Vrikshasana - Tree Pose

"Vriksha" means 'tree' in Sanskrit language. In this pose the practitioner holds his/her body and stays like a tree.

Sequence:

1. Stand erect in Tadasana with your feet joined together.
2. Keep your legs straight and your arms on either side.
3. Lift your right leg and fold it at the knee.
4. Hold the ankle with both hands, pull the leg up.
5. Rest your right foot on  upper part of your left thigh.
6. The toes of the right foot must be pointing down.
7. The folded right leg must be perpendicular to the left leg.
8. Balance your body properly on your left leg.
9. Join the palms of both hands in front of your chest, fingers pointing up.
10. Inhale slowly and gradually raise both your hands up above your head.
11. Keep your arms slightly bent.
12. Stretch your hands and body further up to your maximum limit.
13. Gaze ahead.
14. Keeping your balance, relax for as long as possible.
15. Bring down your hands to the chest level.
16. Lower your right leg.
17. Repeat the above steps with the opposite leg.

Benefits:

• Muscles in the legs become stronger and get toned.
• This asana also strengthens the ligaments of arches, feet, and tendons.
• Nervous system gets boosted by practicing this yoga pose.
• Patients suffering from rheumatic disorder should practice this pose to alleviate the pain.

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Vakrasana - Twisted Pose

"Vakra" means 'twisted' in Sanskrit. In this pose the practitioner's trunk gets twisted to the left and right sides.

Sequence:

1. Sit erect on the floor with legs stretched in front.
2. Keep your hands on either side with palms touching the ground.
3. Fold your left leg at the knee and place it near the right thigh vertically.
4. The sole should be lying flat on the ground.
5. Your left thigh should be touching the chest.
6. Place your left palm on the floor near the right palm. The fingers of both hands should be facing each other.
7. Taking support of the palms, turn the upper part of your body towards the right.
8. Try to look over your shoulder.
9. Continue breathing normally.
10. Stay in this posture until you feel the strain in your back.
11. Return to original position by turning your neck and trunk and then lifting your left hand.
12. Open out your left leg.
13. Repeat the same steps as above changing sides and limb.

Benefits:

• Vakrasana alleviates backaches.
• The spine gets extended and attains elasticity.
• Flab on the lateral side of the abdomen gets reduced.
• Vakrasana is very beneficial to the nervous system.
• Vital abdominal organs like the liver, spleen and intestine get toned.

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Surya Namaskar -Sun Salutation

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"Surya" refers to 'sun' and "Namaskar" means 'salutation' in Sanskrit. Surya Namaskara involves series of 12 yoga postures which are done in one long continual process.

Sequence:

1. Stand erect in Tadasana with your legs close together and palms joined together in front of your chest.
2. Exhale completely.
3. Inhale and raise your hands above your head and bend backwards.
4. Exhale and bend forward.
5. Inhale and extend your right leg behind as far as possible supporting yourself on the hands and left leg.
6. Keep the right leg straight and look in front.
7. Exhale and take your left leg behind and place it in alignment with the right leg.
8. Your body should be resting on your hands and feet. Keep your body straight and firm.
9. Exhale and lower your body to touch the floor.
10. Inhale and raise your head and trunk with a slight back arch.
11. Exhale and now raise your body up, keeping the palms and feet still on the ground to form an inverted 'V'.
12. Keep your head hanging in between your hands. Look at your navel.
13. Inhale and bring your right leg forward and look up.
14. Keep the left leg extended backwards.
15. Exhale and bring the left leg forward and keep bending down from your waist.
16. Inhale and raise your trunk.
17. Stretch your arms overhead with palms joined.
18. Exhale and bring your arms down to the sides slowly.
19. This completes one round of Surya Namaskar.

Caution:

• Expectant mothers should not perform this yoga pose.
• It is advised not to practice Surya Namaskar if you are menstruation.
• Do not practice this yoga pose if you suffer from back aches.
• Hernia and high blood pressure patients should never practice Surya Namaskar.

Benefits:

• The nervous system gets toned.
• Surya Namaskar enhances memory.
• Hair related problems like dandruff, hair fall, premature graying can all be treated with this pose.
• Blood circulation to all parts of the body improves.
• Surya Namaskar helps in reducing abdominal flab.
• Your spine gets stretched and becomes supple.
• It restores a young glow to your face and helps get rid of signs of aging.
• Insomnia can be overcome with this yoga pose.
• Surya Namaskar revitalizes you and makes you stronger.
• It stimulates the peristalsis and thereby helps in regulating bowel functioning.

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Padahastasana - The Hand-to-Feet Pose

"Pada" means 'feet' and "Hasta" means 'hand'. In this pose the hands are brought to the feet to catch the toes.

Sequence:

1. Stand straight with an erect spine and legs shoulder-width apart.
2. Feet must be parallel to each other.
3. Inhale and raise both your hands straight above your head.
4. The palms should be facing outwards.
5. Exhale slowly and bend your head and neck down.
6. Bend your trunk at the waist and push the head further downwards.
7. Ensure that the knees do not bend and the arms are touching the ears.
8. Exhaling stretch your arms to catch the big toe of the corresponding legs. Use the thumb, index and middle finger to grasp the toes. if possible you can put the palms under the feet.
9. Complete exhalation and hold your breath.
10. Now pull your toes and place your head in between the knees.
11. The knees should not bend at any time.
12. Do three cycles of the above, alternating legs.
13. Hold this position for sometime.
14. Inhaling slowly release your toes and raise your trunk to come back to the starting position.

Benefits:

• The entire body is flexed and thus it is good for the overall exercise of the shoulders, neck, chest, abdomen, waist, thighs and knees.
• It helps strengthen the hamstrings.
• The pose gets the buttocks toned.
• Ligaments and tendons of the entire legs get stretched.
• Sciatic nerves get pulled.
.

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Janusirsana - Head to Knee Pose

"Janu" means 'knee' and "Sirsa" means 'head'. In this posture head and knees are brought close together.

Sequence:

1. Sit straight up and assume Sukhasana.
2. Stretch both your legs in front of you, fairly apart.
3. Bend the right leg at the knee and fold the leg inside towards the left thigh.
4. The outer side of leg and foot should be touching the ground.
5. Press the sole of the foot with the right hand to push it closer to the perineum.
6. Make sure your sitting posture is straight with the trunk and head erect..
7. Inhale.
8. While inhaling raise both the hands above the head palms facing outwards.
9. Exhale completely.
10. The knees should be kept straight.
11. Inhale deeply and then start exhaling.
12. As you exhale pull in your stomach and bend the upper part of your body forward and downwards towards the knee of the left leg.
13. Keep your head in between your arms.
14. As you are bending the trunk, extend your arms and try to reach for the toes of the left leg.
15. Grasp the ball of the feet of the extended left leg.
16. Take a deep breath.
17. Exhale and while exhaling bend your trunk further down and push the knee down. Point the elbows outwards.
18. Bending the head further downwards press the forehead on the left knee.
19. Slide the elbows on both sides of the left leg so that the elbows now touch the ground.
20. Make sure the inside of the left leg is stretched out and the underside of the knee should also be touching the ground..
21. Hold your breath in this posture for as long as you comfortably can. Feel the strain in the underside of the extended leg.
22. Now start inhalation. As you inhale bring the body to the starting position.
23. Repeat the above steps with the legs in alternative position.

Benefits:

• Sciatica and the solar plexus get great benefit from this pose.

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Vaayu Mudra

In Sanskrit, "vaayu" connotes 'air'. Air element of the body gets properly balanced with this mudra.

Sequence:

1. Spread out your fingers.
2. Fold the index finger and place it on the thumb pad.
3. Put your thumb over it and press lightly.
4. Keep the other fingers apart.

Benefits:

• You can get relief from all kinds of pains and aches.
• It provides relief to patients of Cerebral Palsy and Parkinson's disease.
• Nervous system functions better with regular practice.

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Uddiyana Bandha - Abdominal Lock

In Sanskrit, "Uddiyana" refers to 'flying'. In this bandha the diaphragm is raised up to the thoracic region.

Sequence:

1. Stand erect with your feet fairly apart.
2. Bend your head and trunk forward.
3. Bend your knees forward.
4. Place your hands on your thighs.
5. Grasp the thighs a little above the knee.
6. Raise your head and relax your abdominal muscles.
7. Exhale completely with force.
8. Simultaneously contract the abdominal muscles.
9. Hold your breath and do not let any air into your lungs.
10. Press your hands gently on the thighs and perform 'mock inhalation'. Keep your glottis closed to prevent air from flowing into your lungs.
11. Expand the thoracic cage and raise the ribs quickly followed by relaxation of abdominal muscles.
12. When the ribs rise, your relaxed diaphragm will also move upwards.
13. At the same time, the abdominal front muscles get sucked inwards and up towards the ribs. As a result the thoracic cavity vacuum is automatically filled up.
14. A deep depression takes place in the relaxed abdominal wall. The abdomen assumes a hollow concave shape.
15. Concentrate on the solar plexus.
16. Hold on to this position without any air in the lungs for as long as you comfortably can.
17. Inhale slowly and deeply to bring the chest and abdomen back to its original shape.
18. Return to the starting position by straightening your head, trunk and legs.
19. Take rest for about 15 seconds between two rounds.
20. You can perform three rounds of the bandha.

Caution:

• Menstruating and pregnant women should not perform this bandha.
• High blood pressure and heart patients should not perform this yoga bandha.

Benefits:

• It strengthens the abdominal muscles and diaphragm.
• The lung capacity increases with practice of Uddiyana bandha.
• Your abdominal muscles become more resilient.
• Uddiyana bandha tones up the solar plexus - the root locations of all the nerves.
• The coordination between voluntary and the involuntary nervous systems improves.
• Blood circulation to the abdominal muscles increases.
• Vital organs such as heart, stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, gall bladder, the transverse colon, get massaged and thus their performance gets enhanced with this yoga bandha.
• Increased mobility of the diaphragm helps you take deeper and fuller breaths.

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Jalandhara Bandha - Chin Lock

"Jala" means 'net' and "Dhar" means 'to hold'. In this bandha the network of energy channels or nadis of the body is locked. This bandha is also known as chin lock.

Sequence:

1. Sit down on the floor.
2. Assume Padmasana, keeping your head and neck erect.
3. Keep your palms on the corresponding knees facing outwards.
4. Exhale completely.
5. Take a long and deep breath, raising your chest as you breathe in.
6. Hold your breath for about 10 seconds.
7. Raise your chin to the maximum limit without tilting your head.
8. Slowly bend forward and push your neck and head towards the chest.
9. Contract your throat and neck muscles simultaneously.
10. Lower your chin slowly and place it on the jugular notch.
11. Press your chin firmly down.
12. Keeping your back up and straight, continue to contract the neck and throat muscles.
13. Concentrate your gaze on the tip of your nose.
14. Continue holding your breath with the chin lock as long as you comfortably can.
15. Raise your chin first and then your neck and head and then return to erect sitting posture.

Caution:

• Patients suffering from pressure problems should not perform this bandha.
• If you have breathing problems, do not do Jalandhara bandha.

Benefits:

• The bandha is beneficial to thyroid and parathyroid glands.
• Regular practice of the bandha can get rid of a double chin.
• Blood circulation in the throat and adjacent region is increased.
• People with throat problems can apply this bandha for treatment.
• Spinal nerve centers are stimulated.

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Ujjayi Breathing

The word "Ujjayi" means 'victorious' in Sanskrit.

Sequence:

1. Sit comfortable in Padmasana.
2. Take a long and deep breath through both the nostrils.
3. Close your glottis slightly.
4. The inhalation should produce a sonorous sound.
5. Hold the breath, applying Jalandhara Bandha and Moola Bandha.
6. Exhale slowly through both nostrils, opening the glottis simultaneously.
7. This should again produce a frictional sound.
8. Complete exhalation and now apply Uddiyana Bandha.
9. You can practice this pranayama three times spread throughout the day.
10. Later you can increase to 27 times each day, with 9 in the morning, nine at noon and nine in the evening.

Benefits:

• The nervous and the digestive systems benefits from this Pranayama.
• This pranayama helps relax and calm your mind.
• Ujjayi breathing alleviates high blood pressure.
• You can develop a sweet voice with regular practice.
• It can give you relief from cold, cough and tonsillitis.
• This Pranayama can cure phlegm.

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Dirgha Pranayama - Complete Breath

"Dirgha" connotes 'long' in Sanskrit. This pranayama involves a long and deep breath which fills all the three chambers of the lungs.

Sequence:

1. Sit erect on the floor.
2. Keep your eyes closed.
3. Take a couple of long and deep inhalations.
4. Each inhalation needs to take place in three steps:
   
   1. Inhale deeply to fill the lower abdominal region. Exhale and flatten your stomach.
   2. Inhale again deeply to fill up the lower lungs. Simultaneously raise your ribcage. Exhale.
   3. Inhale deeply to fill your stomach with air, expand your rib cage. Continue breathing till the upper chest area is also raised.
5. Once you have assumed the right pattern, inhale in one long flow

Caution:

• Stop practice if you feel dizziness.

Benefits:

• Menstruating women get relief with this pranayama.
• Constipation can be cured.
• Dirgha Pranayama relaxes both your mind and body.
• This asana supplies oxygenated blood to the lungs.
• The nervous system is rejuvenated.

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