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Sweet Relief: A Home Practice Sequence to Clear Your Sinuses

With the exception of chatush padasana (Four-Footed pose, which you can hold from 20 seconds to one minute), each pose in this sequence can be held for up to five minutes.

1. Adho Mukha Virasana (Downward-Facing Hero’s Pose or Child’s pose)

Sit on your heels with your knees apart and big toes touching. Extend your arms forward and rest your head on the floor. If your head does not reach the floor with ease, put a blanket or two underneath the forehead for sup‐ port. Lengthen the buttocks back while extending the chest and ribs forward. Keep the neck soft and the shoulders away from the ears.

Balasana 467x234 300x1501

2. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog pose)

With your hands and knees on the floor, place a block underneath your chest. Straighten the legs and lift into Downward‐Facing Dog. Let your neck release down so that your head can rest on the support. If your head doesn’t reach the block, place a bol‐ ster or several folded blankets underneath it. While the arms, upper back, and torso work to lift away from the floor, keep the neck, throat, and face soft and relaxed.

Adho Mukha Svanasana 492x351 300x214

3. Uttanasana (Standing forward bend)

Separate the feet wider than hip‐width apart and bend forward. Place the crown of your head on a support (try blocks or even a chair). Hold your ankles with your hands and separate your elbows. Even though your head is resting on the prop, keep your weight in your feet. The neck should feel long and the chest broad.

 

Uttanasana 252x383 197x3002

4. Supta Virasana (Reclining Hero pose)

Sit in Virasana (Hero Pose). Lie back on a bolster. If your knees splay apart or hurt, use more support under your back. If your head tilts backward, place a blanket under‐ neath it. Extend your arms overhead and clasp your elbows with your hands.

Sopta Virasana 451x235 300x1562

5. Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana (Two-Legged Inverted Staff pose)

Sit backward on a folding chair, with your legs threaded through the opening above the chair seat. Lie back, placing your upper back on the edge of the chair seat. Extend the legs and place your heels on a block. Pull on the chair with your arms to open your chest. Rest the crown of your head on a prop, keeping the neck relaxed. Bend your knees and lift your torso up to come out of the pose.

Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana 472x338 300x214 1

6. Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand)

If this pose is new for you, do not attempt it without the guidance and supervision of an experienced teacher. It is not for those with neck injuries. Try it at a wall if you cannot balance in the middle of the room. Place your forearms on the floor, with your elbows directly underneath your shoulders, and then interlock your fingers. Place your head on the floor between your hands. Straighten your legs and walk your feet closer to your head. Gently lift your legs up into Headstand. Keep the shoulders lifted while you come down, then rest your head on the floor for a minute in Balasana.

Sirsasana 299x576 155x3001

7. Chatush Padasana (Four-Footed pose)

Place three blankets on a mat and lie over the blan‐ kets with your shoulders in line with their top edges. With your feet hip‐width apart, bend your knees and clasp your ankles with your hands, place and hold a belt around the ankles, or grasp the sides of your mat. Press your heels into the floor, lift your pelvis up toward the ceiling, and roll the outer edges of your shoulders down into the floor. Lift the upper back away from the floor and open the chest.

Chatush Padasana 377x290 300x230

8. Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported Shoulderstand)

Before coming into this pose, place a chair with a rolled blanket or a bolster behind your blankets. Then lie back on the blankets and lift your torso and legs up toward the ceiling directly above your shoulders. With your elbows bent, cradle your upper back (near the shoulder blades) with your hands; don’t let your elbows splay wide apart. Relax the neck and throat and look at your chest as you walk your hands further down your back toward the floor.

Salamba Sarvangasana 454x549 248x300

9. Halasana (Plow pose)

From Salamba Sarvangasana, take your legs overhead and rest your thighs on the support. Relax your arms by the sides of your head. Keep the throat pas‐ sive and eyes, temples, and cheeks soft.

Halasana 494x353 300x214

 

Finishing up

Rest.  Lie on your back in Savasana. With your arms by your sides, palms up, press your forearms into the floor and pull your shoulder blades away from your neck to roll the outer edges of your shoulders to the floor, and turn your upper arms out. The back of the neck should feel long, as though it were lengthening away from the feet. If the head tilts backward, place a blanket under‐ neath the head and neck. The chest should feel broad, but with the throat and neck relaxed. Let the arms and legs relax completely.

This article was originally published in Yoga Journal Magazine, and is reposted with permission from the author.

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