Stand erect, your feet apart by a foot. Place your hands on your knees and loosen your belly. Exhale fully, hold your breath out and pull the stomach in so that it touches the back, as much as possible. Then loosen your body and release the stomach. Repeat this pumping action for as long as you can. Then relax and inhale. This completes one round of the kriya. Do this kriya two to three times.  

Benefits:

Counters constipation, dyspepsia, obesity and gas, keeping the stomach light; also benefits all digestive organs

Caution:

If you suffer from peptic ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, slip disc or intestinal swelling, avoid this kriya.

Also read Yoga for fitness.

Try this asana after a heavy meal. Kneel and sit firmly on your heels. Open your heels, keeping the toes together. Your heels should touch the sides of your hips. Place both hands on the respective knees, palms downwards. Keep your back and head straight, but don’t be tense. Close your eyes. Sit in this asana for as long as you can, breathing normally and gently.

Benefits: This is the only asana that can and should be done after meals. Extremely useful for digestion; alleviates backache, legache and sciatica pain; keeps the mind stable and relaxed; Muslims and Zen Buddhists use this position for prayer and meditation.

Start your yoga session with this kriya. Sit down in sukhasanaor padmasana. Keep your neck straight. Place both hands on your knees in gyan mudra, eyes gently closed. Exhale forcefully through both nostrils, imultaneously pulling your stomach in. Don’t make any effort to inhale. Repeat about 40-50 times till you are tired. Keep your body very still during this kriya. Then breathe out completely and relax. Increase the process gradually to 80-100 times.

Benefits:

Very effective in reducing obesity; eliminates toxins from the air passages, thus cleansing body and mind; combats asthma, constipation, arthritis; very beneficial for women; massages the abdominal muscles and organs

Caution:

If you suffer from any heart disease, a blood pressure condition or hernia, breathe out gently.

Stand with your complete body weight on your right leg. Bend your left knee and lift the foot, so as to place it flat on your right thigh, toes facing down and heel touching the thigh base. Raise both hands and join them over your head in namaskar mudra. Breathing normally, fix your gaze on any point. Hold the position for as long as you can. Return to base position and then repeat for the other leg too.
Benefits:
Balances the mind; increases concentration; helps strengthen and train the mind as well Read the rest of this entry »

Sit with both legs folded in sukhasana or padmasana. Keep your back and neck straight, with both hands at your knees in gyan mudra. Keep your eyes closed. Inhale to your lungs’ full capacity through your nose, taking your stomach in. Don’t move your shoulders. Exhale completely and relax. Breathing should be slow and noiseless. Repeat 20-30 times initially, then increase gradually to 50-60 times.

Benefits: Excellent way to connect with your inner self; completely destresses you; boosts oxygen circulation to vital organs; Read the rest of this entry »

I an not a regular joyi, but yeah I love yoga. I want to do yoga on regular basis, but I can manage only occasionally. What I am going to write here is what I know about yoga.

Prefer a suitable, peaceful and if possible a natural location. Sit in a comfortable position and you are ready to start yoga. You should start with the yoga breathing exercise which we called as Pranayama. The Pranayama yoga exercise help us to eliminate the toxins or the unwanted elements from our body.

Ok, now I will give some tips for Meditation.

1. Before you start mdeditation decide in your mind that you are going to participate in an active meditation, and also determine the time duration.You must convince yourself that meditation is very important for you. And you must not leave in between meditation for any other work like telephone etc.

2. The best times to meditate is in the morning, before breakfast breakfast. Another good time is in the evening, before the evening meal. It is because you must do meditation in empty stomach.

3.  You can start with a simple spiritual songs.

4. Sit in proper position as directed. You can search for some videos for meditation siting postion.

5. Strickly and very carefully follow the meditation instructions. Don’t try any experiments by yourself.

Read the rest of this entry »