Latest news with #Balasana
Hans India
29-05-2025
- Health
- Hans India
10-Minute Yoga Poses to Naturally Cool Your Body During Summer
As temperatures soar and humidity levels rise, keeping the body cool becomes a daily challenge. While hydration and light meals are essential, incorporating 10-minute yoga sessions into your daily routine can naturally cool the body and ease the discomforts of summer. These specific yoga poses and breathing techniques work to lower internal heat, calm the mind, and enhance well-being. Why the Body Overheats in Summer According to Ayurveda, excessive heat in the body—referred to as "Pitta" dosha—can lead to issues like fatigue, irritability, skin rashes, and acidity. This imbalance becomes more pronounced during summer, especially with physical exertion. Practising certain yoga asanas and pranayama helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting deep, mindful breathing and cooling down the body naturally. Best Time for Cooling Yoga Practice To gain the maximum benefits, perform cooling yoga either in the early morning (before 8 AM) or late evening (after 6 PM). Choose a calm, well-ventilated space away from direct sunlight to enhance the effectiveness of your practice. Top 10-Minute Yoga Asanas for Cooling the Body 1. Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose) A deeply restorative posture, this pose opens the hips and chest, promoting relaxation and lowering the heart rate. How to Practice: Lie flat on your back, bring the soles of your feet together, and allow your knees to fall outward. Place cushions under your knees if needed and breathe deeply. 2. Viparita Karani (Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose) Known as the ultimate "cool down" pose, it enhances circulation, relaxes the nervous system, and reduces body heat. How to Practice: Lie on your back and rest your legs vertically against a wall. Let your arms rest beside you. Hold for up to 10 minutes while breathing slowly. 3. Balasana (Child's Pose) This gentle resting posture calms the back, shoulders, and nervous system. How to Practice: Kneel on the mat, sit back on your heels, and fold forward, resting your forehead on the ground. Stretch your arms out or relax them by your sides. Breathe deeply. Cooling Pranayama Techniques 1. Sheetali Pranayama (Cooling Breath) This breathing method helps reduce internal body temperature and calms the nervous system. How to Practice: Roll your tongue into a tube (or use your teeth if you can't roll it), inhale through the tube, and exhale through the nose. Repeat for 5–10 rounds. 2. Chandra Bhedana (Left Nostril Breathing) This breathwork activates the body's cooling lunar energy. How to Practice: Close your right nostril with your thumb, inhale through the left nostril, then close the left and exhale through the right. Continue this cycle for several minutes. Cooling yoga asanas and pranayama offer a natural, effective way to combat the heat and discomfort of summer. Just 10 minutes a day can help regulate internal temperature, soothe the mind, and leave you feeling refreshed. Integrate these poses into your daily wellness routine to enjoy a more balanced and energised summer season.
India.com
23-05-2025
- Health
- India.com
Start Your Anti-Aging Journey With THESE 8 Simple Yoga Poses For Lasting Health And Fitness Benefits
photoDetails english 2905017 Updated:May 23, 2025, 09:15 AM IST Yoga 1 / 10 In today's fast-paced world, maintaining youthfulness and fitness can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. However, incorporating simple yoga poses into your routine can help rejuvenate your mind and body, promoting a more youthful appearance and contributing to overall health. Here are eight easy yoga poses to get you started on your journey to looking younger and feeling great. Mountain Pose (Tadasana) 2 / 10 Start by standing tall with your feet together, arms at your sides. Inhale deeply while reaching your arms overhead, focusing on elongating your body. This pose improves posture, increases your confidence, and helps you feel grounded. Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) 3 / 10 Start on your hands and knees, then lift your hips up and back. Keep your feet hip-width apart and your hands shoulder-width apart. This pose elongates the spine and strengthens the arms and legs, contributing to better circulation and a refreshed look. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) 4 / 10 Lie flat on your stomach, place your hands under your shoulders, and gently lift your chest while keeping your elbows slightly bent. Cobra Pose opens up the heart and chest, promoting better oxygen flow, which can brighten your complexion and enhance your vitality. Child's Pose (Balasana) 5 / 10 From a kneeling position, sit back on your heels and stretch your arms out in front of you, resting your forehead on the ground. This restorative pose calms the mind, relieves stress, and promotes relaxation, all essential for maintaining a youthful spirit. Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II) 6 / 10 Stand with your legs wide apart, turn one foot out, and bend that knee while extending your arms parallel to the ground. This pose builds strength and stability, helping to improve focus and vitality, giving you that energetic glow. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana) 7 / 10 Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart. Lift your hips toward the ceiling while squeezing your glutes. Bridge Pose opens the heart, reduces anxiety, and helps maintain hormonal balance, which can contribute to a youthful look. Cat-Cow Stretch (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana) 8 / 10 Begin on all fours, then alternate between arching your back (Cat) and letting your belly drop while lifting your head and tailbone (Cow). This dynamic movement enhances spine flexibility, alleviates tension, and encourages better overall function of the body. Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana) 9 / 10 Sit with your legs extended in front of you. Inhale as you reach your arms overhead, then exhale while bending forward to grasp your feet or ankles. This pose stretches the spine and encourages relaxation, helping to relieve stress and enhance mood. 10 / 10 Incorporating these yoga poses into your daily routine can significantly contribute to not only looking younger but also feeling healthier. Yoga promotes flexibility, strength, and mindfulness, all of which are essential for maintaining a youthful appearance. Start with a few of these poses each day, and you'll likely notice a positive transformation in both your body and mind. Embrace the journey of fitness and youthfulness through the beautiful practice of yoga!
News18
12-05-2025
- Health
- News18
International Mental Health Awareness Month: Using Yoga to Navigate Your Emotions
Last Updated: Yoga offers an integrated approach to emotional well-being by helping us connect the body and mind through breath, movement, and awareness May marks International Mental Health Awareness Month—a powerful reminder to nurture not just our physical health, but also our emotional well-being. Mental health is not just a concern for business professionals or the urban working class; it matters deeply for individuals from all walks of life—homemakers, students, caregivers, and rural workers alike. Our ability to process emotions, manage stress, and find inner balance has a profound impact on how we live, relate, and thrive. Indira C H, Yoga Expert, cult shares all you need to know: The Mind-Body Connection through Yoga Yoga offers an integrated approach to emotional well-being by helping us connect the body and mind through breath, movement, and awareness. It's well known that our emotional states show up physically—slouched shoulders when we're sad, clenched jaws when angry, or tight hips and shallow breathing during stress. These bodily reactions are often unconscious, but they reinforce the emotional states they accompany. The beauty of yoga lies in its power to reverse-engineer this process. By mindfully opening the body through postures and consciously regulating the breath, we can influence our emotional states. Expanding the chest, grounding through the feet, or simply inhaling deeply can signal safety to the brain, thereby calming the nervous system and helping us process difficult emotions more effectively. Asanas to Release Emotional Tension Several yoga poses can help release physical tension associated with emotional stress and promote a greater sense of inner calm: ● Balasana (Child's Pose) – A gentle forward fold that soothes the nervous system and encourages a sense of safety and introspection. ● Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall Pose) – A restorative inversion that enhances blood flow to the brain, relieves anxiety, and soothes the mind. ● Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose) – This calming backbend opens the chest and shoulders while stimulating the thyroid and calming the brain. Breath as the Bridge Our breath is the most accessible tool for emotional regulation. Throughout the day, we fluctuate between the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). In today's fast-paced world, many people remain stuck in sympathetic overdrive, leading to chronic stress and emotional burnout. Simple breathing practices—like pausing to take a few conscious deep breaths—can restore this balance. A particularly effective technique is to breathe in a 1:2 ratio (e.g., inhale for 4 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds). This rhythm encourages parasympathetic activation, calming the body and mind almost instantly. Practices like Anulom Vilom (alternate nostril breathing) and Bhramari (Humming Bee Breath) further deepen this balance, helping reduce emotional overwhelm and bring clarity. Yoga invites us to meet our emotions with compassion and awareness. By tuning into our body and breath, we can navigate emotional highs and lows with greater ease. Whether you're facing daily stress or deep emotional unrest, integrating yoga into your routine can create the inner space needed to reflect, reset, and move forward with resilience. First Published: May 12, 2025, 19:55 IST
