For many of us, the arrival of autumn means it’s time to stock up on Kleenex and cough drops. Along with seasonal allergies, autumn means colder weather that can bring with it colds and flu. But yoga can help by strengthening and balancing your basic weapon against sinus conditions — the immune system. Yoga postures, pranayama, relaxation and meditation are powerful tools for helping to stimulate or calm the immune response depending on the situation.

Increased allergy symptoms indicate that your immune system is working overtime. A stuffy nose, ears and sinuses, inflamed eyes, headaches, sore throat and difficulty breathing are all caused by the mucus-producing process of the inmmune system attacking innocuous invaders. Through relaxation, the nervous system can tell the immune system to settle down and stop attacking the foreign bodies, which are naturally cleared out in a non-allergic person by sneezing once or twice a day. When the immune system backs off, inflammation and mucus decrease and symptoms diminish.

Practicing any yoga posture in a relaxing way with slow deep breathing and the intention to let go and relax the nervous system can be very beneficial in decreasing the symptoms of allergies. Kapalabhati breathing is great for allergies as it forces out the mucus. (Don’t forget to keep tissues within easy reach!) The relaxation time at the end of a yoga class can also be an important part of decreasing allergic immune response. Encourage your students to relax and affirm that the relaxation will help decrease their reaction to allergens. However, be aware that students suffering from allergies may become too congested when lying on their backs; you can suggest they lie on the stomach or side if that’s more comfortable.

Relaxing the nervous system has been shown to help direct the immune system to attack the viruses and bacteria that increase in colder weather. Colds are caused by bacteria and affect the upper respiratory system, causing stuffiness, coughing, sore throat, etc. If the immune system is weak, the bacteria can go into the lungs and cause bronchitis or pneumonia. Viruses go deeper into the system, causing chills, fever or pain and aching in the joints.

But a strong immune system can frost the invaders within a few days, preventing more extreme manifestations of the illness and in fact strengthening the immune system. Again, yoga postures done in a relaxed way and slow, deep pranayama can help relax the nervous system and boost the immune response.

Another way to build the immune system and improve sinus-related conditions is to focus on the thymus gland. Located in the chest, the thymus gland is the locus of the immune system. Thus both the thymus gland and the immune system are stimulated by any posture in which we open the chest and breathe deeply into it. The most beneficial postures for this purpose are the Cobra, the Pigeon, the Fish, the Boat, the Bow and the Bridge.

Since the thymus gland corresponds to the fourth chakra, these postures can be enhanced by including chakra sounds such as the fourth chakra bij mantra “yum” or the fourth chakra vowel sound “ay.” Kapalabhati breathing or slow deep ujjayi breathing in postures where the chest is open can also be beneficial. Experiment with practicing the postures as you breathe deeply into the chest and sound the mantras. My audiotape on Prana Yoga, send out through KYTA last spring, will help guide you in combining the mantras with the postures.

With a relaxed nervous system and a focused and revitalized immune system, you’ll find you’re able to resist autumn allergens and throw off winter’s infections more readily.

       

Purpose of Spinal Warmup Kundalini Yoga Exercises:

This kundalini yoga kriya is a very good set for doing as a warm-up before doing more advanced kriyas or doing independently if one is starting to put together their yoga practice.  It very effectively warms up the most important part of the physiology, which is the entire back and especially the spinal cord region.   Through the spinal cord runs the main subtle energy channel (shushumna nadi), which is considered the most important conduit for the movement of kundalini energy throughout the body.  Also, along the spine lie the primary energy centers (chakras) and as kundalini energy moves up and down the spine it activates and balances the chakras and the associated organs and glands of that region.

Description of Spinal Warmup Kundalini Yoga Exercises:

1. Yoga Stomach Grind:

a. Guided Instructions for Yoga Stomach Grind:

• Sit up with your legs crossed.
• Hold onto your on your knees.
• Grind your stomach in a big circle counter clockwise for half the time of the exercise.  Visualize drawing a big circle with your naval.
• Switch after half the time and grind your stomach clockwise.

b. Duration for Yoga Stomach Grind: 1-3 minutes

c. Benefits of Yoga Stomach Grind:

• Excellent yoga exercise for your digestive system as it gives all your important digestive organs a massage, forcing out toxins and waste into the elimination systems of the body.
  
• Works on the ileocecal valve insuring the proper direction for the flow of nutrients and waste.
  
• Warms up and loosens the lumbar area of the back.
  

d. Practice Tips for Yoga Stomach Grind: Make sure you are not leaning forward and back from the waist, this is the most common mistake people make.  You have to arch your lower back as you move forward and arch back as you move in that direction.

2. Spine Flex Yoga Exercise: (also called Yoga Camel Ride)

a. Guided Instructions for Spine Flex Yoga Exercise:

• Sit up on your heels and rest your hands on your knees (rock pose).
• Inhale and arch your back forward pushing your sternum out.  Exhale and bring your sternum in, arching your back out.
• Continue at a comfortable pace and rhythm.

b. Duration for Spine Flex Yoga Exercise: 1-3 minutes

c. Benefits of Spine Flex Yoga Exercise:

• Stretches the middle back and spine.
• Opens up the solar plexus promoting better flow of energy between the lower and higher centers of the body.
• Improved emotional balance.

d. Practice Tips for Spine Flex Yoga Exercise: If you have hard time sitting on your heels you can place a small cushion under your feet/ankles for added comfort.

3. Cat-Cow Yoga Exercise:

a. Guided Instructions for Cat-Cow Yoga Exercise:

• Come onto your hands and knees, placing your hands shoulder width apart and knees hip distance apart.
• Inhale as you arch your back by pushing your stomach down and bringing your head up.  Open your eyes and look upward. This is cow pose.
• Now, while exhaling, arch your back up by pushing your stomach up and bringing your head down (like a cat).
  
• Continue at a comfortable pace and rhythm going between the 2 poses.

b. Duration for Cat-Cow Yoga Exercise: 1-3 minutes.

c. Benefits of Cat-Cow Yoga Exercise:

• Works on stretching your entire spine and strengthens all the nerve junctions that lie along the spinal cord.
• Give your entire system a glandular tune-up.
• Improves your eyesight and works on the optical nerve.

d. Practice Tips for Cat-Cow Yoga Exercise: Make sure you are not rocking back and forth, but, that just your spine (and head) are moving.

4. Yoga Twist:

a. Guided Instructions for Yoga Twist:

• Sit up with your legs crossed.
• Hold your shoulders with your fingers in front and thumb in back.
• Your elbows should be parallel to the ground and at shoulder level.
  
• Inhale as you twist to the left, exhale as you twist to right.  Your head goes with your torso.

b. Duration for Yoga Twist: 1-3 minutes.

c. Benefits of Yoga Twist:

• Promotes flexibility in the entire back.
• Massages the inner organs.

d. Practice for Yoga twist: The motion should be continuous and keep the pace at a level you are comfortable with.  Slow down if you start to feel dizzy.

5. Yoga Neck Rolls:

a. Guided Instructions for Yoga Neck Rolls:

• Sit up with your legs crossed.
• Open your mouth as if in a half yawn.
• Roll your neck in a big circle going in one direction for half the time and then switch directions for the rest of the time.

b. Duration for Yoga Neck Rolls: 1-3 minutes.

c. Benefits of Yoga Neck Rolls:

• Releases tension in the neck and shoulders.
• Promotes better blood flow to the brain and higher centers.

d. Practice Tips for Yoga Neck Rolls: Spend additional time working on areas which feel particularly tight or knotted.

That concludes the Spinal Warm-up Kundalini Yoga Exercises.

read more at:-anmolmehta.com

       

Introduction to Kundalini Yoga

This article will provide a basic overview of what Kundalini Yoga is and how Kundalini Yoga works. At the core of Kundalini Yoga lies Kriyas and the best way to understand the methodology of Kundalini Yoga is to understand Kriyas and their functioning.

Understanding Kundalini Yoga Kriyas

Kriyas are a set of exercises done in a particular sequence to work on a specific theme. There are a wide range of Kriyas available, each refined over thousands of years to optimize their effectiveness. Kriyas utilize all the available Kundalini Yoga mechanisms to work their magic. They employ asans (postures), movement, pranayam (breathing exercises), bandhas (body locks), mantras (sound vibrations), mudras (hand positions), laya yoga (yoga of rhythm and sound), mental focus and meditation to do their work.

Dynamic movement and asans bring expanding and contracting pressure via multiple angles to various areas of the body, this is accompanied with powerful pranayams, the combined effect of which is that the target regions are saturated with highly charged and oxygenated blood. This nutrient rich blood fills the capillaries forcing them to discharge toxins and other harmful elements, which are then eliminated, neutralized or expelled by the body. The health of the region thus improves and the nerves fire more completely, the glands and organs are invigorated and regain their natural voltage and secretion levels are returned to a condition of strength and vitality.

The key above is the removal of blockages (granthis) that is taking place on many levels of the organism thus facilitating the flow of energy. There are Kriyas designed for working on almost every part of the human system (Immune, Glandular, Circulatory, Digestive, Nervous, Respiratory, Sexual, etc…), working on our various traits and characteristics (Awareness, Intuition, Willpower, Confidence, Compassion, Charisma, etc…) and also for healing many different types of ailments and diseases. Lets now see how this ties in with the Chakra (energy vortex) system.

Understanding Kundalini Yoga Seven Chakra System

There are 7 primary chakras that lie all along the spine from the base to the crown of the head. Associated with each chakra are the primary nerve junctions and organs of that region. Furthermore, each chakra is responsible for certain traits and characteristics that make up our personality. When we strengthen and rejuvenate the nerves and organs in a particular region, we are in fact activating these energy centers that reside there and are thus working on ourselves not only at a physical level, but also at an emotional and mental level (by affecting our traits and characteristics). Practiced over time, the chakras become charged and come into balance with each other, bringing us into physical, emotional and mental well being.

Again, it should be noted that the work being done is primarily about dissolving granthis (blockages) in these regions which introduce disease and imbalance into the system by preventing the chakras from functioning at their optimum level. Finally, let see how this relates to Kundalini Shakti.

Understanding Kundalini Shakti (Energy)

Kundalini is energy. It is the fundamental energy whose flow through the organism allows for all its systems to operate, at all levels of consciousness. It is the energy of awareness, it can be said that where your awareness is, that is where Kundalini is flowing or that where Kundalini is flowing is where your awareness is. To awaken Kundalini means to dissipate blockages in the gross and subtle systems in your being and allow for greater and greater flow of energy and awareness. As blockages are cleared trapped energy is released and pathways are cleared. Kundalini then is able to flow freely though those regions, healing, nourishing, rejuvenating and balancing them.

The dissipating of blockages can also be thought of as the clearing away of the subconscious mind, the collection of unresolved emotional and physical disturbances, where lies the root of many of our attachments and fears. So overall Kundalini Yoga is a system by which one, through the process of dissolving the past, allows the infinite to shine through into the present.

source:- anmolmehta.com/