Yoga routine for all times

 Unroll your yoga mat to experience some amazing benefits. A regular yoga practice helps in better flexibility, muscle tone, mental clarity, back health and enhanced circulation.

Some aspects of yoga are especially supportive for women. In addition to improving how you feel day in and day out, it can also ease symptoms related to hormonal shifts and health crisis.

Yoga also bolsters your mental health and can ease the stress that often comes with the multiple hats women wear at home and at work. Few Yoga exponents of Hyderabad share yoga tips for all times.

Asana for peiods

With over 80 per cent of women suffering from period-related pain at some point in their lives, it's important for us to understand how to treat our cramping holistically.

"As our hormones are so closely linked to our stress levels, along with yoga, I started to address the stressors in my life and minimising them where I could.

I made changes to my daily yoga practice and chose classes that reflected what was internally happening in my body: softer yoga when approaching menstruation, when energy is lower, and flow yoga when my energy is higher coming up to ovulation," says DrMani Pavitra.

She says, "I chose to swap out my painkillers and go-go-go mentality for yoga and body awareness. I've found yoga to be such a helpful tool in managing menstruation discomfort.

Along with deep breathing." Here are the poses below will help in relieving discomfort and assisting in promoting blood flow.

Wide knee child's pose with bolster (4 mins)

Helps calm the central nervous system, relieve lower back tension and menstrual cramps. It's nice to have a bolster (or pillow) under your torso to make it a cosier space for holding longer.

Kneeling, sit back on your heels and separate your knees about mat width apart. Take a bolster/pillow and place one of the narrower ends near your groin. Fold forward and sprawl yourself out over the cushion.

You can lay your arms along side your body or stretched out in front. This posture is super restorative, so allow yourself to sink in to it for at least 3 minutes. Enjoy long, deep breaths into your lower belly.

Forward fold right/Left with bolster (3 mins each)

Releases tension in the hips and lower back. Promotes healthy ovaries and helps to alleviate menstrual pain.

Sitting upright, pull the flesh out from underneath each buttock, extending your legs out in front of you. Bend one leg, sole of the foot to the inner thigh of the straight leg.

Place a bolster/pillow (or two) on top of your legs, then lengthen the spine up, maintaining the long spine while you fold forward over your legs.

Rest your head and torso on the pillow. Relax your arms down, palms facing up. Stay on one side for up to 3 minutes then swap sides.

Restorative Reclined Butterfly with strap and two bolsters (5 mins)

Releases tension in the hips, opens up pelvis region creating space.

Sitting upright, set up 2 bolsters (or pillows) in a T-position directly behind your buttocks.

Place the soles of your feet together, letting your knees fall out to the sides. For more support, you could place an extra cushion under each knee.

Wrap your strap around your waist, down over the tops of your feet then underneath, clip in (this is optional if you have a strap - it's nice for extra support but not required).

Lie back over the bolsters or pillows. If you want an extra restorative feel pull a blankie over you. Put one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart. Breathe long and deep. With each exhalation, let your …

Restorative Reclined Butterfly with strap andtwo bolsters (5 mins)

Releases tension in the hips, opens up pelvis region creating space.

Sitting upright, set up 2 bolsters (or pillows) in a T-position directly behind your buttocks. Place the soles of your feet together, letting your knees fall out to the sides. For more support, you could place an extra cushion under each knee.

Wrap your strap around your waist, down over the tops of your feet then underneath, clip in (this is optional if you have a strap - it's nice for extra support but not required).

Lie back over the bolsters or pillows. If you want an extra restorative feel pull a blankie over you. Put one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart.

Breathe long and deep. With each exhalation, let your inner thighs release and relax.

-Dr Mani Pavitra Orthodontist, life & yoga coach

Yoga healing and menopause management

Have you ever wondered what you could do to alleviate those frequentmenopausal mood changes? Did you know that yoga can help you in thisregard? Well, if you didn't, you should think about reading this post on yogaand menopause.

Menopause is a natural condition that every woman will experience intheir lifetime as they age. The word "menopause" can refer to any ofthe symptoms or changes a woman goes through either just before orafter she stops menstruating. Menopause marks the end of a woman'sreproductive period.

Generally, an absence of menstrual cycle for 12months and more indicates the onset of the Menopause stage. Yogahealing helps in menopause symptoms management.

Yoga Asana- The poses recommended gives abdominal compressionand gently massages the internal organs. These help to tone theinternal organs functioning and improve blood circulation.

The yogaasana suggested massage the digestive organs and improvesgastrointestinal balance and their functions. Yoga poses are effectivein weight loss and keep the metabolism in check.

♦    Wind-relieving pose (pavanmuktasana)

♦    Cobra pose (bhujangasana)

♦    Reclined hero pose (suptvakrasana)

♦    Pranayama– Pranayama yoga helps to enhance the oxygenatedblood supply to the brain which in turn helps to allay menopausalsymptoms due to the hormonal changes.

♦    Relaxation- Stress has a negative impact on Menopause symptoms.It is necessary to relax the mind so as to keep the cortisol levels undercontrol.

Cortisol levels (testosterone) are responsible for stress andweight gain. Hence conscious relaxation technique-shavasana helpsin calming the entire body and mind and helps to alleviate stress.

♦    Corpse pose (shavasana) This asana in hatha yoga, often used for relaxation at the end of a session.

-Pratibha Agarwal, Founder& director

Asanas for working women

Yoga can be an excellent self-care tool especially for the working woman who has no time for herself. After running home errands and completing to-do lists at work, yoga comes to you as a gift; your timeout time. Below are some of the go-to poses/asanas for working women.

Warrior pose (veerabhadrasana)

Being on her toes all day, a busy woman needs a strong lower body as well as a grounded mindset. Warrior pose offers both of these qualities along with many other benefits.

Wide legged full forward bend (prasarita padottanasana)

This pose deeply works on the inner thighs, hip flexors and hamstrings, and can cure all the constrictions created by long hours of sitting in front of a desk, tightness in the hips, stiffness or pain in the lower back.

Goddess pose (utkata konasana)

Constipation, stomach cramps, menstruation pain etc. — these are regular problems faced by women.This pose is helpful in promoting a healthy gut and allows a healthy flow if practiced regularly as it creates pressure on the intestines.

Cobra pose (bhujangasana)

Cobra is the busy woman's go-to cure especially those struggling with back pain. It also strengthens the lower back muscles to avoid future back ache and corrects rounded shoulders and blockages of the heart chakra, a common consequence of a sedentary lifestyle.

Boat pose (navasana)

Offering the benefit of a crunch or an intense ab workout, this pose is beneficial when you have no time to squeeze in a good workout but want to shed the extra flab on the belly and lower back.

Bridge pose (setubandhasana)

This prone pose allows the practitioner to strengthen and enhance robustness in the back muscles, and increase flexibility. Women who experience difficulty sitting for prolonged periods or bending forward or backward can start with the basic bridge posture.

Tree pose (vriksasana)

This pose is known to balance the entire body, increase flexibility in the spine, open up the chest and increase the flow of oxygen in the body. It opens up the heart chakra and also strengthens the lower body.

-Rina Hindocha, Yoga instructor