Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer Over 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free (62 page)

an hour to digest your meal before you do the routine.

Seated Meditation

Sit up nice and tall, however you can sit most comfortably. Relax your shoulders, so that they are away from your ears. Rest your hands on your thighs. Start to rest your attention on your breath. Watch your inhales come and exhales go. Settle your mind in the space between. Begin to lengthen and deepen your inhales and exhales setting a slow, easy pace of breathing. If a thought starts to enter your mind, simply observe it like a cloud passing by.

Continue observing your breath for three to five minutes.

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Cow Face

Start seated, however you can sit without pain. It can be on a pillow or on the floor if it’s easy for you. Press your hands into the ground on either side of your knees, and bring yourself to a kneeling position, supporting your weight with your hands on the ground. Bring your right knee in front of your left knee so they are directly in a line. Move your feet out to the sides. Gently sit your hips back either to the ground or to the floor. Your knees will now be stacked on top of each other. If there is tension in the knees or hips bring a pillow or a block under your hips to allow more room for your hips and knees to open without stress. Sit in a straight line, shoulders directly aligned with your hips. Rest your hands near your feet. Lift your chest so that the muscles feel open and your shoulders are back, and sit up tall. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths.

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Seated Ankle to Knee

Sit up tall. Bend your knees in and stack your right leg on top of your left leg so your right ankle is on top of your left knee and your right knee is on top of your left ankle. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths. Then repeat with the other leg.

Pigeon

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From your ankle to knee, lean into your right hip and reach your left leg long behind you. If your hips don’t reach the ground sit on a pillow or a block. Turn your hips and shoulders so they both face forward. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths.

Do the whole routine up until this point on the other side, beginning with cow face pose.

Bridge on Block

Have a block handy. Lie down, bend your knees in, and place your feet on the ground next to your body so your

knees point straight up. Lift your hips and place the block under your lower back. This should feel good so adjust the block accordingly. The block can be higher or lower depending on how you turn it. Stay here for twenty long, deep breaths.

Corpse

Lie down on your back. Open your legs hip width, or a bit wider, depending on what’s most comfortable for you.

Relax your arms a bit out to your sides, palms facing up. Take a big inhale through your nose, exhale all the air out through your mouth. Repeat the same breathing pattern twice more. Relax your entire self for three to five minutes.

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