Pratyahara, one of the eight limbs of yoga, is just as vital for managing stress as the more well known practices of asana, pranayama and meditation. Pratyahara is more than just disconnecting.
Pratyahara, more than just disconnecting
Stretching the upper back
This stretch for the muscles and fascia of the upper back loads the muscles and tissues in a lengthened state, making it easier to tension already over stretched muscles safely.
Moving in and out of balance effectively
The ‘golfer’s lift’ provides a great method for leveraging your body weight to move in and out of one-leg balance yoga poses (like warrior 3/Virabhadrasana III).
Shoulder and elbow position in press ups
Finding the right position for you of the shoulders and elbows in a press-up is more about activating the right muscles. This helps protect the shoulder, wrist and elbow joints from injury.
How to get started with yoga?
It can be hard to decide where or how to get started with yoga. Here’s a few things to help you take those first steps.
Why I write these weekly posts
A little history of how these blog posts started and why I still write them as a form of continuing education.
Breathing into your pockets: the belly-pelvic floor-breath connection
‘Breathing into your pockets’ is a way to explore the link between breathing and your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles, and your hip flexors.
Proud peacock as a cue for the position of your spine
Explore three different cues to find the right hip and spine position for a better stretch in parsvottanasana – using the image of a proud peacock as a guide.
More mini guided meditations [audio]
These brief audio-recordings are guided meditations that explore imagery in nature. One uses mindfulness and the other connects feelings to nature.
Triggering the rest and digest response
Some yoga poses can help trigger the rest and digest response, or the parasympathetic nervous system. They work by giving the body physiological cues that it should move into the rest and digest state. They’re known as inversions. Here a few gentle options to try.