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Peace and happiness are always available to us through the power of mindfulness.
Peace and happiness are always available to us through the power of mindfulness. But what is mindfulness? It can be described as living in the present moment, fully aware of our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations. Mindfulness means having an acute awareness of what your body is doing in this moment. By taking a few deep breaths, you turn your attention to your breath and become aware of what’s happening right now. In this way, you become naturally mindful without even trying!
The main tool for achieving calmness is breathing slowly and deeply through the nose. This helps slow down the nervous system so we don’t get stuck in fight-or-flight mode all day long, which often leads to tension headaches or other ailments caused by stress. And it’s not just about breathing; there are many ways to practice mindfulness throughout each day: when you’re eating breakfast or washing dishes, waiting at a red light on your way home from work. Below goes most popular yoga exercises for peace and happiness.
Forward Bend
There are many reasons why forward folds are so effective.
One of them is that it’s a pose that helps us in getting down to business, and for many beginners, it’s one of the first poses that comes to mind when they think about yoga.
In addition, it’s a pose where you can really feel how gravity works on your body, and how your muscles work together to help you stretch and get into the pose.
The forward bend is one of those poses that has both mental and physical benefits. On the physical side, it helps to strengthen the legs, increase hamstring flexibility and also relieve back pain when done correctly. On the mental side, a well-executed forward bend will help with concentration as well as directing your attention inward.
Leg Stretch
To perform the leg stretch, sit upright with your legs stretched out in front of you. Make sure to keep your back straight and not slouch. Breathe in and out in a relaxed manner as you hold this position for 20 seconds. Repeat 2-3 times if possible.
Cat/Cow Pose
Cat/Cow Pose is a gentle way to warm up the spine for more intense backbends. It stretches and tones the abdomen, back, arms, hips, buttocks and neck. Some people find this pose helps relieve stress and fatigue because it lengthens the spine and gives the entire body a good stretch while also improving spinal flexibility.
To come into this pose:
- Get down onto your hands and knees so that they’re aligned with your shoulders and hip bones.
- Check that your palms are flat on the floor (if they’re not, widen your hands). Tuck your toes under as you exhale.
- Inhale as you drop your pelvis toward to floor, lifting up through your tailbone to form an upward arch in your back. Allow the front of your torso to sink toward to floor at this time without allowing it to rest on the ground. Let your belly fall between the legs as you lift up through chest and gaze upward gently if comfortable doing so.
- Exhale as you round out in reverse by drawing chin inward toward chest; push down through arms as you pull tailbone up towards ceiling so that there is a natural curve in spine like that of a cat stretching downward from head to tailbone. Repeat these two movements four more times or until ready for next movement
Head Roll
- Start by standing in a comfortable position. Make sure your feet are planted firmly on the ground and keep your spine straight (this will ensure you have full range of motion).
- However, don’t overdo it! It’s important that your body remains relaxed throughout this exercise to make sure that your muscles aren’t strained or tense.
- Begin to move your head. Keep it as stationary as possible when you’re at the top and bottom of the movement, but once you’ve reached these positions, allow yourself to smoothly continue moving in a circular motion from one side to the other until you’ve made one full rotation with each breath cycle (from inhale to exhale).
- You should feel the pressure on the front and back of your neck increase as you breathe outwards through each rotation (from left side back around towards right side again).
Child’s Pose
The child’s pose is a very calming posture and an excellent practice to begin your mindfulness yoga routine with. It will help relax any remaining tension in your body before moving on to more difficult exercises. To get into this pose, start by sitting down and stretching your legs out in front of you, keeping them together and relaxed. Then bend at the waist, slowly lowering yourself down until your forehead touches the floor or whatever surface you are practicing on. Keep in mind that this does not have to be done from a sitting position, although for beginners it might be easiest to do it that way. If you are just starting out with mindfulness yoga, try doing this exercise several times a day for at least five minutes each time. Just make sure that no matter when you choose to do it, there is no other activity going on around you to distract or stress you out as you attempt this exercise
Three-Part Breath
Your mind has a natural tendency to wander, and it’s important to be able to bring your attention back to the present moment. One of the easiest ways to do this is with a breathing exercise like the Three-Part Breath. This technique will relax your body and focus your attention on each inhalation and exhalation. If you find your thoughts wandering as you practice, simply notice where they go, then bring them back to your breath.
Find a comfortable seated position either on the floor or in a chair. Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Place one hand on your belly and one hand just below your chest bone (sternum).
Inhale through your nose for four counts as you visualize breathing into both hands evenly; first filling up the lower hand representing the abdomen (this helps create space in the lungs), then filling up the upper hand representing the chest (expanding both lungs).
Hold for seven counts, visualizing air filling all areas of lungs evenly from top to bottom.
Exhale through nose for eight counts by reversing this process: relaxing abdominals first so that lower hand falls, then relaxing chest so that upper hand falls last; emptying out all areas of lungs evenly from bottom up until completely empty at end of exhale.
Sitting Meditation
Sitting meditation is an important exercise for mindfulness. It helps you to access your inner being and to understand yourself better. It involves sitting quietly in a particular posture and focusing on the present, paying attention to your thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations as they come up but not assigning any value to them.
This exercise is simple but powerful. You can do it for as little as five minutes at a time, but the benefits of doing it regularly will continue to accumulate the more you practice. You can do it anywhere—at home, at work, outdoors—just about anywhere that makes sense for you.
Lotus Pose
Lotus pose is a powerful and effective yoga pose, which makes it the ideal choice for teaching the benefits of mindfulness. Yoga aids in developing mental, physical, and spiritual strength through breath work and meditation. Doing the pose involves your upper body while simultaneously focusing on your breathing, which helps to center you in this practice of awareness. This can be easily achieved by sitting in or lying down on a large pillow for good comfort, even during warm weather months when the weather outside may disagree with you. If a particular part of your body is hurting or causing discomfort, try to put that aside and focus on your mind instead.
After beginning this practice regularly (minimum of 5 minutes per session), you will notice an improved sense of self-awareness and improved breathing technique. As you continue to practice this posture, you will begin to feel more expansive internally while also becoming more aware of your external environment—allowing yourself to feel relaxed at home as well as outside. Most importantly though; you’ll begin to see the benefits that are quietly coming into fruition with time spent practicing mindfulness with yoga. That includes increased happiness towards life itself!
Final Words
By enhancing mindfulness in your life, you can resolve many issues of daily stress. Of course, this is just one tool among many in the arsenal against stress and unhappiness. Built-in meditation exercises are also a great help, but it’s hard to always carve out time to do them. Our other tools are more flexible; they can fit into a normal day without any set schedule or pre-planned routine. Mindfulness through breathing is an excellent tool for taking charge of your anxiety and focusing on what you need to accomplish that day. You simply choose a quiet moment to focus on your breath until you find yourself in an intense state of concentration.
