“Despite the calm and collected exterior, you are experiencing a riot of emotions inside. “
When in reality, our entire physical bodies are being impacted by what happens in our brains, we tend to believe that emotions and anxieties occur in our brains. a tightening in the chest? Worry. Neck ache during a long day at work? Stress.
One of yoga’s most priceless gifts is the opportunity it offers us to sit with uncomfortable emotions and begin working through them and finding stillness when in challenging yoga positions allows the entire body to relax.
Yes, we must pay attention to what happens, but taking care of ourselves is just as crucial. While holding a position for five to ten minutes, the body physically relaxes, but we also feel relieved mentally and emotionally. For those who are resolving issues from the past or the present, this can be incredibly empowering and useful.
1. Are you feeling emotionally weak? Do the half pigeon stance to widen your hips (Ardha kapotasana).
The “junk drawer” of emotions is commonly used in the yoga community to describe the hips. They store every fragment of your previous emotional states, particularly those that were painful. Although there is no scientific reason for this, we know that the hip flexors play a critical role in constricting the knees inward toward the torso, a response used by our sympathetic nervous system during “flight, fight or freeze” situations. As a result, we are also aware of how effective hip openers are at helping people recover from emotional trauma.
Hip flexors are used in high-stress situations and may have long-lasting impacts, whether you are contracting them to run (fight or flight) or curl up in a foetal position (freeze).
How to:
Pull one leg forward and bend it so the shin is parallel to the top of your mat while you are in the downward-facing dog (adho mukha svanasana). Place it down and heel-toe your rear leg. Flex firmly into the bent leg’s foot. Come onto your forearms or keep your hands firmly planted in front of you. Exercise conscious breathing. Alternate and repeat.
Modifications:
Put a block beneath your bowed hip and another under your hands or forehead as accessible modifications. Come onto your back if the hip-strengthening traditional stance is too intense for you. Embrace the mat with your feet. Cross one ankle over the thigh of the adversary. Pull that thigh towards your chest using a strap behind it (or your hands clasped). Don’t forget to breathe normally.
2. Does your heart feel heavy? Pose like a camel (ustrasana).
The heart can occasionally feel like an anvil, whether because of a personal connection, external problems, or inexplicable sensations of sorrow or sadness. Your chest will naturally be concave, inward to shield the heart from additional damage. The heart-opening camel stance can assist with this as it prevents us from fully digesting those feelings. By “cracking open” the heart or opening the chest, this pose stimulates the heart chakra (Anahata chakra).
How to:
Sit on your shins and stack your hips over your knees to enter the posture. As you push your hips forward, place your hands on your low back. Turn your head to look up at the sky and then behind you. As you move the hips even further forward, let your hands reach your heels. Allow the throat to open and allow the head to droop. Breathe normally.
Modifications:
Please keep your hands off your heels and rest them on your hips with your fingertips pointing down to lessen the force of the backbend. To safeguard the cervical spine and throat, you can also keep your chin tucked.
3. Do you need to build your self-confidence? With warrior 2, assume your might (virabhadrasana DVI).
Feeling uncertain, uneasy, or shy? For it, there is a warrior pose Virabhadrasana. Warriors 2 is renowned for its balance of difficulty and effort, even if it requires a lot of strength and steadiness (stirha and sukha). When we are confident, we feel at peace in our own skin. Since we already possess it and go around the world with positivity and light, we don’t need to be reassured. This pose is for you if you want to release emotional baggage and emerge strong.
How to:
Face the top of your mat to begin the position. Put your heel at a 90-degree angle and step back with one foot. Find a front-heel to back-arch alignment by jiggling your feet (or somewhere close). As you extend your rear leg, bend deeply into your front knee. As your arms extend into a “T,” your hip points should be square to the mat’s edge. Look at the tips of your front fingers. Breathe normally. Alternate and repeat.
Modifications:
Put the back foot near a wall if you need help keeping your balance. Reduce the space between the feet if the hips and thighs require more support. For further support, you might also bring a chair underneath your front thigh.
4. Trying to increase your level of trust in other people? Attack a brave warrior (baddha virabhadrasana).
Consider yourself a young person prepared to leap off a large rock into a lake. As a young person, you may not completely comprehend the dangers of the act, but you decide to do it anyhow. You leap into the water below with your arms outstretched and your chest exposed, trusting your intuition. As adults, we could start to lose faith in the outside world and even in our peers. Herein lies the role of the humble fighter. It is humbling and reverent to bow down, and the intensity of the stance demands all of our trust. The “leap in the water, chest first” position encourages us to relinquish control and let go.
How to:
Face the top of your mat to begin the position. Put your heel at a 45-degree angle and step back with one foot. Find a heel-to-heel alignment by jiggling your feet (or somewhere close). As you extend your rear leg, bend deeply into your front knee. As your arms are clasped behind your low back, your hip points are square to the top of the mat. Exhale while lowering your front knee and lifting your chest upward. Lift your hands in a fist-crack above your head. Breathe. Alternate and repeat.
Modifications:
Heel-toe your front foot to the edge of your mat if you need additional room for your body and hips. Use a strap behind the low back if your shoulders are tense. Here, a chair underneath your front thigh also works.
5. Do you need to release tension? Enjoy a spinal twist when reclining (supta matsyendrasana).
The upper and lower back, the chest, and the belly are popular places for physical tension and anxiety to manifest themselves. Spinal twists are considered to be both mentally and physically purifying, and they are an excellent method to release stress and anxiety that have built up in those spaces. A similar emotional response may be triggered by “wringing out” one’s spine. When you get home from a long day at work or right before bed, try this stance.
How to:
To strike the posture, lie down with your shins parallel to the sky. Knees should be bent to the left. Allow the opposite shoulder to soften toward the mat while placing your left hand on the upper knee. Breathe. Alternate and repeat.
Modifications:
Put a folded blanket between your legs or your knees as an accessible modification.
6. Legs Up the Wall for a Changed Perspective? Oh yes, you see things from a different lens
A great approach to unwind and cleanse the body’s energy is to do the legs-up-the-wall pose.
A simple inversion stance that is silent and calming is called viparita Karani. It relieves pressure on your neck and head and benefits your nerve system. Legs-Up-the-Wall is a “non-doing” pose that focuses on unwinding your body and releasing whatever tension you may be holding in.
Viparita means inverted, and Karani translates to “in action” in Sanskrit. So, when you’re in the legs-up-the-wall pose, you’re actively inverting. Gravity can work on your legs in a manner it can’t on the rest of your body for most of the day since they are elevated above it
As we allow the legs to release stored energy, the weight—both physical and emotional—melt away.
Find a place where there is no wall and sit next to it with your left side touching the wall and your feet on the floor, stretched out in front of you. Exhale. Ensure that the soles of your feet are facing up while you lay on your back with the backs of your legs pressed against the wall. You’ll need to move around a bit to become comfortable in this position.
Put your buttocks against the wall or a little bit away from it. Ensure that the floor is where your head and back are resting. Your body will inevitably make a 90-degree angle.
Slide a prop under your hips by lifting them up. To support your hips and create that curvature in your lower body, you might also use your hands.
Maintain a neutral head and neck position while softening your face and throat.
Breathe in and shut your eyes. For at least five minutes, maintain the position. Release the tension and roll to any side. To sit up, inhale before you do.
Modifications:
Begin using no props, or try a couple of bolsters subtly positioned beneath the hips and spine. You may provide a little pressure to your feet by placing a block there, and you can add warmth and security to your body by covering it with a blanket.
7. Supported Twist to Regulate and Balance Negative Energy
Twists are incredibly effective for processing and healthily digesting food. Healthy digestion is crucial, according to Ayurveda, the sister discipline of yoga, not only for the food we eat but also for the experiences we take in.
Conversations with people, the world around us, and our responses to things are just a few examples of these encounters that set off our emotions. Twist exercises stimulate the digestive system and promote the digesting process.
On the head end of a mat, place a bolster lengthwise. Your hips should be 4 to 8 inches or less from the bolster’s end while you sit sideways on your yoga mat.
Lay your torso down onto the bolster with your chest down by placing your hands on either side of it. To maintain your abdomen lose and your rib cage supported, adjust your distance from the bolster as necessary.
Put your arms on either side of the bolster and tilt your head in the direction of the twist. As you exhale, lie back on your bolster and take a few deep breaths. Afterward, let your body breathe normally. Take at least five minutes to relax here.
Put your arms on either side of the bolster and tilt your head toward the twist. As you exhale, lie back on your bolster and take a few deep breaths. Afterward, let your body breathe normally. Take at least five minutes to relax here.
Press your hands into the ground, straighten your arms, and come to a comfortable sitting position before twisting the other way to get out of the pose.
Modifications:
To create a comfortable, supportive bed, use one large bolster or two smaller bolsters along with a blanket. Twist while folding your body down, bringing one hip up to the side of the bolster. Bring one of your cheeks up to the bolster. Spend time here, concentrate on your breathing, and take note of everything that arises. Allow yourself to release by actively relaxing every bodily part.
Right now, it’s more important than ever to take care of our mental health. You’re not alone if you’re feeling more anxious and unsettled at this time. Numerous psychological and physical advantages of regular practice can aid in healing and assist you in concentrating on your mind-body connection. Your mat is a terrific place to start whether you’re searching for stress relief, mental clarity, physical strength, or other advantages.