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Minor headaches from working at your computer all day or from poor sleep or other reasons can often be relieved by using supported back bending poses in yoga. Supported backbends opens the chest passively to allow the lungs to expand and stretch intercostals muscles in between the ribs to encourage more oxygen into the body. When the body is in a reclining position, this mimics the position for sleep and signals the central nervous system to become calm. Blood moving to the head also can reduce minor headaches.
Instructions
1. Begin by taking a blanket and folding it so it forms a long, thin roll that resembles a pencil more than a sausage. Place the blanket on your mat and lie back on it so that is rests under your shoulders. Bending the knees, set your feet flat on the mat, hips width distance apart.
2. Make certain the blanket is set up so that when you draw your arms overhead to the floor behind you, you feel an obvious lift behind the shoulder blades and upper back. You should feel the backbend in the upper mid-thoracic region. Close the eyes and remain in a gentle, supported backbend for two to five minutes.
3. Roll off the blanket and come up to sit. Proceed to a variation of supta baddha konasana, reclining wide angle pose. Take two blocks for this pose. Sit back on your mat with both legs extended in front of you. Place one block (length-wise) under the bottom tips of your shoulder blades. Sit so that your hips are on the mat and your mid-back is balanced on the yoga block.
4. Lift the head and place the second block (tall) under the base of the head. The blocks become furniture upon which you lie back into a supported backbend. If you feel the edges of the blocks digging uncomfortably into your back or neck, they are not positioned properly. Adjust the blocks until you do not feel the edges.
5. Remain in supta baddha konasana for two to five minutes. To exit the pose, bend your knees and set your feet flat on the mat, your palms flat behind your hips. Lift up from the center of the chest to come up off the blocks. Move the blocks to the side and lie back, hugging the legs into the chest, rolling left to right to massage the low back.
6. Roll off to sit up and move your mat to the wall for the last supported backbend, viparita karani, legs-up-the-wall pose. Take a bolster or stack two thick folded blankets to the wall, setting either the single bolster or the stack of blankets right up against the wall.
7. Sit on the bolster (or blankets) and lie back on it, swinging your heels on the wall. Bend the knees slightly and placing the feet flat on the wall, lift hips so you can push the bolster or blankets up towards your low back.
8. Set your hips now on the mat and heels on the wall. Your bolster (or blankets) should now be under your low back to mid-back--wherever you feel most comfortable. Let the back of your shoulders and head rest on your mat, arms down by your sides, palms turned up.
9. Close the eyes and rest in viparita karani for five to 10 minutes. To exit, drag the heels down the wall into the chest and push the bolster to up under the armpits as you roll to the right side, resting the right side of your body on the bolster. Remain there for a few breaths before coming up to sit.
Tags: your back, back your, bolster blankets, feet flat, five minutes, supported backbend