How Does Yoga Help In Preventing Cold?
It is the emphasis that yoga places on breathing which helps cope up with cold. The anuloma & vilomas and various yoga poses in addition to kapalabhati work effectively on the respiratory system for immediate and long term relief.
Some Useful Yoga Poses For Cold
Yoga cold remedies need practice to perform. Some of them are highly effective if practiced regularly. Here is a list of representative yoga poses for cold.
Yoga Shoulder Stand
Yoga shoulder stand (sarvanga asana) is next best to Shirshasana (headstand) in yoga. Lie relaxed on back with feet together and hands by the side. Breathe a full cycle and lift your legs together so much as to lift the hips and trunk too. At this time, you can support of both the hands with elbows firmly on the ground. Let the feet face upwards without swinging. Hold here for 10 breaths and take off your hands before returning to normal position. Exhale while lowering. As you gain in practice, you can do this without the hands supporting your trunk.
The Bow
Bow is Dhanur asana. Lie down on abdomen and relax for a few breaths. Lift your legs up, backwards, bending at the knees and hold your ankles with your hands.
Now, while inhaling, lift up head, chest and thighs with knees clearly off the ground. Now you are completely supported on your abdomen only. Hold it for 4-6 breaths Exhale while returning by retracing the sequence in reverse order
Yoga Cat Pose
Rest on knees and palms just below shoulders. Hold your spine as straight as possible and look forward. Crouch inwards trying to round the spine and gaze at navel. Exhale while doing this and take a couple of breaths here. Come back to original position inhaling. Now go forward to the cow stretch from here, by dropping the back and lifting head as much as possible. Return to the original position after a couple of breaths while exhaling.
Corpse Pose
You need to lie down on your back on a carpet with feet and palms comfortably away from the body. Starting from toes, concentrate on each organ of body in order to relax fully. Let your breaths calm down automatically. Relax in this position for 10-15 minutes.
Relaxation Pose
Relaxation pose is the same as shavaasana or Corpse pose.
All above yoga poses for cold are shown to work on respiratory organs, better than other therapies when practiced as per norms. Further, all yoga cold remedies depend on strict observation of breathing techniques. Thus, additional practicing of pranayama may help better the cause.