Former yoga teacher in Wellington New Zealand
Viparita Karani, or legs up the wall, is an excellent pose for recovery whether it’s the end of a run or the end of a stressful week. One of the key benefits is that it redirects the blood flood and helps stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest response).
Our feet and toes are essential for moving, but we often don’t notice them until something hurts. Here’s a few simple movements that can give your feet a much needed stretch: Kneel down and tuck your toes under, then
Baddha konasana (bound angle pose or cobbler’s pose) can help stretch hips and groins. It’s also sometimes referred to as butterfly pose. With your shoes off, sit on the floor bringing the soles of your feet together. You can experiment
Child’s pose or balasana is a resting pose – often we come in to this pose in class to catch our breath. It’s also very calming as it turns your focus inward, shuts out distractions, and allows you to slow
Prasarita padottanasana offers ways to stretch and move your upper torso, shoulders and back.
We’ve been doing some variations of boat (paripurna navasana) pose over the last few weeks with a focus on strengthening your core or the abdominal muscles. Here’s a brief article from Yoga International magazine that describes some of those variations.
Trikonasana – or triangle pose – offers a good way to stretch legs, hips, chest and shoulders. It helps to warm-up with a few lunges and down dog before trying trikonasana. How to get in to the pose and a
But as requested, here’s a 1 minute video of a stretch for your wrists that we often do in class. This stretch comes from Lynda Miers-Henneveld of Freed-om-yoga in Island Bay – www.freed-om-yoga.com. She’s an excellent teacher if you find yourself