Yoga heal my backache

Most of people are suffering from backache. Other then injury, the main key is: weak muscle, not strong enough to support our daily activities. We can't stand too long, can't walk too long, can't sit too long.

However I am lucky enough to have yoga to help me to strengthen my back muscles/and core muscle. (for people that have slip disc, please seek for medical advise).

Yoga is not only the matter of flexibility, but also strength, the strength is not built in one day, patient needed.

Some poses that help me to built the strength of the back muscle:

1. Half Bridge


2. Cobra


3. Camel


4. Locust


You will notice most of the poses that help to strengthen the back muscles involve back bend. And most of the people that have back pain can't do much back bend, so just start slowly, we know our body better, and we know our limit. Yoga is helping us to understand our body.

Also not to forget to have some counter pose, to release the stress of the muscle after doing back bend.

1. The most direct one: forward bend


2. Some twisting also help in releasing the muschle tension:


3. Another twisting


4. And lastly, my favorite: Child pose


All the best, happy trying.

Namaste.

Headstand/Supported head stand

I did it, ha ha ha, yes I did it. :)

After so long of doing this pose with help from the wall, finally I did it, without the wall, although it was just 4 seconds, soon or later can hold for 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 munite...

Just be patient, and just the matter of time, if the body is ready, we can do it.
For this pose, we just need the strength from the shoulder muscle, and the abs... Once the muscle is ready, can up just as easy as 123.

Gangbateh...

Bakasana (Crane Pose)

( Photo source : Yoga Journal)

I had a breakthrough in my yoga class. Guess what, I managed to perform Bakasana.

Baka in Sanskrit means crane. It tones and strengthens the abdominals organs/muscles and arms. An arm balancing doesn’t required enormous strength, just patient and concentration.

Too bad I was unable to take the photo of myself doing Bakasana. My both hands are busy balancing myself. :-)

Hahaha… I did it. Yes, I did it

Yin Yoga

Yesterday attended a yin class, conducted by Dennis.

He is really good conducting the Yin class. Through out the class, I felt relax. (In fact all yin class should be relaxed).

During the class, all what we do is just stretching. No sweat, no strength needed. Have you ever think of stretching your tendon? How you stretch your tendon? Especially the one that connects our hamstring and knees? Hahaha… we just did it. (Above photo show exactly what we did to stretch our tendon)

He was saying something make sense that I felt that I wanna to record down here.
He said: “be concentrate and relax, you will able to do what you intend to do.” I think this applies not only in Yoga, but also in every life event.

He also thought us to relax our muscles by using our breathing, soften our body with every breathing. Breath in and lengthen our body, breath out and go further down. Of course, the muscles must be relaxed.

Looking forward to attend his class again. And others instructors’ classes.

I think, I already addicted to Yoga class.

Turn the world upside down?

Want to know how to turn the world upside down? try this, Downward dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana).

Downward dog is done many times during most yoga classes. This pose helps to stretches and strengthens the whole body. It is a transitional pose, a resting pose and a great strengthener in its own right.

The role of downward facing dog is vast. Done properly and consistently, the most noticeable benefits include:

• Stronger hands, wrists, low-back, hamstrings, calves and Achilles tendon
• Decrease in back pain by strengthening the entire back and shoulder girdle
• Elongated shoulders and shoulder blade area
• Decrease in tension and headaches by elongating the cervical spine and neck and relaxing the head
• Deepened respiration
• Decreased anxiety
• Increased full-body circulation
  

Downward dog elongates and lengthens the back. As a matter of fact, most of us are in a constant forward bend all day. Most of us will benefit immensely by stretching and lengthening the back shoulders and front body. Additionally, downward facing dog is a mild inversion since the head is lower than the hips. This inversions are great for increasing blood flow to the brain. It also stimulates the nervous system, helps with memory and concentration.

Have fun exploring this pose... Namaste.

My Yoga Note - Hatha Yoga

Trying to make some note for myself, from reading books and browsing the net.
Here we go...

The word Hatha comes from two Sanskrit words. "ha" means sun and "tha" means moon. The word "ha" refers to the solar nadi (pingala) in the subtle body and "tha" the lunar channel (ida). When the two components of the word are placed together, "hatha" means "forceful", implying that powerful work must be done to purify the body. Yoga means to yoke, or to join 2 things together, hence hatha yoga is meant to join together our sun (masculine, active) energy with our moon (feminine, receptive) energy, thus producing balance and greater power in an individual. Traditional Hatha Yoga is a holistic yogic path, including moral disciplines, physical postures asanas, purification procedures shatkriyas, poses mudras, yogic breathing pranayamas and meditation.

Hatha is concentrating on the practice of postures (asanas) and breath control (pranayama) to energize the body. Asana is greatly emphasized in Hatha Yoga because posture is believed to be a key towards achieving true meditation. If one has already mastered his postures, then can be able to achieve higher levels of meditation and concentration. (In simpler word, can sit comfortably in a long time)

Breathing exercises through Pranayama is also essential towards achievement of balance. "Prana" means life force and "Ayama" means to prolong- to prolong one's life force. Hatha Yoga is based on the belief that mastery of one's breathing techniques is a key towards the higher stages of meditation. It opens up channels to the brain and regulates the elements that enter and exit throughout one's body.

Hm... Only now I know, Hatha is preparing one for meditation.

Namaste.

My Yoga Note - Yin Yoga

Most of people familiar with yoga but I think not many people know what exactly yin yoga means. I have been practising yoga for some time, but only recently discover Yin Yoga.

What is Yin Yoga?

Yin yoga is less popular compared to yang yoga. It performed to stretch the connective tissues of the body. Primary connective tissues include the hips, thighs and lower spinal area. It provides a deeper stretch. Some also believe that the practice of yin yoga is performed to regulate the flow of energy in the body. This energy is called “chi” and when its flow in the body is strong, a person is healthy. (Too bad, I am still unable to feel the Chi.).

Initially yin yoga seem quite boring, passive, or soft, but yin practice can be very challenging because we need to hold a pose for certain duration, normally 3 - 5 munites but sometime can up to twenty minutes!

Not many asanas are used for yin yoga. I am trying to copy down some asanas here:

Anahatasana (aka Melting Heart)
Ankle Stretch
Butterfly
Half butterfly
Camel
Cat pulling its Tail
Caterpillar
Child's Pose
Dangling
Deer
Dragons
Dragonfly (aka Straddle)
Frog
Happy Baby
Lying Twists
Saddle
Shavasana
Shoelace
Snail
Sphinx and Seal
Square
Squat
Swan
Sleeping Swan
Toe Squat

Any idea of what do the above mentioned asanas means? ;)


Enjoy the stretch, enjoy the pain. Namaste.

Lotus Pose (Padmasana)

I have been practicing Yoga for almost two years. Ever since there, I like to sit in a cross leg position. Whenever sitting on a chair, even in the office or in the car (if I am not driving), my leg will automatically cross into a lotus pose. I know sitting cross leg especially in the office is really unpleasant looking, but then… I cannot help it! It is so comfortable. Ha ha ha…

What is lotus pose?

The Lotus Pose (Padmasana in Sanskrit) is one of the basic yoga postures; it requires us sitting crossing the legs while maintaining a straight back, it is also ideal for Meditation and concentration. Not everyone can do Padmasana; it requires open hips and consistent practice.

Below picture copied from internet, I do believe that a picture sometimes is better then thousand words.



This Yoga pose has a lot of benefits, it provide a relaxing effect, increase our awareness and attentiveness, it also stimulate our body parts and processes, keep our joints flexible, develop a good body posture.