De-stress with yoga. Relaxing ways to calm the mind and soothe the body with stress busting moves from Artistic Yoga. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00Namaste and welcome to Artistic Yoga's class for de-stressing you.
00:22It's been a very hectic year and the stress levels have been crazy, so we are looking
00:27at a few positions, especially breathing techniques and a simple meditation technique that will
00:32help us to de-stress, unwind and better cope with the stressful times.
00:39The first breathing technique that we look at is actually a neuromuscular lock that we
00:43call Bandha in Yoga, Jalandhar Bandh.
00:47Inhale while holding your breath, touch your chin to your chest and retain the breath inside.
00:55You must hold your breath for only as long as you can.
00:58Those who have high BP hold for just 3 or 4 seconds and those who have a cervical problem
01:04make a fist with their hand and place it between chin and chest.
01:09Once you have held for about 20 seconds, come up and exhale through the nose.
01:15Doing this practice 3 times.
01:17The next position that we look at is called Udhyana Bandha.
01:21To do this, take in a deep breath, exhale and blow out completely.
01:27Without taking in a breath, contract your stomach.
01:31See that your stomach is being pulled inside.
01:35Hold for as long as you can comfortably.
01:38Those with high BP don't hold for more than 4 to 5 seconds.
01:43And then release and come back.
01:45We do this 3 times.
01:47The benefits include working on the adrenal gland to regulate the levels of adrenaline
01:53in the body and hence stress levels are balanced.
01:57The next breathing technique that we look at is called Brahmari Pranayama.
02:02Brahmari or bumble bee breathing is done like this.
02:06Firstly, block your ears and place your fingers on your head.
02:10Take in a deep breath.
02:13As you exhale, make a HUN, H-U-N, HUN sound.
02:21And you are experiencing this vibration on the top of your head.
02:25As a response to this vibration, your brain secretes 2 hormones, Relaxin and Serotonin
02:32which help you de-stress and bring down the blood pressure levels.
02:41Those of you who have high BP, this is a very beneficial position and it's also good
02:45for everybody to reduce stress.
02:50The next breathing technique that we look at is called Anulom Vilom Pranayama or alternate
02:56nostril breathing.
02:57To do this, with the right hand pull the first 2 fingers inside and now place your thumb
03:03on your right nostril.
03:06Inhale through the left nostril, close both the nostrils and retain the breath inside.
03:16Release the right nostril and exhale.
03:22Again breathe in through the right, close your nostrils, hold the breath and exhale
03:32through the left.
03:34This completes one round of Anulom Vilom.
03:37We do about 5-6 going on to about 20 as our practice improves.
03:47Finally we finish with a simple meditation technique.
03:50There's too much of confusion in today's world about meditation.
03:53So we start with the most simple and basic of procedures.
03:57Sit in a comfortable position.
03:59If you're not able to sit in the lotus or padmasana, you may even sit on a bench, a
04:05chair, you may even lie down while watching your breathing.
04:09The meditation we are doing is called witnessing your breath.
04:13Sit comfortably, start to breathe slowly.
04:18We are not trying to regulate the breathing, just bringing awareness to the breathing itself
04:24is enough and the breathing will get slower and deeper.
04:29As soon as we tune into the body's rhythm, we begin to de-stress, unwind and calm down.
04:38We are breathing like a baby with the stomach going out when we breathe in and coming in
04:44when we breathe out.
04:47You may do this outdoors, if that's not possible you may also do it indoors, play a little
04:52good music in the background, you may light a few incense sticks to create an atmosphere
04:57of relaxation.
05:00We do this for about 3-4 minutes and if this practice can go up to about 20 minutes, you'll
05:05find you're a completely new person.
05:08With that we finish this session of artistic yoga.
05:12I hope it helps you to de-stress, unwind, take stock of your life and approach the new
05:17year in a completely new way.
05:20Namaste.