Healthy, luscious and thick hair is a gift of youth that is often taken for granted. However, as we start growing older, the hair loses its thickness and sheen if not properly cared for. Simply washing and combing is not enough, exercise for hair growth, eating a nutritious diet and a healthy haircare routine is needed. After all, everything needs nourishment and nurturing to grow and maintain itself, if not get better. That’s the case with your tresses as well. The more you care for it, the more it will stay healthy.
Hair Yoga for Growth and Thickness: The Basics
Living in this fast-paced lifestyle filled with stress, are you too experiencing hair loss? We’ve got a solution for you – exercise for hair growth. You might have heard of yoga asanas helping in hair growth, right? There are specific hand mudras as well, hand gestures that activate the flow of energy in the body – that can help you grow out your mane.
What is Hair Yoga?
Practised for centuries in India, yoga is a symbol of mindfulness and wellness today. Gaining fans worldwide today, yoga has postures and breathing exercises that help keep the body healthy.
Apart from asanas for the whole body, yoga also has mudras that are incredibly effective for various problems like a certain hand exercise for hair growth. Yoga mudras are hand gestures that act as subtle energy points that can heal the body to alleviate physiological ailments like weak tresses and hair follicles. Having lasting effects, these mudras can be a simple way to help you get shiny and healthy hair.
Hair Yoga for Growth and Thickness
According to yoga, the human body is composed of five elements – Agni (fire), Jal (water), Vaayu (air), Prithvi (earth) and Akash (space). When there’s an imbalance in these elements, the outcome may often be in the form of hair anomalies.
Mudras are hand gestures, and they work because our fingers possess these five elements. When we try yoga mudras using our hands and fingers, it generates energy flow. Mudras enhance blood flow that triggers nutrient supply to the body, thickening the hair and nourishing it. Some mudras also restore prana (life) in the cells, which helps with preventing greying of hair. By restoring the earth elements, mudras strengthen hair tissues, addressing hair breakage concerns. This is why there are studies that claim practising specific mudras regularly helps to strengthen hair roots, reduce hair fall, nourish the dry scalp, and make hair thicker.
1. Prithvi mudra
Prithvi symbolises the earth element that resides in our body. This mudra for hair growth helps to promote the same element. Along with promoting the earth element in the body, Prithvi mudra decreases the fire element in the body, invigorating the hair tissues and helping with hair growth.
How to do it?
- Sit in a comfortable position such as Vajrasana or Padmasana.
- Close your eyes and take some deep breaths.
- Next, curl the ring finger of your hand towards your thumb.
- Touch the tip of your ring finger to the tip of your thumb.
- Keep the other three fingers extended.
- Do this with both your hands.
- Place both your hands on your upper thighs and keep your mind focused on chanting ‘Om’.
Perform this mudra for 35 minutes every day.
To get the best of Prithvi mudra, don’t force your fingers to extend. Press the tips of the ring finger and thumb gently, so it helps you concentrate better. Practice it in a quiet place and keep distractions away to focus appropriately.
2. Prasanna mudra
Also known as Balayam yoga, Prasanna mudra is the most common technique used for aiding hair growth. This mudra for hair growth helps to improve blood circulation in the scalp and increases oxygen flow to the hair roots, giving you thick and healthy locks.
In this mudra, you essentially rub nails against one another. Since hair follicles are connected to the nerve endings in the nail beds, rubbing nails against each other stimulates blood flow to the scalp, thus encouraging hair regrowth.
How to do it?
- Bring your hands to the level of your chest and curl the fingers of both hands inwards, leaving your thumb out.
- In a swift up-down movement, rub nails vigorously against each other.
- Continue this for 10 minutes. If you have significant hair problems, do this for 20 minutes.
3. Vaayu mudra
As the name suggests, this mudra for hair growth works on the element of Vaayu. Practising this mudra releases excess Vaayu or air from the body, providing relief from ailments caused due to aggravation of the air element in the body. This mudra also has a calming effect on the mind, and anxiety is touted to be one of the reasons for hair fall. Practising the mudra calms down your anxiety, reducing hair fall in the process.
How to do it?
- Sit in a comfortable position such as Vajrasana or Padmasana.
- Place the hands on your thighs with the palms facing the ceiling.
- Keeping your back straight, close your eyes and take deep, relaxed breaths.
- Now, fold the index finger such that its tip lies at the base of the thumb.
- Remain in this position for 15 minutes. You can also extend it up to 30 minutes.
Avoid exerting too much pressure on the index finger, and don’t keep your body tight as it would hinder the flow of energy.
4. Prana mudra
Involving three fingers, this mudra for hair growth enhances vital energy in the body. Prana means life, and this mudra is considered to be superior as it represents life. Regularly practising prana mudra allows energy to flow freely in the body. It also promotes the earth element and helps strengthen the hair and become longer.
How to do it?
- To perform the Prana mudra, sit on the floor in a meditative pose such as Padmasana, Vajrasana or Sukhasana.
- Keep your back straight and keep your eyes closed to improve concentration.
- Next, join the tip of the thumb to the tips of the ring finger mudra yoga and little finger, and do this with both hands.
- Keep the remaining index and middle fingers straight and slightly stretched.
- Hold the mudra for 20-25 minutes to feel its effect.
Avoid practising this mudra after sunset as it triggers the body’s metabolic activities, and night is when the body shuts down its processes. If metabolic activities are initiated, you may not be able to sleep as the body will be active.
Does Hair Yoga Work?
While practising these mudras, remember that the results may not be visible immediately. You need to continuously practise them for months at end, to see results as vouched by its practitioners. Also, see that you perform all these mudras either early in the morning, or 45 minutes after your afternoon meal.
You will also defeat the purpose if you have a bad lifestyle or are rough on your hair. Along with doing yoga, take care of your hair and use gentle, chemical-free products like the Love Beauty and Planet Onion, Blackseed Shampoo and Conditioner. Free of harsh parabens, sulphates, dyes and every harsh chemical imaginable, it instead uses plant-based ingredients to cleanse the hair and stop hair fall. Get the best of onion oil and blackseed oil to strengthen your hair and prevent hair fall, the extra reinforcement that will add to the results brought on by all that hair yoga.
FAQs about Hair Yoga for Growth and Thickness
1. What yoga asanas help hair growth?
Apart from mudra poses, you can also do full-fledged hair yoga that involves the whole body to help with hair growth. Sirsasana (head stand), Vajrasana (sitting on your knees), Sarvangasana (shoulder stand), Uttanasana (touch your toes) and Ustrasana (backwards bending) are some that can help.
2. Is it possible to regrow hair by yoga?
Yoga helps in blood circulation which in turn stimulates weak and dormant hair follicles. This will help regrow new hair.
3. What is the best exercise to regrow hair?
Along with yoga asanas and mudras, you can also go jogging, get scalp massages and strength training. All of these help with the blood flow to the scalp and regrow new hair.
Whether you’re sitting on a park bench or working from home, here is how you can do a simple exercise for hair growth. All you need to do is be persistent to get healthier hair in the long run.
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Written by Lopa K on 17th Jan 2023