PASCHIMOTTANASANA
Sit on the ground and stretch the legs Catch the toes with the thumb While catching, you have to bend the trunk forwards. Fatty people will find it difficult to bend Exhale and slowly bend without jerks till your forehead touches your knees. You can keep When you bend This facilitates the bending forwards. Bend slowly by gradual degrees. Take your own time There is no hurry When you bend down, bend Retain it on a level Young people with elastic spine can touch the forehead too in their very first attempt. In the case of grown-up people with rigid spinal column, it will take a fortnight or a month for complete success in the posture. Retain the breath until you take the head back to its original position. Then breathe. Retain the pose for 5 seconds Then gradually increase the period to 10 minutes Those who find it difficult to complete the Paschimottanasana, can do half pose with one leg and one hand and then with the other leg and the other hand. They will find this more easy After some days when the spine has become more elastic, they can You will have to use common sense while practicing Asanas. Before this, read the instructions on Janusirshasana.
BENIFITS
It is a better Asana. it circulates the breath through the Brahma Nadi, Sushma, and rouses the gastric fire. It reduces fat in the abdomen. This Asana is a specific for corpulence or obesity and for enlargement of the spleen and liver. Books on Hatha Yoga speak highly this Asana. The Sarvangasana is for the stimulation of endocrine glands and Paschimottanasana for the stimulation of the abdominal viscera, such as the kidneys, the liver, the pancreas, etc.
the peristalsis of the bowels. Peristalsis is the vermicular movement of the bowels or intestines by which food and fecal matter are pushed from one part of the intestines to the other. This Asana relieves constipation, removes sluggishness of liver, dyspepsia, belching and gastritis. Lumbago or stiff back and all sorts of myalgia and other diseases of the back muscles are healed. This Asana cures piles and diabetes also. The hip muscles of the abdomen, the solar plexus nerves, epigastric plexus of the nerves, prostate of the bladder, lumbar nerves, sympathetic cord, are all toned up and kept in a healthy, sound condition. Thanks to Paschimottanasana, Sirshasana and Sarvangasana and the Rishis who first introduced these wonderful Asanas to students of Hatha Yoga.