A strong respiratory system goes a long way in maintaining a healthy heart and overall body fitness. One of the best ways to strengthen your lungs is by practicing yoga. Breathing in yoga takes high priority.The breathing exercises in yoga can strengthen our life energy and our health.
Practicing yoga daily can help in strengthening the muscles of the chest, increase lung capacity and boost oxygen intake. Pranayama and other yogic postures can help in activating the air-cells of the lungs and strengthen the lungs. With different yoga poses, you can control your breathing, correct poor breathing habits and increase oxygen intake. The standing asana can strengthen the back muscles and increase oxygenation and lung capacity.
Here are five yoga poses you can try to improve the health and functioning of your respiratory system.
* Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)Trikonasana is a standing pose which allows for the easier passage of air to the lungs and helps to open and expand the chest cavity. The twisting of the body in Trikonasana helps to massage the internal organs which in turn enhances their ability to get rid of toxins and ensure their proper functioning. Begin this asana by standing straight placing your legs three feet apart.Place your right foot at 90 degrees and the left foot at 15 degrees.Align the centre of your right heel with the centre of the arch of the left foot.Ensure that your feet are pressing the ground, and the body weight is balanced equally on both feet. Stretch your arms out wide. Take a deep breath, and as you exhale, bend your body to the right from below your hips, lift your left hand up and touch the ground with your right hand. Make sure that both your arms are in a straight line.Rest your right hand on your shin, ankle, or outside the right foot on the floor depending on your comfort. Your body must be bent sideways. Your chest and pelvis should be wide open.Stretch to the fullest, and focus more on stabilizing your body.Inhale and come up. Drop your arms to your side and straighten your feet. Rest for about 10 seconds in standing position and repeat on the left side.
* Matsyasana (Fish Pose)Matsyasana can help in balancing and distributing oxygen by enhancing blood circulation and stimulate deep respirations by stretching the lungs. The pose encourages deep breathing thus providing relief from respiratory disorders. It also helps to relieve tension in the neck and shoulders. Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat. Lift your hips slightly and slide your hands under your hips.Inhale, bend your elbows and push your upper body.Keeping the chest elevated, lower your head backward.Maintain the pose as long as comfortably can, breathing in and out.
* Ardha Matsyendarasana (Sitting Half Spine Twist)Ardha matsyendrasana can open up the chest thereby increasing the supply of oxygen to the lungs. The pose induces the abdominal breathing that enhances the lungs functioning. It also helps to relieve stress and tension trapped in the back. For this asana, sit straight with your legs stretched out and feet together.Bend your right leg. Bring your left foot around the right knee corner and take your left hand back.Stretch your right arm up and push your knee back using your elbow and hold your right foot. Place the right hand behind you, and the left hand on the right knee.Look back over your left shoulder. Make sure your spine is erect.Hold the pose for a few seconds. Maintain steady breathing slowly, yet deeply. Repeat on the other side.
* Naukasana (Boat Pose)This is a backward bending pose which helps expand the chest and encourage inhalation. This asana stimulates the muscular, digestive, circulatory, nervous and hormonal systems, tones all the organs and removes lethargy.Lie in a starting position. Breathe in deeply. Hold the breath and then raise the arms, shoulders, head and trunk off the ground.Balance the body on the buttocks and keep the spine straight. The arms should be held in the same line as the toes. The hands should be open with the palms down. Look towards the toes. Hold the breath and remain in the position for 5 seconds. Return to the supine position and then breathe out.
* Urdha Mukha Svanasana (Upward Dog Pose)This pose opens up the chest and strengthens the chest and back muscles. You can lie on the floor on your belly and facing the floor. Stretch your legs back, with the tops of your feet on the floor. Bend your elbows and spread your palms on the floor beside your waist so that your forearms are relatively perpendicular to the floor.Inhale and press your inner hands firmly into the floor and slightly back, as if you were trying to push yourself forward along the floor. Then straighten your arms and simultaneously lift your torso up and your legs a few inches off the floor on an inhalation. Keep the thighs firm and slightly turned inward, the arms firm and turned out so the elbow creases face forward.Press the tailbone toward the pubis and lift the pubis toward the navel. Narrow the hip points. Firm but don't harden the buttocks.Firm the shoulder blades against the back and puff the side ribs forward. Lift through the top of the sternum but avoid pushing the front ribs forward. Look straight ahead or tip the head back slightly, but take care not to compress the back of the neck and harden the throat.