My top 10 favorite yoga exercises
Hi!
I have not been posting the last few weeks because I have been busy revamping all my old blog posts (more than 160 in total! Besides this blog I have https://sfiprofittc.blogspot.se/ and https://wordpress.com/view/topcat66blog.wordpress.com, have a look.)
However I feel the need to write a fresh post and since I have been doing yoga 10 minutes every morning (alternating with pilates and standing ab workouts) and I love top-10 lists, here is my favorite 10 yoga exercises. The pictures are all from pixabay as I haven't gotten around to making my own yet.
General tips: exercising should be strenous but not painful. Remember to breathe! How long you should hold a pose is up to you. I generally count 3-4 breaths. It feels more useful to hold a pose then to run through them at high speed.
At times when Internet is messed up I just run my own exercises. It goes something like this:
1. I always start with Cat/Cow pose to loosen up my back. Unable to find a free picture of it though.
Start on hands and knees. Try to make your back as hollow as you can, even bend your elbows if necessary. Then on the next breath intake push your navel up into your spine, really contract those abdominal muscles so that your back turns as round and high as a cat's. Repeat this a couple of times. Remember to breathe out in the Cow pose and breathe in in the Cat pose.
From Bridge it flows naturally to Side Plank. One way I know that I am improving is that I really had huge trouble with this pose in the beginning, but now I can hold this and alternate sides (coming to Plank inbetween).
I really love the warrior poses because they make me feel very strong, although I am terribly bad at Warrior 3, which is balancing on one leg while having the other leg and the body perfectly horizontal. Shown here is Exultant Warrior (you will find that the poses sometimes have different names in other places.) I also often do Warrior II, which is the same pose but with the arm that is opposite the bowed leg stretched backwards and the other arm stretched fowards
tripleclicks.com
I have not been posting the last few weeks because I have been busy revamping all my old blog posts (more than 160 in total! Besides this blog I have https://sfiprofittc.blogspot.se/ and https://wordpress.com/view/topcat66blog.wordpress.com, have a look.)
However I feel the need to write a fresh post and since I have been doing yoga 10 minutes every morning (alternating with pilates and standing ab workouts) and I love top-10 lists, here is my favorite 10 yoga exercises. The pictures are all from pixabay as I haven't gotten around to making my own yet.
General tips: exercising should be strenous but not painful. Remember to breathe! How long you should hold a pose is up to you. I generally count 3-4 breaths. It feels more useful to hold a pose then to run through them at high speed.
At times when Internet is messed up I just run my own exercises. It goes something like this:
1. I always start with Cat/Cow pose to loosen up my back. Unable to find a free picture of it though.
Start on hands and knees. Try to make your back as hollow as you can, even bend your elbows if necessary. Then on the next breath intake push your navel up into your spine, really contract those abdominal muscles so that your back turns as round and high as a cat's. Repeat this a couple of times. Remember to breathe out in the Cow pose and breathe in in the Cat pose.
Next up is the Bridge. Form is important here. Make sure the arms are under the shoulders and that the legs are fully straight. As an extension you can stretch one leg straight up and alternate.
From Bridge it flows naturally to Side Plank. One way I know that I am improving is that I really had huge trouble with this pose in the beginning, but now I can hold this and alternate sides (coming to Plank inbetween).
I really love the warrior poses because they make me feel very strong, although I am terribly bad at Warrior 3, which is balancing on one leg while having the other leg and the body perfectly horizontal. Shown here is Exultant Warrior (you will find that the poses sometimes have different names in other places.) I also often do Warrior II, which is the same pose but with the arm that is opposite the bowed leg stretched backwards and the other arm stretched fowards
4. Downward facing dog is also one of my favorites. From Down Dog you can go into lots of other poses. The variation shown here is called Triangle. At the back you see a woman doing another pose the name of which I don't know, standing with legs wide apart and straight, bening the upper body towards the ground with your arms behind your back and your hands clenched.
From the Triangle You can swing the leg forward and land in Dove pose. Real nice stretch for the back and inner thighs. You can stretch the arms straight upwards as well. Come back to Down Dog, do Triangle with the other leg, swing it down and repeat the procedure with the other leg.
Come back to Down Dog and now we are going over to Plank, for which I have no image. Plank is what it sounds like: Support your body with your arms straight and make sure your butt is not sticking up and your belly not hanging down. From Plank you can do a number of exercises, such as bringing your knees alternately to the same side elbow, bringing the knees alternately to the opposite elbow (Cheetah) or alternately jumping your feet forward under you (Mountain Climber).
tripleclicks.com
When you have had your fun with Plank come back down on your belly and try a Swan. This pose is easy for some and very difficult if not downright impossible for others. Just do whatever you can manage.
Now it is time for stretching, although many yoga poses also involve stretching. Since you are on your belly already go for this pose, which I know as Cobra but which some people call Upward Facing Dog. Whatever, it is a good stretch.
This Twister is also very good at the end of an exercise run. Do it properly though: Sitting, place your left foot over your right leg. Place your right elbow on the outside of your left knee and press it to the right, which makes your back twist to the left. Repeat the procedure on the other side.
Backwards stretch: lean over backwards as far as you can. Keep your balance!
Finally, stand up slowly (maybe via a Down Dog and walking your hand slowly in towards your body, straightening up slowly). Stretch out towards the ceiling. Finished! Good job!
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