Five quick yoga ways to de-stress in traffic

Morning snarls, rush hour traffic, and the pollution can weigh the best of us down, even before reaching the work place, drawing from our productivity. The result is, we reach work half tired, irritated and ready to unleash our wrath on the slightest provocation. But what if there were ways to retain the loss of energy and simple exercises that you can practice while stuck in a thick unrelenting traffic! 

Here are five yoga exercises that you can do right at your steering wheel to relax and find peace in the moment. 

Keep the spine erect and the head straight

Breathing in, raise the right arm

Place the palm on top of the head

Gently massage the top of the head, in a circular motion, in a clockwise direction 

Keep breathing smoothly and deeply throughout the exercise 

Feel the tension in the head region easing

Feel more relaxed

Keep the spine erect and the head straight

Close your eyes

Blink your eyes rapidly about 10-15 times

Blink your eyes slowly about 10-15 times

Shut your eyes as tightly as possible

Open your eyes as widely as possible

Repeat the action a few more times

Keep breathing smoothly and deeply throughout the exercise 

Feel the tension around the eyes being released 

Keep the spine erect and the head straight

Place the tips of your three fingers on the cheekbones 

Look for muscles that make knots

Keeping your mouth relaxed, press firmly and massage the knots in a circular motion 

Pressing down firmly, run your fingers, down along the jaw line towards your chin 

Repeat the action a few more times

Keep breathing smoothly and deeply throughout the exercise 

Feel the tightness in the face easing out

Keep your spine, neck and head erect

Breathing in, raise your chin up and take the head back 

Feel the stretch on your throat and the compression in your neck muscles 

Hold the posture for a few seconds

Breathing out, bring your chin towards the chest 

Rotate your head slowly a few times in both clockwise and anti-clockwise motion 

Feel the relaxation in your neck

Keep your spine, neck and head erect

Breathing in, raise your shoulders to your ears Hold the posture

Breathing out, drop your shoulders

Repeat the action a few times 

Feel the muscles being squeezed in your upper back 

Feel the energy move up as the spine is being stretched Quick