Healing Heart Yoga
Yoga is a holistic approach to enhance overall well being of an individual. Yoga benefits the individual in a number of ways. Physical, physiological and psychological benefits of yoga are innumerable. Heart is one of the major or vital organs, which is responsible for healthy living. A healthy heart results in healthy living. Yoga lowers the pulse rate and has a great impact on cardiac health.
Coronary heart disease is one of the major causes of decrease in longevity of many people. Breath is regulated by the central nervous system and in turn influences the heart rhythm. Pranayama or yogic breathing exercises result in deep breathing. Pranayama or deep breathing helps in regulating the heart rhythm and reduces the heart rate. This is attributed to the lengthening of the breathing process. Deep breathing technique also increases the oxygen carrying capacity of blood. It enhances the harmony of the mind and the body and results in mediation of the heart rhythm.
Yoga for the heart
The correct breathing method involves the abdomen and the chest. Sit erect and place the left hand on the chest. Keep your right hand over the abdomen. Inhale through your nose to see the movement of the right hand. The left hand should not move. The abdominal muscles narrow down, during the process of exhalation.
Research reveals the positive correlation between yoga and heart disease. Yoga practice decreases the risk of heart diseases. Meditation, which is a part of yoga technique decreases stress and thereby controls the heart rate. Inverse poses decrease the blood pressure and relaxes the heart muscle, thereby regulates the heart rate in an indirect manner. Yoga regulates certain emotional factors such as hostility, hopelessness and anxiety. It also decreases the fatty deposits or atheromatous plaques. Yoga proves beneficial, when done with strict adherence to diet and lifestyle modification. Yoga, when practiced thrice a week is shown to bring about visible benefits.
Upper back bending yoga poses are effective in enhancing the respiration process and functioning of the heart. Poses which help in lengthening of the spine are also good for the heart. They decrease the pressure or compression of the heart and lung. Side bending poses eliminates all kind of blockages in the heart. It removes energetic blockages in the chest and heart. Shavasana or the corpse pose helps the individual to stay calm. It also decreases the high blood pressure condition and thereby regulates the heart rate.
