I first met Jessica through yoga. We taught at the same studio and immediately hit it off (I’m talking first 2 minutes of knowing one another). Thus, I am elated to have her guest blog for Walker Tracker and share some yoga wisdom with our community! Take it away, Jessica!
We all have’ those days’, you know the ones, you feel sluggish, off, and just not into anything. Your brain feels slow, your body isn’t cooperating, or everything seems to just fall short Those days are the worst BUT there is a way to turn them around; if you’re willing to put in a little bit of effort. I’m usually all about ‘maximum effort’ but on ‘those days’ I’m all about minimal effort. So, here are my go-to yoga moves to turn any blah day around.
I suggest starting with a few Sun Salutations to warm up the body. This series of movements gets your blood moving and allows new energy into your body. Start small, in as little as three times through and you’ll already start to feel better; you can do as many as you need.
Sun A: Start in Mountain Pose (see below), as you exhale: fold forward from your waist and bring your hands toward the floor. Inhale: lift halfway up,abs pulled in, gaze forward and down, shoulders away from your ears. Exhale: step to high plank pose; hold this posture for a full breath cycle and on your next exhale lower ½ way down (Chaturanga) or all the way down to your belly. Inhale: Up-dog/Cobra Pose Exhale: Down Dog
Mountain Pose: Start with hands along your sides, palms facing forward, feet about hip distance apart as you inhale, reach your arms overhead, relax your shoulders away from your ears, spiral your pinky toward one another, draw your abs up and in, actively press your feet down into the earth. Mountain pose helps you to reground to earth, create strength in your body, help find your natural alignment and improve your posture.
Plank Pose: place your wrists under your shoulders, hips in line with your shoulder, abs in, engage your legs. This pose helps to strengthening and align the body, core, and spine as well as improve respiratory function. Option for Chaturanga from plank – bend your elbows by your sides to 90 degrees, keep the strength of your planks.
Cobra Pose: Start with your forehead on your mat, hands under your shoulders, as you inhale lift your chin and chest away from the floor usings your back muscles as you draw your abs toward your spine, gaze forward and down, slightly tuck your chin to keep your neck long.
Down Dog: Hands shoulder width distance, push into your fingertips, strong through your upper back as you lift your hips up and back, create an inverted V, relax down through your heels as you draw your abs up and in.
Legs up the wall: Super awesome, restorative pose, can be done anywhere anytime. My favorite time is with my legs up my headboard while I’m reading in my bed! Bring your hips all the way into the wall as you bring your legs to rest above you. Relax through your feet, send energy to your breath. Hangout!
Happy Baby: Awesome before you even get out of bed in the morning! On your back hug your knees in towards the corners of your chest, extend your feet towards the sky and grab anywhere that feels comfortable (big toe, feet, calves, thighs), make sure to keep your low back down and relax through your shoulders. This pose is fun, relaxing, creates compression in the body to release new energy into the body.
Supine Twist: Another great pose for first thing in the morning. Minimal effort needed for this one and it can come before or after happy baby. Start with your RIGHT leg pulled in toward your armpit, left leg extended down, give yourself a little hug around your right shin as you inhale, as you exhale cross your RIGHT leg over to the left, extend your right arm long as you gaze over your shoulder. Hold this side for 3-5 breaths and then switch sides moving slowly and with your breath. This posture is great for digestions, releasing low back tension, and stabilizing good posture.
Seated Twist: One of my favorite poses, you can easily do this in an office chair, on the floor, just about anywhere and it’s GREAT for digestion and easing lower back pain. Sit with your RIGHT leg crossed over your left in anyway, place your left hand to the outside of your right thigh as you twist up and over to the right, gaze to the right over your shoulder if it feels good. Hold 3-5 breaths, return to center then over to the left side.
You’ll be surprised how your ‘blah day’ can change in about 10/ 15 minutes just by doing some of these poses. If you only have a few minutes just take a moment to sit, close your eyes, and breathe. The deepest part of yoga is the breath. At the beginning and the end of everything it comes back to the breath, to taking your time to become aware of the sensations within your body. Take a little moment each day to work on the idea of awareness to help you easily shift out of the funk and into the flow.
Join me on my journey to the self via travel, yoga, and exploring the world around me on my blog and social channels! Share your energy and be true to yourself!
-Jessica Lin
My Blog: www.myperfectnightout.com
@theonlyjesslin