Welcome friends!

This is a forum to share tips, advice and ideas about nutrition, fitness and well-being. I also invite you to join me in my yoga practice at 24 Hour Fitness. It is an 1 hour vinyasa yoga class, also called "flow" yoga. The poses move fluidly, the breath linking each pose to the next. This practice will create strength, flexibilty, endurance and balance leading to a sense of wellness and mental awareness. I hope to see you there! The class schedule will be updated on the blog as it changes.

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Saturday, October 30, 2010

10 minute yoga practice

This series of poses will take you about 10 minutes to flow through. It is perfect to tack on to the end of a run to balance out your workout, a nice way to start your morning, or a quick way to destress.

1. Mountain Pose - hold for three breaths
     Standing feet hip distance apart, creating equal length in the front and back of the body, relaxed shoulders
2. Lateral fextion - hold for a few beaths on each side
     Place one hand on the hip, reaching opposite arm up focusing on stretching through the side body
3. Swan dive into Forward Fold - 3 breaths
     Hands to the floor or shins, option the straighten the legs or leave a bend in the knees
4. Come down onto all fours for spinal balance - 1 breath each side x 3
     Extending one arm forward and pressing opposite leg backward. The arm, torso, and leg form one straight line
5. Childs pose
     Sinking hips back towards the heals, reaching arms out in front
6. Downward facing dog
     Press firmly through the hands, lifting hips up towrads the sky, looking like an inverted V
7. Flow through 2 sun salutations - 1 breath per movement
- Mountain with lifted arms
-Forward fold
- Lunge
- Downward facing dog
- Plank
- Crocodile
- Upward facing dog
- Downward facing dog
- Lunge
- Foward fold
- Mountain with lifted arms
- Chair
8. Warrior 1 - 5 breaths
     Step 1 foot back in a short stance. Allign front and back heels. Turning the back foot to a 45 degree angle and allign the hips t0 the front of the mate, bend deeply in the front knee. Sweeping the arms up toward the sky.
9. open into Warrior 2 - 5 breaths
     Keeping the heels in allignment and the front knee bent, turn hips and shoulders to point toward the long edge of the mat.
10. Reverse Warrior - 5 breaths
     From warrior 2, turning the front palm up and lifting into lateral flextion. Resting the back hand on the back leg lightly
11. Flow through the 3 Warrior poses on the opposite side
12. Dancer - hold for 5-10 breaths on each side
     Balancing on one foot, bend the other leg behind and grasping the inside of the anke with the hand on the same side. Extending opposite arm to the sky. Pushing the ankle away from the buttock and hinging forward over the standing hip, raising the foot and arm as high as possible
13. Pidgeon - hold for 10 breaths on each side
Drop into downward dog, sweep the right knee forward the under the body, bent knee pointing out from the hip at 45 degree angle. Navel facing straight down toward the floor. Back leg slides straight back from the left hip. Repeat on left side. Can be done lying on back and cradling leg in if this creates to much pressure for the knee.
14. Twist - hold for 5-8 breaths on each side
     Sitting tall on floor with legs extending in front of you, bring the right knee in and placing the foot on the floor, Using the right hand behind to legthen the spine. Rotate toward the right knee and use the left forearm to hold aroung the right shin. Repeat on other side.
15. Final relaxation
     Lying on the back. Allowing the arms to relax with our palms up, letting the feet naturally splay open. Relaxing deeply, releasing stress and tension.