BadhaKonasana(Butterfly Pose)

Meaning - Butterfly stretch
(Badha - Restrained, Kona - Angle, Asana - Pose)

Duration - 2 min
Women - 50 flaps and Men - 30 flaps

1. Sit with your spine erect and your soles of the feet pressed together
2. Drop your knees to the side as far as it extends with ease.  Lower your knees to touch the floor. 
3. Flap your legs like butterfly wings 
4. Inhale and lean forward from your hip and touch your toe with forehead.
5. Take 5 breaths in the bent position and slowly come up with exhale

Variation

        Bring your torso forward and gaze front. - Cobblers pose

Benefits 

1. Good for stretching inner thighs and improves flexibility in hips
2. Improves intestine and bowel movement
3. Relieves mensuration discomfort

                               

Badhakonasana

Gomukhasana(Cow Face Pose)

Meaning - Cow Face Pose(go-cow, mukha-face, asana-pose)
Duration - 1 min

1. Sit with your back straight. 
2. Cross your right leg over left and have thighs together. Try to keep your knee aligned one over the other. 
3. Bend your right arm back with elbow upwards and hold your right hand by your left hand in the back as shown in the picture
4. Hold both hands on your back. 
5. Bend forward towards your knees if possible and take 5 breaths. 
6. Repeat the same for left leg. 

End warm up 

   Interlock your hands and hold it on the back of the head. 

   Move your elbows together in front of the face and back on the side - 5 times

Note : 

1. This is the warm up pose for many standing poses and sitting twists. 
2. Try not to lift the knees when bending down. 

Gomukhasana

Soothe your legs

Duration - 5 min

Sit with your back straight, spine erect and extend your legs in the front.

1. Bend your toes  - 10 times.
2. Touch both the ends of  toes(big toes together and little toes together) with your feet - 10 times
3. Inhale and stretch your feet and bend your feet front towards the mat. On exhale, lift the heel up and lift the toes up - 10 times.
4. Bend your right foot front and lift your left foot up and alternate the foot backward and forward  - 5 times.
5. Rotate your feet clockwise 3 times and anticlockwise 3 times.
6. Bend your feet right to touch the mat right and left - 5 times.
7. Bend your feet in and out and touch the mat - 5 times.

Acupuncture 

Sit with your back straight, spine erect and extend your legs in the front.

1. Lift your right leg, cradle your right leg by holding the hands around the right leg. Take the right leg towards extreme right, open the hip and come back to the center.
   
2. Hold your right foot between your hands and rub your foot with both hands.
3. Keep your right foot on left thigh and rotate your ankle with hand - 3 times clockwise , 3 times anticlockwise.
4. Interlock your hands and support your right leg by placing the hands on your thigh. As you inhale, straighten your knees and raise your right leg up. Bend down the knees and lower your leg down as you exhale - 5 times
5. Interlock your hands and support your right leg by placing the hands on your thigh.Bend your right leg and rotate leg clockwise - 5 times. Repeat the same in anticlockwise direction - 5 times.
6. Bend your right foot and place it on left thigh. Press your right feet with right and left fingers....First on both sides of the toes, next on the sides of the feet and in the center.
7. Repeat 1-6 on left leg.

Stretch more ...

Duration - 3 min

Sit with your back straight, spine erect and head centered.

Head Bends

1. Raise your arm upward towards the ceiling and interlock your hands with palms facing down. Bend your elbows, lower the hands down, hold it below the chin. Push your chin up with head bending towards the back - (count 1-10).
2. Bend your head back, interlock your hands with palms facing down and place it on your forehead - (count 1-10).
3. Bend your head forward and lock your chin to the chest. Interlock your hands and support your head by placing the hands on the back of your head- (count 1-10).

Hip Stretches

1.  Raise your arms upward and interlock your hands. Turn your palms facing the ceiling and extend your spine.
2. Cross your arms above your head . Bend right on your waist and feel the stretch on your left. Then come to the center and bend on your left.
3. Cover your left ear with your right hand with right arm around your head and bend right. Repeat with your left hand covering right ear and bend left. Feel the stretch on your sides. 
4. Take your forearm back and place your right hand on left shoulder pad and left hand on right shoulder pad.Keep your back straight and look forward. Switch hands by keeping right over left arm first and next left arm over right.
5. Sit with your back straight and looking front. Place your left hand on left side with elbows bent. Raise your right hand over your head and extend it on the left. Feel the stretch on your right side. Switch directions and repeat it on your left.

Use your hands ..

Duration - 10 min

Sit with your back straight, shoulders relaxed, head centered and chin parallel to the ground.

Fingers, Wrist, Elbow loosening

First extend your arms in the front at shoulder level

1. Make a tight fist (two fold)and release your fingers - 10 times
2. As you Inhale, raise your hand upward and on exhale, lower the hand down. - 10 times
3. Make a tight fist and rotate your fist clockwise and anticlockwise - 5 times each
4. As you inhale, bend your elbows, bring your hands towards the body, touch your shoulders and extend back. Do not bounce your arms- 10 times
5. Bend your arm, hold your shoulders and rotate fully rotation around your shoulder - clockwise (5 times) and anticlockwise(5 times) - (Refer Pic). As you inhale, raise your elbows up towards the ceiling near the ears and as you exhale , bring down the elbows and complete the rotation. 
6. Rotate your shoulders only with hands at rest - clockwise(5 times), anticlockwise(5 times)

L, W and other hand stretches

1.      Keep arm on the side in 'L' shape with NO gap between upper arm and body.  As you Inhale, open the chest and stretch your hands on the side. Exhale and bring your arm in the front. - 5 times 
2.      Extend your arms on the side at the shoulder level, bend your elbow with forearm up and palm facing front - Lower the hand down with palm facing back - Repeat the same by moving the hand up and down - 5 times. 
3.      Extend your arms on the side at the shoulder level, bend your elbow with forearm up and palm facing front as the previous step. Interchange the up and down between left and right. When the right forearm is up, bring your left forearm down and vice versa - 5 times

Thumbs up and down

1.      Extend your arms on the side at the shoulder level with thumbs up. Make thumbs up and down - 5 times(Feel the ball and socket joints rotation)
2.      Extend your arms in the front at the shoulder level and move thumbs up and down - 5 times
3.      Extend your arms up and move thumbs front and back - 5 times

Aaaa..Uuuu...Mmmm

Duration - 3 min

Sit with your back straight. Open your heart and throat when you chant A..U..M..

1. Inhale deeply and turn your head left and right over the shoulders slowly with your mouth wide open saying Aaaaa... - 3 times
2. Inhale deeply and bend your head left and right towards the shoulders slowly with the sound Uuuuuuu - 3 times
3. Inhale deeply and bend your head towards back and front locking the chin to your chest with the sound Mmmm - 3 times
• Mmm sound should be quiet when starting at the back and becomes loud when you lock the chin to your chest
4. Sit straight and chant Aaaa..Uuuu..Mmm together with no head movements - 3 times. 

Look Healthy !

Duration - 1-5 min

Sit with your back straight, spine erect, head centered, shoulders relaxed, chin parallel to the ground and eyes closed with hands in chin mudra on the knees. Move only your eye balls with head fixed in these exercises. Please remember to close your eyes and relax between movements. 

Horizontal movements(with no head movements)

1. Move your eyeballs and look at your extreme left and then extreme right  - 5 times.
2. Look at your extreme right and then left  - 5 times.
3. Close your eyes and relax.

Vertical movements (with no head movements)

1. Move your eyeballs up and look up and down - 5 times.
2. Look down and up - 5 times.

Diagonal movements (with no head movements)

1. Move your eyes and look at your extreme right top and left bottom - 5 times.
2. Look at your extreme left top and right bottom - 5 times.
3. Close your eyes and relax.

Rotation (with no head movements)

1. Imagine a clock in front of you. 
2. Gently move your eye balls to the right. 
3. Clockwise - Look at clock angle 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12  in slow pace first and then fast. 
4. Close your eyes and relax.
5. Gently open your eyes and move your eyeballs to the left in anticlockwise direction- Look at clock angle 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 in slow pace first and then fast.

Short/Long sight techniques

1. Stretch your arm front on shoulder height and hold your thumbs up in front of your eyes.
2. Focus on your thumb nail and slowly bring the thumb closer to your nose. Then slowly take the thumb back and stretch your arm straight. 
3. Keep focusing on only the thumbnail as you extend and bring the thumb nail closer. 
4. Repeat for 5 times.

Close your eyes and relax. Gently open your eyes. Rub your hands and when you feel the heat, massage your eyes, eyebrows, temple, cheeks, chin, nose, mouth, neck and shoulders.