Introduction
Yoga is an ancient Indian practice with many benefits for the body and mind. It can help improve flexibility and strength, reduce stress, and promote relaxation. Yoga can be a great way to improve your physical and mental well-being. Kaki Mudra is a yoga technique that enhances your inner health and enhances your outer beauty and lustre.
What is Kaki Mudra?
“Kaki” means crow in Sanskrit, and Mudra means “gesture”. Kaki Mudra gets its name as it is a yoga gesture in which the lips are pursed, mimicking a crow’s beak. Further, most yoga practitioners believe that by practising the Kaki Mudra regularly, you can live a long, healthy life, like that of a crow.
Kaki Mudra is a controlled breathing technique in which the lips are pursed in the form of a hollow tube, the tongue is kept relaxed, and the air is inhaled slowly and deeply. At maximum inhalation, the lips are closed and exhaled through the nose.
It is a simple exercise that you can do anywhere, anytime. You can start practising it for two minutes and gradually increase the duration as the body gets comfortable with controlled breathing.
What are the benefits of Kaki Mudra?
Listed below are the top 7 benefits of Kaki Mudra, though there are some more to count:
- It strengthens the lungs and the respiratory system. Kaki Mudra is specifically helpful for people who hyper-inflate their lungs, such as those suffering from a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (C.O.P.D.), panic attacks, or bronchospasm. You can practice Kaki Mudra if you are undergoing respiratory rehabilitation. It is also helpful in training techniques, such as biofeedback therapy, which requires controlling the breathing rate.
- It calms the nervous system and strengthens the nerves. It also improves focus and concentration.
- It strengthens and tones the facial muscles, preventing sagging, reducing wrinkles, and providing an anti-ageing effect. It also reduces blemishes and brings a glow to the face.
- It cools the body.
- It reduces stress and anxiety.
- It helps improve the health and function of the thyroid and parathyroid glands.
- It increases longevity and overall well-being.
How to do Kaki Mudra?
Following is the step-by-step guide to performing Kaki Mudra:
- Sit in a comfortable position like a Padmasana or Sukhasana.
- Sit with your spine straight. Place your hands on your thighs or knees with palms facing upwards. Join the tips of the index finger and thumb together while keeping the other three fingers straight.
- Close your eyes. Purse your lips in a rounded and projected fashion, mimicking a crow’s beak.
- Breathe in slowly and deeply through your pursed lips while focussing on the tip of the nose. You will feel some pressure while sucking in your breath. Allow the expansion of your chest and overall being.
- When your lungs are full, close the lips, bend down the head such that your chin touches your throat, and hold your breath for as long as comfortable.
- When you want to exhale, extend the neck up, and breathe out slowly and thoroughly through the nose.
- Relax your mouth and lips for a few seconds.
- Repeat this mudra for at least 2-3 minutes, and gradually increase the duration.
There are, however, a few precautions that you must take while practising Kaki Mudra, such as:
- Avoid practising Kaki Mudra if you have a condition in which holding breath is not recommended, for example, if you are pregnant or suffer from high blood pressure.
- Patients with glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy or those who have undergone recent eye surgery must strictly avoid Kaki Mudra. It can impact them oppositely.
- Avoid practising Kaki Mudra for patients suffering from low blood pressure.
- Though Kaki Mudra can be performed on any day, practising it early in the morning on an empty stomach can provide the best results.
How does the yoga gesture Kaki Mudra strengthen your nerves?
- Kaki Mudra helps you gain conscious control of the nerves of the glossopharyngeal-laryngeal plexus.
- 2. Thus, it enables you to focus and concentrate, increasing memory and retention power. It strengthens the nerves of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx and helps people who stammer or kids who have problems with delayed speech. It also allows people who have a drooling problem.
- Kaki Mudra calms and strengthens the nervous system.
- Nerve endings are present on the tip of the fingers. When you press the end of the index finger and the thumb together during Kaki Mudra, it strengthens and activates the nerve endings present there and boosts concentration and memory.
- When combined with controlled breathing, this mudra helps channel your inner energy and provides you with a blissful feeling.
Conclusion
Today, more and more people worldwide acknowledge the innumerable benefits of yoga. More and more people are incorporating yoga into their daily routines to increase their strength, flexibility, and overall health. Several yoga postures benefit various organ systems and improve your health. Kaki Mudra is one yoga mudra beneficial for your inner beauty and health.
Face yoga has become an upcoming trend recently, as people are now recognising the wonders that yoga can do to your facial beauty. There is no need to undergo painful cosmetic surgeries or Botox injections when you can get those anti-ageing effects simply by practising Kaki Mudra regularly. It tones the facial muscles, reduces wrinkles and blemishes, and brings a healthy glow to the face.
Kaki Mudra is also incredibly beneficial for strengthening the lungs and the respiratory system. It also has a calming effect on the nervous system and strengthens the nerves. It helps improve focus, concentration, and memory. Furthermore, it carries you to a blissful state and reduces anxiety and depression.
Thus, practice Kaki Mudra to relax, channel your energies, and glow radiantly, both from the inner and outer beauty.
Visit www.unitedwecare.com to learn about many more proper yoga postures.
