5-Minute Mindfulness (13 page)

Place your hands on either side of the blankets, pull your belly button toward the spine for support, and lower your back (keeping it extended) and head onto the blankets. Let your arms come out to the sides, with the palms facing up. They will be off the blankets.

Close your eyes. Relax completely. This is a wonderful restorative posture. Stay in the pose for five to ten minutes, depending on your comfort level. Observe your breath and the expansion of the torso on inhalation and the contraction of the body on exhalation.

To come out of the pose, bring your knees together, and carefully roll off the blankets onto your right side. Press your hands down to bring yourself to a seated position.

It may be necessary to place a folded blanket under your head so your chin is neither pressing into your chest nor sticking way up in the air. Your chin can be level with your forehead or a little lower. You want to retain the natural (concave) curve of the neck. Your legs can be propped up with additional blankets or blocks for extra support (see
Figure 6-10
).

Figure 6-10: Supta Baddha Konasana

Some modifications:

For pregnant women, lying flat is not recommended. Instead, stack the blankets like stairs to allow the torso to lie on an incline.

If you have lower-back pain, come out of the pose, and readjust the height of the blankets. See if this helps. Placing support under the thighs may ease the back. If you have knee pain, place support under the knees. Adjust the distance of the heels from the groin, creating a wider angle with the knees. Or, put a block between the feet, which takes the action out of the knees and places it into the hips.

Note: If pain persists, do not stay in the pose.

Supta Baddha Konasana is especially good for you because it:

• Eases menstrual discomfort

• Opens the chest, abdomen, pelvis, inner thighs, and groin

• Deepens the breath

• Benefits the health of the ovaries and the prostate gland

• Regulates blood pressure

• Relieves varicose veins and sciatica

• Helps a prolapsed uterus

• Tones the kidneys

REV UP YOUR YANG SELF

In general, men have dense, bulky, tight muscles. Yoga postures can go a long way toward loosening and lengthening those knotty muscles. As men approach middle age, many experience prostate problems. Practicing a variety of postures, particularly forward bends and poses that open the pelvis and hips, is preventive health for the prostate gland and the lymph glands. (The lymphatic system, which circulates lymph fluid, picking up and eliminating waste throughout the body, greatly benefits from yoga postures and breathing exercises. The lymphatic system does not move on its own. It has to be pumped by the muscles.)

EASY PROSTATE POSE

Baddha Konasana
is the bound-angle pose. Sit cross-legged, spine straight. Bend the knees out to the side, and join the soles of the feet. Press the soles of the feet together, pressurizing the balls of the feet and the heels, while you peel the toes away from each other. Observe what this feels like. What actions do you observe in the legs? Check in with your breath. Using the hands, draw the feet in toward the pelvis to where it is comfortable. Let the thighs release down to the floor. Open the soles of the feet with your hands, as if they were the pages of an open book. Inhale, and press into the buttock bones (see
Figure 6-11
). Elongate the spine all the way to the crown of the head. Exhale fully, and lift the top chest, keeping the shoulder blades on the back. Remain for several breaths. Join the knees together, then sit cross-legged, spine straight. You may want to sit with the back against the wall for support.

Figure 6-11: Baddha Konasana

You can also try this pose sitting on a blanket to maintain an upright, level pelvis. Place the rounded corner of the folded blanket facing forward. Sit down, with the rounded corner under the pubis. This will allow the thighs and groin to release farther down to the floor. Or, place a rolled up blanket or a block under each knee for support and relaxation of the thigh muscles (see
Figure 6-12
).

Figure 6-12: Baddha Konasana with blocks

Bring the feet farther forward into what is known as star pose. This will enable the knees and thighs to release farther to the floor. Fold forward from the hips no more than 45 degrees, maintaining a long spine and keeping the buttock bones planted on the floor (see
Figure 6-13
).

Figure 6-13: Star pose

You can also try placing the hands behind you, fingertips on the floor, as you come forward (see
Figure 6-14
). This is a great way to learn how to bend forward from the hips without the shoulders and upper back rounding.

Figure 6-14: Baddha Konasana with fingertips behind hips

Note: If you suffer from knee pain and none of the modifications help, refrain from doing the pose.

Baddha Konasana is especially good for you because it:

• Stretches the inner thighs and groin

• Opens the pelvis and lower back

• Reduces sciatic pain

• Maintains the health of the kidneys, prostate, ovaries, and bladder

• Is a wonderful pose for pregnancy, helping with delivery and diminishing varicose veins

• Eases menstrual discomfort

• Is recommended for deep breathing and meditation practices

OPEN TO YOUR MASCULINE ENERGY MINDFUL MOMENT

Whenever you feel like you need to reconnect with your masculine side, do Baddha Konasana. Breathe in yang energy—fiery and forceful. Imagine yourself as the sun, pulsating with the heat that powers the planet. Breathe out excess lethargy and passivity. Repeat.

RELIEVE YOUR CHRONIC AILMENTS

Common chronic ailments, such as arthritis, osteoporosis, obesity, asthma, heart disease, addictions (many twelve-step programs have incorporated yoga into their programs with good results), back problems, knee injuries, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, mild depression, sinus problems, and headaches (to name just a few!), can be relieved through regular yoga practice.

Yoga for cancer patients emphasizes stress management utilizing awareness, centering, and breathing techniques; gentle movement; deep relaxation; and meditation. Yoga is being used as a successful healing modality in conjunction with other therapies at highly respected cancer retreats, such as Commonweal in Bolinas, California, and Smith Farm in Hallowood, Maryland. These yoga techniques help cancer patients cope with the stress of the disease and with the effects of their treatment, such as fatigue, nausea, flulike symptoms, and chemotherapy-induced menopause.

People with multiple sclerosis have found yoga to be extremely beneficial in maintaining muscle, tone, strength, and flexibility. Yoga also helps restore a sense of control over their lives and enhances their overall quality of life. Note: If you suffer from any of these ailments, be sure to check with your physician before taking up yoga—and do learn the poses under the guidance of an experienced and certified yoga instructor.

RELAX YOURSELF

Yoga’s unique combination of postures and deep breathing invigorates the entire body–mind system. These specific yogic breathing techniques are called
pranayama
, which controls the breath and, ultimately, the mind. The practice of pranayama boasts many curative benefits, as it helps to:

• Calm and strengthen the respiratory and nervous systems

• Balance and replenish the body’s vital energy

• Lessen fatigue

• Quiet the mind and calm the emotions

Conscious relaxation techniques systematically guide you into a state of deep relaxation. As the noisy chatter of your mind recedes, your body is able to let go and release muscular tension. As your body lets go, the breath rate slows and deepens so the respiratory system is allowed to rest. Slow, deep breathing encourages relaxation and calmness just as a quick, shallow breath invites anxiety and action.

As the breath rate slows down, the heartbeat responds and also becomes slower. This positively affects the entire circulatory system and rests the heart, allowing it to rejuvenate. The sympathetic nervous system, always ready to gear up for action, gets the message that it is okay to relax, and then the parasympathetic nervous system initiates the relaxation response.

The endocrine glands, responsible for much of your emotional and physical well-being, receive the message to relax. (In this stress-driven society, the adrenal glands in particular become overused and depleted.)

This deep relaxation goes to the very core of decreasing fatigue and unraveling you from the inside out like a knotted ball of twine. You emerge from this experience full of energy, as if you’ve just returned from a mini-vacation from your stressful life.