It’s that time of year again. Runny noses, coughing, spluttering, stocking up on tissues and continuous sipping on hot, lemony drinks. Yes! Cold and flu season is most definitely here!
I, myself, spent the guts of last week continuously sneezing then excusing myself before sneezing again. I’ve been ‘blessed’ so many times by random strangers that I feel completely exonerated from all my ‘sins’… including sneezing.
When you’re feeling completely down in the dumps like this, the furthest thing on the agenda is the desire to contort yourself into the various poses a yoga class presents. However… there are certain postures that actually help open your chest, relieve congestion and leave you feeling energised, even when you’re a little under the weather.
Starting with a couple of rounds of Sun Salutation A to warm up, follow these poses to help ease any of the symptoms you may be experiencing.
Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
Level - Gentle
Bridge pose helps to open the chest and increase circulation. Within this pose, make sure your feet are hip distance apart and enough of a distance from your buttocks so that your knees don’t extend past your ankles when you are in position. They should be directly above the ankles and not splaying outwards or collapsing inwards. Squeezing a yoga brick between your knees can help with this. If you want to increase the challenge, interlace your fingers to clasp your hands
beneath your pelvis and. As you encourage your chest towards your chin, roll your shoulders in towards each other to open across the chest. And remember! Clenching is not good! Release any tension in the buttocks and instead, press into the feet and keep the thighs strong to lift the hips. Hold for a couple of breaths. To come out of the pose, unclasp the hands and place the palms flat on the mat beside the hips, gently uncurl the spine, placing upper back, middle back, lower-back gently onto the mat. Repeat a couple of times before hugging the knees gently and rocking from side to side to release any tension in the lower back. For a more advanced version, try wheel pose. If you don’t know what that is… you’re not quite ready yet!
Bow Pose (Dhanurasana)
Level - Strong
A great pose to open the front of the body – neck, chest, stomach, Bow pose also helps the body to relax as it creates a lot of tension so that, when it is released, you have let go completely. Remember in this pose to roll your shoulders back and open across the chest. Press your ankles into your hands and your hands into your ankles to create resistance and keep buoyant. This also helps lift and open the chest. Hold for a couple of breaths before gently releasing. Repeat the pose a couple of times before lying flat, turning your head to one side and rocking your hips from side to side to release the lower back. Then turn the head to the other side and repeat.
Wide-Angle Seated Forward Fold (Upavistha Konasana)
Level – Gentle
This pose helps to quieten the mind and best done (in this instance) sitting on a foam block or folded blanket with either a bolster or a chair in front. Bringing the sitting bones to the edge of the block or folded blanket, extend your legs out in front and then separate them as wide as possible. Rather than rounding at the lower back, fold forward from the hips and rest your torso on the chair or the bolster depending on your flexibility. Hold here for a couple of breaths releasing a little deeper into the pose on each exhalation.
Plow Pose (Halasana)
Level – Strong
This pose is generally practiced falling back from shoulder stand. To go straight into it, start by lying on your mat, arms by your sides, palms facing down. Pressing into your palms, bend the knees, curl your spin from the tailbone and bring your legs over your head. If the hamstrings or your back feels tight, keep the knees bent and place them next to your ears. Otherwise, straighten the knees and touch the toes to the ground behind your head. From here, you can interlace the fingers and manoeuvre the shoulder blades closer together keeping stillness in the head and neck. Work on creating length in the spine by encouraging your hips over your shoulders. Stay here for a couple of breaths releasing any tension you might be holding on to and then bend the knees (if legs are straight) and gradually uncurl the spine the rest the hips on the mat and hug your knees for a couple of breaths.
Supine Spinal Twist (Modified Jathara Parivartanasana)
Level – Gentle
Lying flat, a bend in the knees, soles of the feet flat on the mat, arms extended at shoulder level, gently press into the feet to raise the hips off the mat, shift your pelvis to the right and rest back down onto the mat. Let the knees fall to the left, keeping the right shoulder on the floor. As the knees release towards the floor, gently turn the head to look over the right shoulder. If your knees don’t reach the floor, prop them up with a folded blanket. Stay here for a couple of breaths and then repeat on the other side.
Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)
Level – Gentle
A lovely restorative pose, taking weight from the feet. Place a folded blanket a couple of inches from the wall. This will keep the pelvis elevated as you move into the pose. Sit on the blanket with the right or left side of the body towards the wall. As you lie down, swing your legs up to rest against the wall and lay your arms on the floor at shoulder level. Stay here for 5-7 minutes.
This short sequence can be modified to suit your energy levels. With low energy, simply work through each pose. If you’re on the road to recovery and fancy more of a challenge, add a couple of sun salutations or vinyasas between each posture.
Either way, the movement alone is guaranteed to lift your mood!
