Improve your blood circulation with these 6 beginner-friendly yoga asanas

The body’s circulatory system ensures that all essential nutrients and oxygen is carried around within the body. To help this transportation process, the arteries carry blood away from the heart and veins carry blood back to the heart. The circulatory system is also responsible for carrying hormones to cells, and in charge of elimination of waste products like carbon dioxide from the body.

Changing your lifestyle

It is natural that your good health will depend on the lifestyle that you lead. If you follow an unhealthy lifestyle that includes improper nutritional intake, irregular eating habits and erratic sleep patterns, this can ruin your health in the long run. Food, rest, sleep and exercise are the pillars of good health, and we can add to our health by being watchful of our habits. 

Yoga therapy

Yoga asanas and pranayama need to become a part of your self-care routine. These practices can be especially beneficial, if you’re dealing with circulation issues. It is recommended that you try to hold each asana for the duration of 30 seconds, which is to be repeated for three sets each. The pranayama technique can be practised for a minimum of two minutes.

1. Tadasana

• Stand with your feet hip width apart with toes spread and pointing forward.
• Engage your calves and quads; engage your core and keep a neutral pelvis.
• Keep your shoulders wide and relaxed.
• Align your head, so your chin is parallel to the floor, and the crown of your head is directly over the centre of your pelvis.
• Raise your arms over your head, keeping them shoulder width apart. Be sure to keep your shoulders relaxed and down, away from your ears.
• Hold the asana for a minute.

2. Vrikshasana

• Stand in samasthiti.
• Place your right foot on your lift inner thigh, as close to the groin as possible
• Join your palms in pranam mudra at your heart chakra.
• Slowly raise your hands up.
• Repeat the same with the other leg.

3. Adho mukha svanasana

• Lift the hips up, straighten the knees and elbows, and form an inverted ‘V’ shape
• Now keep the hands shoulders width apart. Point your fingers ahead.
• Put pressure on your palms, and open your shoulder blades.
• Try to push your heels to the floor
• Keep your eye focused on your big toes

4. Vajrasana

• Gently drop your knees down.
• Keep your heels close to each other.
• Instead of placing the toes on top of the other, right and left must be next to each other.
• Place your palms on your knees facing upward.
• Straighten your back and look forward.

5. Paschimottanasana

• Start with your legs stretched out.
• Lift your arms up and keep your back straight.
• Exhale and bend forward.
• Try to place your upper body on your lower body.
• Grip your toes with your fingers and bring your head to your knees
• Hold the asana for a while

6. Kapal bhati

• Formation of the posture
• Sit in any comfortable pose.
• Straighten your back and close your eyes.
• Place your palms on your knees facing up (in prapthi mudra).
• Inhale normally and focus on exhaling with a short, rhythmic and forceful breath.
• You can use your stomach to forcefully expel all the air from the diaphragm and lungs by compressing it.
• Inhalation should happen automatically while you decompress your stomach.

Yoga can play a crucial factor in affecting the function of blood circulation. As one of the most accessible types of exercises, it can be done by people of all ages. The postures in yoga are based on scientific knowledge to get your blood flowing. Movement brings more oxygen to your cells, which improves your health. Poses that are twisting in nature bring fresh oxygenated blood to organs. Inversions are useful as they reverse blood flow from the lower body to the brain and heart. Yoga asanas, pranayama and even meditation can be one of the best remedies for poor circulation.