Asthma is one of the most discomforting respiratory ailments. Asthmatics suffer from periodic attacks of breathlessness interspersed with bouts of complete normalcy. Almost all asthma patients suffer more attacks at night, in their sleep.

Some of the common symptoms of asthma are - dry cough, difficulty in breathing, shortness of breath, feeling of lightness in the chest and wheezing (hissing or whistling sounds during exhalation).

Yoga for asthma natural treatment

Yoga is an excellent alternative therapy for asthma. It can improve your asthmatic condition due to the free flow of air. Asthma attacks would reduce with the increase of yoga practice. The breathing exercises are very useful to open up your lungs for fresh air.

Back bending postures are good to open up your chest to improve your heart and lung condition. Practicing upper back bends and chest opening postures helps in exhaling during asthma attacks. Forward bends and lower back bending poses help in inhaling, during the attack. Mucus can be removed by inverted postures.

Pranayama if practiced regularly can help you to have asthma free life. Dirga prananyama is a multi-purpose asana and helps in slow and deep breathing exercise. Nadi Sodhana can help you with stress and emotional turmoil.

Asthma triggered by cold can be helped by Ujjayi pranayama. Allergic trigger patterns can be avoided by Sitt Kari or Shitali pranayama. Kapalbhatti pranayama is very good to reduce the mucus congestion.

These breathing exercises are very good to strengthen and relax the muscles of lungs. During the asthma attack this proves to be very useful. It reduces the nerve activity in the airways causing fewer bottlenecks during the attack. It helps cleanse the air passage to breathe easily. It helps in stabilizing the autonomous nervous systems.

Yoga also has a stabilizing effect on the body's immune system. It is now proven that the regular and consistent practice of yoga raises the body's tolerance to infection as well as its local resistance to infections in the respiratory tract.

The yoga practices work best on an empty stomach, but you should continue to sip water from time to time, to help keep your airways moist. Wear light, loose-fitting clothes and practice in a comfortable, well-ventilated, airy room or outdoors, with adequate room to lie down.

Note: Remember this natural treatment can't replace your asthma medication but can only support your treatment.