Roland asked:


I read in several websites that Zen Meditation & Yoga can reduce high blood pressure and allow you to stop or reduce BP medications. Anybody has experiment that? Thanks

Muscular imbalances that can create a rounded posture are often the result of overdeveloping the chest and abdominal areas. People tend to focus on these areas because they are in the front of the body and that is what you see in the mirror. As a result, the side of the body is often neglected.

Even the back of the body tends to get more attention that the side. Most of us experience back pain from time to time so we have that awareness. We can feel the back stretching when we do forward bends, just as we can feel the front of the body stretching in a back bend.

However, in Parighasana (Gate Pose), the side of the body is the focus. This intense lateral stretch is named for its shape, which resembles a bar used for shutting a gate. Since this pose allows a full expansion of the lungs because it opens the side ribs, it is a gateway to improved breathing. It helps to tone the waist due to the stretch of the abdominal obliques and can help provide stability for the lower back by stretching muscles deep in the back of the waist. This can be extremely beneficial if you have a stiff back and can help prevent and/or ease lower back pain.

Parighasana is excellent preparation for Parsvakonasana (Side Angle Pose) and Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) due to the fact that it opens the hips and creates length in the sides. It also can transform your breathing because you can now become aware of and feel the breath in the side of your body.

This pose also provides a great stretch for the intercoastal muscles which are located between the ribs. These muscles are often neglected and tight, leading to postural problems. The rib cage expands when the intercoastals are stretched, leading to enhanced respiration. Hence, relief from asthma, allergies and colds can be realized through the practice of this pose.

A simple awareness exercise is an excellent preparation for Parighanasana. Place your hands on your rib cage as tight to the sides of your body as you can while lying on the floor with your knees bent. Become aware of the flow of breath under your hands. Close your eyes. Feel your ribcage expand outwards when you inhale. Feel your ribs fall inwards when you exhale. Stay here for several breaths, focusing on the expansion and release of the side ribs.

With a blanket nearby, place your mat near a wall. Perform a few rounds of Cat and Cow to warm up your spine. Inhale into Cow and then exhale and arch your back up into the Cat position. Next, limber up your body by moving from Child’s Pose to Downward Facing Dog, synchronizing your breath with the movements. After a few rounds of this, rest in Child’s Pose.

Kneel on the folded blanket with your knees hip-width apart. Thighs are parallel and perpendicular to the floor and hips are directly over your knees. The lower abdomen is brought in and up as the tailbone is released down. With toes spread, press the tops of your feet, toes and shins into the blanket. Lengthen up along the spine through the top of your head upon inhaling. Upon exhaling, establish a firm foundation through the lower legs and knees.

Keep your right knee and the top of your right thigh facing upward as you extend your right leg out to the right, keeping it in line with your upper body. Try to flatten your right foot to the floor and press it down as you bring your right leg back toward your body. Keep your left thigh straight up and down and keep pressing your left foot, toes, knee and shin into the blanket.

Breathe in and extend your arms out to the sides, palms down. Keep the length in your spine as you stretch your hands away from each other. Bring the right hand to your right hip. Press the fleshy area of your right hand between the thumb and index finger into the crease where your leg joins your upper body. Lengthen the lower back by drawing the navel in towards the spine. Keep your gaze soft and forward.

Breathe out as you hinge at the hip and bend your upper body over your right leg. Reach your right hand out over the right leg and rest it wherever it lands comfortably (the thigh, shin, knee, or foot). Reach the left arm up alongside the ear with palm in. As you breathe in slowly and deeply, feel the ribcage expand in all directions. Take several slow, deep breaths. Lengthen your spine with each inhalation and let yourself go deeper with each exhalation.

Press the right hand into the right leg when you have gone as for as you can into the side stretch. Keeping your pelvis in place, rotate from the base of your spine. Keep your gaze in front of your left arm to the sky. Twist your abdomen first and then extend evenly up the spine to the crown. Feel your intercoastal muscles expand as you breathe into your left ribcage.

Rest in Child’s Pose before repeating on the other side. Parighasana may feel very different on each side. Remember to challenge yourself without straining. Incorporating this asana into a vinyasa on a regular basis will promote balance.

By: Michael Russell

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Have you even heard of a yoga monster mat?

Don’t worry it’s not some mat in the shape of a friendly monster for you to use at the local yoga class!

It’s just that there are mats for yoga & then there are mats for yoga!

When you start a class, at maybe a local gym or leisure centre you may only be provided with a small gym mat. This is helpful to only a small degree as it at least cushions you & saves you from having to do yoga on a cold hard floor.

However, they are not long enough for you to do a lot of the yoga postures such as the bear, warrior & bridge etc.

Then there are the yoga mats that you can pick up from discount stores & supermarkets.

They are normally just about long enough but are very thin. They cushion you to some extent but when you need to do some seated positions you find yourself having to roll them up a little so that you can sit on the rolled up bit to make sure that you get the correct spine alignment.

Also; after time, because their quality is sub-standard they will wear out & so you have to keep replacing them.

A yoga monster mat; by comparison, is much longer than most, textured, thicker & washable.

All yoga monster mats have double sided traction as well, so that you can use both sides, extending the life of the mat.

It is very important to have the right yoga mat for you as it is the only piece of equipment that is essential to your practice, other than yourself.

Yoga mats, be they thick, thin, monster, short, long or textured also come in cotton & there are eco versions too.

A lot of the decision as to which is best comes down to personal preference- but it’s always nice to have an informed choice of what there is to choose from.

I hope I’ve done that by telling you about yoga monster mats.

By: Katie S Turner

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It is very beneficial to pay careful attention to the breath and to learn to control it in various ways. It is beneficial in the areas of physical health and in your practice of yoga. Apparently, the breath, the mind and the body are intricately link, that whatever you do to one will affect the other.

In yoga, it is vital to learn how to use the correct patterns of breath in order to get the most out of your yogic endeavors. Correct breath patterns must be practiced and observed before meditation and asanas. Correct breathing alone, can unwind your whole body, rid your body of unwanted toxins and rid your mind of anger, stress, tension and worry.

Do not risk harm by attempting to perform these exercises without consulting a trained yoga teacher or without seeking medical advice from a doctor. A yoga teacher can teach an appropriate breathing pattern to cater to your needs and your condition. To perform the pranayama and gain the most out of them, it is best to integrate it with the two of the three holistic approaches, asanas and meditation.

Helpful Notes

- Breathe in and out through your nose.

- Clear any blocked nostril. If your left nostril is blocked, lie on your right side for a few minutes and vice versa

- Never perform pranayam after asanas.

- If pranayam is to precede your asanas routine, set aside a time when you won’t be interrupted.

- The idea is to lead yourself to a relaxed state so do not force your breathing and never do it in haste.

Long Deep breathing

The most basic and natural of all breathing techniques is the long and deep breathing as it relieves stress and tension. It brings down toxic buildup in the mucus linings of the alveoli of the lungs, cleanses the blood and as a result of increased oxygen flow to your brain and body, your health improves in many ways.

Technique

Do sit in a comfortable manner. Relax your shoulders and chest. Breathe in, relaxing the abdomen, pushing your belly forward, expanding it. Then, as you breathe out, allow the abdomen to shrink back in, tightening your belly muscles and pushing the air out. Do this and not straining yourself. Open up and release the breath. You may put one hand on your belly to feel the abdomen expanding and contracting as you inhale and exhale. Perform in even lengths. Exhale for the same length of time as you inhale.

When To Do This:

- Before meditation

- Before going to bed

- Before a meeting, presentation or a big decision

- Before studying, before an exam, or an interview

- And whenever you can think of — in the car, at work, or while waiting in line

Alternate-nostril breathing

Alternate-nostril breathing encourages mind to heighten levels of discrimination, concentration and thoughts. It also boostmore energy and oxygen to the physical body and helps calm your nerves and improve circulation.

Before You Begin

For a more advanced technique, seek advice from a yoga teacher or an acarya (spiritual teacher). Your acarya will coach the pranayama technique that will be most beneficial to your mental and physical health and prepare you to complement the pranayama with mantra and meditation. No one should risk harm by practicing these techniques without seeking advice from a trained yoga teacher.

Technique

Sit in either Padmasana or Siddhasana. Close your eyes. Press and close the right nostril with your right hand thumb. Inhale a deep breath through the left nostril. After taking a full breath, close the left nostril with the middle, taking the thumb away from the right nostril and slowly releasing the air out, expelling the breath fully and inhale through your right nostril. After a full inhalation, close your right nostril with the thumb and release the fingers from your left nostril and exhale through your left nostril. This finishes one round. Start off with three rounds each time and gradually step up the rounds as you progress through the weeks.

When To Do This

- Do this in a well-ventilated, clean, smoke-free, dust-free, odor-free room.

- Do not perform this technique after asanas (yoga exercises).

By: Cindy Heller

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“Mirth is God’s medicine. Everybody aught to bathe in it” — Henry Ward Beecher

Laughter Yoga is an alternative healing technique that consists of exercises designed to get people to laugh for no reason, combined with simple yoga breathing techniques. It uses a blend of playful and tension-releasing laughter exercises to improve health, reduce stress, and increase feelings of well-being. Every day new studies are being published on the myriad physiological and psychological benefits of laughter, and Laughter Yoga can help anyone partake of these benefits.

Laughter exercises, even if begun by faking it, almost always lead to real laughter, especially when done in a group. However, research has shown that simulated laughter creates the same physiological response in the body as spontaneous laughter. So even if you’re faking it when you laugh, your body does not know the difference. Therefore, you don’t need to be happy to laugh and you don’t need to have a reason to laugh; even fake laughter can help relieve stress and bolster your mood.

Laughter Yoga encourages unconditional laughter: it’s possible for adults to laugh like children without the use of jokes, humor, or comedy. In a Laughter Yoga session you won’t find people sitting in a circle taking turns telling jokes or using humor to make each other laugh. Instead, a session of Laughter Yoga consists of a series of exercises which include yoga breathing, funny gestures, systematic giggling and guffawing, and improv-like activities.

A Laughter Yoga session will probably begin with rhythmic clapping and chanting of “Ho-Ho-Ha-Ha-Ha” in unison, followed by a mixture of stretching, breathing, and silliness. Some of the exercises typical of a Laughter Yoga session are the following:

- People wandering around with their hands in the air, laughing hysterically.

- People of all ages squawking like chickens.

- Men and women rotating their hips while talking gibberish.

- Improv-style exercises such as playing on an imaginary swing set; flapping your arms and squealing like a seagull; and sitting in an imaginary rocket ship getting ready for take-off.

- At one point you walk around to different people with palms pressed together at the upper chest in the Namaste greeting-place the hands together at the heart chakra, close the eyes and bow the head–or shake hands and laugh, making sure to look into other people’s eyes.

- A popular exercise is “Lion Laughter”: thrust out the tongue, widen the eyes, and stretch the hands out like claws while laughing.

- Another improv-style exercise is Airport Laughter: people pretend they’re at the airport and are late for check-in, running around with their bags.

- There’s also Regal Laughter: each person takes turns walking like a king or queen between two rows of applauding subjects.

- If the group of people has become comfortable with each other, you can come closer and hold each others’ hands or hug and laugh.

All of these seemingly wacky exercises are meant to induce laughter to help participants combat stress and boost their immune system. Laughter Yoga is currently practiced by over 250,000 people in more than 50 countries worldwide. Find a Laughter Club near you and join them.

By: Marelisa Fabrega

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