Right hair, right now
Right hair, right now
In our day-to-day hectic schedules, our faces bear the brunt of our strenuous lifestyle.
Hence, working on cosmetic beauty is one of the greatest needs of the hour. In a five-part series we will suggest yoga techniques that will help keep our faces glowing.
In the previous article, we addressed the issues of pimples and dark circles. In today's article, we focus on premature greying of hair and hair fall.
Root of the problem
Stress is the main cause of hair problems. Various issues occupy our minds all the time, affecting the health of the scalp by interfering with the necessary supply of nutrition to the hair.
The result — hair fall and grey hair. So if our objective is to maintain beautiful, healthy hair, we need to get to the “root'' of the problem — we need to tackle stress.
The pranayamas prescribed here aim at helping us relax and making us calm. The asanas direct blood flow to the head. The increased blood circulation to the head stimulates hair growth and prevents early greying.
The following pranayamas should be practised slowly and only after you are in a relaxed state.
Shetali Pranayama
- Get into Padmasana (lotus posture): Sit with legs stretched out and the back straight. Pull one leg inwards and place ankle on opposite thigh, close to groin. Bend other leg inwards and place ankle on thigh of earlier bent leg, close to groin. Place hands on knees.
- If unable to get into Padmasana, sit comfortably with legs crossed.
- Roll your tongue to make a passage.
- Slowly inhale till the count of 5 through the passage made by tongue.
- Press chin down to chest, hold till a count of 10.
- Raise chin, exhale till a count of 10.
- Repeat 10 to 15 times.
Those with high blood pressure and respiratory illnesses should not practise this pranayama.
Shitkari Pranayama
- Get into Padmasana.
- Purse your lips in a square, showing your teeth.
- Slowly inhale till a count of 5 through the passage made by tongue.
- Press chin down to chest, hold till a count of 10.
- Raise chin, exhale till a count of 10.
- Repeat 10 to 15 times.
Those with low blood pressure or respiratory illnesses should avoid Shitkari Pranayama.
Anulom Vilom Pranayama
- Get into Padmasana.
- Bend forefinger and middle finger of right hand.
- Place thumb in between eyebrows, press ring finger on left nostril. Breathe in through right nostril till the count of 5.
- Hold your breath till a count of 10.
- Reverse positions. Place ring finger between eyebrows, press right nostril with thumb. Exhale through left nostril till a count of 10.
- Inhale through left nostril, hold your breath.
- Reverse the position of fingers as in step 3, exhale through right nostril.
- Repeat 12 times.
Those with high blood pressure or heart problems should not hold their breath this way.
Next are the asanas aimed at increasing blood flow to the head. As you practise these, you will feel an increased blood pressure on your head. Bring your focus to this and hold for 30 seconds, with your full attention on the head.
Sasangasana (Rabbit pose)
- Sit back on your heels
- Grasp lower calves just above ankles. Keep thumbs uppermost.
- Slowly bend forward, place crown of head on floor.
- Raise hips as high as possible till thighs are vertical and chin presses against chest.
- Hold for 5 to 20 seconds, breathing normally.
- Slowly raise head and upper body and sit back on your heels.
Vipreet Karni Mudra
- Lie flat on the back, arms by the side.
- Raise legs to a 90-degree position from the floor.
- Lift hips and support them with hands as shown.
- Hold for 10 to 30 seconds, breathing normally.
- Slowly return to starting position.
Those with hernia, high blood pressure or spinal injury should not practise this asana.
Yoga Nidra
In yoga, relaxation is as important as exercise. So yoga nidra is one of the best ways to relax, an asana which will leave you completely stress-free.
It is an indirect way of tackling a specific problem such as hair fall or early greying of hair but will affect every part of your system equally well.
- Lie on your back on a mat.
- Concentrate on your breath. Breathe deeply from the abdomen and just be conscious of inhaling and exhaling.
- There are 16 vital points in the body which can make you feel completely relaxed if you concentrate on them. Start by concentrating on the forehead, then move to the nostrils, lips, chin, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingertips, chest, abdomen, thighs, knees, calves, ankles and toes. Repeat this cycle 2 to 3 times.
- Now imagine only the head, the chest and the abdominal area exist in your body. As you breathe in, feel the air entering your spine and cleansing it.
- Concentrate on the different vital nerve plexus or nerve junctions called chakras. Breathe in and out for 5 to 10 times while concentrating fully on each point.
- Start with the root plexus or mooladhara in the space between your anus and genitals.
- Move to the solar plexus or swadhisthan, located in the lower abdomen area.
- Move up to the manipura chakra, located between the navel and the chest.
- Then to the midpoint of the chest, anahat.
- Move to the throat, visudhi.
- Move to the point between the eyebrows, ajna.
- Finally, move to the crown, suryachakra.
- Imagine your limbs are again part of your body. Be aware of your whole body as one unit for about 2 minutes.
- Slowly open your eyes, stretch and get up.
Caution: This exercise may make you feel sleepy.
Practise these techniques every day for a healthy scalp and gorgeous hair. No more bad hair days!
— Bharat Thakur is the founder of Bharat Thakur's Artistic Yoga. For questions on yoga, write to dubai.artisticyoga
@gmail.com. For more information, log on
to www.bharatthakur.com. An avid golfer, Bharat Thakur is also the creator of the Yoga-for-Golf Workshop. For queries,
please write to info@yogaforsports.net
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