YogaPaws Blog for Beginner Poses and Postures

Three Partner Yoga Poses to Bring You Closer to your Valentine

Most of the time you spend doing your yoga practice is all about you. And it should be. Self-love is essential to becoming truly self-less. By taking care of yourself physically, mentally and spiritually, you build a wholeness that makes you strong enough to support yourself in your journey toward your own goals. That same strength is what enables you to say an authentic “yes” to others who need or want your help and support as they travel their own paths.

 

 

But, every so often, the mat starts to feel more like a desert island than a sanctuary. You end up missing out on one of yoga’s central principles: unity. The Sanskrit word yoga means “yoke,” not in the sense of a burden but in the sense of joining together. You might feel isolated from those you perceive to be the “better” students or that you are pretty much alone in a crowd. Or, you just may want to share the calm and peace that a satisfying class or home practice delivers.

 

 

 

That’s why partner yoga can provide a fresh perspective. Whether you are practicing with your honey or your best friend, working with another person helps you change preconceptions about what you can and can’t do. You will have to open your heart and your body to work with someone else. You will have to trust that the person working alongside you will work with you, direct you, support you—and that you will be there to do the same for him or her. And, with the power of two, you can take your practice to places you might have had the confidence to find on your own.

 

Valentine’s Day is the perfect invitation to share your yoga love—and reap some benefits for yourself and your special someone.

 

Here are some poses to try together:

 

Vrksasana (Tree Pose). Stand next to your partner in Tadasana ( Mountain Pose). Shift your weight onto your inside foot (the one closest to your partner). Clasp your outside ankle with your outside hand. Gently pull your outside foot up until the sole of your foot rests against your thigh. Align your pelvis over your supporting foot. Find your focus about four to five feet in front of you. Wrap your inside arm around your partner’s back and have them do the same for you. Bring your outside arm into Anjali Mudra (Salutation Seal) in front of your heart, or grasp your partner’s outside hand. Remain in the pose for 30 seconds to one minute. Release into Tadasana and repeat on the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

Sukhasana (Easy Pose) with a Twist. Start sitting back to back with your partner. Begin with your legs straight out in front of you. Cross your legs and open your knees out to the side. Leave a comfortable space between your hips and your feet. Place your left hand on your right knee and reach your right hand around to your partner’s left knee. Have your partner do the same. Stay in the pose for a least one minute and switch your legs, reaching around with the left hand.

 

 

 

Balasana (Child’s Pose). Kneel on the floor. Spread your knees hip-width apart. Sit back and lay your torso between or on your thighs. Place your hands by your sides, palms facing the ceiling. Have your partner sit back to back with you, extend his/her legs straight out from the hips and gently drape his/her back over your back on your exhale. Hold for 30 seconds, then switch partners’ positions.

 

Poses like this are just the beginning of the opportunities to explore yoga as a way of deepening connection—and just sharing some fun! More studios offer workshops for partnered yoga and, for the more adventuresome, acro-yoga. Also consider a couples massage. Massage isn’t just for athletes and celebrities. It’s an important tool for detoxifying the body and stimulating the metabolism.

 

So before you head out for a heart-warming meal or savor some deep, dark chocolate, go heart-to-heart on your mats and celebrate what love is really all about.

 

Dig Deeper

Benefits of Partner Yoga

Yoga for Men

Yoga Pose Library

Support Mindful Eating with These Five Yoga Poses

You’re a lot more than what you eat. But what you eat can have a lot of bearing on how free you are to explore all the aspects of “you.” You know you need more fruits and vegetables. You know that moderation and variety make your body feel strong, energized and ready for anything. So why it is so hard to spend some time on the weekend to make a big batch of the soup you’ll be craving at lunchtime on Monday? Why doesn’t the second cookie satisfy? Or, why is every day a battle to eat less and less? No diet can help answer that question, but yoga can.

 

With each pose, you’ll hear your teacher remind you, “Listen to your body.” Yoga is all about discernment. You get a compelling reminder of that message every time you see an image of Shiva dancing in the fire and crushing the dwarf/demon that symbolizes ignorance. By turning your eyes inward, you can start to get in touch with what your body really needs for optimal health. Ayurvedic philosophy suggests that, at each meal, your body be half filled with food, one-quarter filled with liquid and one-quarter left empty to give the food and fluid room to digest. Try that. About 20 minutes after eating, go inside and check out how you’re feeling. Was that enough food? Too little? Too much? How do you feel as a result of the types of food you ate? Energized? Sleepy? Content? Do that little exercise for a week and log the results.

 

Then, try poses like this that help teach discernment and the benefits of honoring your body’s wisdom.

 

 

 

 

Virasana (Hero Pose). This pose requires you to be thoughtful about your knees and back.

How to do it: Kneel on the floor with your knees perpendicular to the floor. (This is sometimes called “standing on the knees.”) You may want a folded blanket or block under your buttocks. Slide your knees as close together as possible and move your feet wider about a thumb’s width wider than your hips. Lean your torso slightly forward and slowly sit back between your feet. Place your hands on your thighs with your palms down or in you lap with your palms up. Hold for 30 seconds or longer. After releasing, extend your legs straight in front of you and bounce your legs lightly.

 

 

Bakasana (Crane Pose). This pose requires an intense focus and a strong core. You need to ask your body whether it’s ready to lift either foot, one foot or both feet—and be willing to accept its direction.

How do it: Start in Tadasana (Mountain Pose) and squat down so that your feet are a few inches apart. You may want to have a block slightly behind you if you are new to this pose and need support. Separate your knees wider than your hips. Stretch your arms in front of you, bend your elbows and place your palms on the floor. Your upper arms should be against your shins. Yoga Journal advises: “Snuggle your inner thighs against the sides of your torso, and your shins into your armpits, and slide the upper arms down as low onto the shins as possible. Lift up onto the balls of your feet and lean forward even more, taking the weight of your torso onto the backs of the upper arms. Lean forward even more on the backs of your arms until your feet leave the floor.”  Or, just balance your toes on the block. Try lifting one foot before your lift off with both feet. Hold for 20 seconds to one minute.

 

 

Upavistha Konansana (Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend). This pose requires that you check your ego at the door and respect where your edge is in terms of stretching—not over-stretching—your inner thighs.

How to do it:  Sit in Dandasana (Staff Pose). Open your legs to about 90 degrees. Place your hands the floor in front of you, slide your buttocks forward and try to spread the legs wider. Point your knee caps toward the ceiling. Lean your torso forward and begin walking your hands out in front of you until you at the edge of your stretch. Hold 30 seconds to one minute.

 

 

Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand) This pose requires you to get in touch with the alignment of your body in a different plane.

 How to do it: Kneel on the floor. You may want a folded blank to place under your head and arms. Clasp your hand and lower them to the floor. Press into the ground with your wrists. If you are just beginning to experiment with this pose, place your head snugly against the back of your hands. If you are comfortable with headstand, open your hands slightly and place your head against your open palms. Inhale and lift your knees, walking on the balls of your feet until your body form a V. Firm your shoulder blades to keep your body from collapsing into your head and neck. Exhale and lift your feet off the floor. Even if you have to bend your knees, focus on getting both feet off the floor at the same time. As your legs rise, firm the tailbone against the pelvis. Once your legs are perpendicular to the ground, straighten your knees if you bent them and align the arches of your feet over the crown of your head. Make sure to stay focused on engaging your shoulder blades and firming your tailbone. Stay in the pose for five to 10 seconds if you are new to headstand, gradually increasing the duration of the pose by a few seconds a day  until you can hold it for three minutes. Come out of the pose on an exhale, touching both feet to the ground at the same time. Move into Balasana (Child’s Pose).

 

 

Hanumanasana (Monkey Pose) The deep stretch of this pose calls on you to tune into your body’s flexibility and balance.

How to do it: Begin kneeling on the floor. Step your right foot about a foot in front of your left. Lean forward and begin to stretch the left leg out behind you. Allow your knee to relax as you reach your edge. Then, start to stretch your right leg forward. As your right knee straightens, begin to extend your back leg and sink toward the floor, making sure your right knee is pointing straight at the ceiling. If you can descend all the way to the floor, reach your arms up to the ceiling. Stay in the pose 30 seconds to one minute and release by turning your front knee out slightly and bending both legs in to your starting position. Switch legs and repeat on your other side.

 

A regular yoga practice not only invites but demands introspection. You begin to understand the difference between the discomfort that often comes before a breakthrough and the pain of pushing your body to a place it is not prepared to go to yet. It’s an easy leap to apply that same thinking to eating. You can start to feel the dynamic benefits of eating fresh, beautifully colored food filled with nutrients. That energy becomes part of you. You can also feel how over-eating, under-eating and empty-calorie eating depletes you and leaves you slowed down, fuzzy and maybe even depressed. Feeling good is an easy habit to maintain. It allows you to enjoy your food, enjoy your body and grow toward your full potential. That’s something no diet, pills or surgery can ever do. So strike a pose and celebrate a healthier you!

 

Dig Deeper

Yoga and Eating Habits

Anti-Aging Benefits of Yoga

Yoga Pose Library

Five Yoga Asanas to Ease Your Aching Back

It’s been a long day. You get up from your chair or out of your car and every joint feels like it’s constructed with Legos. When you take a couple of steps, you can sense that pain starting to throb through your lower back. And, you know that for the next few hours or days, finding a comfortable position is going to be hard. Okay, it’s going to be impossible. Before you pop some pain pills or invest in some pricey stretching equipment, grab your yoga mat or Yoga-Paws. A regular yoga practice not only may help to ease many of the physical aspects of lower back pain, but to increase the strength, flexibility and overall health of your back and spine.

Back Basics

So why do so 80 percent of adults experience at least occasional lower back pain? Unless the cause stems from injury or skeletal deformities, back pain is part of 

the price you pay for walking and sitting upright. While it was pretty brave for your ancestors to transition from moving on four legs to traveling along on two legs (thereby exposing their vital organs to their enemies), that physiological change meant a lot of pressure would be exerted on the spine. When you sit, theweight of your torso bears down on your lower back. If you slouch in your chair, as most people tend to do, you can overstretch the spinal ligaments and strain the discs between the vertebrae. Those discs already under relatively constant stress since they act as shock absorbers, cushioning the spine and, ultimately, the brain from jarring as you walk and run. Hefting boxes on your friend’s moving day or pounding out a 10K on concrete roads can also aggravate the wear and tear of everyday life—as can a golf swing one wrong or a slip on the ice.

 

Backs also suffer from neglect. People generally feel they’re stuck with back pain or that they can just soldier through the current bout. When endurable becomes unendurable, back pain suffers sometimes allow themselves a trip to a masseuse or a chiropractor. Or, they might contribute to the $50 billion spent every year on medications, physical therapy and related costs. That’s a lot of yoga classes, products, DVDs, YouTube subscriptions—even private yoga lessons!

How Yoga Can Help

Research is proving that yoga is fast becoming the go-to choice for preventing and alleviating lower back pain. Even before Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and actress Chloe Sévingy started touting the benefits of yoga in combating their back problems, studies were showing positive results for back pain sufferers who started a weekly yoga practice. A 2011 trial study by the UK’s University of York found that yoga “a more effective way for people with lower back pain “to become more mobile than the treatments currently offered by general practitioners.”

In 2009, Dr. Robert Saper and his colleagues at Boston University Medical Center conducted that participants in the trial who followed as 12-week program of Hatha yoga, deep breathing and meditation showed an 80 percent reduction in the usage of pain medications and one-third less pain (compared to a standard-care control group). Saper is following up with two additional studies to test yoga’s therapeutic benefits versus standard physical therapy approaches.

Do Try This at Home—And in Class

Fortunately, chronic lower back pain has become such a widespread issue that most yoga studios offer classes or workshops devoted to back health. It’s important to work with a Registered Yoga Teacher (YRT) before starting or deepening your practice to insure proper alignment in the poses.  Executed incorrectly, even asanas that are intended to be beneficial can exacerbate the problem. Once you’re comfortable with how the pose feels, build that into your daily practice.

Here are some poses to provide a solid foundation for a healthy, pain-free back.

Bitilasana (Cow Pose). Begin on your hands and knees. Make sure that your knees are directly under your hips and that your shoulders, elbows and wrists form a straight line. Gaze toward the floor. On an inhale, lift your hips and let your belly sink. Lift your head to gaze forward. Repeat 10 to 20 times.

 

 

 

Marjaryasana (Cat Pose). Begin on your hands and knees, with your knees directly under your hips and elbows and wrists directly under your shoulders. Your head should be in a neutral position with your eyes focused on the floor. Exhale and round your back toward the ceiling, feeling the separation in the vertebrae. Release your head toward the floor. Repeat 10 to 20 times.

 

 

 

Tabletop Pose Variation. Begin on your hands and knees. Keep your head in a neutral position. Extend your right arm out in front of you at shoulder height and simultaneously extend your left leg directly out of your hip behind you. Hold and breathe for 30 seconds to one minute. Return to tabletop with a neutral spine. Reverse and repeat with the left hand and right leg.  Always start the pose with the variation of arms and leg extended.  If you feel comfortable and confindent, move into the advanced version.  This will also help with balance.

 

Sphinx Pose. Lie on your belly with your legs straight out behind you. Inhale and lengthen through your entire body. Place your elbows under your shoulders and place your forearms on the floor parallel to each. Inhale and lift your torso, concentrating on keeping your core and front body long and lengthening rather than compressing the back. Hold for five to 10 breaths. Release your torso to the floor.

 

 

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose). Lie on the floor. Place a folder blanket under your shoulders to help support your neck. Place your hands palms down at your sides. Bend your knees and bring your heels as close to your buttocks as possible. Inhale and start to lift your back off the mat one vertebra at a time, keeping your shoulders on the blanket and curling your pubic bone toward your navel. To check your alignment, try placing a block between your knees. To deepen the pose, clasp your hands and roll your shoulders under. Hold for 30 seconds to one minute. Release by lowering one vertebra at a time to the mat.

Talk with your teacher about developing a sequence that addresses the specific spots that are literally a pain in your back. As you begin to work on asanas that send oxygen into the spine and help it decompress, you’ll become proactive rather than reactive—a great metaphor for facing down discomfort and challenges in all facets of life.

 

Dig Deeper

Yoga and Meditation

How to Avoid Yoga Injuries

Yoga-Paws Pose Library

 

 

Three Yoga Asanas to Create Energy and Calm in Your Second Chakra

Given the pace and stress of modern living, it might be hard to recognize when the Svadisthana (sacral) chakra is out of balance. Some of the signals, like the tendencies to be a workaholic, to cry easily, to suffer from sluggish circulation, are so common that they’re hardly noticeable. These physical, mental and spiritual issues are easy to chalk up to just another day where you need that 25th hour. It’s only when the imbalances move to extremes, when the blocks in this creative center lead to infertility, dangerous forms of over-indulgence and life-limiting confusion, that many people understand fully the importance of keeping this focal point of life-force free and unhindered.

Balance starts with knowledge. The Svadisthana chakra is often translated as “one’s own
place or base.” [details on all seven chakras.] It is located at the tailbone, roughly two fingers above the Muladhara (root) chakra. The pubic bone is the corresponding
point in the front body. The second chakra has broader associations with the hips, sacrum, lower back, genitals, womb, bladder and kidneys. Svadisthana’s element is water, and it influences all the watery flows of the body: circulation, urination, menstruation, orgasm and tears. Its functions include procreation and the digestion of food. This is the center of your physical and emotional vitality and your sexuality. It also connected with the unconscious and with emotion. Its color is orange and its sensory aspect is taste. Its gemstones are: Carnelian, coral, gold calcite, amber, citrine, gold topaz and peach aventurine. Not surprisingly, its foods are liquids and orange fruits and vegetables. In the bindi above its seed mantra, Vishnu and Rakini (or Chakini) reign.

Yoga and pranayama, along with Freeing this chakra is essential on every level. Water moves, ebbing and flowing, as it finds it own course around all of the obstacles in its way. Keeping balance in the second chakra will bring that flexibility, ease of mind, body and spirit and creativity into everyday life. 

But it will also bring the kind of discipline that keeps this steady flow from becoming
an uncontrolled torrent. Overeating is as dangerous as under-eating, while healthful eating, open the door to bringing your chakras— and, with them your life-force--into balance. Although each chakra can be eating to meet your body’s needs will give you both health and vitality. The same holds true for your sexuality, your need to relax and your need to pursue non-work related activities. In their proper place, these pursuits give meaning and pleasure to life. Done to excess, they lead to jealousy, confusion and hopelessness. Addressed through a variety of yoga poses, it’s important to remember that “harder” or “more advanced” doesn’t mean better. Performing asanas isn’t a competition, even with yourself.

The aim of a chakra-based practice
is to liberate all facets of self from unnecessary stress,unhealthy habits or ideas and anything else that no longer serves. Turning your eyes inside,it’s easy to imagine the possibilities of becoming truly “enlightened” as the chakras whirlunhindered, sending their rainbow of light and life into every cell.

 

 

Many of the poses used to bring your second chakra into balance focus opening the hips, making the body adaptable and increasing flexibility. Take a few minutes to transition away from your day. Assume Balasana (child’s pose) or sit in Sukhasana (easy pose), placing the backs of your hands on your knees. Draw the breath up from the pelvic floor, then through the lower abdomen, mid-body, chest, throat and crown. Exhale in the opposite order, allowing the front body to release toward the back body. Continue this rhythmic breath for one to five minutes. Then try these poses:

 

 

1.) Marjaryasana (cat pose). Begin on your hands and knees. Make sure your knees are directly below your hips and that your shoulders, elbows and wrists form a straight line perpendicular to the floor. On an exhale, round your back and let head grow heavy and hang toward the floor. Feel your vertebrae separate and open. On an inhale, return to a neutral spine.

 

 

 

 

2.) Adho Mukha Svasana (downward-facing dog pose). Start on your hands and knees. Extend your hands slightly in front of your shoulders and spread yourfingers. Turn your toes under. Exhale and lift your knees, keeping them slightly bent. Inhale and lengthen your tailbone toward the ceiling. Exhale and stretch heels toward or down to the floor. Keep your head between your arms. The arms should be aligned with your ears. Make sure weight is shifted into your legs and the body is drawing up from your hands. Hold for 1-3 minutes.

 

3.) Bhujangasana (cobra pose). Lie face-down on the floor. Stretch your legs back with the tops of your feet on the floor. Place your hands under shoulders. On an inhale,
begin to straighten your arms, stopping at a point where you can feel a connection between your legs and your pelvis (don’t strain or compress your lower back). Lift your navel toward your spine. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds and release on an exhale.

 

ENJOY!!

Five Yoga Poses to Renew and Refresh for the New Year

If you follow the Gregorian calendar or if you live in a culture that does, this time of year is all about new life and fresh starts. For yogis, it has a deeper meaning than the usual to-do list of resolutions (which less than a quarter of “resolvers” keep). The turn of the page from December 31 to January 1 provides an opportunity to de-clutter and detoxify, to rid yourself of the societal expectations that draw you away from your authentic self and to explore the treasury of resources that are uniquely yours.

 

Before you promise yourself that 2012 will be the year you lose weight, stop smoking, get your Registered Yoga Teacher certification or visit India, set aside a few hours during this last week of December to turn your eyes inside and take a trip through the inner landscape or your mind, body and spirit. How’s the topography? Where are the high points and the valleys, the places that are open and positive or the places that still have a lot of debris and dead wood? You tell yourself you want to lose five pounds. Instead, look inside and outside. As yourself why? Do you want to shrink your body to gain acceptance from others or do you really feel you could function better in a contracted physical container? If you want to stop smoking, look at your heart and lungs from the inside. Then consider what unmet needs you have that make this habit worth endangering vital, dynamic parts of yourself.

 

 

With your eyes still closed, see yourself living the life you want—not as if this  were a goal in the future, but right now. Watch yourself go through a day in this way. Think about what the essential factors are in being fully yourself. Then, start looking for the keys to open the doors to your own possibilities.

So often, the first key is just to get out of your own way. To begin your yoga practice or during a meditative walk, consciously inhale one or two adjectives that describe the optimal you. Exhale one or two adjectives that block you from living in that optimal experience. Don’t think “conditionally.” Assume you are living as your best self. Carry that intention through your practice and your day.

 

Yoga poses like the following one reinforce the notion that you can refresh and renew yourself. By suggesting poses that encourage you to twist out what’s unnecessary, you see your way to your authentic self more clearly. Inversions literally force you to experience life upside down. So push “play” for something like MC Yogi’s Ganesh Is Fresh album focus on the “elephant power” that you have within and the empowerment that comes from the love around you and intensify your journey toward moskha (liberation).

 

 

Matsyasana (fish pose). Sit in Dandasana (staff pose). Place a bolster, two blankets or a thin, folded mat where the bottom of your shoulder blades will be when you lie down on the floor. Return to Dandasana. Keep your legs straight out in front of you or bring the soles of your feet together. Press your palms into your thighs and slowly lie back or place your elbows on the floor and lie back. Gently arch your back over the support. Allow the crown of the head to relax on the floor or onto a blanket. To come out of the pose, roll your head up by dropping your chin toward your chest and push into your elbows.   Benefits: This pose not only strengthens and tones the body, but opens up the heart, lungs, back and abdomen.

 

 

Lunge Twist. Begin in Tadasana (mountain pose) at the top of your mat. Inhale, raising your arms alongside your ears. As you exhale, step your right leg to the back of the mat. You can windmill your right foot down at a 45-degree angle or stay on the ball or your right foot. Bend your left knee and sink, aligning your left knee over your left ankle and toes. Inhale, then on the next exhale, twist toward your left hip. Lower your arms and open them so that your left arm is back and your right arm is forward. Look at the fingers of your left hand if you have no neck pain. Inhale and lengthen, exhale and sink. Unwind, step your right foot back to the front of your mat to return to Tadasana. Reverse.   Benefits: This pose helps to detoxify, as all twists do. It also increases flexibility and, if you stay on the ball of your right foot, improves balance.

 

 

Hanumanasana (monkey pose). To prepare for this pose, Yoga Journal recommends: Supta Padangusthasana (reclining hand-to-big-toe pose) to open up the hamstrings of your front leg; Eka Pada Supta Virasana (one-legged reclining hero pose) opens the hip flexors of your back leg; and Lunge to lift the pelvic root toward your heart center, creating Mula Bandha (root lock). Listen to your body at each phase, putting your ego aside and controlling the stretch to a comfortable edge. If you are just starting to work toward splits, kneel behind a bolster. Extend your right leg over the bolster to the front, extend your left leg straight out of your hip and directly behind you, keeping a bend in your left knee or straightening it. Place your hands on either side of your torso as you allow your pelvic floor to sink into the bolster. Breathe there for about 20 seconds. Then, if you feel comfortable, bring your hands into prayer at the center of your chest. Allow yourself to sink further and breathe for 20 seconds. If you want to deepen the pose, slide the bolster out. Place your hands on the floor on either side of your torso and begin to sink your pelvic floor toward the floor.  As a variation, when you achieve a full split, raise your arms up alongside your ears. Be careful not to push this pose or overstretch. Remember, it’s the journey.   Benefits: A pose that invites you to push your boundaries, this split increases flexibility, stretches the hamstrings, thighs and groin and stimulates the abdominal organs, which detoxifies and helps increase metabolism.

 

 

Marichyasana III (Marichi’s pose III). Sit in Dandasana (staff pose). Bend your right leg and draw your right heel as close to your sitting bones as possible. Keep your left leg straight and your foot flexed. Turn your torso toward right leg and wrap your left arm around your right thigh. Keep your right fingers on the floor slightly behind your pelvis. Breathe into the pose for 30 second, inhaling as your grow taller, exhaling to deepen the twist. Unwind, take a few breaths in Dandasana and reverse.  Benefits: A nice pose for addressing hip and back pain, this asana also helps to massage your abdominal organs, including your kidneys and liver and stimulate your brain.

 

 

Supported Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (supported bridge pose). Have a bolster, block or extra blankets near your mat. Lie on your back with your hands by your sides. Bend your knees and draw both heels close to your buttocks. Gently roll your back up on vertebra at a time into Setu Bandha Sarvangasana. Place your support against the bony back of your pelvis. Explore the feeling of using the high, low and medium sides of the blocks or of stacking one more blankets beneath you. Sense the difference of aligning the bolster or blankets along your spine vertically. Hold the position for a minute or more, then slide the support to the side and lower your back one vertebra at a time to the mat.   Benefits: This hard-working pose calms your brain but also reduces anxiety, improves digestion and energizes your legs.

 

Yoga poses like these invite you to open up to new possibilities. But they also require discernment. A full split isn’t achieved overnight, but a supported bridge can be sweet from the instant your back touches the support. The aim here is to use mind, body and spirit to dismantle the unnecessary boundaries that limit you and keep ever moment from being a celebration.

 

Dig deeper:

Yoga-Paws Pose Library

Yoga and Meditation

Yoga to Stay Young

10 Tips for Beginning a Fearless Yoga Practice

If starting a yoga practice is one of your intentions for this New Year, get ready for a life-changing adventure. Fortunately, you won’t have to look far for everything you need to take the first steps on your yogic path. Dedicated yoga teachers offer instruction in private studios, fitness centers, YMCAs, community centers and senior living facilities throughout the country. The basic equipment—mats, Yoga-Paws, blocks and straps—is readily available and affordable. And, every venue has classes specifically designed for students who are new to yoga. That’s the easy part. Then comes the moment when you walk into the studio for the first time. Suddenly, all thoughts about calm and serenity might evaporate as your brain shifts into comparison/assessment mode. No matter how sincerely the instructor reassures you that “it’s all good,” there’s that inner voice worrying about whether you’ll fall down, whether you’ll have the stamina to finish the class and whether those yoga pants make your hips look big. Don’t listen.

 

Check your fears at the door. No one can “fail” in a yoga class. Other than safety-related alignment adjustments, your mind, body and spirit working together in the moment determine the full expression of every pose. You will do each pose in a unique way, your way, because that asana comes from within. There will be days when you feel like a world-beater, days when Balasana (child’s pose) will seem like a challenge and lots of days that lie somewhere between. Just keep reminding yourself that it’s the journey that’s important, not the destination.

Nine Yoga Poses to Keep Holidays Bright from Morning to Night

Whether you’re at your home for the holidays or someone else’s, this special time of year is a great time to explore opportunities for “living” yoga rather than just practicing it. Since your workplace is probably powered down or powered off, you have the chance to think outside the box of your daily routine in order to create new patterns that serve you better. No matter how full your house is or how full your days are, you can begin to consider how much even a brief pranayama session after the alarm rings could change your outlook for the day. If you have any doubts that a few minutes could deliver some life-changing results, just think about the feeling you get after Savasana (corpse pose).  

You don’t have to wait to be on the mat to 

fully realize the calming benefits of living yoga. The beauty of the yogic lifestyle is that it can be done anywhere, anytime. You don’t need a mat or a lot of space. So, plan to give yourself the gift of peace 

each day with poses like these:

 

Poses To Start Your Day

 

As soon as you wake up, try some gentle pranayama. Place one hand on your abdomen and the other on your chest. Start at the pelvic floor and draw a ribbon of breath up through the body. Connect with that rhythm as your feel your body rise and fall on that wave of breath. Turn your eyes inward and see the breath lighting every cell until the inner body glows. With every exhale, see the body releasing anything that is stale or stuck. Set an intention for your day. Breathe that in; exhale whatever would keep you from staying with your intention.

 

 

 

While still in bed, use these poses to prepare your mind, body and spirit for the day:

 

Savasana (corpse pose) with a stretch. Lie on your back. Release your arms to your sides, palms up and open your feet. Connect with the rhythm of your breath. Raise your arms alongside your ears. Straighten your legs. Wrap your left fingers around your right wrist and pull gently. Simultaneously, stretch through your left leg, flexing your left foot and push through your heel. Release and return to Savasana. Reverse.

 

Supta Baddha Konansana (reclining bound angle pose). Position your arms along your sides, palms up. Draw the soles of the feet together so that your legs make a diamond shape. As you inhale, breathe into your hips and feel the entire area start to warm. As you exhale, allow your hips to soften and melt down. Hold this position for one to five minutes.

 

 

 

 

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose). Yogi Sadie Nardini offers this variation for a morning inversion. Lie sideways on your bed. Place one or two pillows under your hips. Bend your knees and place the soles of your feet on the bed. Hold for one minute or more, then remove the pillows and let the small of your back relax onto the bed.

 

 

 

Asanas to De-Stress All Day

You don’t need to literally “come to the mat” to weave the benefits of yoga throughout the day. Even in a home filled with company, you can retreat to a private space for 15 minutes and reset your inner harmony with poses like these:

 

Garudasana (eagle pose). Stand in Tadasana (mountain pose). Bend your knees slightly and, shifting your weight to your right foot, cross your left thigh over your right. Your left toes can touch the floor or you can lift your left toes and wrap them around your right calf to balance. Stretch your arms out in front of you parallel to the floor. Cross your right arm over left and bend your elbows. Bring the backs of your hands together. Press your right hand to the right and left hand to the left so that the palms are facing each other. Stretch your fingers toward the ceiling so that your hands are at the third eye in the center of your forehead. Hold 15 to 30 seconds. Then, unwind, return to Tadasana and reverse.

 

 

 

Adho Mukha Savasana (down dog) to Urdhva Mukha  Savasana (up dog). 

Improve Your Eating Habits with these Five Yoga Poses

For many people, mindful eating looks like a far less achievable goal than any head stand or arm balance. Meals aren’t just eaten “on wheels,” they’re hurried down at the desk, in the locker room or just walking down the sidewalk. And, even when the time pressure relents, it may be hard to fight back the army of issues that have arisen around food: How much? What? When? Which magic bullet will lead to thinness, attractiveness, and immortality?

 

Yoga can be a powerful tool for putting eating in its proper—and honored—place in life. A recent study led by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center showed that mindfulness on the mat could be highly effective in creating healthy eating patterns. “We hypothesized that mindfulness – a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga – could affect eating behavior," says Alan Kristal, associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center. “People who ate mindfully – those who were aware of why they ate and stopped eating when full – weighed less than those who ate mindlessly, who ate when not hungry or in response to anxiety or depression. Our study identified a strong association between yoga practice and mindful eating but found no association between other types of physical activity, such as walking or running, and mindful eating.”

Kristal, who’s been a yoga enthusiast for over 15 years, says that yoga cultivates mindfulness in a number of ways, such as being able to hold a challenging physical pose by observing the discomfort in a non-judgmental way, with an accepting, calm mind and focus on the breath. "This ability to be calm and observant during physical discomfort teaches how to maintain calm in other challenging situations, such as not eating more even when the food tastes good and not eating when you’re not hungry," he says.

 

Unlike fad diets or limited approaches to eating, yoga involves mind, body and spirit in the journey toward optimal health. Certain poses work to calm the mind in order to make better choices and increase the metabolism to keep the body both energized and cleansed.

 

Balasana (child’s pose)

How to do it: Kneel on the floor. With you big toes together, sit on your heels and then separate your knees about hip width. Exhale as you lay your torso between your thighs. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of the pelvis. Lift the base of your skull away from the back of your neck. Place your hands alongside your torso, palms up, relaxing the fronts of the shoulders to the floor. Hold for one to three minutes. Notice the light feeling of the entire front body pushing against the thighs as you inhale, and the tight feeling of drawing the entire front body back to the spine on the exhale.

 

Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle pose)

How to do it: Stand in Tadasana (mountain pose). Exhale and step or jump your feet three to four feet apart. Place your hands on your hips. Rotate your right foot about 90 degrees and turn your left foot in slightly to the right. Align the right and left heels. Turn your right thigh outward, aligning the center of the right knee over the ankle. Exhale and turn your torso to the right until you’re facing out over the right leg. As you do, lift your left heel off the floor and rotate on the ball of the foot until the inner left foot is parallel to the inner right foot. Exhale and bend your right knee, working toward bringing the right thigh parallel to the floor. Pressing the left thigh toward the ceiling and press through the left heel. On the next exhale, turn further to the right, lean the torso down and place the left hand on the floor or a block inside the right foot. Move your right thumb to the right hip crease and push the thigh toward the floor. Lengthen on the inhale; soften toward the floor on the exhale. Hold for several breaths. Windmill your left arm up, bring the left foot up to meet the right. Return to Tadasana and reverse.

 

Plank

How to do it: Stand in Tadasana (mountain pose). Start in Adho Mukha Svanasana (down dog). Inhale and draw your torso forward so that the arms are perpendicular to the floor and the shoulders are directly over the wrists. The torso should be parallel to the floor.  Press your front thighs toward the ceiling and press your heels toward the floor. Look straight down at the floor, keeping the face relaxed. Hold for one to three minutes.

 

Virabhadrasana III (warrior III)

How to do it: Stand in Tadasana (mountain pose), exhale and fold forward. Exhale and step your left foot to the back of the mat into a high lunge. Keep your right knee more or less at a right angle. Lay the midline of your torso on the midline of the right thigh (from the knee to the hip crease) and bring your hands to your right knee, right hand to the outer knee, left hand to the inner. Squeeze the knee with your hands, lift your torso slightly, and, turn it slightly to the right as you exhale. Stretch your arms forward, parallel to the floor and parallel to each other, palms facing each other. Exhale as you extend the right thighbone back and press the heel actively into the floor. Simultaneously straighten the front leg and lift the back leg. As you lift the back leg, resist by pressing the tailbone into the pelvis. Hold for 30 seconds to one minute. Place your hands on the floor on either side of your right foot, exhale and step your left foot forward to meet the right foot. Return to a forward bend. Then roll up into Tadasana. Breathe for two to three breaths. Reverse.

 

Paripurna Navasana (full boat pose)

How to do it: Sit on the floor, extending your legs straight out in front of you. Press your hands on the floor behind your hips, fingers pointing toward the feet. Lift through the top of your sternum as you lean back slightly with a straight back. Try not to round the back. Lengthen between the sternum and pubis until you feel you’re positioned on the sitz bones like a tripod. Exhale and bend your knees. Lift your feet off the floor so that the thighs are at about a 45-50 degree angle to the floor. Slowly straighten your knees to raise legs to eye level. Extend arms out in front of you, parallel to each other and to the floor. Modify by placing hands under thighs and keeping the knees bent as you lift your feet off the floor. Concentrate on full inhales and full exhales. Keep the belly flat.

Poses like these, combined with breath work and meditation, help to make the connection between the health-giving benefits of food and a mind, spirit and body that are calm and fully realized.

 

Dig deeper:

Yoga Poses to Trim Belly Fat

Seven Anti-Aging Benefits of Yoga

Seven Yoga Moves to Keep Your Holidays Stress-free

 Holidays are very much a celebration of the yogic concept of unity. These special occasions remind us to be grateful, loving and kind. They remind us how connected we are, and how good that feels—whether it’s the warmth of family gathering around a table with beautiful food or the quiet of a cease-fire on a battlefield.

But, before those beautiful moments filled with smiles and laughter, for a lot of people there are weeks of stressing about everything from cleaning to cooking to shopping. You may know in your heart that friends and family wouldn’t love you any less if there was still some dust in the corner or the dessert wasn’t perfect, but it probably doesn’t stop you from trying to over-achieve. It would be great if there were a “stop” button for the holiday frenzy. In many ways, that’s just what yoga is.

Yogic breath work and asanas help calm mind, body and spirit. Recent studies suggest that yoga increases alpha waves that are associated with relaxation. It also reduces cortisol, the hormone released in response to stress. The best part is that you don’t have to wait to get to a class to bring the benefits of yoga into your lifestyle. You can begin your de-stressing program by committing to a few minutes of pranayama before you get out of bed or a gentle pose in the evening before falling asleep. Creating calm starts at home. Here’s how:

 

Anywhere, Anytime Breath Work

1.) Sama Vritti Pranayama (equal breath). Sit comfortably. Turn yourfocus inside and feel the rhythm of your breath. Inhale and exhale. Then, as you inhale, begin counting slowly. Continue to inhale until your lungs are full. Then, exhale to the same count. After five to 10 breaths this way, you may want to explore the feeling of making the exhale longer.  Variation: Inhale and exhale. At the bottom of the exhale, hold your breath for one count. On the next breath, hold your breath for two counts at the bottom of the exhale. Add a count for each of three more breaths.

 

2.) Dirga Pranayama  (three-part breath). Although it would be ideal to lie on your back to realize the full benefits, you can also practice Dirga Pranayama in a comfortable seated position. Start by inhaling through your nose. Focus on the rhythm of your lower belly swelling on the inhale. Then exhale and feel the belly fall back toward the spine. On the next inhale, draw the breath up—starting at the pelvic floor and feeling the breath expand the lower abdomen, then the mid-body. Exhale and feel the front body move back toward the spine. On the third inhale, draw the breath from the pelvic floor to the mid-body and, finally, to the chest. As you exhale, let the chest fall back to the spine, then the mid-body and finally the lower abdomen. Concentrate on exhaling fully each time. Repeat for five breaths.

 

Yoga and Meditation

If you’re interested in practicing yoga, then you may want to learn a bit more about meditation as well, since it is one of the Five Principles of Yoga. Meditation is a practice of being in the now, the present moment. It’s a constant observation of the mind that requires a still mind in order to perceive the true self.

 

I recently read a physician’s observation that “meditation” is only one letter off from the word “medication,” and yet the two approaches couldn’t be more different. For example, if someone suffers from an unquiet mind – troubling thoughts, negative self talk and so on – traditional medicine as it’s often practiced today might offer prescription antidepressant or anti-anxiety medications as a solution. This solution treats the symptom rather than the problem.

 

Meditation, on the other hand, serves to get at the problem (an unquiet mind), through practicing stillness.

 

What is meditation?

 

According to Dr. Joan Borysenko, a pioneer in the field of mind/body medicine, meditation is anything that brings us to the present and keeps us there. This makes meditation easy for us to incorporate into our lives. [Read more]

 

 

How do yoga and meditation go together?

Meditation is one of the Five Principles of Yoga. It is the practice by which there is constant observation of the mind. It requires you to focus your mind at one point and make your mind still in order to perceive the 'self'. Through the practice of Meditation, you will achieve a greater sense of purpose and strength of will. It also helps you achieve a clearer mind, improve your concentration, and discover the wisdom and tranquility within you. [Read more]

In light of the holidays and the seduction of excess they can bring, this would be a wonderful time to move your focus inward. Find a quite space to just be. Close your eyes, take deep breaths, and settle into a relaxed state of being. Release the "To Do" lists, expectations, and stress from your space with each breath. Now recall forgiveness, love, and peace into your body, aura, and Chakras. No need to put too much "thinking" into this, just know your intention is allowing the energy to move, not effort.  :)  Sit with this for 5 - 20min and feel refreshed, revived, and present.  Your body, soul, and spirit will thank you for it!

“You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy.”

With Love~