Daily Yoga Practice Schedule

Start with a relaxation for 5 minutes & follow it up with the following sequence:

• Om Chanting – 3 times
• Starting prayer – Any prayer that you are comfortable with; this is to create a positive atmosphere
• Alternate nostril breathing exercise – up to 20 rounds
• Surya Namaskar – 6 rounds
• Alternate leg raise – 3 times on each leg  
• Variations holding the leg
• Both leg raise – 6 times
• Final Relaxation

Maintain this schedule for the next one week. We will slowly add more asanas to the schedule as we go along.

Tracking Your Progress

If you have been practicing regularly, then by now you would notice improvement in the mobility of your joints (achieved with the everyday practice of the joint loosening exercise), improvement in your flexibility & stamina (attained through the everyday practice of Surya Namaskar), and clear, slow & deep breathing (made possible through the practice of alternate nostril breathing exercise). By practicing the relaxation technique & chanting, you will find that your mind is calm & peaceful.

But if you haven’t yet experienced any of the above mentioned benefits, then maybe its time for you to do a self check & get yourself back on track to enhancing your health & well being.

One way to keep a tab on your progress is to maintain a daily checklist. It need not be anything elaborate; just a list of few things that you wish to accomplish during the day. My own daily checklist looks somewhat like this:

ü      Exercise / Asanas

ü      Breathing Exercises / Pranayama

ü      Chanting 

ü      Diet

ü      Relaxation

  If I have done my day’s asanas, pranayama, chanting, kept a watch on what I am eating (trying to maximize the intake of nutritious food & minimize junk), applied the relaxation technique into my day, then I put a tick mark against that item. And if not, I put a cross against it. In a few days’ time it becomes clear as to where I am lagging & need to buck up. Also putting things down into the checklist helps me stay focused during the day to accomplish them as I know I have to review it end of day.

Improving our health is in our own hands and with just a little focus & persistence we can easily accomplish our goals.  

Pre Walk Warm up & a Post Walk Stretch Routine

While walking is part of the daily health routine for a lot of us, not all of us warm up before or stretch after a walk.

Warming up for a few minutes before taking a walk can help increase the blood flow to the muscles & joints making you feel comfortable & preventing the occurrence of injury while walking.

Stretching after a walk can help you improve the flexibility of your muscles & joints.

Here is a short warm up that you can practice before going for a walk.

Following are 2 post walk stretch routines ( one standing & the other lying down ). You can practice either one of the two after your walk to enhance your muscle & joint flexibility.

Please note:

a. As you hold a stretch, stay as steady as possible & relax. Do not bounce
b. Each stretch is to be held for a minimum of 10 seconds for the muscle to relax & lengthen
c. If you don't feel comfortable with any stretch, then please do not do it

Breathing Exercise 2 – Alternate Nostril Breathing

I hope you have practiced the 1^st breathing exercise (Single nostril breathing) for 20 continuous days. If you have not, then I suggest you continue to practice the 1^st exercise & proceed to the following only when absolutely comfortable with the 1^st.

To practice the 2^nd breathing exercise, sit in a comfortable cross legged position with head, neck & spine in line. Tuck in the index & middle finger of your right hand into the palm. You are now ready to practice:

• Close the right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through the left nostril for 6 seconds mentally counting Om 6 times ( You can mentally say ‘Om1, Om2, Om3, Om4, Om5, Om6’). Now close the left nostril immediately with your right ring finger & little finger. Remove your thumb from the right nostril & exhale through the right nostril for 12 seconds mentally counting Om 12 times ( ‘Om1, Om2,……Om12 )
• Now, without pausing, inhale through the right nostril for 6 seconds while mentally counting Om 6 times. Close the right nostril with your right thumb and exhale through the left for 12 seconds, as done before. This completes one round
• Practice about 15-20 rounds everyday

Note that the duration of exhalation is twice that of inhalation as in the breathing exercise 1. When you are easily able to do 6 seconds inhalation & 12 seconds exhalation, then increase to 7 seconds inhalation & 14 seconds exhalation , and then to 8 seconds inhalation & 16 seconds exhalation. These increases have to be made gradually.

I suggest you practice 6 seconds inhalation & 12 seconds exhalation for about 2-3 months & then gradually increase to 7 & 14. Continue to practice that for another 2-3 months & only then increase to 8 & 16 seconds

As you practice this exercise regularly, you will notice that your breathing gets perfect.

Leg Raises

Please note:

a. Make sure that your back is pressed to the floor at all times
b. Keep your raised leg straight & lift it only to the point where you are comfortable
c. If you have a weak back, then bend one knee keeping the foot flat on mat & then raise the other leg
c. Do not practice this exercise if you are pregnant or have severe back or neck problems