Cat and Cow and Yogic Breathing 

This week I’d like to teach you our full yogic breath – they say that we can cure 90% of the body’s ailments with conscious, good breathing. If  you watch a baby breathing you will see how we are actually supposed to breath. As you inhale the lungs and abdomen should inflate

and as you exhale the abdomen will deflate

This seems like the opposite of how we naturally breath and often the yogic breathing is called Reverse Breathing. Because it does not feel like the natural way to breath, it takes concentration and time to develop this skill and this in itself is a useful yoga practice.

· Come to sitting or lying comfortably.
· Place one hand on the abdomen, so you can watch the movement with the breath.
· Take 3 natural breaths with your regular breath pattern.
· Slow your natural breath down taking deeper breaths.
· Inhale deeply and this time inflate the belly and watch the hand rise.
· Exhale fully using the tummy muscles to squeeze the lungs empty and watch the hand drop down as the belly deflates.
· Repeat for 10 breaths.
· Bring the breath back to its natural pattern to finish the practice.

Cat and Cow poses are often done at the beginning of an asana practice to warm the back and chest up and really articulate the spine.

Follow these steps so you can use these two lovely gentle asana at home.

· Come to your hands and knees, with the knees under the hips and the hands slightly in front of the shoulders with the arms straight, you spine and head are in the neutral position with the back flat and the eyes are looking at the floor.

· Inhale and reach the chest between the arms allowing the back to arch  and the bottom to reach towards the ceiling and the abdomen to drop down. Lift the head and look straight forward. Keep the arms straight and the hips still.

· Exhale and round the spine up to the ceiling stretching the length of the spine and also across the shoulders, drop the head and the neck but don’t force it. Do not move the hips.

· Repeat 5 times with the breath.

· Finish the practice by bringing the back and head back to the neutral  (flat back) position.

Posture - Cat and Cow       
Sanskrit name - Marjaryasana  and  Bitilasana

Benefits

*stretches the back, torso and neck.
*Gently massages the spine and abdominal organs.

Avoid if: You have neck injuries do not move the head up and down.

Beginners Tip: To move Cat posture right into your upper back, put a small weight (like an eye bag or a ) between the shoulder blades and practice raising this up to activate this area.

In cow posture, protect your neck by widening the shoulder blades and drawing the shoulders down the back.

Beginners Tip

This week maybe we can do 5 minutes of sitting plus this gentle stretch for the spine, before we take a few minutes relaxing in Savasana. Enjoy your practice and get ready to  add more postures each time!

For more info or for classes please contact The Om Space on 112507515  or at 185/9 Havelock Road, Colombo 5 or visit www.theomspace.lk.

Serena is a yoga teacher and the founder of The OM Space . She is a passionate believer in yoga as a life enhancing practice and runs several classes in Colombo including the very popular Yoga for Children and Yoga for Pregnancy. Serena trained in the UK with the British Wheel of Yoga and is a UK Yoga Alliance registered Senior Teacher.