So I had a totally shitty, stressful day yesterday. I basically got nothing done at all because I had to deal with some crazy bullshit. Enough said. At the end of the day, I really wanted to get back on the mat for the first time since I started doing yoga again this year. I've been good about doing it, but the desire hasn't really been there, until now. 

I went through 3 Sun Salutations and felt pretty warmed up. I've been wanting to work myself into a headstand or at least a modified headstand since I started this year, so at the end of my cycles, I moved down onto the floor for Ostrich (#3, below) and then into #4. I don't recommend moving into inverted poses as a beginner without help, so I decided instead of being reckless and going for the full headstand alone, I'd use the support of the wall. 

I moved my mat to the wall-I actually rolled mine up a bit, for cushion-and went through the sequence in the above picture to get into a full headstand. If you feel shaky, you can rest your feet on the wall, if you feel strong and steady, you can just do your headstand parallel to the wall and know that you can rest your feet, or come back down when you need to. I was able to hold my headstand longer than I thought I'd be able to! The headstand works almost all of the muscles in your body. You need to engage nearly all the muscles in your body in order to hold yourself upright. Inversions reverse the flow of your bodily systems, temporarily. I think of it as an hourglass-you can tip yourself upside down to move the blood flow toward your head. Inversions are contraindicated (not recommended) during menstruation. With some practice, I want to be able to do a full, unsupported headstand in a couple weeks. 

I probably haven't pointed it out, yet, but it's a good idea in yoga to do the 'opposite' pose of the pose you just did for balance in your body. If you do a back bend, follow up with child's pose or a forward bend. From my headstand, I went to the floor-my mat was still against the wall-and did this restorative, legs-up-the-wall pose. This is a great pose for relaxation and great for people that work on their feet all day. I was surprised at how relaxed my back felt in this pose. Make sure your sits bones (Ischial tuberosity) are contacting the wall.

Today, I am feeling much better. I choose yoga because of the way it makes me feel. I have no desire to be model skinny or to do crazy pretzel poses. I just want to feel better, every day. Yoga helps me achieve that.

So the actual writing of the blog is taking up more time for me than doing my daily yoga. I will try to post here as often as I can, but I won't be able to re-cap what I'm practicing everyday. I have missed one day of yoga so far-and I'm allowing myself 5 (hence the 360) and hopefully I will continue to practice as often as I can.

After the holidays, I am still technically "on vacation" as my out of the home job doesn't start up again until the end of the month. I am feeling unmotivated and lazy, lately. I have not been in my shop to work for several weeks now and after the holiday break, everything needs a clean up, which I am not apt to do right now. I thought about how my yoga practice might be able to help motivate me in other areas of my life and may have a solution.

Let's talk Warrior Poses. I love the Warrior poses. When I first found yoga, these were my favorite poses because honestly, they made me feel like a badass. I feel strong and steady when I flow through the Warrior I, II, III. I'm doing a bit of an experiment by doing only these poses for a few days to see if they will affect my motivation, energy, desire to be more creative. We'll see what happens. ;)

Start by moving in to Warrior I, pictured above. You can get straight into the pose, or start from the lunge position in your Sun Salutations. The pic above shows her with her hands in the prayer position on her chest. This is a great starting point, but most Warrior I poses reach the hands up over the head, clasp palms together, then arch the back a bit while moving your gaze toward the sky.

Veerabhadrasana is Warrior II, named after an incarnation of Lord Shiva of the Hindu religion and was a mighty warrior. 

To start with Warrior II, first get in to this position: 

Try not to take too wide of a stance. You want to feel strong and balanced. Adjust your feet until you have a firm base. 

Arms straight out to your sides, muscles engaged, palms toward the floor. 

This image shows her with her palms facing up, but I was taught to do this pose with palms toward the floor. Try each and see what feels best of you, or alternate the way you do it. You want to lead this pose with your gaze moving from straightforward (second pic) to looking to one side. As your gaze shifts, your torso will rotate toward that side, slightly. Rotate your forward foot toward your gaze as you bend that forward knee at a 90 degree angle. Feet should be nearly aligned with each other. 

Warrior III is a standing, balance pose that for me, is much more difficult than it looks. 

You move in to this pose from Warrior II, shifting your weight onto the 'down' leg by pushing off from Warrior II up onto that leg. Your other leg goes out behind you, parallel to the floor as you lean forward, straight back, arms out in front of you, pointing forward. Interlace your fingers and use your two first fingers to point in the direction you are leaning. Try not to lock your down knee. Hold as you can. ;) 

Lion's Breath - Foundations of Yoga

So, the blogging about daily yoga might be more time-consuming than the actual yoga. ;)

The day before yesterday, I took it kind of easy because I also sometimes still practice Massage Therapy and did not want to over-exert myself. That day, I only did breathing exercises to help me relax and focus before giving a massage. There are many different types of "yoga breathing" and this Lion's pose and Lion's breath is pretty great. Check it out.



Yesterday, I only did one pose-Downward Dog. For me, DD is the most helpful pose I can do, for myself. If I can work on just perfecting one pose, it would be this one:

You can do this, then alternate raising each leg for a better stretch, like this: 

I was taught to do the one leg-as above-with the sole of the foot perpendicular to the floor-not how the picture shows her pointed toe. From here, if you bend that raised knee and rotate your hip, you can get a really great stretch into the rest of your hip/leg. Do this with both legs several times, then notice the difference when you come back to your original DD pose.



Hopefully these are some good tips!

Five Days!!! ^This is what I feel like. ;) 

Here's the one I used-I am not advocating you using this DVD or any DVD for that matter, but if you need more specific instruction/helpful hints, I do suggest trying several to see if they are helpful for you. 

So, I skipped a day with the blog, but I have not skipped any days with the yoga. The day before yesterday I basically did the same routine I've been blogging about, with more focus/time spent on individual poses that work areas for me that I need extra attention paid to. Last night I decided to try out the Yoga for Stress Relief DVD that has been sitting in my cabinet for over a year, untouched. At first, I was very skeptical. I'm always a little wary of 'workout' dvds or even Yoga ones, for that matter. I've tried a few in the past, but the pace was wrong for me or they went through the poses too fast that I couldn't' figure out what they were doing. I basically just don't like getting instruction from people on a screen. I tried it out, anyhow. 

Then you can move to this seated twist

 At first, I felt like this^. The instructor on the DVD used the Sanskrit words for the breath and poses and I, not knowing Sanskrit (c'mon, who does?) was a bit put-off. The video itself, though, is easy to follow at a more practical pace.
There were a lot of seated poses like the one below and a lot of spinal twists. If I do this video again, I think I'll do my Sun Salutations first so that I'm a bit more warmed-up than just twisting straight out of the gate.

Start here with the seated twists. 

If your shoulders are really flexible, you can do this. 

The evolution of the Seated Twist, above. (Step III) 

Pigeon pose I, II 

Easy Pose? Not really, if you have tight hips like mine. This is also called Double Pigeon Pose, so if you do Pigeon pose with both legs first, you'll have a (hopefully) easier time getting into this pose. This can be very relaxing if you breathe in to it. Pigeon Pose III

 The DVD also teaches the basics of Yoga Breathing techniques. She uses the Ujjayi breathing described here:

• Take an inhalation that is slightly deeper than normal. With your mouth closed, exhale through your nose while constricting your throat muscles. If you are doing this correctly, you should sound like Darth Vader from Star Wars. (copied from www.chopra.com and hence the cartoon, above. ;) 

She also uses the alternate nostril breathing illustrated here: 

More info on this type of breathing can be found here: http://holisticonline.com/yoga/hol_yoga_breathing-ex-nadisodh.htm

While it may make you feel a little awkward doing it, the breathing techniques are great for relaxation and stress relief. You can try them out and see how they feel, for you. I end up feeling weird while I am doing them, but physically it does make a huge difference. I always relate it to the pre-natal breathing techniques they give you for childbirth/labor. They do help, so experiment. As my practice is "No Om" I did not participate in the Om breathing that the instructor does in the video. You can, however, if you feel compelled to do so. 

I hope I'm providing some sort of useful information for folks out there that would like to get in to to a Yoga practice but might not know where to start. Start where you are. Even if your daily practice only consists of one pose, you are still better of than not doing it at all. 5 days down. I'm excited to see where I'll be several weeks from now. I can already feel the change in my body, every night when I get back on the mat! 

Day Three is done. I did about the same routine for about the same amount of time last night. 

I realized that some of the charts I've looked at have Chaturanga (below) as part of the sequence. I usually go straight from Plank on to the floor (face down, toes pointed) and then up in to Cobra. I figured I'd give it a shot even though I'm still building back my 'yoga muscles' in these first few weeks. I was able to do it twice out of the 4 Sun Salutations that I did. 

I also worked Triangle Pose into my sequence. My hips are somewhat 'iffy' when doing standing, open poses, so I take extra precaution that I am squeezing inward with my thighs. So, from Warrior I to Warrior II, then in to Triangle pose. From here, I 'cartwheel' my hands down to the floor and push back into Downward Dog, or Plank, depending on what I have planned to do next. I will be adding more poses to my routine as I work in to more flexibility. 

 The above pose will be worked in to my routine tonight! This is the Half Lord of the Fishes pose and being a Pisces, I just have to do it. ;) I also like to do these twisting poses before bedtime to aid in digestion. I might end up alternating with a morning practice because I feel that for inverted (upside down) poses, morning might be better. We'll see what happens. The pose above is where I go after doing some "beauty queen" leg stretches on the floor.

 This legs up pose is working well for me and moving to the wall for a few minutes is helping as well. This is a very restorative pose. I look more like the guy above than the girl below, doing this pose. ;) My hamstrings!!!

 I also added a few minutes of meditation at the end of my practice yesterday. I find that the more time that goes by, the more attached to electronics I have become-and I was one of the last die-hards to start carrying my phone with my everywhere as recently as last year! Developing a meditation habit is good for me, so I will suggest that it may be good for you as well. Try it out. I tend to experiment as a way of discovering new things that work for me. If I try it and it doesn't work for me, I throw it out and find something else that does.

This is me, Day Two!

Day Two is done. I spent a bit more time on my practice last night. I listened to some music this time and it paced me a little bit slower. I was a massage therapist for several years and have heard very varied 'relaxing' music. I prefer the music I like, at a pace that is just right for me-a slightly elevated heartbeat rhythm. I am a fan of Reggae music and feel that it is well suited to Yoga. Listen to what you like, however. There's nothing worse than listening to music you don't enjoy. ;) I listen to this: 

                          I did about the same routine last night as the first, with a few variations. I studied some Sun Salutation routines I found online and modified what I was doing, a little bit. I'm not so much concerned that the order I put my poses in is correct. It is more important to me that the flow makes sense and feels natural to me and I encourage you to do the same. I'd much prefer get into a routine that I can memorize and change at a whim than be looking at something as a reminder during my practice. When in doubt, revert back to Child's Pose and go from there! ;)

Child's Pose. You can alternately rest your arms to your sides on the floor. I like to roll up onto my head from here if I am planning on doing inverted poses.

I did my Sun Salutations about 4 times, then moved onto the floor for my leg stretches. I added the Pigeon Pose into my floor routine to open up my hips a bit more. I have an ongoing issue with my left hip that needs a bit of extra attention. 

Pigeon Pose for hips

"Dead Bug" is also a great hip opener

I spent some extra time working on my nemesis: Seated Forward Bend. 

From here, I went back in to Downward Dog, back to Mountain Pose and started some standing poses for balance. I feel like I have really good balance. I can easily stand on one leg, steady, for several minutes at a time. Generally speaking, I have good balance. I like to work on it, though, because it makes me feel stronger and more centered. 

You can start from Mountain Pose, then go into side bends (these really get me in the "muffin top" area) ;) 

Tree Pose^ is another favorite. This one starts with Mountain Pose, then bring your hands to your chest in a 'prayer' gesture ( hrdayanjali mudra meaning "reverence to the heart seal") while bringing your foot up toward the opposite inner thigh.^ Then you can raise your arms, hands over your head. A 'soft' eye is a great start, closing your eyes is more difficult than it looks. 

After some should rotations and stretching, I moved in to Eagle Pose

Which looks more difficult than it is, at least for me. You basically wrap one leg over the top of your bent, standing leg, then wrap your forearms up as well and attempt to hold this position for a few breaths. 

The Standing Stick pose is also great for the core strength and balance. This is also Warrior III and I should try to incorporate this in to my routine instead of doing it on it's own. 

I'm looking forward to building my practice again and getting back in to the flow of things. 

Mirror Self (Me^)

Day One yoga complete! Well, I did it. I got back on the mat. I did about 45 minutes of yoga last night and and looking forward to my daily practice.

I prefer to do my practice in the evening, after dinner, before I go to sleep. Some people prefer to do early morning routines, but I do not. I like to take my time and I usually have more of that after my kids go to bed. ;)

I set up my mat at the foot of my bed, closed the curtains and got down to business. I usually play music, but did not last night. I forgot to pull out my block, so I will remember to do that today. It has been far too long since I last did yoga and even with the minimal work I did yesterday, I can feel it today, the most in my shoulders.

I did modified Sun Salutations and interspersed some random stretching that I needed in, where I could. I did 4 Sun Salutes, then moved to the floor and worked on stretching out my legs, specifically my hamstrings. I might have the tightest hamstrings in the entire world. Ok, probably not, but still. Even as a child, when we did the PE tests where you had to sit, legs out and stretch onto a ruler, I could barely bend forward. My routine went as follows:
Mountain Pose
Raised Arms to the Sky, slight back bend to
Forward Bend (could have used my block here) to
Standing Half Forward Bend (eyes forward, flat back) to
Plank (Yoga plank)

Downward Dog (a lot of stretching it out, here)

(One Side) High Crescent Lunge (Warrior 1)

Warrior II (my favorite pose)

Back down to Downward Dog

Walk feet forward to hands so you are in a 

Forward Bend again

Chair Pose

Back to 

Mountain Pose

and the end of my first cycle. I repeated this 3 times (4 total) and then moved onto the floor. There, I started with a few Cat and Cow stretches

Reminding myself to breath with each movement

In a few weeks when I am more limber, I will be going into inverted poses from here. Not yet, though. 

I then rolled over and laid flat on my back, bringing my knees up in to 

Half Bridge (my hands were by my sides, not tucked under, like the pic.)

I went from this down to the floor again, then in to 

Legs up the Wall pose in which I did not use a wall, just put my feet straight up, parallel to the floor

back down for a few more Half Bridge/Legs up the wall, then in to 

Boat pose (which I also love even though it is difficult)

I did some on-the-floor calf stretches as well, then moved back down for the final 

Corpse Pose

I am always surprised at how quickly my body reacts to yoga, however. The stiff Downward Dog I did last night will not be the same Downward Dog I do tomorrow. One of the many reasons I love yoga. I'm looking forward to working back into my practice in a slow and safe manner. I gravitate to yoga because I am not a competitive person.  I am not fond of gyms or running or 'fitness challenges' or anything like that. I like to compete with myself, at my own pace. I have known a few folks that have injured themselves in group yoga classes because they simply did not listen to their bodies. I am not ready for  more advanced poses yet, but I will be. I look forward to building toward a headstand or getting all of the way into Bridge. Yoga has so many poses that it's almost impossible to be bored with it. A custom-tailored routine can benefit anyone. I encourage research and safe experimentation-ideally with a certified instructor.

Day One is done and on to the next...