Let yoga prolong your holiday high![butterfly pose[1]](http://www.wholelifetimes.com/wp-content/uploads/butterfly-pose1-268x300.jpg "butterfly pose[1]")
By Beth Shaw
Fasten your seatbelts; we’re making our final descent… back into reality.
Post-vacation blues is a familiar feeling among travelers—coming home and trying desperately to hold onto the relaxed vacation high. Jumping back into your routine with the pressure of emails, work and household chores makes that difficult, but you can bring the calm home with yoga breathing techniques.
“Ocean breath,” an ideal component to relaxing the mind, is like putting a conch shell to your ear, closing your eyes and reminiscing about toes dipped in the water and beach breeze dancing in your hair. It is yoga’s ujjayi pranayama breathing method of inhalations and exhalations.
The ocean sound is created by moving air from the back of the nasal cavity and throat along the airway, which creates a rushing sound reminiscent of the rolling tide. You inhale through your nose, stimulating the nadis—energy channels at the back of the throat—but the sense is of inhaling through a hole in the throat. The diaphragm controls the length and speed of the breath.
Unlike normal shallow breathing, diaphragmatic breathing flexes your diaphragm and not your ribs. When practicing ujjayi yoga, you should be able to first feel your lower belly expanding. The breath should then rise to the lower rib cage, and then in the last stage it moves to the upper chest and throat, after which it is expelled through the nose. This big-breath type of breathing allows you to take in more oxygen, improve circulation, maintain a rhythm and build energy, while clearing toxins out of the body. It works well when transitioning into and out of postures and typically links one pose to one inhalation or exhalation.
Ocean breath will help you to stay present, self-aware and grounded when you need it most… the first day back to work. When done correctly, it is both invigorating and soothing.
1. Using your mouth, inhale deeply and then exhale. Repeat a couple of times so that you are completely calm.
2. When exhaling, slightly constrict the passage of air coming out of your lungs. This is similar to the method you would use to fog up your glasses. You will feel a faint vibration or a sensation of rubbing in the back of your throat. This will make a base hissing sound.
3. Do this a couple of times and when you are comfortable with it, apply the same technique when inhaling. Make sure that you do not inhale through your nose.
4. Do this several times so that you are completely familiar and at ease with this technique. Now continue with this technique but close your mouth and inhale and exhale through your nose instead. Your breathing should still have the same hissing sound, only this time it will pass in and out through your nose.
Post-vacation Yoga Asanas
Savasana Lie on your back, arms at your side, and rest.
Child’s Pose From all fours, sink your hips back toward your heels and lower your body toward yourthighs, bringing your arms alongside your body.
Cobra From your belly, rest your hands lightly on the floor next to your chest. Use your back to lift your chest up and forward. Draw shoulders back and down.
Bridge Lie on your back, palms down. Slide your shoulders away from your ears. Bring the soles of your feet to the floor, hip-width apart. Press through your feet to lift your hips.
Butterfly Keeping your spine long, bend your knees out to the sides and draw the soles of your feet together. Bring your heels in toward your body, a foot’s distance away from your pelvis, using the muscles on the outside of your hips to draw your knees toward the floor.
Supine Half-lotus Settle your foot into the hip crease. Bend the left knee and cross the left ankle under the right hip knee in a comfortable, cross-legged position. Repeat, with the left foot on the bottom and the right foot on top. One side will probably feel easier, but try to do both sides whenever you sit in the pose for some time.
Knees to Chest From a supine position, draw your knees to your chest, holding your legs behind your knees. For a gentle back massage, slowly rock back and forth.
Photo courtesy Claudio Micco
Beth Shaw is the founder of YogaFit, the world’s largest yoga fitness education organization. YogaFit hosts Mind-Body-Fitness Conferences and teacher trainings and retreats worldwide.
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