Breathing exercises that will help you to relax

In the modern world because of the fast pace of life and increased amount of pressure for people to perform in all aspects of life like education, family, work etc, stress becomes part of our life.  Yoga being a way of life helps one to counter the stress level one acquires from the above on a daily basis. There will be seven series of these exercises which will help you to remove stress through techniques of yoga like breathing (pranayama), which plays a major role in removing stress. The bandhas (neuro-muscular locks) help one to keep hormonal levels to an ideal position and help counter the unwanted hormones that get secreted during the state of stress. Breathing is the bridge between life and death and in the Shiva Samhita, Lord Shiva says, “If one concentrates on the breath, the mind gets controlled and vice versa.”

Exercise 1

Exercise 1

* Sit in padmasan keeping the back straight. Keep the hands on the knees, palms facing up and the tip of the forefinger and thumb touching each other

* Breathe in through both the nostrils to a count of five

* Hold the breath for a count of 20

* Close the mouth and breathe out to a count of 10