International Women's Day: This 7-minute Yoga Workout is The Best Way to Bust Stress

In today's hectic lifestyle women find it difficult to take time out for yoga and meditation to keep stress at bay. This takes a toll on their health.

Art of Living Yoga Expert Kamlesh Barwal said, women who have a busy schedule can practice what is called Sukshma Yoga that relaxes you in seven minutes.

There are days when you want to pull your hair apart, grind your teeth, and tighten your fist. That is actually a Sukshma Yoga posture, done badly. Now do it right- Tighten your whole body. Breathe out, squeeze your stomach in, frown and purse your lips together. And now, let go with a 'haa' sound.

This is one of the many Sukshma Yoga (subtle yoga) techniques. The differentiating quality of this yoga for relaxation techniques is that they are simple, short and subtle. This is one of the fastest ways to relax. You can do it anytime and anywhere/Sukshma Yoga takes no time or preparation. These little exercises open up subtle energy channels and in a session as short as 7 minutes, you can feel a highly palpable difference.

Some Sukshma Yoga exercises for face and head.

- Massage the sides of your head. This relaxes the mind instantly.

- Pinch your eyebrows 5-6 times using your thumb and the index figure. Did you know that we use 72 muscles to frown and only half the muscles to smile?

- Roll your eyes 5-6 times clockwise and then anticlockwise.

- Squeeze your eyes tight and then open them wide. Repeat this for 10-15 times.

- Pull your ears for 10-15 seconds. Scientists say that all the nerves that increase pragya(awareness) are located in the lower part of the ear.

- Hold your ears and move them clockwise and anti-clockwise (as if riding a cycle) till your ears become hot.

- Move three fingers (first, middle, and ring finger) from the jaw line to chin and massage your cheeks. You could keep your mouth open as you do this. Did you find knots in the space between your jaws? This is a place where stress hides.

- Open and close your jaw 8-10 times.

- Open your mouth and move your jaw side-to-side 8-10 times.

- Rotate your neck. Breathing in take your head back and breathing out touch your chin to chest. Rotate your head in clockwise direction. Breathe in as you go up (first half of the circle) and breathe out as you return to the starting position (second half of the circle). Repeat this 5-6 times in clockwise and then anti-clockwise.

- Shake your hands for 2 minutes.

(Courtesy: Artofliving)