Relaxation techniques
There are three relaxation techniques here. Instant relaxation technique (IRT) takes two minutes, Quick Relaxation Technique (QRT) takes five minutes, Deep Relaxation Technique (DRT) takes between 10 and 20 minutes. Practise IRT after individual exercises and either QRT or DRT after the Asanas. You can also use any one on its own, to give rest during the day. Do both DRT and QRT while in the corpse pose below, not the IRT version. Always come out of relaxation slowly.
The corpse pose
Lie on a firm, flat surface. Reduce the gap beneath your lower back by lifting your knees to your chest on your back, then slide your feet along the floor as your lower your legs. Spread your feet 20-30cm (8-12in) apart. Spread your arms so that they are 45 CM (18in) from your body. Palms upwards. Lift your head and lower it with your chin tucked in. if this is uncomfortable, put a cushion under your head or rest your head on its side. Close your eyes and start either QRT or DRT.
Twisting stand with your feet 60cm (24in) apart, and your arms spread out horizontally. As you exhale, twist to the right and extend your right arm back, bending your left arm at the elbow and looking behind you. Keep your body straight. Inhaling. Turn to the front, and now twist to the left. Repeat many times, gradually increasing the speed and breathings rate. Take care not to jerk or strain.
Embryo
Lie with your heels together, arms stretched out behind you. Bend you knees as you raise your legs, and inhale slowly. Then, as you exhale, tuck your knees in to your chest, holding them with interlocked fingers, and bring your chin up to your knees. Next, extend your left leg at 45 degree and rotate it in the air, five times clockwise and five times contraclockwise, breathing normally. Repeat, with your right. Finally, bring both legs to your chest and rock back and forth a few times.
Instant Relaxation Technique (IRT) lie as shown and then, inhale and tighten your toes, feet, and calves, pull your kneecaps back, and clench your thighs and buttocks. Exhale, pulling in your abdomen, clenching your fists, and tighting the muscles in your arms. In hale, expand your chest, and tighten your shoulders, neck, and facial muscles. Go on tighten your body for about three seconds, then release as you exhale, and spread your legs and arms. Let your body relax. Do not alter the order given above, and allow a few seconds for each muscle group.
Before you start
Breath and stretch
The gentle exercise on this page cultivate the mental state of you need to practise yoga. Close your eyes as you do them and beware of your inner sensations. Always breath out for longer than you breathe in, synchronizing your breathing and movement. Note how you become calmer as your breathing slows. CAUTION: Avoid cat stretch for epilepsy. Rabbit Breathing for epilepsy.
Arm-stretch Breathing
Put your feet together and stretch your arms out in front of you, level with your shoulders. Put your palms together, fingers pointing towards. As you inhale, spread your arms side ways and expand your chest. Then, as you exhale, bring you arms back to the front. Breathe evenly, and make sure your breath and your moments are synchronized, starting and finishing simultaneously. Repeat five times.
Hand-stretch breathing
Stand upright and bring your hands on your chest, with your fingers interlinked and palms face inward. As you inhale, stretch out your arms horizontally to the position shown and reverse your bands so that palms face outward. Bring them back to your chest as you exhale. Repeat three times. Then, do the same again, but now raise your arms to 45 degree, rather than extending them horizontally. Repeat again, raising your arms to the vertical, above your head.
Tree breathing
Stand upright, arms down and fingers interlocked, with your palms facing down. As you inhale, rise your toes, and at the same time bring your hands up to your chest, and on up, rising your hands above your head as in the final part of hand stretch breathing. Fell the stretch from your ankles to your fingers as you reach upward. Then, as you exhale, lower your arms and go down on your hells again. Repeat five times.
Cat stretch
Crouch down on your hands and keens, with your arms and thighs vertical, like pillars. As you exhale, slowly lower your head and arch your back up, so that it is convex. Then, as you inhale, bend your head up and bring your spine down so that it concave. Feel the stretch along your spine, neck and shoulders. Repeat several times. Breathing slowly, and accentuate the upward and downward stretches of the spine as much as possible-don't just move your head.
Rabbit Breathing
Kneel down on the ground and sit back on your heels. Then, bend forward from the waist and rest your elbow and palms on the ground beside your knees. Your hands should facing forward, and your back held up. Open your mouth and stick out your tongue, and pant quickly like a rabbit. Use only the upper part of the chest and continue for 20 breaths. Then, close your mouth and sit up.
Single-leg rising
Lie down, with your arms by your side. As you inhale, slowly rise your right leg up, without bending your knee, as far as you can go without feeling pain in your hamstrings. Then, exhale as you lower it. Keep your lower back close to the ground. Do five leg rises for each leg. If this begins to be easy, also do Double-leg rising after you finish, but note any cautions.
Loosening up
These dynamic exercises prepare you for the asanas. CAUTION Avoid: loosening up for hypertension, venous blood clots, heart disease, first month of yoga near menopause. Jogging for varicose veins, back pain, haemorrhoids, hernia, disc problems. Forward-backward bending for low back pain, hernia, disc problems, glaucoma, pressure in the head and neck. Sideways bending for lower back pain, hernia, disc problems. Twisting for hernia, disc problems.
Jogging
As you jog on the spot, kick your free leg as indicated. Hole your heads in lose fists. In front of your chest, and keep your body relaxed. First kick back and up. Bending your knee, and bring your heel close to your buttocks. Repeat ten times, five for each leg. Then, do forward kicks, bending your knee and raise it up to your chest. Next, kick back and side ways ten times. Start slowly, and gradually speed up until you are doing as fast as you can. Finish by leaning forward, with your heads on your thighs, and rest until your breathing returns to nearly normal.
Forward-backward bending
Inhale, stretch your arms upward and backward and bend your spine back. Exhale, come back up then bend forward as far as you can. Repeat this forward/backward motion, inhaling as you go back and exhaling as you come forward. Gradually increase the speed and bring a swinging movement to the body and arms. Avoid excessive speed or jerking.
Sideways bending
Stand with your feet wide apart. As you inhale, raise your right arm to you shoulder, parallel to the ground. Exhaling, bend to the left, sliding your left arm along your left thigh towards your heel. Turn your head back and look along the line of your right arm, keeping your chin in and body in one plane. Come up as your inhale. Then do the same on the right. Repeat then times, five for each side. Start slowly, then gradually increase the speed after a few days.
Quick relaxation technique (QRT)
Be aware of your body lying on the floor. Note how your abdomen rises and falls as you breathe. Count ten cycles, noting how the movement becomes regular and slow as you observe it. For the next ten, feel your breath going into your abdomen as you inhale, expanding it like a balloon, and then feel it collapse as you exhale. Do not breathe forcefully.
Next, feel yourself relax as you exhale and become energized by the incoming air as you inhale. Feel you body sink into the ground as your abdomen falls and small pause before it rises again. As you inhale fully, feel your body become light and energetic. Enjoy the deep relaxation of exhaling and strengthen the energization of inhaling. Repeat ten times.
Deep relaxation technique (DRT)
As you lie in the corpse pose, follow the instructions below. As first it may be easier to record them on a cassette and play it back to yourself. Read them slowly and pause for several seconds after each instruction. Later, you will be able to practise without such aids and relaxation will become spontaneous. This sequence is also used in yoga nidra.
Either dictate or learn the following: " close your eyes and relax your body stage by stage, beginning from the toes…feel a tingling in the tips of your toes and the roots of your toenails…relax your toes…the sloe of your feet…your ankles…all of your feet…relax your calf muscles…your knees…your thighs…your buttocks…relax all of your legs from your toes to your buttocks…inhale deeply and chant 'AH', feeling the vibrations in your abdomen travel down to your toes…be aware of your abdomen and thorax…feel the surge of energy each time you inhale and your upper body expands…feel the waves of relaxation as you exhale travel outward…feel a tingling in the tips of your fingers and the roots of your fingernails…relax the muscles of your hands, arms waist, back, and shoulders…YOUspine, vertebra by vertebra…be aware of your chest…inhale and chant "OO", feeling the vibrations in your chest cavity spread down to your arms and fingers…relax your throat and then face…start with your chin…now your lower jaw…you teeth…the root of your tongue…now your palate and upper jaw...your cheeks and cheek bones…relax your lips, keeping a beautiful smile on your face…relax nose…the space between your eyebrows…eyes…forehead…ears…scalp…back of the head…inhale and Chant "OM"…feel the vibrations from your toes to your head…imagine a vast ocean or sky…merge with the ocean or sky…dive deeper and deeper into the ocean of silence.
Pranayama
Yogic breathings, or pranayma, is central to the daily session. Just as the Asanas that precede it slow down the physical body, the breathing exercises shown here harmonize the flow of prana within you.
There are three different types of breathings. Abdominal, thoracic, and clavicular. In natural breathing we use all three types at once, so all the muscles involved are exercised. But when we breathe badly one of the three types of breathing tends to be underused and the muscles that bring it about become weak or chronically tense. The exercises that follow relax and strengthen these breathing muscles and also teach you how to use the three types of breathing in a balanced way. Sit in the kneeling pose, or any other comfortable position, with your back straight. Always breathe slowly and evenly, unless instructed otherwise, and stop for a moment after inhale or exhale. Be as relaxed as possible, let your body breathe by itself, and just guide it with the minimum effort.
CAUTION: Avoid rapid abdominal breathing for hypertension or epilepsy, during menstruation.
Sectional breathing
Inhale by letting your abdomen bulge and then exhale by drawing it in continuously and slowly. While learning, place one of your hands on your abdomen, keep your chest and shoulder stationary. Next, hold your shoulder and abdomen still as you inhale by expanding your rib cage. Exhale by slowly realising your ribs. While learning, place your palms on the side of your chest to feel moment and push gently inward in the last stage of exhalation. Then, hold your abdomen slightly in, rib cage stationary, and breath in and out by allowing your shoulders to move up and down. Finally combine all three, inhaling from your abdomen, continue with the ribs and ending the breath with the clavicles. Exhale in the reverse order.
Rapid abdominal breathing
Keep your neck, shoulders, and face relaxed, exhale forcibly using your abdomen, and then inhale passively by relaxing it. Repeat; let your abdomen go in and out rhythmically. Begin by doing three rounds of ten breaths. Add then breaths each week until you reach 30 breaths per round. Relax for 20 seconds between rounds, slowing or stopping. Start with one breath every two seconds, gradually speed up to two breaths every second. Make sure you master the moment before you increase the number of breath.
Alternate-nostril breathing
Tuck the first and second fingers of your right hand into your palm, extending your thumb and the fourth and filth fingers. Close the right nostril with your thumb, exhale and inhale though the left nostril. Then, close your left nostril with the forth and fifth fingers and open your right, exhale and inhale through the right nostril. Repeat at least 5 times. Keep your breathing slow, even, deep, and silent. Try to follow the course of the breath down the nose and throat into the lungs, and then out again.
Folded-tongue breathing
Fold your tongue back and place its tip against the root of your upper front teeth, inhale slowly and evenly, around each side of your tongue, and note the cold air in your mouth and travel down your throat. Exhale through your nose.
Sounds breathing
Inhale deeply and then, loudly vocalize the sound "AH" as you exhale. Imagine that the vibration permeates your abdomen and spreads down legs to your toes. Repeat three times. Now repeat, but vocalize the sound "OO" and let the vibration starts in your throat and extends to your face and head. End by chanting "OM", three times, and feeling the vibration throughout your body.