Yoga and Breathing Tips

Health is Wealth. I would not be exaggerating if I say there is not a more truthful phrase than this. One has to be healthy to acquire wealth and enjoy it as well. Our body and mind are our assets and we have to ensure that we invest in them so that they are healthy. Yoga is a tool which can help us to invest in our health. Practising yoga correctly and regularly gives us life long benefits. Yoga also teaches us many breathing techniques that give us lot of benefits.

Just like the right investment approach to be used depending on various factors, you should select the type of yoga that is most suitable to you. There are different types of asanas that offer different benefits like flexibility, strength, relaxation etc. There are specific yoga exercises for different parts of the body.
 
For example if your day consists of long hours in front of a computer/laptop screen, it takes a toll on the eyes. There are some asanas to help your eyes relax -

• Blinking - Sit comfortably with your eyes open. Blink around 10 times very quickly. Close your eyes and relax for 20 seconds. Slowly take your attention to your breath. Repeat this exercise about 5 times.
  
• Another exercise is to look at some object which is far away every 15-20 minutes. This would help exercise the eye muscles which are otherwise constantly seeing near sighted objects.
  

If you are a marathoner or a runner, you can practice relaxing, restorative yoga asanas that will help runners recover fast after long races and intense workouts. You can benefit from breathing exercises as well even if you take a short break from your busy schedule to follow them.

Yoga puts a lot of emphasis on breathing properly and other breathing techniques which will prove beneficial to your health. Breathing exercises are called Pranayam. It is an important aspect of yoga. It aims at increasing energy by controlling inhaling and exhaling.  There are different types of pranayam –

Alternate Nostril Breathing
Close the right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through the left nostril. Do this to the count of four seconds. Immediately close the left nostril with your right ring finger and little finger, and at the same time remove your thumb from the right nostril, and exhale through this nostril. Do this to the count of eight seconds. This completes a half round. Inhale through the right nostril to the count of four seconds. Close the right nostril with your right thumb and exhale through the left nostril to the count of eight seconds. This completes one full round.

Bhastrika Pranayam
Sit in the simple cross legged position and take a deep breath such that the lungs are full with fresh air. Hold your breath for a few seconds and release it through nose. Repeat this for 5-10 times till your breathing system is perfect.

Kapalbhati Pranayam
Sit in the simple cross legged position and take a deep breath. Exhale the air by contracting your stomach and let the process of inhaling be done with least effort. Repeat this process of exhaling the air by pushing the stomach inside and inhaling fresh air with least efforts for about 15 minutes.

There are some precautions to be taken while doing yoga –

• Pranayam should not be done immediately after meals.
• There should be proper warm up and cool down sessions while practicing yoga.
• If you experiences pain or hurt while doing any specific exercise, you should stop doing it.
• Yoga should be done only after consulting the health care provider if you have certain medical conditions like pregnancy or high blood pressure etc.

Let us know about your experience of doing yoga.

Note-Please note that you should go to a qualified yoga instructor to get the exact method of doing the yoga asanas mentioned here.
                                                                                                                                                                                                            #gettingyourich
Vidya Kumar
Team GettingYouRich.com

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