Bow
Posted by leah on Aug 6, 2008
This week’s yoga pose is bow. Bow is a great backbend that also gives your shoulders a really good stretch. A detailed explanation of the pose, with pictures, is at trainyoga.com.
Warrior II
Posted by leah on Jul 30, 2008
Warrior II is a great pose for strengthening your legs and also balance. If you hold this pose, you might notice your arms get tired too, so it’s a good pose to try to hold for a little while to increase your stamina.
Triangle
Posted by leah on Jul 23, 2008
Triangle pose is a great stretch for the side of your body and your legs. This is a pose that can easily be modified for people who are less flexible - instead of trying to reach your hand to the floor, you can put it on a block, or even on your thigh. You want to feel a good stretch, but it isn’t supposed to hurt, so only go as far as you can - when the stretch gts slightly uncomfortable, you are probably as far as you should go. Regular practice will help you get more flexible over time.
Here are instructions for triangle pose from about.com’s yoga site.
Pigeon Pose
Posted by leah on Jul 16, 2008
This week’s pose of the week is Pigeon. I love Pigeon - it really stretches out my hips like nothing else. I wasn’t able to do pigeon late in my pregnancy, and I really missed it. Yoga Journal explains how to do this pose here, although I learned a slightly different position. I was taught to have the front leg not quite horizontal to the body, but at more of an angle, which is a little easier when starting out.
Yoga Pose of the Week
Posted by leah on Jul 9, 2008
This week’s pose of the week is Downward Dog. If you’ve been to a yoga class, you’ve probably done this one.
In Downward Dog, your body looks like an upside down V with your legs at about a 90 degree angle from your body, hands and feet on the ground. This is a pose that most yoga students have done, and it is a challenging pose that requires both strength and flexibility. No matter how many times I’ve done downward dog, I always feel like I can improve my form in the pose. I like this pose because of the stretch I get in my shoulders, calves, and hamstrings, and also because it strengthens my arms.
Flat Back
Posted by leah on Jul 2, 2008
This week’s yoga pose of the week is Flat Back pose. Starting in standing forward bend, lift up so only your fingertips touch the ground, and straighten out your back. Hold this pose briefly, then go from here back into a deeper forward bend.
Standing forward bend
Posted by leah on Jun 25, 2008
This week’s pose of the week is Standing Forward Bend. Start in Tadasana (Mountain Pose). Raise your arms up over your head and stretch your whole body, slightly arching your back if you like. Then hinge forward from your hips, keeping your back straight and making a straight line from your hips to the tips of your fingers. You might feel a stretch in the back of your thighs or your lower back. When you begin to feel the stretch, relax forward and try to bring your hands to the ground near your feet, with your chest as close to your legs as possible.
If your hands don’t reach the ground, you may want to slightly bend your knees so that you don’t overstretch and risk an injury. As your flexibility increases, eventually you will be able to reach the ground with straight legs, or at least get a lot closer.
Hold this pose for several slow breaths, breathing in and out through your nose.
Yoga Pose of the Week
Posted by leah on Jun 18, 2008
For Workout Wednesday’s, I’m going to be writing about some of my favorite yoga poses for the next month or so. I love practicing yoga - it relaxes me, strengthens my muscles, and increases my flexibility.
This week’s pose is Mountain Pose, or Tadasana. It is basically standing up straight with good posture. Your feet should be close together and parallel, legs straight and strong, and feel your feet supporting your body’s weight evenly. Lift your toes up off the ground and place them down, spread out a little bit. Feel your heels, the balls of your feet, and your toes planted firmly on the ground. Your arms should hang at your sides, and your shoulders should be back and down, and feel relaxed. Your head should be level, and you should gaze ahead. You should feel strong and balanced in this pose. Breathe in and out through your nose a few times while you hold the pose.
Ashtanga Yoga
Posted by leah on May 21, 2008
Ashtanga Yoga is a physically demanding yoga practice that builds strength, balance, and flexibility. Even the first steps of learning ashtanga, the sun salutation series, requires strength and flexibility. I found a website that shows all the poses in sequence. I would recommend taking a class to learn how to do the poses properly, but if you have some yoga experience and want a good strength building workout, do some sun salutations followed by standing poses or even the primary series. Sun salutations are a workout all on their own - I’ve been doing them without going into the rest of the series to build my strength back up post-partum, and it’s challenging! Link to Ashtanga site
20 minute yoga video
Posted by leah on May 1, 2008
If you want to try a short yoga workout, check out this video of teacher Jason Crandell leading a 20 minute yoga workout designed to get you going in the morning. If you have practiced yoga before, you will probably be familiar with the poses in this sequence.