Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer Over 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free (45 page)

Pigeon (torso release)

Come into a low lunge with your right leg forward. Scoot your right foot over toward your left hand and ease your right knee to the ground by your right hand. Rest your hips on the ground or on a blanket or pillow. Your hips and shoulders should be working themselves toward facing forward. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths. Gently lower your torso forward over your legs. If it feels good, make a pillow with your hands and rest your forehead on the tops of your hands. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths.

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Shin Splints

Common in runners and other athletes, shin splints—causing shooting, burning pain in your shins—are

a painful but frequent outcome of overuse. The discomfort in the front of the leg can be felt during

exercise, or even constantly in some cases. Whichever you experience, shin splints can put a damper on

your training regimen. Rest and icing are usually prescribed for shin splints, but some very gentle yoga

poses can also help ease the pain.

THE SHIN SPLINTS YOGA CURE

The yoga cure for shin splints is a series of very mild, gentle movements that are designed to relieve pressure
in the shins.

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Hero

Stand on your knees so they are aligned under your hips. Press the tops of your feet down and into the ground. Press your thumbs into your legs, behind your knees, open your calves out to the sides and sit your hips down to the ground. Reach your knees forward. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths.

Hero, Reclined

If you feel like you have more room to work within this pose, slowly lower your back to the ground and reach your arms overhead. Continue to press down through the tops of your feet and reach forward through your knees. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths and slowly bring yourself up and out of the pose.

Runner’s Stretch

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Come into a low lunge with your right foot forward. Tuck the toes of your back foot under and lower your back knee to the ground. Shift your hips back to sit on your back heel. Your right leg should be straight in front of you. Relax your torso over your front leg. Stay here for five long, deep breaths. Bring yourself back to your lunge and do the same thing with the other leg.

Sugar Cravings

Cravings are another manifestation of tension and stress. A wandering, racing mind is susceptible to all

kinds of misaligned thinking. A craving for sugar may stem from your body and mind feeling sluggish

and wanting a boost of energy. If you eat a lot of sugar regularly, the cravings only intensify. Now,

there’s nothing terrible about having a little sugar every once in a while. Depriving ourselves of food

and beating ourselves up over cravings can lead to all kinds of other issues, even disorders. Try making

a healthy choice the next time a sugar craving hits, like having some hot tea with raw honey or a piece

of dark chocolate, which can help lower blood pressure and maintain overall heart health.

When the cravings are out of control, and becoming an unhealthy regular occurrence, try this routine.

Like all yoga, it’s designed to tune you in to what’s going on inside you.

THE SUGAR CRAVING YOGA CURE

Cravings and addictions have to do with not being in the present moment, and often not wanting to be. This is
where the vice comes in, whether it is sugar, other foods, drugs, or alcohol. Yoga is all about being in the
present moment and paying attention to what is going on with you, right now. Dealing with it is more useful in
healing addictions and facing cravings than mindlessly masking our feelings with food, drugs, or alcohol.

This routine is designed to bring your attention away from cravings and back in touch with your breath,

and in tune with your body. Do this routine three times a week to cure the cravings.

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Seated Meditation Arms in V

Starting in a comfortable seated position, raise your arms overhead into in a V shape. Relax your shoulders down your back and reach out through your fingertips. We are going to stay and breathe here for three minutes. Finding the ease in staying here for several minutes will clear your mind and release loads of tension from your body.

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