Lion pose is fun! And dynamic. You stick your tongue out, turn your eyes back a exhale/roar out your mouth. This is detoxifying for emotional angst.
Some schools of yoga call this simhagarjanasana, but mostly it is just known as simhasana.
This can be done seated, or in lotus -in an upward dog position with your legs in lotus. For the seated version:
- Sit on lotus or virasana sitting on your heels, stretch your arms forward and spread your fingers wide.
- Take a deep inhale through your nose, and as you exhale open your mouth, stick your tongue out as far as you can reaching it toward your chin, turn your eyes up toward your 3rd eye and back and roar/exhale through your mouth with an “aaaah” sound.
- Spread your fingers wide like cat’s claws as you roar reaching your arms outward.
- Exhale slowly and fully as your roar, then pause in the position for 5-10 seconds holding your breath out.
- Release, inhale through your nose and repeat for a total of 3x
If you can do this on a sunny day letting the sun shine down your throat, this has benefit.
More advanced version:
- Come into lotus, lift up to your knees then roll forward as if doing upward dog
keeping your legs in lotus, spread your fingers wide. - Take a deep inhale through your nose, and as you exhale open your mouth, stick your tongue out as far as you can reaching it toward your chin, turn your eyes up toward your 3rd eye and back and roar/exhale through your mouth with an “aaaah” sound.
- Exhale slowly and fully as your roar, then pause in the position for 5-10 seconds holding your breath out.
- Release, inhale through your nose and repeat for a total of 3x
Benefits: This pose exercises the liver and helps regulate the flow of bile. It helps the body release anger and other challenging emotions, helping us to detox our emotions.
It removes tension and tightness from the face, jaw, throat, and chest area. It can be helpful in ear, nose, throat, mouth, and eye disorders.
It can also be helpful in clearing bad breath, and yoga touts it as being helpful in the enunciation of words, improving our voice, and it can help reduce stuttering and stammering.
When done in the lotus/upward dog position it can also help to realign and relieve a painful coccyx or tailbone.