The heart is amazing. It beats one lakh times a day, pumps 10 tonnes of blood through 60,000 miles of arteries. But, this hard-working organ faces many challenges from those who it seeks to keep healthy and alive. Poor lifestyle, addictions like smoking, drinking, overeating and worst of all, unabated stress and anxiety assault the heart. Yoga helps in keeping your heart healthy. In 1980, an Australian gentleman had come to the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger after suffering a couple of heart attacks. And he became confident about travelling the world as yoga helped him maintain his functional rhythms. Here are a few simple asanas and three pranayamas to get your heart back in condition. Asanas Goolf chakrasana or ankle joint movement Sit on a chair or bed with your spine and head erect, body relaxed with your feet down, hands resting on the thighs. Inhale and lift your right leg with knees straight. Pull your ankle and feet towards yourself. Exhale and stretch your ankle and foot away towards the floor. This makes one round. Do five rounds. Do the same with the left leg. Ankle joint rotation: Same as above but instead of the forward-backward movement of ankle joints, you rotate both together in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions, five rounds in each direction. Skandha chakrasana or shoulder joint rotation Sitting comfortably, place the fingertips of both hands on your shoulder with elbows joined in the front of the chest, pointing forward. Inhale and rotate the elbows in a full circle so that the arms go up and brush past the ears. Then take them fully at the back and as you exhale, bring them down, brushing past the side of the chest area to join the elbows in the front of the body. This makes one full round in a clockwise direction. Repeat for five to 10 rounds. Similarly, repeat in an anti-clockwise direction for another five to 10 rounds. Greeva Sanchalan or neck rotation Sit comfortably with your head and spine upright. Inhale and draw your head to the back, then tilt to the left. With exhalation, drop your head forward with your chin pressing against the chest. Then with another breath, rotate it to the right and back, thus making one full rotation of the head. This is one round in a clockwise direction. Go for five rounds. Then repeat similar five rounds in an anti-clockwise direction. Sitting Tadasana Sit comfortably with your head erect and aligned with the spine. Interlock fingers and place the palms on top of your head, palms facing upward. Inhale and raise your arms up to the maximum, pulling your whole body and spine up. Exhale and bring your hands on the top of your head. This makes one round. Do five rounds. Sitting twisting asana Sit comfortably in the base position. Place the tip of your fingers on your respective shoulders. Inhale deeply and with exhalation, twist the upper part of your body to the right. Look at the back, thus executing a full twist to your spine, stomach and neck area. Exhale and come back to the centre. Inhale in the centre and as you exhale, twist to the left. This makes one round. Do five rounds. Pranayama 1.Nadi Shodhan/Alternate Nostril breathing Sit comfortably with spine and head aligned and erect. Keep hands in chin mudra (touch the index with your thumb and keep all the fingers straight) on the thighs. Raise your right hand and place your forefinger and middle finger at the eyebrow centre. Use your thumb to close your right nostril and ring finger to close your left nostril. Close your right nostril. Breathe in deep through the left nostril without straining your body. Close your eyes. Then close your left nostril and exhale fully through the right nostril. At the end of the exhalation, breathe in through the right nostril maximum and then breathe out through the left nostril. This makes one round. Do five rounds and you can take it up to to 10 rounds. 2.Ujjai Pranayama Sit comfortably. Lower your chin a little and pull your head back, compressing the neck area. Close your eyes and breathe in and breathe out. Feel your breath inside the throat area till it makes a mild snoring sound. Practice 10 rounds. Bhramari Pranayama Sit comfortably with closed eyes. Plug your ears with your forefinger. Take a deep breath and as you exhale create a humming sound inside your head. One full exhalation makes one round. Do five rounds. Heart patients are advised to do a minimum of four to five minutes of Shavasana daily after the yoga practice or at night before sleeping. Yoga Nidra should be done once a week. (Kamini Bobde is a Kundalini practitioner who follows the Swami Satyananda Saraswati tradition of yoga. She is the author of Kundalini Yoga for All: Unlock the Power of Your Body and Brain. Published by Penguin)
