That time of the year is here when students’ single-minded focus is on the books and not on Facebook and Instagram. The time when the mind is focused but not relaxed, because exams are around the corner. There’s peer pressure, pressure from parents to perform well, pressure for scoring good grades.
All this thinking draws one away from studies and leads to stress and not knowing how to handle it. Here are a few yoga asanas and breathing exercises that will help you sail through the days of exam pressure.
First, let’s have a look at some breathing exercises:
Bhastrika (bellows breath) –
Exams are preceded by sleepless nights spent studying and calling friends to know how much they’ve studied. This can tire one out, and staying awake can be a herculean task. A couple of rounds of bhastrika can energize you completely. It keeps you awake, keeps the cerebrum active, hence enhancing your learning. Bhastrika helps the energy to keep flowing and removes harmful toxins from the body.
Bhramari (humming bee sound) –
This breathing technique is the solution to nerve wracking experiences before any exam. At such times, a relaxing pranayama comes handy. Bhramari pranayama helps in calming the nervous system and removes hypertension and stress. This makes the brain more receptive and focused. When the mind is focused and relaxed, the right answer comes at the right time.
Following are some yoga asanas that will help you focus and relax:
Emotional tension gets accumulated in the body and may lead to blockages of energy. Stretching the body can help relax the body and mind, and also enhance the flow of energy in the body.
Hastapadasana (standing forward bend) –
Stretches all the muscles of the back of the body and invigorates the spine and the nervous system. Increases the blood supply to the brain, hence results in relaxation.
Paschimottanasana (sitting forward bend) –
Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression. Soothes headache and anxiety, and reduces fatigue.
Halasana (plough pose) –
Stimulates the endocrine system and strengthens the immune system, specifically, the thyroid gland, which improves metabolism and keeps you more active! The reverse flow of blood helps in new cell generation, keeping the brain young and rejuvenated.
Matsyasana (fish pose) –
Relieves tension in your neck, throat, and shoulders, improving respiration and bringing a lightness to your facial muscles! It helps in strengthening the immune system, which is a key to staying fit and strong during these strenuous times.
Sirshasana(headstand) –
Relieves stress and improves focus. Stimulates the pituitary gland, harmonizing the entire endocrine system. Helps expel toxins and also improves the flow of blood to the brain, stimulating nerve cells. It improves memory power as well!
Shishuasana (child’s pose) –
This one is a deeply relaxing posture. Gives you deep rest and total relaxation of the back. Puts the chattering mind to rest and keeps the brain fresh, helping you to learn and to grasp more.
While performing the asanas, coordinating movement with the breath is very important. Also, holding the posture to one’s capability and relaxing into the posture enhances the experience of yoga. We hope these asanas and techniques come in handy during your exam days.
Hatha Yoga asanas (Pose) are different from other forms of exercise, such as running, biking or swimming. The yoga asanas along with the breathing not only align your bodies skeletal structure and strengthen the muscles, but they also have a profound effect on your mind and your emotions.
35 Hatha Yoga Asanas
- Salutation to the Sun
- Seated Angle Pose
- Plough Pose
- Shoulderstand Pose
- Both Big Toe Pose
- Upward Bow Pose
- Frog Pose
- Extended Side Angle
- Headstand
- Waist Roll
- Body Straight Pose
- Head to Feet Pose
- Fish Pose
- Expanded Leg Stretch
- Camel Pose
- Bridge Pose
- Rock the Cradle
- Cobra
- Head Knee Pose
- Yoga Sit-Up
- Side Bend Pose
- Half Lord of the Fishes Pose
- Pidgeon Pose
- Leg Warm-Up
- Extended Hand to Big Toe
- Lotus
- Arm and Leg Raise Pose
- Forward Bend
- The Tree
- The Warrior
- The Intense East Stretch Pose
- Balance Exercise
- Corps Pose
- Horizontal Arm Stretch
- Salutation to the Moon
If you’ve ever been to a yoga class, you will probably find the majority of lessons involves single people standing on their own yoga mat in front of a teacher.
However, if there is not a class near you have no fear, just setting aside time at home practicing yoga together can create intimacy and prevent the loving feelings from being lost.One the best ways to start couples yoga if you’re slightly apprehensive or shy is, to begin with, some simple mirror poses.
These can be standing poses or seated poses, even laying side by side for floor work.Some exercises are also performed back to back which although means you are not making eye contact, allows for your bodies to touch.
Practicing breathing exercises sat back to back can also be a great way to build intimacy as you will be able to feel the other person as they breathe.Supported PosesAs you gain in confidence, there are various couples yoga poses that we would class as supported yoga poses whereby one partner is assisting the other.
They are usually two poses that are combined because they work together, so both of you are still also practicing yoga and giving your bodies workout.
There are lots of fantastic couples demonstrating some complicated supported yoga poses online.If you are going to allow your partner to support your body weight during a pose, this requires you to build trust in each other and confidence that you will not let each other fall.
As yoga has become an increasingly integral part of twenty first-century life, scientists, armed with new tools that allow them to seem ever deeper into the body, are turning their attention to what happens physiologically once we practice yoga—not just asana but also pranayama and meditation.
When used alone or along with other methods of alleviating stress, like meditation, yoga can be a robust way to keep stress in check.Blood pressureRegular yoga practice reduces blood pressure through better circulation and oxygenation of the body.
These two exercises can help lower blood pressure.
They can assist you to move better and feel less stiff or tired.
At any level of yoga, you'll likely start to note benefits soon.Weight lossYou don't need to practice Hot Yoga or be ready to bend double during a yoga pose to reduce weight.
An everyday gentle yoga practice will fuel the metabolic system and can help burn fat, resulting in weight loss.
