Ring in the New Year with Lion Pose!

Part of me dreaded doing Lion Pose at my Yoga Teacher Training Course. See, my teacher was really into doing Lion Pose. Daily he asked us to roar loudly, so as to wake up the entire Nepali village of Satungal. Perhaps if we roared loud enough, we just might be heard at the top of Mt. Everest. I just felt plain silly to do this pose, so I did it half heartedly each time. One day, my teacher, a person with a touch of madness, said, with eyes on me, “If you cannot do Simhasana (Lion Pose) properly, you suffer greatly from INHIBITIONS! Practicing Simhasana will help you dissolve your INHIBITIONS! ” So, ladies and gentlemen, I let loose and started giving Lion Pose all I had! And it felt good to temporarily allow myself to go insane.

You see, Lion Pose is not a pretty pose. The louder you roar, the more terrifying and grotesque you appear!

This pose can be done standing in a slight squat or, more classically, it is done sitting in Lotus Pose, sometimes in Virasana as shown above. The entire body, especially the face, invoke the force and intensity of a lion’s roar. While there are many variations, there are some requirements that make Lion Pose effective:

Stick out tongue and reach tongue toward chin.
Hands outstretched, splay fingers like the claws of a lion.
Open your eyes wide. Eyes go cross-eyed and have a look of madness. Then look up and down and then go cross-eyed again.
Take a deep breath in and as you exhale, draw your abdominals in and ROAR as you stick your tongue out. Accompany the eye movement with the roar. Don’t forget to show your teeth! Don’t be inhibited! Keep roaring as long as your exhalation lasts. Take another breath in and repeat. Be loud and ferocious. Your roar, with tongue sticking out and reaching for chin, will sound like like a very fierce “haaaaa”.
Roar two or three times before retracting your tongue.
Then completely relax your entire body.
Repeat once more. Even louder this time!

I HOPE you are still with me because this pose is maddeningly important. Maybe you are not like me and you could give a flying hoot about whether or not you are an inhibited person and you do not find that enough of an excuse to give Lion Pose a ferocious try. However, there are so many additional benefits to doing Lion Pose that it is worthy of nutty behavior.

When I first studied Lion Pose as a teacher-in-training, under the goading guidance of my Nepali teacher, I was always reminded that Lion Pose stimulates the vagus nerve (“vagus” sounds like “Vegas” of Las Vegas.) . Since I was so vaguely familiar with the vagus nerve, this benefit was shrouded in mystery. However, at a recent yoga retreat, after performing Lion Pose out on the beach with my group, a roar so loud it sent the locals running off to seek refuge at the many Ocean Shores’ churches and bars, one of the yoga participants, who works in the medical field, shined a light on the vagus nerve and explained exactly what the vagus nerve is and how Lion Pose affects it:

The vagus nerve is one of 12 cranial nerves. It extends from the brain stem to the abdomen, via various organs including the heart, esophagus, and lungs. The vagus nerve is part of the involuntary nervous system and commands unconscious body activities, such as regulating heart rate and blood pressure, and controlling food digestion.

The vagus nerve is part of the parasympathetic nervous system, a branch of the autonomic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the body to recuperate and return to a balanced state. More clearly explained, think of the Sympathetic Nervous System as the Fight or Flight Response and the Parasympathetic Nervous System as the Relax and Renew Response. When the vagus nerve is stimulated, there is a feeling of calm. Vagal tone is INCREASED by deep inhalations. When the vagus nerve is stimulated, one can experience grace and calm under pressure. Taking in a deep breath, sticking out the tongue and reaching it towards the chin, and letting out a ferocious roar while bearing down on the abdominals is enough to stimulate the vagus nerve and set about a succession of relaxing benefits! When the vagus nerve is stimulated, acetocoline, a neurotransmitter, is produced by the vagal nerve, which modulates and influences stress.

I am a renewed convert to Lion Pose, as I believe it will help with my occasional and rare anxiety panic attacks, which I am loathe to have happen again.

Other benefits of Lion Pose include:

Lion Pose is one of the best face exercises you can get.
Lion Pose stimulates and firms the platysma, which is a thin, rectangular-shapred muscle in the front of the throat (see photo below). This pose will help keep the platysma strong as you age. And guess what else? Keeping the platysma strong will keep DOUBLE CHINS and WADDLES at bay!

Platysma

Relieves tension in the face and chest
Improves circulation of blood to the face
Keeps your eyes healthy by stimulating the optical nerves
Helps prevent sore throat, asthma, and other respiratory ailments
My teacher went so far as to say that Lion Pose eradicates all diseases! Full stop.
This pose benefits jaw, face, throat, mouth, and tongue.
It makes the larynx, trachea, and bronchioles active.
It helps remove tension from chest and diaphragm.
It stimulates the thryroid gland.
The pose is beneficial for people who suffer from stammering and stuttering.
People suffering from neck and backache also benefit from this asana.
It tones the lungs.
This pose helps get rid of wrinkles as well as enhances beauty and lustre of the face.
Lion Pose helps to get rid of anger and resentment as you stretch hands and fingers while roaring. (…better than a punching bag!)
Lion Pose gives us an outlet for negative energy and pent up anger.
By performing this asana regularly, problems such as stiffness of the jaw, clenched jaws, and teeth grinding can be relieved.
It relaxes tensed up neck muscles.
Improves tone of the voice
Improves posture
Increases confidence levels

Areas of the Body Affected:

Face
Eyes
Throat
Tongue
Vocal chords
Respiratory tract
Abdomen
Chest
Diaphragm
Fingers and hands

I hope you will give it a try. It is really fun to do in a group. No one will see you because you will be in the company of other cross-eyed roaring lions. Sometimes Lion Pose makes you laugh hysterically, especially when practiced with a group, and we all know how great laughter is for the immune system!