Being a kid @ Kids Yoga Camp

Attending the Kids yoga camp last week by MAYI (Malaysian Association of Yoga Instructors), validated my belief that a person can learn a lot from kids. They are true spirit of what Yoga Philosophy is all about.  They live each day with unbridled exuberance, seizing the moment and following their hearts.

Majority of them were trying out a yoga camp for the first time and the yogi in me was filled with joy and happiness, because it’s that first, hesitantly shy step which will change their lives for the better.

Each passing day stimulated their thought process asanas, various fun activities & made them more receptive of challenging limit of the body & mind.

In the due course they gave their complete trust to guide them on the journey of self awareness. I felt so anxious initially & tried to guide to the best of my ability, of whatever little knowledge I have. To what extent I succeeded, I don’t know. But it changed me to be a better teacher and person.

There fragility serves to remind me of the softness that exists within each of them, even when I can’t see it and helps me to keep in mind that we all need to be treated tenderly, at least from time to time. 

Work on the ROOT cause, of good health

The pelvic floor is one of a significant muscle of our body’s core. To state that it is the essence of our very being, is not an understatement.  The foundation of all movement, balance, stability and flexibility begins in the pelvis. Both men and women have a pelvic floor. Yup you read it right, it is not just the women’s health issue.

What is Pelvic Floor:-

In women, the pelvic floor is the muscles, ligaments, connective tissues and nerves that support the bladder, uterus, vagina, and rectum and it help these pelvic organs function.

In men, the pelvic floor includes the muscles, tissues and nerves that support the bladder, rectum and other pelvic organs.

What is Pelvic Floor Dysfunctions:-

Pelvic floor dysfunctions refers to a wide range of issues that occurs when muscles of the pelvic floor are weak, tight, or there is an impairment of the sacroiliac joint, lower back, coccyx, or hip joint. It includes many clinic conditions, with the three most common conditions encountered like urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapsed.

Symptoms:-

Women

The Pelvic floor can weaken as a result of pregnancy, childbirth, cesarean section, large uterine fibroids, smoking, frequent straining during bowel movements, obesity, Having diets processed foods, menopause and hysterectomy. Even simple inactive lifestyle can lead to decreased tone, strength and Flexibility of the pelvic floor.

Men

The disorder is known as Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) in medical term. Defined as chronic pain, pressure, or discomfort localized to the pelvis, perineum, or genitalia of males, lasting more than 3 months and not due to any infection, neoplasm, or structural abnormality. Patients may also have urinary symptoms (slow, intermittent stream) and/or increased frequency or urgency. Sexual dysfunction is common.

Statics:-

Women

According to a study funded by National Institutes of Health, 10 percent of women ages 20 to 39, 27% percent of women age 40 to 59, 37 percent of women ages 60 to 79 and nearly half of women age 80 or older, are suffering from pelvic floor disorders. To say that the problem is common is an understatement. A study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology found that nearly 50 percent of all women will at some point in their lives contend with urinary incontinence, whether they ever give birth or not.

Men

Even thou A CPPS pose serious health problem, affecting the quality of life in men. Limited in depth studies exists on the same. But the symptom flares commonly in the age of 30-45 and have additional symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety disorders.

Yoga & pelvic floor muscles

Yoga provides a holistic way of  working on the pelvic floor muscles and is a perfect place to start, especially with not much awareness of its presence in out body & unless someone had experienced health issues related to it. 

In Yogic term, the pelvic floor is called Mula bandha (Root lock). It consists of 16 muscles, who work in sync with each other as a single unit. Visualize the muscles of pelvic floor as a hammock, which hangs from the four corner of the pelvis. From your two sitting bones in the side of your hips, to public bone in front & tied to tailbone in back. 

So a yoga mat can be a perfect place to start. You can practice the below asanas specifically helpful in building pelvic floor strength. Just remember to keep your pose steady, comfortable and as per your flexibility.

1.    NAMASKAR ASANA

A)                                                                                                                

Sitting in a squat with the feet flat on the floor (Pic A-1)

Have the knees fully bent and separated at a comfortable distance.

In case you find it challenging to maintain balance in the squat position. Place a folded blanket under your hips to get better balance throughout the asana. (Pic A-2)

B)

Join the palms together in front of the chest in the prayer gesture. (Pic B-1)

Keep the arms between the knees throughout the practice.

With an inhale, using the elbows, press against the inside of the knees to separate them as wide apart as comfortable. (Pic B-2)

Open the chest, raise the chin slightly and relax the face.

Hold this position for one deep breath.

Exhale and straighten the arms and stretch them forward, draw the knees in together gently pressing on the outside of the arms. (Pic B-1)

Simultaneously press the chin towards the chest.

Hold this position for one breath.

Repeat 5-10 rounds.

2.    POORVAH UTTANA ASANA (Upward Plank pose)

For beginners:

Since the whole weight of the body in this asana is to be supported mainly by the hands and wrists.  People with weak wrist or  any neck problem should practice the same with the support of a Pillow under the head and shoulder.

Lie down on your back with both legs bend from knees and feet placed firmly on mat.(Pic-1)

Palms on the floor and arms on the side on body. (Pic-1)

Place your head, neck and shoulder on the pillow, giving a complete cushion support. (Pic-1)

Inhale and lift your hips up from the floor with arms placed on the floor. (Pic-2)

Hold position for few seconds, Keep breathing normally.

Exhale and bring hips down on mate. ((Pic-1)

Repeat 3-5 times.

Variation for regular practitioner 

Sit up with the legs stretched out straight in front of you, keeping the feet together and the spine erect. (Pic-1)

Place the palms on the floor around the waist or at shoulder level, fingertips pointing away from you. Do not bend the arms. (Pic-1)

Lean back and support the weight of your body with your hands. (Pic-1)

Breathing in, raise the pelvis up, keeping the whole body straight. . (Pic-2)

Keep your knees straight and bring the feet flat to the floor. Place the toes on the ground and then sole if you are comfortable to stretch further. (Pic-2)

Let the head fall back towards the floor. People with cervical can keep the head straight gazing at their navel.

Hold the pose for few seconds and continue breathing.

As you exhale, come back to a sitting position and relax. (Pic-1)

 3.     Badhakonasana(Butterfly Pose)

Sit with your spine erect and legs spread straight out.

Now bend your knees and bring your feet towards the pelvis. The soles of your feet should touch each other. (Pic-1)

Interlock fingers of both hand and grab your toes tightly underneath the feet, with your hands.

Gently make an effort to bring the heels as close to the genitals as possible.

Take a deep breath in. Breathing out, press the thighs and knees downward towards the floor, with the pressure of your elbows. Make a gentle effort to keep pressing them downward. (Pic-2)

Inhale and bring both knees up in between your chest.

One more time with an exhale bring knees down and now place both hands on your knees pushing them closer to floor, maintaining your comfort. (Pic-3)

Feel the stretch in the inner thighs and take long, deep breaths, relaxing the muscles more and more.

Gently release the posture. Straighten the legs out in front of you and relax.

Note: If you are suffering from groin or knee injury, make sure you keep a blanket under the outer thighs for support. Do not perform this pose without blanket support. Also, sciatica patients should either completely avoid the pose or sit on a cushion to raise the hips.

4.    Ananda Balasana (Happy baby Pose)

Lie on your back.  With knees bend and feet on floor. (Pic-1)

With an exhale, bend your knees into your chest. (Pic-2)

Inhale and bringing both arms in between the inner thighs.  

Grip the thumb of your feet with a hook made with joining your Thumb, Index and Middle finger. (Pic-3)

Open your knees slightly wider than your torso, and bring them up toward your armpits. (Pic-3)

Position each ankle directly over the knee, with sole of feet up towards roof.  

Exhale and gently push your feet down with your hands, bringing the knees as close as possible to floor with comfort. (Pic-4)

The whole back should be placed on the mat and with every exhale make a gentle effort to bring your thighs down toward the floor.

Hold the pose steadily for 30 seconds to one minute. Then release the feet back to the floor with an exhale and rest for a few breaths.

5.    Utthanasana (Squat and Rise pose)

Stand with the feet about one meter apart and have the toes turned slightly out to the sides. (Pic-1)

Place right palm on top of left palm and let them hang loosely.

Keeping the spine straight, slowly bend the knees and lower the buttocks down about ⅓ of the way. (Pic-2)

Raise the buttocks, straighten the knees and return to standing. (Pic-1)

Keeping the spine straight, this time lower down ½ way.

Return to standing.

Finally, bend the knees and lower the buttocks down as near to the floor as appropriate.

Return to standing and relax the body.

Practice up to 5 rounds.

6. Marjariasana (Cat Stretch pose)

Sit in squatting position. (Pic-1)

Bring the knees down on mat. Raise the buttocks and stand on the knees.

Lean forward and place the hands flat on the floor beneath the shoulders with the fingers facing forward. (Pic-2)

Have the hands in line with the knees, so that the arms and thighs are perpendicular to the floor.

Separate the knees so that they are under the hips.

Inhale and raise the head and lower the spine to concave the middle back. Focus on bring your navel down towards the floor. (Pic-3)

Expand the abdomen, open the chest, fill the lungs and stretch the whole front body. (Pic-3)

Breathing normally, hold position for a few seconds. (Pic-3)

Exhale and lower the head and arch the back, drawing the belly button towards the spine. (Pic-4)

Simultaneously tuck the tailbone under the hips. Contract the abdomen releasing all the oxygen.

Practice 5-10 upwards and downwards movements.

Once you become aware of your pelvic floor muscle, you can practice off the mat, too. Just lift your pelvic floor with an exhaling breath by hold these muscles (imagine holding the pee), while getting up from chair or lifting the kid from the floor.

Enjoy working out on your Ground Floor 

Suryabhedana- An Instant Energizer

For thousands of years Indian yogis have believed that many diseases are connected to disturbed nasal breathing. The goal of Pranayama in traditional Hatha Yoga is to integrate and harmonize the breath.

Our nose is directly linked to our brain and nervous system. Another interesting fact about nostrils, is that we don't breathe through them equally all the time. If you check right now, the breath will be dominant in either your left or right nostril.

Our right nostril is associated with Surya Nadi (Sun energy) and the left is associated with the Chandra Nadi (Moon energy). The purpose of breath through alternate nostril is to create balance in the “warming" and "cooling" of the body-mind and vice versa.

Right Nostril Breathing – Suryabhedana (Surya = Sun, Bhedana = Piercing)

In Suryabhedana, the inhalation is happening through right nostril and exhalation through left nostril.

Technique

              Sit in Sukhasana or any comfortable posture. Place your thumb on left side of nose, index & middle finger in between your brows & ring finger on your right side of nose.

Step one: Use right thumb to close your left nostril.

Step two: Inhale slowly through right nostril

Step three: Pause for a second

Step four: Now close right nostril with ring finger and release thumb off the left nostril

Step five: Exhale through your left nostril.

Continue the whole process for 10 to 12 times.

Benefits

Suryabhedana creates heat in the body and activates the left part of our brain, which is associated with “Thinking” thus bring more alertness & concentration. It is also said to fortify the liver and immune system, purifies the blood and cures gas problems, intestinal ailments, leucoderma and other skin diseases.

Contraindications and Cautions

Avoid Suryabhedana if you have high blood pressure or any heart disease. 

So next time when you feel low or lethargic, just pratice few rounds of above breathing and get instantly charged up!!

The Art of Holding your Horses

You’re standing in line at the bank, the grocery store, or on hold on the phone—your feet start to tap and your blood pressure rises. You start getting agitated, and what goes through your mind -“there’s so much to do and so little time”.

But, has time really rushed up or is it our expectation of how quickly things should happen? Is it really the pace of life or the buzzing of your brain, trying to keep up with the zillion tasks and obligations on your plate?

We are in the world of INSTANT. From twitter to facebook news feed, an E mail to what’s app. Excellence is based upon the quick action and reaction. Then wonder why the stress, anxiety, depression and burn out. Cos SHUT OFF is requisite and relevant to keep us going.

So why not look at the above situation from a different perspective. What if those moments of waiting, those moments when you are forced to stop and stand still, are not an irritation, but an opportunity?

What if it’s a perfect moment to take a few deep breaths, relax your body, look around and be grateful, be joyful and observe little miracles around?

Patience is an art and one has to practice it to get better. So start with small windows of time to consciously slow down. Enjoy a long drive, play time with kids, take in the view—it’s a beautiful world out there!!

Love and Light.

De-stress from Electronic Fuzziness

STRESS, the dreadful six letter word, which has become part of our daily existence.

While some stress are important to keep us focused in challenging times. These days we are crumbling to a stress which is more due to our technological lifestyle, known as “Computer Stress”.

Not only we are affected by it, majority of people are unaware of the medical consequences of working on computers. Beside constantly get assaulted on our electromagnetic field, from sitting in front of a computer screen. We are also exposed to medical problem like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).

CTS are stress-related injuries caused by repetitive movement of joints and can lead to numerous musculoskeletal problems. It has become very common among the computer users, to experience pain in the joints of their fingers, hands, wrists, arms, necks, and back, due to extensive typing.

Earlier the above problems were commonly associated with old age. But with life going completely high tech and demanding long working hours, these problems can be faced by any computer user.

It is estimated that at least 75% of jobs involve some kind of computer use, which means a three-quarters of workforce is exposed to numerous health problem.

Unfortunately we cannot dispose computers from our lives, but we can certainly modify our computing lifestyle, as “Prevention is always better then cure”.

So in this series, I am sharing some group of asanas for exercising these joints, also known as Anti-Rheumatic group under yoga sutra. These asanas can be practiced anytime, anyplace and regular practice will facilitate loosening up of the joints and strengthening the surrounding muscles. 

FINGERS & WRIST EXERCISES- SERIES  1

1) MUSHTIKA BANDH (Hand Clenching)

Step 1. Sit in comfortable position. Hold both arms straight in front of body at shoulder level. Relax your shoulder and arms. Take a deep breath in and as you inhale, open your fingers (palms down) and stretch as wide apart as possible.
(Note that the fingers should be straight in line with the back of the hand.)

Step 2. Hold the Breath and bend the thumbs of both hands inside.

Step 3. Close the fingers to make a tight fist with the thumb inside.

As you Exhale press fist harder.

Imagine you are crushing something.

 Step 4. Inhale and again open the hands and stretch the fingers. 

Repeat all steps above 10 times

 

2) MUNIBANDHA NAMAN (Wrist Bending)

Step 1. Hold both arms straight in front of body at shoulder level.

Inhale & bend the hands backward from the wrist,

as if pressing the palms against the wall, with fingers pointed upwards.

(Keep fingers together & elbows straight throughout entire practice.)

Step 2. Bend the hands forward from the wrist so that the fingers point towards the floor.

 

Step 3. Feel the stretch on your wrist.

Do not bend your knuckle joints or fingers.

Step 4. Bend the hands up again for the next round. Repeat 10 times

3) MANIBANDHA CHAKRA ( Wrist joint rotation) 

Variation 1- Opposite 

Extend both arms at shoulder level.

Step 1 & 2. Inhale and move both wrist towards right side & gently rotate upwards.

Step 3 & 4. As you exhale move both wrist to left side & then rotating downwards.

Practice the same with wrist rotation starting from left side 

Repeat 5 times each side.

Variation 2- Towards each other

Step 1. Inhale and move both wrist inwards towards each other.

Step 2. Move both wrist upwards, moving them away from each other.

Step 3. Breath out while bring the wrists down to their respective sides

Step 4. Gently bring down close to each other. 

Practice the same anti clock wise  starting from Downward position in step 4 

Repeat 5 times.

(NOTE: The Rotation is from wrists only & holding the arms still throughout the practice.)

So take a yoga break to De-stress yourself from electronic  "fuzziness” and stretch out your hard-working muscles. Do go gentle on yourself as you start practicing and gradually increase the no. of repetitions. 

Love & Light.

Nose for calming your Senses

The lotus flower symbolizes the spiritual quest. It beautifully floats on the surface of the water, while beneath the surface it’s deeply rooted into the mud. Our mind can also be like the peaceful lotus, even if the frenetic lifestyles and busy schedules don’t allow us to PAUSE once a while.

There is a special yet easy meditation technique for calming the mind, right at the tip of our nose, also known as Nasikagra drishti or nose gaze.

Concentrate gently on the tip of the nose with both eyes completely or partly closed and take long and deep breathe. Continue the same for few seconds and increase time with regular practice.

Nose gazing stimulates the frontal lobe of the brain through the optic nerve, allowing the mind to be steady and increase concentration by heightening focus.

The above technique can be practiced anytime and is easy to follow. So next time, when your “monkey mind” gets the better of you, practice this powerful yogic exercise that’s as close as your nose!

Knocking down Mental & Physical Barriers

It is so fascinating to observe how breathing can alter the state of being.

Breathing is the first act when we are born and the last when we die.

It is mesmerizing that how babies are attuned by nature to breathe correctly. As I initially struggled to breath correctly, my 22 months old is effortlessly breathing through her nose with her stomach expanding as she inhales & contracting as she exhale.

As we grow up and follow the course of become worldly wise, we lose our natural innocence and gather unhealthy habits. Sadhana or practice is a powerful way of knocking down one's mind blocks or habits.

As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar stated

"We all are like fire. Observe, are you the fire that produces smoke and pollution, or the flame of camphor that creates light and fragrance"

Yes sometime a simple thought can knock you out of the slumber and rock your core. This thought infused me with fresh energy to religiously practice yoga, do pranayama & meditation, alter my lifestyle and let go of my unhealthy habits.

Yoga has stimulated lots of changes in me and engaged my senses to bring transformation in my life on physical, mental and spiritual level.

On that note, yesterday was a remarkable day, as I performed 'Jal Neti' for the first time. Earlier watching someone practicing it, used to make me uneasy. But the new spirited me, was eager like a child to try the experience.

My heart unflinchingly put my coward mind to ease and I prepare lukewarm salted water for practicing the same. With all my fellow classmates watching me with deep curosity, I bravely put the tip of the Jal neti pot in my left nostril.

Initially it took few seconds for my nostril passage to clear. I felt pressure building inside the bridge of my nose. But 40 seconds later, the water starts coming out gently from the right nostril and the next few rounds of it on both sides, went effortlessly.

If I can express through words how I felt, all I can say is that I felt ALIVE and LIGHT. My Jal Neti experience has been one of the best things that have happened to me.

My Yogic Journey

June 9th 2013 is marked down in my life for inception of my dreams. I was introduced to yoga by my Aunt (a yoga teacher), when I was 9 year old and my affair with it was predestine. Like a true love story, there was separation, longing, detachment and now I rekindle my romance again with fervor, for a "Happy ever after".

I want to write down the changes, the sensations I am going thru. A record from where I started, to where I strive to reach.
I made up my mind not to care so much about the destination, and simply enjoy the journey. Hence I named my blog, SADHAKA.

Sadhaka is someone who follows a particular 'sadhana' or a way of life to realize their goal. The word is related to the Sanskrit 'Sadh', which means to accomplish. As long as one has yet to reach the goal, they are a Sadhaka.

It aptly describes me and as a curious student I start my quest for this ancient discipline.

"Just for today I will live with the attitude of gratitude. I will not worry. I will not get angry. I will show love and respect for every living being." ~ Reiki Mantra

Love & Light