Living Yoga

A fun exercise for opening up those tight muscles behind the shoulder blades and building upper body strength.  Find a wall and do the L Shaped Handstand.

I always thought the name was kind of silly but this Gate Pose is a wonderful side stretch for beginners or advanced practitioners.

Last Saturday I had a long day of standing without getting the opportunity for my daily yoga practice and come evening time I was beyond tired.  Yet my body was still craving my daily practice to release some tension from the day.  So I did a slow fifteen-minute, restorative and absolutely delicious sequence that went like this:

I began in Childs Pose (below) for about a minute and then made my way into Down Dog (below, 2nd pic) and took the time there to stretch out my legs and back.

Then I took a Pigeon Pose (below) on the right side for a few minutes.  Being that I wasn’t totally warmed up I didn’t go as deep as I normally would.  You can use props or blankets to support you here.

And then into a gentle Cow Face Pose (below) without the arm variation, just the forward bend, for another few minutes.  And then back to Down Dog.

I repeated the Pigeon and Cow Face hip openers on the left side.  Back to Down Dog.

Then it was time to lie down on my back (what I had been waiting for all day) and stretched my tight hamstrings using a strap, holding each side for a minute or so.

I closed with a supine spinal twist on each side and a Savasana (below, can be done w/o props, too).

If you’re pooped and your body is physically tired, some gentle stretches and resting postures are important for allowing your body and mind to unwind.  Try this sequence or make your own delicious mix!  For more detail about the postures, see Yoga Journal’s guide to yoga poses.

Thank you Yoga Journal.com for the photos that weren’t of me.

A variation of a supine spinal twist that still feels great after Halloween.

Okay, this is a tough exercise for me but sometimes it’s great to go just a little bit out of the comfort zone.  Build your core and balance strength with this exercise.

Stretch the inner thighs and hips, firm the booty and legs with a Warrior Two exercise.  Woohoo!

If your lower back is sore at the end of the day, give the hips a little lovin’ with this awesome stretch.

If you partied too hard, you can still exercise the next day with this restorative twisting posture.

If you have a desk job and are experiencing lower back pain, tight hips & glutes may be one of the culprits.  This video from Expert Village demonstrates a very simple yet effective hip opening stretch you can do without even leaving your seat.

Give yourself a little wake up call this afternoon with this sequence of stretches.