High blood pressure is yet another lifestyle disease. Factors like excess weight, sedentary lifestyle and a high degree of social or occupational stress affect the blood pressure. If you don’t tackle this problem, you run many health risks like stroke, cardiac problems and kidney damage.

Yoga can help you minimise the symptoms and tackle these problems at physical, mental and spiritual levels. Over the next seven days, we will practice a program that will benefit you if you are regular in your practice. Today, we start with breathing exercises that will help strengthen your lungs, nervous system, and calm both body and mind.

Caution: Make sure you do not hold your breath in Ex 1.

Exercise 1

Exercise 1

• Sit in padmasana

• Bend the forefinger and middle finger of your right hand

• Place your thumb between the eyebrows and press the ring finger on the left nostril. Breathe in through the right nostril

• Now place the ring finger between the eyebrows and press the right nostril with the thumb. Exhale through the left nostril

• Now inhale through left nostril

• Reverse the position of fingers (as in step 3) and exhale through the right nostril. Repeat 10 times.

Exercise 2

• Lie flat on back, head and body in a straight line, legs a little apart, arms by your side, palms facing up and fingers relaxed

• Close your eyes, focus on your breathing and relax the body

• Let your breathing become slower and more rhythmic

• Just watch and observe your natural breathing process

• Inhale slowly as you let the stomach expand fully

• Exhale gradually – gently contracting and pulling in your abdominal muscles

• Try not to move your shoulders and chest, but keep them relaxed

• Inhalations and exhalations should be smooth and flowing movements

• If you find this difficult, place your right hand on the stomach and the left one on the centre of the chest. With each inhalation, feel your right hand move up and with each exhalation, feel it move down. The left hand should not move

• Practice this for 3-5 minutes.

Exercise 3

• Sit back on your heels as shown, with your back straight

• Rest your palms on your knees or place them on your heels, with fingers pointing in

• Close your eyes and relax

• Slow down your breathing and focus on it

• Imagine you are inhaling through the eyebrow centre, Bhrumadhya and that the breath is moving from Bhrumadhya to the Ajna chakra, which lies behind the eyebrow centre. Exhale from the Ajna chakra to Bhrumadhya, the eyebrow centre

• Practice this for two to five minutes.