Asanas, pranayamas and mudra to strenghten your back | pranas and Nadis

The spine is one of the body's areas that doesn't receive the sufficient care and attention that it deserves. Modern lifestyles have created more problems than have ever been seen, such as, wrong prolonged sitting posture, sleeping late hours and sans exercise, all these factors are responsible for the weakening of both back muscles and abdominal. In the process of demanding more and more comforts, we are at risk of continuously losing the very essence of health. There are many asanas in yoga that strengthen your spinal cord; such like as, dhanur asana is known as the bow posture, shalabha asana known as locust posture, bhujang asana known as cobra posture, chakra asana, and ushtra asana and these of five asanas are backward bending, while forward banding asanas comprises with janushir asana, paschimottan asana, and Maha mudra. Pad hast asana is standing forward bending asana. All of these asanas are helpful to strengthen your backbone and abdominal organs and helps the pranas energy to flow smoothly in the body, and harmonizing the entire body.

The spine is connected with seven chakras through which prana energy carries and give balance health and spiritual benefits. So, in yoga, this energy Centre occupies a distinct place. In physiology context, the spinal cord is the brain's messenger; the spinal cord is a major part of the central nervous system which ways sensory and motor nerve impulses to and from the brain, it is a long tube-like structure extending from the base of the brain through the vertebral canal to the upper lumbar region. The spinal nerve is any of the 31 pairs of nerves emerging from each side of the spinal cord (each attached to the cord by two roots: ventral and dorsal). Nadis play a vital role in yoga. Nadis are the astral tubes made up of astral matter which carry and spread psychic currents in the body through the seven major and sub chakras by the spine that are known as prana energy. The pranas are five that further divided into a subsection. The body is filled with innumerable Nadis- 72,000 to 3, 50,000; and Nadis are not the ordinary nerves, arteries and veins, all the Nadis spring from kanda and in the junction where the Sushumna is connected with the muladhara chakra or coccygeal region, and balance Ida, Pingla and Sushumna Nadis which is essential for the good health and spiritual benefits.

Pad hasta asana

Stand straight and keeping the feet together and arms kept loosely by the side of the body as close to the waist.

Inhale and raise your arms above your head as you lift your head, making yourself as tall as you can, to lengthen the spine. Feet kept flat on the floor.

Exhale and bend forward as much as you can and hold your toes with your hands and try to keep the knees straight for some minutes or for as long as you can and are comfortable with.

Come down as far as possible and either grasp your ankles or clasp hold of your toes with your thumbs and pull your head in toward your shins and inhale.

Come out of the position slowly.

Relax for a while.

Benefits

Padahast asana makes the spine flexible and strong and further to be benefited and useful for the brain too, as the blood circulation increases towards head and neck by stretching all the veins from head to foot. It cures disorders of spleen, abdominal viscera and legs and checks obesity.

Maha-mudra:

Sit in a posture pressing the perineum with the heel of the left foot.

Stretch the right leg forward.

Inhale and retain the breath.

Hold the right toe with both hands.

Holding the breath and bend forward contracting the neck in (the chin is pressed naturally against the chest or Jalandhar bandha).

Continue holding the breath and Meditate in between the two eyebrows (Third eye and chanting small mantra e.g. Om). While in the bent forward position.

Exhale and Release the mudra slowly as visualize sending the warm prana energy down to the base of the spinal column.

Repeat the entire procedure with the right leg.

Repeat it for the three-movement cycle with both legs.

Benefits:

A sensation of heat may be felt in the spine and the chakras after practicing Maha-mudra as the body stores the energy. This is in fact, the flow of prana energy within the body. The mind liberated from the unhealthy thoughts while achieving complete stillness which will further enhance the working in coordination with the cosmic energy of other planes and also rectifying the working of the unconscious mind and super-conscious mind.

Maha mudra cures consumption, piles, and enlargement of spleen, gulma, indigestion, fever, constipation and leprosy; and prolonged life.

Janushir asana

Sit on the ground with legs stretched forward.

Fold the left leg, and place heal of it at near perineum and the right leg remain stretched fully forward.

Stretch the right leg forward.

Breathe in, then when breathing out bend forward to hold the right toe with both hands and place your forehead on the knee for some time.

Holding the breath and remain to bend forward.

Back to a normal position but the legs remain the same place.

Raise your arms up.

Stretch your arms up above your head palms together and inhale

Repeat the entire procedure with the right leg.

Repeat it for a three-movement cycle with both legs.

Benefits:

Janushir asana cures consumption, piles, and enlargement of spleen, gulma, indigestion, fever, constipation and leprosy; and prolonged life. It cures the waist and spine's problems and strengthens the nervous system. Janushir is good for celibacy and makes the legs, arms, and spine strong and flexible.

Dhanur asana

Lie down on the stomach, head down and the arms alongside the body with palms facing upward.

Turn the head and place the chin on the floor.

Exhale and bend the knees up and reach back with the arms slowly.

Grasp the right ankle with the right hand and the left ankle with the left hand.

While inhaling, raise the legs by pulling the ankles up and lifting the chest from the ground.

Hold the breath.

The body should look like a bow.

The weight of the body must have remained in the navel areas.

Bend your head backward and pull the legs toward the head and make a bow.

Hold the asana as you can while comfortably hold the breath.

Exhale slowly and bringing the knees to the floor and leave the legs and relax for a while in shav-asana and repeat it three times.

Benefits: Dhanur asana restores flexibility to the spine. Regular practice will relieve lower back pain. It helps to cure disorders of the spine, stomach, chest, and respiration.

Caution: People suffering from heart disease and the peptic ulcer should AVOID this asana.

Bhujan asana/ sarp asana/snake pose

Lie flat on your stomach and chin on the floor.

Inhale deeply and exhale slowly.

Place your hands on the ground beside the navel area and raise the head and chest up to the navel and look overhead without raising the shoulders. The arms should remain bent of balancing the weight of the body.

The toes should be stretched behind together. Your hip and the lower portion to be placed on the floor.

Abdominal breathing

Sit comfortably in a quiet place with your hand on the thighs.

Breathe out and pull the stomach toward the spine slowly.

Breathe out through the mouth slowly and taking your time.

Relax the stomach and go back to its normal position.

Relax the chest and sternum (breastbone) and be observant during exhaling.

Breathe in through the nose and keep the chest calm and force-free.

Breathe down to the diaphragm.

The abdomen expands on all sides except in front.

Be mindful, breathe in and out takes equal times. 

Shav-asana

It is of utmost importance in Yoga and the best to revitalize or settle-down the changes after doing the asana as it provides to relieve stress and whip up some refreshment. It is suggested to do shav-asana after you completed the practices.

Lie on the ground. Be calm and be perspective and be conscious of your body and mind.

Relaxed and keeping eyes closed.

Palms upwards direction and feet a little apart.

Lose your body and be still.

Be feel the gravitation and let it happens and ground yourself as of feeling that body is sinking into the ground. You could feel each organ of the body just of starting from toe to head.

We feel that all of the parts of the body have no life.

Breathe through the nose nicely but be conscious.

The last step is to completely forget the body and be conscious of your breathing only.

Breathe naturally. Breathe should be ‘Deep and Slow'.

Do it for some minutes. Regain your conscious.