. Exhale gently – Breathing out our hands comes back down to the side and we relax.
  5. Normal breathing.

Note: If you are holding the pose make sure to keep breathing after you have exhaled completely.

The Instructor is seen pressing the upper back to push chest towards the thighs in order to straighten the spine and she also pushes the tailbone downwards in order to lift the hip upwards.

Muscles at work

We think the aim of this posture is to be able to touch our toes, but that is not so dearies. While this posture does lengthen your spine and eventually result in greater flexibility, the muscles at work are actually those at the back of your legs. The good pain with the correct stretch is felt in your hamstrings and calf muscles along with your glutes.

The final pose should have a straight and relaxed back with chest as close to your thighs as possible. If you are unable to reach for your toes, hold your ankles or your shins. Bend your knees slightly and pull your upper torso closer towards your legs. Then try to straighten your knees and you will feel the stretch at the back of your legs. That is good pain and you’re doing the exercise correctly and effectively. Make sure your weight is forward and you are not leaning back in the final pose – keep your hips in line with your heels.

Correct posture is highlighted in the images below:

  • Common mistakes
  • Correct posture key points
  • Correct posture key points

Benefits

  1. Stretches hamstrings and calves
  2. Keeps spine strong and flexible
  3. Works core muscles, good for flattening abdomen
  4. Relieves constipation and sinusitis
  5. Induces clavicular breathing – (ventilation of uppermost part of the lungs)
  6. Improves blood circulation
  7. Soothes the nervous system
  8. Improves hair
  9. Improves body posture
  10. Instils humility, acceptance and gratitude

Avoid this Asana if you experience:

  1. Heart ailments, high BP, Hypertension
  2. Spinal injury or abnormalities
  3. Eye disorders
  4. Pregnancy, stomach ulcers, hernia
Yoga is not about touching your toes, it is what you learn on your way down.

To conclude, the forward bend is best practiced in the mornings or on an empty stomach. Performing just one asana correctly and daily can transform you in so many ways! That is the magic of yoga. A true yogi once said, “Yoga is not about touching your toes, it is what you learn on your way down.” So folks, keep practicing, keep learning and keep transforming.

If you are a beginner, definitely practice with an instructor. Connect with me to plan a personalized yoga sequence. Our online yoga sessions are available to suit your timings. Get in touch! Call/Sms/Whatsapp +91 9820673466 for more info

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Difficulties In Meditation Made Easy

Why is it difficult to meditate? I’ve heard many people tell me that there are too many thoughts in their head and it is impossible to control them. But control is not what meditation is about. Then there are people who tell me that they are too restless, they just cannot keep still, or, their bodies start hurting, or they seem to dose off. Good, I say, because they are getting closer to what meditation actually is. Meditation is not only about the mind, it is also related to your body.

What is Meditation? I googled its meaning and the synonyms i got were thinking, reflection, deliberation, concentration, pondering, day-dreaming, consideration, prayer and so on, but no where did it say ‘go blank’ or ‘stop thinking’ or ‘see rainbows everywhere’.

According to yoga, Meditation, in one word is Stillness. Keeping your mind and body still, is meditation. Meditation is experiential not expressive. Our aim is to observe our thoughts and slow them down, let them go and not express them. When we clean up or slow down the frequency of thoughts, we make space in our minds. This space enables insight, creativity, intelligence and wisdom. Expressive thinking is imagination, analysis, and an expression involves speaking, moving, doing, creating. In meditation you are not doing or creating anything, you are observing, you are still, you are experiencing. You are not expressing. If you stop observing, you will dose off.

Meditation made easy: There are two key aspects that makes meditation easy:

  1. time
  2. overall fitness

If you practice meditation first thing in the morning upon waking up, may be while you’re still in bed, you will notice that mediation becomes easier. The frequency of thoughts are fewer and you are able to keep your mind still. Your body is rested and hence you are able to hold yourself up and keep still. Good fitness of the body gives you the muscle strength to keep your body erect and motionless. It is impossible to meditate if one is weak or lethargic.

Hence to conclude, if you are wondering why I haven’t mentioned things like a strong mind or mindfulness or mind control, it is because these are the goals of meditation and not the means. Meditation helps create space in a mind that is filled with too many unnecessary thoughts. Meditation calms a restless body and gives it direction. Meditation can be easily practiced at any hour of the day. Just keep yourself still, even if it is only for a minute.

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What is Happiness?

I once asked a counselor “what is happiness?” and he told me that we humans are essentially spiritual beings, happiness is found and can be experienced only in the spirit. I thought to myself, what kind of mambo jambo is that, coming from a man of science. I took up yoga in my quest for a satisfying answer and to my pleasant surprise, I found it! Before I go on, I’d like to share what happiness is – its exactly what the counselor said. Of course!

Before yoga, most of my relationships were unstable, unpleasant and I was not happy with myself or the way life was shaping up. I would easily get irritated and angry. Controlling my emotions or being diplomatic was getting harder by the day. I was not an unkind person, I had not been unfair to anyone, then why was life being such a b*tch to me? My personal relationships felt superficial and the anger within weighed me down. I started immersing myself in work, an escapist strategy I’d say. I could only see suffering and struggle inside me and around me. Happiness was just not in the picture.

There are three ways to be happy :

  1. be responsible,
  2. be thankful and kind,
  3. be present.

When I started my yoga training, the first and the toughest lesson learnt was ‘concentrate on changing self, not others’, because that is where you have some control. Take responsibility for your own actions irrespective of what others say or do. An attitude of gratitude with service to others was learnt next. Being thankful for the smallest things is itself the greatest aspect of an amazing life experience. It is what makes us want to help others. The third lesson was ‘be present’, assess and accept reality. But I never understood that until we began studying the yoga sutras of rishi Patanjali. These three sources show us how to be happy but they don’t answer the question just yet – what is happiness?

The very first sutra ‘Atha Yoga Anushasanam’ which translates into Now Begins the Discipline of Awareness bears the ingredient of happiness. Yoga is awareness, awareness is happiness. Atha Yoga Anushasanam is Practice Happiness Now. The reason why I say this is because everyone wants to be happy but no one wants to be aware. ‘Our bodies exist in the past; our minds exist in the future. When we are aware, our bodies and minds come together in the present.’ (BKS Iyenger) Awareness can only be experienced in the present, in the now, in the moment just like happiness. ‘When you find yourself looking back in anger or looking forward in fear, take a pause and look around in awareness.’ (James Thurber)

Awareness is not easy because of daily life stresses and distractions. It actually takes practice and discipline, which makes me think, gosh, what a load of work, isn’t it supposed to come naturally? It does over time when you transition from negative thinking patterns to positive mind scripts using the three ways mentioned above.

A happy person makes others feel the same. The essence of being joyful is feeling light or shall i say, feeling the light. There is a light, an energy within each one of us. At this point, you may think that I have given into the mambo jambo of spirituality. But think of it this way; Calm is at the core of our being. Every other emotion is at the periphery.

Calm is not nothingness, it is rest, it is like a pause. On the extreme negative it becomes daftness, you can’t think straight, you become blank. But on the extreme positive it becomes self assurance, you start thinking clearly and realistically and the clarity of your thoughts and vision gives you a sense of control and well-being. This force is indescribable, it makes one humble and not arrogant.

Happiness and pleasure are not the same. Know the difference and recognize the experience. If you disagree then think of all the things that bring you pleasure. While pleasure is derived from all things material and does not last long, Happiness is always spiritual and can become a consistent life experience depending on how aware you are. Today, I feel humbled to say that thanks to Atha Yoga Anushasanam, life’s a beach!

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Balancing The Elements In Sthitaprarthanasana

When I was pursuing the first level of the teacher’s training program, the person who inspired me the most was not a teacher but a fellow student, Alina. She would meditate in Sthitaprarthanasana or the standing prayer pose and I would wonder why she practiced this simple posture so often. I found it quite bizarre, yet fascinating because its not easy. It was only later that I learnt of the many fascinating aspects connected to it.

During the advance training program one of the teachers remarked on how Sthitaprarthanasana activates and balances the five elements in our bodies – earth, water, fire, air and ether or space in that order starting from our feet to our thoughts. The lesson was centered around other asanas and most students did not catch this message as the teacher said it casually and quickly with no further explanation. But that was my eureka moment. That one line stayed with me as I thought about Alina.

Our bodies are made up of 5 elements. Earth is everything solid, our skin and bones. As we become aware of the earth beneath out feet, we also become aware of our steadiness and our form, because that is what the earth element provides. When we clench or squeeze our muscles to correct our posture, we activate the water element in our bodies. Water, as per its qualities, cleanses us and lends movement, gives flow, and rules our muscles and circulation, aids reproduction and excretion. It is the most important element for life to exist and comprises 70% of our bodies and our planet. Moving up from the pelvic we arrive at the stomach which contains the third element.

The fire in our bellies is the third element and does more than give us ambition, drive, vigor or gut feelings. It is where our energy is born. Food is broken down in the digestive system with the help of fiery acids that are so strong they could dissolve metal. A candle will not burn in vacuum and similarly this fire needs the next element to exist. As we inhale, our chests expand and we are filled with the fourth element – air. Our body is oxygenated and we are further energized.

Steadiness of breath brings about steadiness of the mind which in turn steadies the body. Lastly, the space element rules our head. It is the most challenging element to maintain. Once the mind is steady we aim at creating space in our head to feel completely relaxed, comfortable and at bliss. It is not emptiness but a serene feeling, a tranquil state of being, a kind of rest and conservation of energy that prepares you to become more alert, active and sensitive. The five elements in balance creates a magnificent human being leading a fulfilled life.

Sthira Sukham Asanam is the only description given for asanas in the yoga sutras of sage Patanjali. It means Steady and Comfortable Posture. Sounds simple but believe me, it takes quite a while to achieve. Sthitaprarthanasana brings out the essence of this sutra. If you become aware of the elements, you will be able to achieve ‘Sthira Sukham Asanam’ in any posture. When we are standing, we are active. When we are standing still, we are even more active. Yoga is awareness and it is only when we are aware of what we are doing, are we truly practicing yoga.

I started practicing the standing prayer pose, concentrating on the elements that made up my body and the physical dimension around me. I realized that the elements are of course active in all yoga postures, in fact they are forever active but this particular pose enables you to become aware of them and balance them. If you are restless or lethargic, confused or just down in general, I’d suggest you stand up and observe. One of the elements may be out of balance.