Practicing Yoga for Life
As you begin you should start in the meditative position. Cross your legs and let your ankles rest one in front of the other. Place your hands on your knees and close your eyes. Just relax and breathe. Let all the thoughts of the day fade and melt away. Mentally scan your body. Notice any areas of discomfort or pain and adjust accordingly. All yoga poses can be modified in anyway that best suits you. No pose should feel uncomfortable or hurt. Notice if you feel restless, tired, or lazy. Accept your state and understand that yoga will help you improve these things.
Next, let your head fall to your chest and open your eyes. You are going to begin the movement on all fours in the cat pose. Curl your toes into the ground and focus on your breathing. Inhale and curl your back toward the sky, breathe out and sit back on your heels with your arms outstretched. Repeat this motion several times breathing in and out at your own pace. Rather than think of it as repetitive motion, think of it as whole body movement each and every time.
Always move at your own breath rate. Notice those subtle sensations and shifts. Realize how your body becomes open and alert with each breath. When you are done with this movement you curl your toes and lift your knees off the mat coming into downward facing dog. This creates an upside down “V” shape with the body. Inhale and go back to cat pose on all fours. Exhale and push back up into downward dog. Stay here for a moment. Do the same mental body scan and notice any changes. Breathe into any pain you may be experiencing in the hips, wrists, knees, or back.
Now, breathe in and bring your right leg parallel with your body lifting it off the ground behind you. Since mirrors are not used in yoga sense if your hips are straight and even. Exhale and bring your right thigh into the stomach without rounding your back. Feel the breath go deep into the muscles supporting your right leg. Inhale and extend the leg backward. Exhale and bring the thigh into the belly once more. Inhale once more and return to downward facing dog pose. Repeat on the left side.
From downward dog breathe in and step your right foot in between your hands. Firmly root the left foot flat on the floor. Bring the right hand to the center of the left thigh and lift your left arm out and up toward the sky. Straighten your back and breath into your left side fulfilling the stretch. Exhale and bring the left hand all the way back to the floor. Repeat this several times at your own pace making sure to keep breathing in and out. Be sure to stretch up when you inhale and release when you exhale.
On the last round let your left arm fall to the side and step the left foot up to meet the right foot. Repeat on the right side of your body. Observe how your body feels and make any necessary adjustments. Inhale and step your right leg back rooting the foot firmly on the floor. Put the left hand on the right thigh and raise the right hand toward the sky. Extend through your shoulders and through your back to get a good stretch. Repeat several times at your own pace as before.
Again bring both feet together at the front of th mat. You should feel a bit more relaxed and balanced now. Now breath in and lift your arms into the air. As you exhale lower the knees and hips up to 90 degrees coming into the chair pose. This is a difficult pose so make adjustments if you need to. Learn to deal with the challenging pose by breathing calmly through your nose. Stand and exhale with the motion. Inhale and lower back into the chair pose. Inhale and raise your arms back to the sky. Bend at the waist all the way down to the floor.
As you breath in spread your fingertips wide and lift your palms off the floor. Feel the stretch through the back of your body. As you exhale fold your body from the waist a little bit further than before. On the last time inhale and come back to standing one vertebrae at a time. Now you are going to go back to the floor. Come into a kneeling pose and sit on top of your heels if it feels okay. Now you are practicing yoga for life, paying close attention to your body and breath. Take these focusing skills with you off the mat into your daily life.
Once again, come onto all fours into the cat pose. On your inhalation draw the spine and neck forward, and keep the head lifted. Exhale and relax the head and shoulders. Repeat this movement several times. Relax your mind and then sit back on your heels with your arms outstretched in front of you. Now you are about to go into a extended back bending sequence. You are going to synchronize the movements of your arms with the movement of your head. Come onto your belly and lay flat on your mat.
With your head turned to the right, extend the right arm and back up and out. As you exhale turn the head to the left and lower to the floor. Breath in once more and repeat on the left side. Do each side of the body three times. The next part is a little more complicated so make sure that you focus and breath through your nose. Inhale and life the left leg and the right arm. As you exhale push into the stretch a little deeper. Inhale and hold the stretch. Exhale and lower back down to the mat. Repeat this movement twice on each side of the body.
When you are done with this movement press your butt back to your heels and sit back. Let your arms remained outstretched in front of you. Breathe into your lower back to release the muscle. Exhale and bring your legs in front. Sit up straight on your sit bones and don’t lean back. Breathe in and lift your arms from your sides to the sky. Look up and touch your hand together. Exhale out and over the legs bending toward the floor. Your hands should meet your ankles, toes, or the floor near your feet.
Inhale and lift only your shoulders and feel the stretch. Exhale and fold back down. Repeat once more. On the last time inhale again and lift all the way up back to sitting. Your arms should be outstretched above your head. Exhale and lower your arms to your sides. Bend your right knee and bring your foot closer. Take the left arm and hug the right knee. Put your right hand behind you and gently twist around. After a few seconds come back to center and repeat on the left side.
If you find it difficult to move into the twist move your foot farther away from the rest of your body. Use your inhalation to stretch deeper. Breathing will help make the pose easier to achieve. Come back to center and bring the soles of the feet together into the butterfly pose. Holding your ankles or feet, lift and extend your back and shoulders. Inhale breathing deeply and then round your back and release.
Now you are going to return to the meditative pose you started with. Once more breathe deep and sit up straight. Ground your body using your sit bones to achieve optimal balance. Close your eyes and relax. Breathe into any areas that are holding tension. Breathe out to melt away any stress or thoughts of the day. Let your mind relax completely. Repeat this process for several minutes until you achieve a state of meditation.
If you practice some sort of yoga daily you will instantly begin to feel more relaxed. Use the techniques of focus and breath that you learned on the mat in your life. When you find that you are becoming stressed or anxious just breathe deeply a few times releasing the breath slowly. It only takes one pose to start the movement of yoga. Yoga can be quite relaxing at the end of the day and yet is still refreshing in the morning.
