Neck Exercises

If we attuned to the Yoga with relaxation or meditation, after we must to do some warming-up exercises, prepare our body for the exercise of asanas.

The first and main warm-up exercise are the Neck Exercises - to do always avoid injury!

Sit cross-legged, aligning your head, neck, and spine. Keep your shoulders straight, relax your neck, close your eyes, breathe deep abdominal breathing, focus on the neck muscles and practice these four exercises:

1. Head Back and forth

Inhale, and drop your head forward gently (exhale). Be near your chin to your chest. Then slowly drop it back (inhale). Be near your nape to your back - practice 10 times or as many time it feels good, then loosen your neck muscles, relax and breathe with deep abdominal.

2. Head side to side

Tilt your head to the right shoulder (exhale), slowly back to the center (inhale), and to the left shoulder (exhale). Be near your ears to your shoulders, but stay your shoulders down - practice 10 times or as well, then relax and breathe with deep abdominal.

3. Head turn to right and left

Turn your head to look over each shoulder in turn to right (exhale) slowly to the center (inhale) and turn to left (exhale). Be your chin parallel to the ground. Focus your cervical how to twists - practice 10 times or as many time it feels good, keep the last some second to right and left too, relax and breathe with deep abdominal.


4. Head Circling

Drop your head forward (exhale) gently and then slowly start the circling to the right hand side, then back (inhale) and continue to the left hand side and forward again (exhale). This is one round - practice 10 rounds or as many time it feels good in both directions, then loosen your neck muscles, relax and breathe with deep abdominal.



Finally do some tense and loosen with your shoulders. Pull up your shoulders to your ears, keep it, then let down and loosen. At you experience the tense and loose different of status.

The Neck Exercises resolve accumulated the tension around the neck, refresh the entire cervical section. It is beneficial after prolonged seated work.

Om Namah Sivaya ✿

The Eye Exercises - Part 2.

Previous eye exercises we should don't focus with our eyes (clearly to see), we just moved. The next two practice however, it is focusing on the essence:

1. Open your eyes, lift your thumb in front of your faces and your eyes alternately on the tip of the thumb and looking at a distant point. Practice 10, or as often as it feels good. Then close your eyes, loosen the eyelids.

2. Open your eyes, lift your thumb in front of your faces and focus on the thumb tip gently move your hands back and forth in the space. Practice 10, or as often as it feels good. Then relax, to rest your eyes closed.


Advanced Eye Exercises are: the DRISTIS and the TRATAK. These exercises stimulates the nerve centers, develop the concentration and strengthens the eyes. Start doing it gradually.

DRISHTIS - six type of drishti are the following:

1. Dakshina drishti: Open your eyes, move your eyes to the right corner with your forefinger helping, without moving the head. Keep as you know without blinking. Relax your eyes closed after the practice.

2. Vama drishti: Open your eyes, move your eyes to the left corner with your forefinger helping, without moving the head. Keep as you know without blinking. Relax your eyes closed after the practice.

 3. Maddya drishti: Open your eyes, but just semi-open and focus to something in before you. Keep as you know without blinking. Relax your eyes closed after the practice. (This eye keeping is a meditation technique too.)

4. Brhumaddya drishti: Open your eyes, move your eyes to the center with your forefinger helping. Keep as you know without blinking. Relax your eyes closed after the practice.

5. Nasagra drishti: Open your eyes, move your eyes to the down the middle (tip of nose) with your forefinger helping. Keep as you know without blinking. Relax your eyes closed after the practice.

6. Shambawi drishti: Open your eyes, move your eyes to the up the middle (two eyebrows among)with your forefinger helping. Keep as you know without blinking. Relax your eyes closed after the practice.

TRATAK:

For this exercise we need a burning candle and a dark, draft-free room. Sit on the candle at eye level, about arm's length, preferably in Padmasana or some comfortable yoga sitting. Open your eyes and look into the candlelight as you know without blinking. Then we rest with closed eyes and observe with our inner experience. Repeat the exercise three times.
Tratak is the one from the six cleaning yoga practices (six kriya).

Swami Vishnu Devananda show the Tratak.

Om Namah Sivaya ✿

The Eye Exercises

Yoga is a complex thing and if we say: "Yoga is a lifestyle" then we must insert into everyday life, to the today's problem.

Our eyes are exposed to many harmful effects nowadays. I do not want to list now, we all know what they are. Therefore it is most important to support this wonderful senses, what is the our greatest treasure.

Moving the eye muscles helps your metabolism of eyes, improves our vision and strengthens our eyes. The Eye Exercises enhance the concentration, develop and improve the anamnesis and our focusing.

Instructions for the exercises: sit on the floor in Padmasana (or some comfortable yoga sitting pose), sit with straight back, put your hands on your knees in Chin-mudra. Keep your heads straight and pay attention this aspect throughout the exercises. Close your eyes and focus on the eye muscles. Keep your face relaxed throughout the exercises, breathe with abdominal and make sure that only the eyes move. Do not move your head.

And here are the exercise:

1. Up and down

Open your eyes, look up the highest point and then move your eyes slowly down to the lowest point without moving the head then back up ...  practice 10 times or as many time it feels good and then close your eyes, breathe with deep abdominal and relax.

2. Right and left

Open your eyes, look to the right on the edge of the horizon and look slowly to left without moving the head and from left to right ... repeat 10 times or as many time it feels good. After close your eyes and relax.

3. Diagonally up and down

Open your eyes, look up diagonally to the right corner and from there look down slowly to the left corner. Practice in one direction 10x (or as often as it feels good) and after relax with closed eyes a bit. Then open your eyes and move to the other direction (left up - right down) 10x (or as often you moved on the opposite direction) then close your eyes to rest again. Breathe abdominal and relax.

4. Eyes circular movements both directions

Open your eyes, look up the highest point and start the eyes circular movements to the right hand side on the horizon without moving the head. Do 10 rounds (or as well) then loosen the eyelids, close your eyes a bit. After move the eyes with circular to the left direction 10x (or as often as you did to the right direction) then loosen the eyelid again.

Finally relax your eyes as follows:

Close your eyes, rub your hands until the warm feeling and put your warm hands to the eyes like a dome (don't touch your eyes), breathe with deep and relax. Feel the warm and dark relaxing effect.

After endure the relaxing to your face: tense your facial muscles toward your nose (like a grimace) keep it and loosen it. At you experience the tense and loose different of status. 

Om Namah Sivaya ✿

After omission to do Yoga

For everybody have in the Life an events, accident, or any problem when can not to do Yoga, when must to omission.

After that time we must be careful come back to the Yoga.

The best is if we start with the Surja Namaskar (Sun Salutation) in a very slowly rhythm, every  exercise hold it, and breathe slowly and deeply.

And do not worry, the our body is wonderful, recovers quickly, if you practice regularly.

Om Namah Sivaya ✿