The power of yoga

From headaches and cramps to insomnia and a sluggish gut, yoga can help ease our most common health niggles

1 Headaches

Move slowly and mindfully through these exercises. Skip any poses that don’t feel good. If you’re concerned about your headache, speak to a medical professional.

Supported child’s pose To calm the mind.

Kneel with toes together and knees hip-width apart. Place a pillow or two between the thighs. As you exhale, melt the torso over the pillow, keeping the spine long and eyes closed. Stay for five to 10 breaths.

Seated neck stretch To release neck and shoulder tension.

From a seated position, inhale through the nose as you place the right hand onto the crown of the head and the left onto the floor beside the left hip. Exhale and slowly bring the right ear towards the right shoulder using the hand as a guide. Stay for three to five breaths, then repeat on the opposite side.

Legs up the wall To help balance the nervous system.

Bring your hips to the wall, with upper body flat on the floor, and sit with your bones as close to the wall as comfortable. Gently raise the legs straight up to rest against the wall. A pillow placed under the sacrum can ease discomfort. Stay for up to 20 minutes.

Anagging headache or grumbling tummy usually has us reaching for the medicine cabinet. But holistic yoga tools can be the answer, according to Hannah Barrett, a yoga and meditation teacher (on Instagram as @hannahbarrettyoga) who has helped celebrities such as singer Ellie Goulding.

“Stress is often at the root of common health conditions, but yoga and meditation calms our nervous system and deals with the pain and discomfort,” she explains.

Here Hannah, who is also the author of Yoga Happy, shares her remedies for those everyday ailments…

Poor digestion

Under stress, our nervous system can get stuck in

“fight or flight” mode. In reaction, blood flow and energy is redirected from the digestive system to our limbs (so we can run or fight). The result? Disrupted digestion. This technique readdresses the balance and activates the “rest-and-digest” response.

Three-part breath

Place one hand on the belly, one on the heart. Inhale deeply through the nose to the base of your stomach; feel the belly expand into your hand. Send the inhale up into your ribs; feel them move to the front, sides and back. Send the inhale to the collarbones. Exhale through the nose, gently releasing, all the way back. Try 10 rounds, daily. Notice if you tend to hold tension in the belly area, then gently let it go.

Insomnia

Difficulty sleeping can impact our daily life. A body scan grounds you in the present using the sensations of the body as an anchor.

Body scan meditation

Close your eyes, take a few slow breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Bring your attention to your body, starting at the toes, tracing up through the feet. Notice all sensations on the skin and from within. Let your feet be soft and release.

Trace your awareness up through the body, piece by piece in the same way – the legs, pelvis, torso, shoulders, arms, hands, neck and up to the crown of the head. At each point, notice any sensations that arise. Let each part of your body be soft and release. Once at the crown of the head, soften and release the body. Focus on the sensations of the breath and drift into a peaceful sleep.