Yoga October 13, 2015
Posted by nrhatch in Exercise & Fitness, Health & Wellness, Life Balance.trackback
Yoga increases flexibility, decreases pain, improves circulation and balance, elevates mood, stretches and strengthens muscles, boosts energy, and improves our over-all health and well-being.
If you’re interested in incorporating Yoga into your life, aim to learn at least ONE new pose a week.
To increase your motivation, start with something really relaxing.
Like Tree Pose.
Or Mountain Pose.
Or, better still, Dead Man’s Pose.
So simple . . . even a starfish can do it!
Aah . . . that’s better!
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Spirit Lights The Way 
The starfish posed so nicely for his yoga photo shoot ! Nancy, I like to do stretching and enjoy occasionally yoga. Have a wonderful day!
That starfish perfected the Dead Man Pose ~> it holds the pose for hours which makes camera work a breeze.
As we grow older, maintaining our balance is so important. Thanks, Nancy!
Val’s comment includes a great pose to improve balance. Hey! Maybe that’s why Tiny Tim used to “tip toe through the tulips”
That would be a bit of a stretch! I’ve heard of the Lotus Position. Is this the ‘Let Us!’ position?
Er … is there an exercise which involves regularly lifting a glass?
S~T~R~E~T~C~H~I~N~G our muscles is key
If we want to retain E~L~A~S~T~I~C~I~T~Y
Glass Lifting Pose: Stand on tiptoes. Stretch to reach that glass from the back of the top shelf. Reward yourself with a cold one!
Or place on a far more convenient shelf, and simply imagine that it was put high and far? Or doesn’t stretching the imagination count?
Yes! Visualization is great!
POW’s have perfected their golf game by visualizing themselves playing a perfect game. All from the comfort of their tiny jail cell
You had me at Mountain Pose Nancy 🙂
One of the best poses to practice for balance is padasana (Foot lock) Stand tall, keep your gaze steady and lift your toes. Notice what happens. It releases the fascia and sparks a reaction upwards through the muscles of the legs and into the pelvis and spine. This is exactly what we need to have engaged to keep our balance.
I also share with Beginners a list of 40 ways that yoga heals. I’ll post it today.
Thank you for your enthusiasm and inspiration.
Namaste
Padasana sounds like just the thing for a balanced practice. Thanks, Val. When I’m barefoot, I stand on my tiptoes. It helps keep me on my toes.
Yoga is an amazing way to add to our flexibility and resilience.
Well if a starfish can do it then I’m in 🙂
Dead Man’s Pose is great! Almost everyone can nail it.
We all nail it in the end 😉
Hmmm, I don’t know about yoga but CH has mentioned giving it a try. Love the little starfish!
Pick a pose. Any pose.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Looks like my nap pose!
Exactly!
So can I say I practice yoga now?
Yes! Just remember to focus on your breathing until you nod off to the land of nod. 🙄
That must be why starfish always seem so relaxed. I’ve never seen a stressed out starfish.
Yes! Unlike Octopus. Octopus get all tangled up in mangled up knots when they attempt most yoga poses. As a result, they are S~T~R~E~S~S~E~D out.
When a diver comes along, blithely blowing bubbles, the octopus INKS them. And also gives them STINK eye.
I think they and their cousins squid and cuttlefish are just about the coolest thing in the sea. It’s amazing that creatures which biologically speaking are basically glorified slugs can be so incredibly intelligent. From your description, though, it sounds as though they can also be a bit grumpy at times. 🙂
Cuttlefish are COOL!
https://nrhatch.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/holy-cuttlefish/
That all sounds great. I’m going to do it right now.
Go you! No time but the present, right!
These poses look so easy, Nancy, especially the corpse pose. 🙂
The best way to start a new habit is to make it so enjoyable that we can’t wait to do it again. And again. And again.
Starting with a RELAXING corpse pose is sure to make us want to come back for more.
😑
Just as I was starting yoga last year, the only instructor in my small town retired. But now I see your post “Beginner’s Yoga 1-2-3.” That may be all the help I need to start again. Thanks, Nancy!
Val (#4 above) is a bona fide yoga instructor. She might be able to help you “start again.” Enjoy!
Yes! Thanks, Nancy.
I’m doing the ‘read Nancy’s post’ pose at this very moment, then I’m going to do the ‘stand on veranda with wine and look at view’ pose 😀
Ooh . . . now you’re cooking! Next up: “contemplation and contentment.”
[…] to Nancy over at Spirit Lights the Way for sparking some yoga […]
Yoga isn’t even optional for me anymore. I feel so much better, remarkably different, because of regular practice. I have just recently had a schedule change that limits my ability to go to class to one night a week, but I’ve found an on-line class resource that is really quite special and I’ll share the link. It might prove useful to someone. http://www.theyogacollective.com/ I’ve found it really excellent!
Thanks for the link, Debra. I’ll check it out.
I love all the resources available to us on-line ~ for yoga, cooking, tai chi, painting, meditation, etc.
Seeing the starfish totally made me giggle. 🙂
I tried yoga but fell over doing the tree pose. 🙂 Obviously, I need practice.
Don’t FALL! That’s not relaxing . . .
Glad you got a giggle out of the starfish. I did too.
I tried the Dead Man’s Pose about two hours ago… I have just woken up and want to go to bed now. night night, Nancy!
Sweet dreams!
I saw a shirt once that said “Is it savasana yet?” 🙂 I almost bought it, too! LOL
Great question, Kate! When I’m in a yoga class and don’t like what the rest of the class is doing . . . I often do child’s pose. Or go sayonara with savasana.
I can do the Dead Man’s Pose, but that’s about it. I’m as inflexible as they get 😀 Have to rely on mental yoga.
I find some poses easier than others . . . you won’t find me sitting in Full Lotus position. I meditation in a comfy recliner.