Yoga asana for sciatica

This seems to be such a common urban condition, so here is the link to my article

http://completewellbeing.com/article/yogasanas-to-soothe-sciatica/

Konasana, trikonasana - is such a wonderful pose. It doesnt have to be done strenuously, just a basic side bend with feet wider than the hip. Make sure your not leaning forward or back. The way to know when your doing it correctly is that you feel a stretch from the hip along the side of your body all the way to the armpit. Another thing to ensure is your breath. It has to be normal, we tend to hold it in this pose. Try staying here for atleast 5 normal breaths. Relax after you do both sides, see where the rush of blood is. Enjoy.

When in need to hurry, try slowing down

Does this make sense? hmm, not really. Thats when we need to scratch the surface to see whats going on. Why this need to hurry? Is this a response to a fear, some deep rooted doubt that this opportunity will pass by? Or any other nagging thoughts?

As a freelancer furnishing consultant for 13 years, i have lived with this urge to hurry. in my case it was the fear of losing an opportunity. But digging deeper I found it was a lack of faith in myself and in the universe that was egging my fears. But understanding this took years of introspection, a lot of it unconsciously on the body level.

Now comes the yoga connection. This rooted fear sprouted several anxiety related bodily pains, a misaligned hip. Several months of physio therapy didn't work. Nor did active, energetic asanas. The more I fought against pain the more miserable i got. What finally got my attention was the healing power of restorative asana practise and spending time in a few poses. I stayed in vipreeta karni or a yoga mudra for 10 minutes. This allowed my para sympathetic response system to move in and slow down. This relaxes all the internal organs, allowing them to function perfectly. Prana flows easy, clearing all channels or nadis. Now healing can happen, restoring balance.  The biggest discovery was the waves of relaxation i experienced in my mind. Like someone had comforted me, assured me of all being very well.

Yoga as defined by Maharishi Patanjali is "yogash chitta vritti nirodhah". Stopping, reducing the mental activity. Thats what slowing down does. Begin with the body, stay in relaxed poses. Practising shavasana couple of times a day and experiencing harmony brought to fore my deep rooted confidence in myself and the universe. All the noise was just stopping me from seeing this faith. So, actually slowing down gets things rather than blustering about hurrying, worrying and raising all cortisol levels.
Now, take it easy does sound like a good idea.
also, I get to do what really fulfills me.
cheers to that!

Yogic Tip: Diabetes

All abdominal compression asanas are great for diabetes. Pawanmuktasana, paschimotanasana, yoga mudra.

Asana defined

Sage Patanjali is the person who gathered all the available knowledge of yoga & systematically put it together. He is the author of The YOGA SUTRA, a set of 198 aphorisms. It is divided into 4 chapters.

In the second chapter Patnjali defines asana as "sthiram sukham asanam". This means a steady, comfortable posture is an asana. In the entire Yoga sutras only 4 sutras are related to asana. 5 sutras are dedicated to prayanama.

And most of the yoga practise done these days are simply about asana & pranayama.