In the realm of yoga, relaxation means the loosening of body muscles and calming the nerves. You will also get rid of mental tension, if you are deeply relaxed. Most muscles that exist inside the human body are constantly performing one function or the other. It leads to stress and tension on the muscles. When you consciously relax the body, you are actually training the brain to loosen the grip.
Moreover, you can achieve deep relaxation, only when you perform certain calming exercises and meditation. You can also choose to call it the middle ground, between effort and non-effort. Relaxation is a skill, that you need some time to master. Here are a few tips, that you should know, to be able to relax properly.
Tips For Successful Relaxation During Yoga Practice
Yoga is one of the holistic modes of relaxation, that is best practiced under a Yoga teacher. After you are well-conversant with the process, you can do it on your own, at your convenient time. Try to follow a few things mentioned below, to get the best of out the relaxation exercises.
- You should always practice relaxation in a quiet environment, that is devoid of all kinds of noises. If possible, you have to keep your phone away too. It goes without saying, that there is a lot of digital noise around us nowadays. So, you have to keep that away for some time, to get the true benefits of the relaxation exercises.
- When you are practicing relaxation exercises, you can keep a large cushion near you for support. Unless you are comfortable during yoga class, or practice, it will not yield fruitful results.
- You should always warm up sufficiently, before you start with your yoga practice. The muscles will be warm, and will aid in proper movement. So, the possibility of sprains is also greatly reduced.
Always practice relaxation on an empty stomach.
Cyclic Meditation Practices
If you happen to go back to the origins of yoga and relaxation in general, you will come to know that Swami Vivekananda, first took the practice of yoga and relaxation to the parts of the world, where he travelled to. According to him, you cannot be deeply relaxed only with respect to your physical health. Your mental health should also be in relaxed position. He is the one who introduced the concept of cyclic meditation to the world. You have to sync the body movements, with the breathing; only then can you relax the body and mind in totality.
The different forms of relaxation that you should know about are:
- Instant Relaxation Techniques
- Quick Relaxation Techniques
- Deep Relaxation Techniques
These various forms of relaxation practices are a form of yoga. In the beginning of your yoga practice, you will be practicing instant relaxation. When you are through with your standing poses, you can try out the quick relaxation techniques, and the deep relaxation techniques are mainly done in the end.
Instant Relaxation Techniques
As a part of relaxation exercises, this is the immediate way to bring the body and mind to a relaxed state of mind. You have to do it right at the beginning of your yoga practice. It mainly brings awareness to the body parts and muscles. Thus, you will be able to practice the yoga poses in a far better manner. Additionally, you will also experience this relaxation, when you do the Shavasana or corpse pose. You should take 2 minutes out of your busy schedule to practice this segment. When you do prenatal yoga poses or restorative yoga poses, you will experience this relaxation in entirety. Cooling and surrendering the body to the higher realm, developing the intention, and practicing poses like Sukhasana and Shavasana, can help you to master instant relaxation.
Quick Relaxation Techniques
Quick relaxation is the second type of relaxation in yoga. You will actually be focusing on the breath mostly, while performing the asana sequences. The flow of breath entering or exiting the body is of primary importance. You can practice this form of relaxation in Shavasana or Corpse pose, as well. You can practice it for 5 minutes as many times you want to, in a day. However, always keep in mind, that you need to maintain a gap of 2 hours after meals. As a part of this process, you have to be guided by someone with the cues. This will enable you to focus more on your breathing, rather than the poses. In the first instance, you have to concentrate on abdominal movement, then connect the movement with breath, and finally deepen that awareness. If you follow the above sequence, you will experience deep relaxation.
Deep Relaxation Techniques
When you are done with all your yoga poses, and have neared the ending sequence, you have to lie down in Shavasana, to get into the deep relaxation mode. You are tasked with the conscious efforts to relax every body part. And, it starts from the lower body to the upper body. It is a slower and deeper way to relax the body, and that makes it a lot different from the earlier procedures. In this yoga pose, you have to calm every cell inside the body.
When you are lying in Shavasana, your body is supposed to resemble that of a dead body. However, the muscles and body parts have to sink into oblivion very slowly. You cannot rush into this phase. That is why, many yoga practitioners stress the importance of a yoga expert to guide you through the yoga classes. You need cues from a master practitioner, only then can you be in sync with the universe.
Thus, you can very well understand from the above processes, that breath is an important part of the yoga practice. If you are not breathing linked with the flow of postures, you cannot reach the realm, that you want to. Yoga is a holistic relaxation exercise that can help you conquer all horizons, no matter what they are. So, start practicing today.
