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• Immune System
• Kundalini Yoga
• Menopause
• Pranayama Experience
• Sound & Meditation

Yoga for your Immune System

By Dawn Smith

Yoga postures, pranayama, relaxation and meditation are powerful tools for helping to stimulate or calm your immune system.

Yoga can help by strengthening and balancing your immune system against:

• Sinus conditions

• Allergies

• Viruses

• Bacteria

• Coughs, colds and flu

Creating a natural prevention against more extreme manifestations of these illnesses such as:

• Chest and lung infections

• Bronchitis or

• Pneumonia

Practicing yoga in a relaxed way, with slow, deep pranayama relaxes your nervous system, decreases symptoms and boosts your immune response.

Increased allergy symptoms usually indicate that your immune system is working overtime. When you experience blocked sinuses, headaches, sore throat, and difficulty breathing, these symptoms are often caused by the mucus-producing process of the immune system as a response to the build up of toxins.

To improve sinus-related conditions it is helpful to focus on the thymus gland located in the chest which can be stimulated by any posture in which we open the chest and breathe deeply.

The most beneficial postures for this purpose are:

• Cobra/Bhujangasana

• Pigeon/Rajkapotanasana

• Fish/Matsayasana

• Boat/Navasana

• Bow/Dhanurasana

• Bridge/Setu Bhandasana.

Urdhva Dhanurasana on a chair
 

Since the thymus gland also corresponds to the Heart Chakra, the effects of these postures can be greatly enhanced by including Chakra seed sounds/Bija Mantras such as ‘Yam’. You’ll find that you are able to resist allergies and avoid infections.

Inversions such as:

• Shoulderstand/Sarvangasana

• Headstand/Sirsasana

• Plough/Halasana

• Legs up the wall pose/Viparita Karani

Help to improve the circulation within your lymphatic system, which is responsible for the production and circulation of your immune cells that defend your body against viruses and bacteria.

Twists and Hip Openers such as:

• Seated Twist/Parvritta Sukhasana

• Cobbler/Baddhakonasana

• Pigeon/Rajkapotanasana

Activate the secondary organs of the immune system: the spleen and lymph nodes in the groin and armpits. These organs are where the immune cells are produced, so using yoga poses to target them during a cold or flu is especially useful in helping to keep you strong and healthy.

Lion pose/Simhasana and Humming Bee Breath/Brahmari pranayama activate the immune glands of the tonsils and the lymph nodes in the neck. Performing lion pose and Humming Bee at the very beginning of a sore throat can dramatically stop and prevent the sore throat from progressing.

While we all are bound to experience the occasional cold or flu, if you practice yoga regularly you are less likely to come down with the sniffles, and if you do you will have a much faster recovery rate.

Ageless Beauty ~ Yoga for the Menopause

By Dawn Smith

At around 40 – 50 years of age women experience disturbances in their menstrual cycle. Menstruation will stop, slow or become irregular. These are all natural signs that the reproductive functions are coming to an end. As the ovaries stop functioning, the thyroid and adrenals become hyperactive and there is an imbalance of hormones. As a result women experience:

• Hot flushes

• High Blood Pressure

• Heaviness in the Breasts

• Headaches

• Insomnia

• Obesity

Due to the changes in physiological and metabolic processes and in psychological and emotional states there can be:

• Emotional disturbances

• Loss of balance and poise resulting in short temper

• Jealousy

• Depression

• Fear

• Anxiety

This is a critical period of adjustment and a time when a regular Yoga practice is extremely essential to help you to relax, restore, lose weight, and feel great! As well as:

• Soothe frazzled nerves

• Harmonise your endocrine system

• Help keep a cool head

• Strengthen the Abdominal and Lower back areas

Yoga is a panacea for all ages but particularly during menopause as it helps in maintaining good health, giving you a brighter outlook on life. The loneliness and nervousness that can create sadness and despair can become a thing of the past as Yoga enables you to face this new phase of life happily, peacefully and courageously.

Supported Forward Bends, Inversions and Restorative postures:

Supine hand to big toe Supta Padangustasana

Seated head to knee Janu Sirsasana

Seated forward bend Paschimottanasana

Half bound forward bend Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana

Downward facing dog Adho Mukha Svanasana

Supported Bridge Pose Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Supported Plough Ardha Halasana

Fish Pose Matsayasana

Reclined Hero Pose Virasana

Relaxation/Corpse pose Savasana

Supported Upward facing bow Urdhva Dhanurasana over a chair with your feet against a wall

Keeps the body supple and alert, increasing vitality. This pose is a great help for strengthening the bladder and uterus and keeping the reproductive and urinary organs healthy. It also relieves the heaviness in the breasts that can be experienced during menopause, as well as reducing fat around the waist.

Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana

This is an exhilarating pose. The expansion of the chest gives a feeling of happiness and joy. Supported is particularly helpful for those who are:

• Depressed

• Weak

• Sensitive

• Emotional

It soothes and relaxes the nerves and is especially useful during menopause. Bringing emotional stability and building self-confidence while keeping the body supple and active, the mind sharp and alert. Along with Urdhva Dhanurasana it improves respiration and circulation, relieve pains in the sacrum and coccyx, removing dullness making you feel more cheerful and courageous.

Abdominal and Lumbar

Supine Leg Lifts Urdhva Prasarita Padasana

Reduces fat around the waist, buttocks and thighs; strengthens the spine and tones the abdomninal organs

Boat Pose Paripurna Navasana

Good for flatulence and gastric complaints. It reduces fat and tones the kidneys

Stomach Twist Jathara Parivartanasana

Reduces fat, sluggishness of the liver, spleen and pancreas, cures gastritis, relieves pain and catches in the lower back

Upward facing west stretch Urdhva Mukha Paschimottanasana

Relieves severe back aches and relaxes the back muscles

Supine hand to big toe Supta Padangustasana

Relieves sciatica, stiffness and soothes nerves around the hip joint

Standing hand to big toe Utthita Hasta Padangustasana

Relieves backache, sciatica, slipped disc, rheumatism and arthritis in the ankles, knees and back. Practicing with the leg stretched out to the side while resting the foot on a ledge is more therapeutic for women during menopause.

During menopause however, when you’re feeling quite stable, all asanas and pranayamas can be practised as normal.

Choose Yoga for the time of your life.