Learning to Relax with Hatha Yoga

Relax.

In this age of high-stress jobs and fear-filled news headlines, it comes as no surprise that many people find it so hard to relax and become comfortable with their surroundings. It seems as though every day, some new threat has made itself known, and there's not much that can be done to get the weight of the world off of your shoulders. Luckily, in this new world filled with stress, a renaissance of sorts has begun and old methods of relaxation and contemplation are gaining a new popularity.

Yoga has been around in countless forms for centuries, and is practiced today in a variety of forms with names like "Hatha", "Pilates", and "Raja". It can seem a bit intimidating at first, especially if you're just looking at it all under the wide banner of "Yoga." Pilates is popular as a form of exercise, as it helps to tone the body, but for the person who is looking to find true relaxation other forms such as Hatha might be recommended.

Hatha yoga encourages an awareness and mastery of the body through a variety of postures and breathing exercises. The postures have names which might seem amusing at first, such as the "Butterfly" and "Warrior"... but each one is designed with a specific range of motion in mind and should be executed with the grace that the name suggests.

To begin a practice of yoga, you should focus on your breathing. Breathing is used to enhance the postures, and increase the flow of blood and energy while performing them. You should breathe through the nose if possible, unless a specific posture instructs you otherwise, and each breath should be taken slowly and deliberately. Pay attention to the sensation of the breath... the rise and fall of your chest, the feel of the air as it moves through your nose. The act of breathing can be very relaxing in and of itself, in addition to it being a necessity for life.

Next, relax your eyes. Without wearing contacts or glasses, sit with your spine straight and looking straight ahead. Look upward as far as you can, and then downward... repeat this three times, and then do the same in opposite angles and to the sides until you've looked in every direction three times. Move the eyes in three large clockwise circles, and then three large counterclockwise circles; make the circles as large as you can without straining the eyes. Finally, place your left arm straight out with the index finger pointed up, and put your right index finger at around the distance to your elbow. Focus on the left finger and then the right, repeating this process a total of three times.

After you've done the eye exercises, there are a series of neck exercises designed to relieve tension in the neck and shoulders. Still in a sitting position, move your head first to the left and then to the right; turn it as far as you can without pain. Repeat this four times, and then do the same looking up and down. After these motions have been performed four times, bend the neck to the left side (so that the ear moves toward your shoulder), and then to the right. Perform this four times for each side, and then place your chin on your chest. Roll the head along its full range of motion four times clockwise, and then four times counterclockwise.

Once you've completed these preliminary exercises, you can move on to some of the basic postures listed below. The first of these is the Rod or Staff posture.

Rod or Staff: Sit on the floor with your spine straight, your legs outstretched, and your arms resting at your sides. Bring your legs together with your knees and ankles touching, and begin pushing your heels away so that your toes point upward. Breathe in, allowing your spine to stretch and straighten, and then breathe out with a drop of the shoulders and an opening of the chest. Relax the arms so that the hands are laying on the ground by your hips (with the palms and fingers facing upward) and lower the chin so that the back of the neck is lengthened and the face is pointing forward. Maintain a straight spine, and breathe normally.

Butterfly: From the Rod or Staff posture, bend the knees out to the side and bring the soles of the feet together in front of you. Clasp your hands around your toes and draw the feet in closer to the body, keeping them on the ground as you do so. Breathe in as you relax and open the body, and breathe out as you draw the knees slowly upward toward the chest. Repeat this motion a few times, using your breaths as a guide for your movements.

Cat: From a hands-and-knees position (with your hands directly beneath the shoulders and the knees directly below the hips), breathe in and relax your stomach and abdominal muscles. Face straight ahead, feeling your body relax; then breathe out, drop your head, and arch your back upward while pulling in your abdominals (creating the arched back of an angry cat.) Repeat this several times, using your natural breathing patterns to create a smooth flow of motion.

Mountain: Stand with your back straight and your feet flat and touching. Let your arms relax and hang loose next to the body, with the fingers and palms facing the body and the thumbs facing forward. Tighten the knee muscles to pull the kneecaps up while lifting the body with tightened leg muscles (keeping your feet on the floor). Lift and open the front of the body while dropping the chin slightly so as to lengthen the neck. Hold this posture, breathing normally.

Warrior: From the Mountain posture, spread your feet around 4 feet apart while placing you right foot at a 90 degree angle and your left foot at around 45 degrees. Breathe out and turn the hips so that the body faces in the direction of your right foot, and bend the right knee so that the thigh of that leg is parallel with the floor and the left leg is straight. Breathe in, and bring both arms upward so that the fingers are reaching toward the ceiling. Stretch the arms and breathe out, letting the head move slowly back so that you are looking upward between your palms; hold this position and breathe normally for a few moments. Then, on an in-breath, return your head to normal, and on an out-breath lower your arms while straightening your legs, feet, and hips. Breathe, and then begin the process over again in the opposite direction with your next in-breath.

Of course, there are literally hundreds of other yoga postures, many of which require weeks, months, or even years of practice before they can be performed correctly. It's recommended that you find a reliable yoga teacher to assist you in learning, not only so that they can teach you the correct ways to perform the postures but so that they can help you to correct your problems when things go wrong.