Clean Yoga Moves – Banish Lethargy With This Clean Yoga Move
Imagine a yoga posture that can eliminate lethargy, stimulate the muscular, digestive, circulatory, nervous, and hormonal systems, and tone all the organs. This same pose can be used to help reduce nervous tension. When practiced at the end of a session and before the final resting pose, shavasana, it can facilitate a deeper state of liberation. It can also energize the body and mind when done before getting out of bed in the morning.
As usual, there are a few names for a yoga pose. This is called Boat Pose, Stretch Pose, navasana, Naukasana. We are often encouraged to close our eyes when we practice turning the mind inward. In this pose, however, the eyes are kept open the entire time.
Instructions:
Begin by lying on your back with your palms facing down and feet together. Be aware of the body breathing and when the breathing becomes steady, inhale slowly and deeply, hold the breath, and then flatten the back of the waist against the floor. Flattening the lower back before raising the body prevents compression on the lumbar vertebrae. We’ll come back to breathing later.
The second part of this graceful yoga move is to lift your top and then your bottom off the ground no more than 6 inches (15 cm); essentially rocking on the buttocks. The arms are also raised to the same level as the toes. The palms can be facing each other on the sides of the body or on the thighs. Unless you need to tuck them under your buttocks to support your lower back. Let the heart raise its head. To keep your neck vertebrae safe, tuck your chin in toward your throat, not down or away from your throat. Your ears will move closer to your shoulders. Try lifting your chest and tucking your chin in as you sit down to get a feel for the movement. Leave a comfortable space in the throat. Finally lift both legs or one at a time.
As you balance on your buttocks, hold your breath for a mental count of 5, or more if you can. If desired, tighten the entire body. You could include cuffs. Then exhale and return to the ground, gently lowering your head. You definitely don’t want to feel a pounding headache from falling to the ground! Feel your entire body as you rest between reps. If your abdominal muscles are tight, extend them when you inhale. Then repeat the exercise 4 to 5 times.
If you are feeling tired, perhaps you can spend 1-3 minutes a day in this powerful pose and see if it removes the lethargy.