DRT (Deep Relaxation Technique)
Listen to it after doing Yogasanas or atleast 5 sets of Suryanamaskar

Hidden benefits of Yogasanas...

The mental/spiritual benefits are limitless.. But, regarding the physical benefits, as you might know, practicing asanas alone will not bring you tight abs or bulging arms (not right away atleast)

If you are practicing asanas in a physical point of view, then how do we see the benefits ?
Ofcourse if there is a reward, human mind can be motivated toward that goal easily.

Well, dont be disappointed. Yoga definitely brings you reward.. which you need to observe/feel in your body with more attention.

Let me be clear,
Have you felt slight backpain after bending for more than 3 minutes ? (eg. situations will be when you brush or shave your beard or do some gardening etc)
Or have you felt pain in your leg, the day after returning from any of the theme parks or a hiking trip (eg. disneyland, univ. studio)
Remember those days, you might have walked like a robot the next day.. !

Then, thats where you can see the benefits right away. Well, you will not have any pain or very very less pain in those areas, after a couple of months serious practice.
Your body becomes very flexible and you can notice that you are more active than before.


Unfortunately, these kind of benefits happen, but we take it for granted. These sort of benefits are the important ones to our body (as we brush/shave very often or visit theme parks often (ok.. maybe not that often),. but you do walk a lot.. dont you ?

Flexible body is a strong body. Do asanas regularly to have a healthy/pain-free life.

Remember the days, where you felt very relaxed yet active after attending one of the classes. I guess, thats an instant benefit. So, do practice regularly.

Peace.

Do you relax or Are you relaxed ?

Im not talking about DRT (deep relaxation technique, we do at the end of yoga session). During regular day-to-day life, are you relaxed ?

Just as you type something, watch your shoulder. Are they raised ? I mean, after conciously looking at your shoulder, did you drop it down to relax ?
As you stand and talk/listen something or read something (or as you pray in your prayer room), just watch your buttocks/thighs/stomach. Have you kept them tight. After consciously looking have you relaxed them ?

The breathing is supposed to be long & deep (as you inhale and exhale). If you breathe faster, then you are not relaxed (Just watch your breath, when you are angry or yelling at somebody).

If you say yes to all of the above and if your parents/grand-parents has a history of Blood Pressure problem, then there is a high chance that you will get the same too soon.

This is not to frighten you or make you worry. Try to relax once in a while. Practice to stay relaxed. Drop your shoulders, relax your buttocks, legs, stomach. Take deep breath and relax whenver you can. Find the situations, which make you not-relaxed. Try to avoid or be conscious at those situations and handle them in a relaxed way. Slow down your breath. Once you start doing that consciously and continuously, you can merge that practice towards your daily day-to-day activities.

Ofcourse, Yogasanas and pranayama are wonderful tools to help the same.

Stay relaxed and stay cool.

Learn How to Breathe...

Breathing is the key to yoga.

Its what brings the asanas to life and gives yoga its flow. The idea is to keep your awareness on your breath continuously as you move in and out of each pose. And depending on whether you want to relax, balance, energize, you can vary your breathing pattern to get the desired effect.

Different kinds of breathing can enhance your yoga practice

Lengthening and then holding your exhalation after all the air is expelled relaxes you, while lengthening and holding your inhalation increases your energy. Be careful though, if you are feeling stressed, you are better off using a balanced breath pattern as holding your inhalation can make you more tense.
The breath ratios at the top of below chart are very relaxing, while those at the bottom are energizing. If you pay careful attention and adjust your breathing accordingly, you can both relax and energize yourself at the same time.

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4 (Inhale) 1 (Hold) 8 (Exhale) 4 (Hold) Relaxing
4 (Inhale) 1 (Hold) 12 (Exhale) 1 (Hold) Relaxing
6 (Inhale) 1 (Hold) 10 (Exhale) 1 (Hold) Relaxing
6 (Inhale) 1 (Hold) 8 (Exhale) 4 (Hold) Relaxing
8 (Inhale) 1 (Hold) 8 (Exhale) 1 (Hold) Balanced
6 (Inhale) 2 (Hold) 6 (Exhale) 2 (Hold) Balanced
6 (Inhale) 4 (Hold) 6 (Exhale) 1 (Hold) Energizing
6 (Inhale) 6 (Hold) 6 (Exhale) 1 (Hold) Energizing
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In the above first example, inhale for 4 counts, hold for 1, exhale for 8 counts and hold for 4. Your counts may be faster or slower depending on your lung capacity