1. Experience the Peace of Yoga
Yoga works the body while creating a balance between your physical body and mental capacity. While some people experience greater peace by saying chants, the focus on your breathing and relaxation reduces stress, restores energy to your body and increases your flexibility. Additional benefits include better posture, enhanced immune function and toned muscles. Yoga often relieves symptoms for asthma, allergies, cancer, depression and multiple sclerosis.
2. Break Wind With the Wind Relieving Pose
While you may think that assuming a position designed to pass gas would be embarrassing, people who suffer from excess gas gladly welcome the chance for gas relief. As the name suggests, the Wind Relieving Pose expels gas from your digestive system. Along with releasing gas, the pose also promotes digestive system cleansing through the stimulation of the abdominal area. The exercise combats constipation, helps calm upset stomachs and releases tension and stiffness from your lower back.
3. Good Technique Increases the Benefits of Yoga
In yoga poses, improper technique reduces the benefits to your body and may cause injury. So how do you do the Wind Relieving Pose correctly? Fully extend your body on a yoga mat with your legs straight, arms at your sides and your face up. While you keep your left leg flat to the floor, raise your right leg and bend it to your torso. Lift your head, shoulders and back to meet your knee so your forehead touches the knee. Hold the pose for a three to four breaths before returning to your starting position. Then repeat the exercise with your left leg.
4. Do it Right
When you do this pose, you need to always start with your right leg. As you pull your right knee into position, it pushes on the ascending colon. The left pushes on the descending colon. When you start with the right knee, it pushes excess gas toward the descending colon, which then pushes the gas out of the colon where it escapes. If you begin with your left leg, the gas moves the wrong direction and may cause cramping or gastrointestinal discomfort.
5. Change Direction
If you like the benefits of the pose, but experience discomfort from the position, you may benefit from changing the position. Modifications include the Half Wind Relieving Position and the Standing Wind Relieving Position. For the Half Wind Relieving Position, do not raise you shoulders, back or head; simply lift your knees to your stomach. For the Standing Wind Relieving Position, follow the directions for the Wind Relieving Position while standing.
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