Trātak-Eye Exercises

What This Does For You:

1. Affects the optic muscles and nerves positively.
2. Relieves tension and fatigue in the eyes.
3. Improves eyesight.

How To Do The Technique

1. Sit in a comfortable position.Keep your eyes shut for a few seconds .
2. Now imagine you are placed in the centre of a giant clock.
3. You are required to see the number 12 on the clock without moving your head. Thus your eyes will try to look above your head.
4. In order to view 1 o clock you will move your eyeballs slightly to the upper right-hand corner, for 2 o clock your eyeballs will move a little farther to the right. To see 3 o clock your eyeballs will be at the farthest corner of your eyes. See picture.
5. Continue these clockwise movements till you are back at 12 o clock.
6. Remember to rest your eyeballs at each point for a fraction of a second before proceeding to the next point.
7. Rest for a few seconds before restarting the whole process again.
8. Do this clockwise and anti-clockwise, 10 times each. Take a few seconds’ rest between clockwise and anti-clockwise movements.
9. Rest for several moments when the whole process is done. This can be done by keeping your eyes shut.

Time To Hold The Extreme Position

A fraction of a second at each number.Number Of Times 10 clockwise and anti-clockwise(each)

Time Of The Day

P.M

Important Things To Remember

1. Make sure your eyes are being moved to the extreme areas of the socket.
2. Pause for a fraction of a second on each number.
3. Close your eyes and rest when one clockwise or anti clockwise round is over before starting again.

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Sarvangāsan-Shoulder Stand

What This Does For You:

1. Acts on the Thyroid glands and thus helps in weight management.
2. Improves blood circulation.
3. Allows many vital organs revert to their proper positions.
4. Relaxes the legs and other strained areas through a relief of pressure.

How To Do The Technique

1. Lie on your back with your arms resting on your sides, palms facing the ceiling.
   Close your eyes, relax and breathe normally.
2. Now turn your palms downward, bring your legs together and tense your leg and abdominal muscles.
3. Very slowly raise your legs up until they are at 90˚. Do not bend your knees.
4. Pressing down on the floor with your palms, give a slight swing to your legs so that they go backwards over your head. See picture.(preparing)
5. This will enable you to raise the lower part of your back from the floor. Now you can support the lower back with your palms, while the elbows are pressing against the floor.
6. Slowly with the help of your hands try to straighten yourself as far as possible to a vertical position.
7. Stop wherever you feel the strain. The ultimate position will be as in the picture(Final position). Hold the extreme position for the prescribed duration.
8. Do not hold your body rigid or tense when in vertical position. On the contrary you should relax once in the final position.
9. To return to normal position first bend your legs at the knees and bring them close to your forehead. Now place your hands on the floor supporting yourself. Roll forward, keeping the back and the head on the floor while coming back. For this you will need to arch your neck while rolling forward.
10. When your back is resting fully on the floor straighten your legs up in the air and then slowly lower them to the floor.
11. Let your body go absolutely limp.
12. Rest for about 60 seconds.

Time To Hold The Extreme Position

Begin with 1 minute and keep adding seconds gradually until you reach 3 minutes.
You can increase the maximum limit to 5 minutes or more if you feel no strain.

Number Of Times
once

Time Of The Day
- Any time

Important Things To Remember

1. Always raise your legs slowly and stiffly from the floor-this will tone the abdominal muscles.
2. Do not fidget while in shoulder stand. Keep your eyes shut and enjoy the posture.
3. Do not come out of the position in a jerk, as many people make a mistake of coming out of the position in a jerk.
4. Always rest in the reclining position for at least one minute.

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Prānāyām - Complete Breath

What This Does For You:

• Directly affects the mental and physical wellbeing of a person, determining the length and quality of his/her life.
• Purifies and improves quality of blood.
• Improves resistance to colds and other diseases, particularly respiratory diseases.
• Improves the capacity to take in oxygen, develops the lungs and diaphragm which in turn imparts a general improvement in health and appearance.
• Strengthens the nervous system, lends alertness and clarity to mind due to an increased amount of prana (life force)

How To Do The Technique

The objective here is to fill the lungs with air for which it is vital to make certain movements in the body during breathing.




First let us get used to the physical movements:

• Sit in sukhāsan (Ardhapadmāsan) and breathe normally.
• First use your abdominal muscles to push your abdomen as far out as possible. This enables the air to be taken into the lower lungs during breathing. (See pics. above)
• Practice pulling in with the abdomen and pushing out, first in the lower chest and then the upper chest areas. Finally raise your shoulders, keeping your hands on your knees.

(See pic. below)

Slowly lower your shoulders and relax your chest and abdomen.

Practice to make the first step to continue easily into step two.

Next practice only the breathing.

First exhale completely so that there is no air left in your lungs. (See first pic.)

Then start inhaling (through the nose) very slowly (taking up 15 seconds to complete the inhalation)

Now hold the breath for 10 seconds. Slowly start exhaling (through the nose) till the lungs are empty (taking up 15 seconds to complete the exhalation).

Once you’ve mastered the inhalation-exhalation process in the 15-10-15 pattern, combine the physical movements with the breathing:

1. Push out the abdomen as you inhale during the first 5 seconds (air fills in the abdomen first)
2. Now pulling in your abdomen (without exhaling), push out the chest while inhaling during the next 5 seconds.
3. Finally slowly raise your shoulders for the last 5 seconds while still inhaling.
   Hold the breath for 5 seconds.
4. Slowly exhale though your nose and return to the normal position counting 15 seconds.(emptying the lungs first and then the abdomen)
5. When the lungs and the abdomen are empty repeat the process again.

Time To Hold The Extreme Position

Inhale 15 secs
Retain 10 secs
Exhale 15 secs

Number Of Times – 5- 10 times

Time Of The Day

- Any time
-As advised in the complete practice plan

Important Things To Remember

• This technique can be performed at any time of the day and anywhere though it is preferable if it is done in a quiet and comfortable place.
• For maximum benefit keep your eyes shut throughout the proceedure and follow the breath mentally.
• You should take a few COMPLETE BREATHS whenever you can during the day

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