Category: Yoga Poses

Learn posture descriptions, modefications and benefits.

RECLINED TREE POSE

Benefits:

For your body:

  • Makes it easier on your knee and ankle to do the pose in this position
  • Focus’ your awareness of the pelvic muscles and how they have a direct relationship with one another
  • Encourages your legs ligament strength

For your mind:

  • Focus’ your mind on your breath and knowing what you can do
  • Connects you to your mind and not your ego because sometimes you must give in to just do this pose instead of pushing yourself to stand
  • Ideal to give you a calm moment to concentrate on what’s important to you

For your spirit:

  • Gives confidence to your overall perception of your bodies ability
  • You have a new sight the shows you each pose is done in multiple ways for the same benefits
  • It’s not about what you can’t do, but about the question, you make to create the outcome that implies that you can do

Modifications:

  • Use a pillow behind your head
  • Place your foot in any of the many tree variations to support ankle and knee problems
  • Continue to lengthen and extend gently
  • You can reach your arms over your head

Pose Description:

  1. Start in a reclined position on your back.
  2. Keep your left leg extended and bend your right knee.
  3. Place your right foot on your calf, inner thigh or near your left hip bone.
  4. Leave your prayer hands on your chest.
  5. Or reach your arms over your head with your palms together.
  6. Latch your right thumb over your left.
  7. Breath here for a few cycles.

Categories: Yoga Poses

TREE POSE

  • (Tree Pose)

Benefits:

For your body:

  • Activates your adductor and psoas muscles
  • Strengthens your low fascia in your spine
  • Encourages your ankle stabilizer muscles

For your mind:

  • Gives you a simple way to balance your mind with your body
  • You can concentrate on one leg
  • Everything you focus on you can learn from and the more you focus the more it grows

For your spirit:

  • Plant a seed, nourish it and it will grow
  • You are the same as this, think of yourself as a gardener and you are the garden, physically and mentally, reduce the mismanagement and increase the beauty in flowers
  • Balance is within all beings

(Your body is your own so be sure to do these poses the certain way your body needs to do them, not the way my body does them in the pictures.)

Modifications:

  • Lay on the floor to do this on your back. Try reclined tree pose.
  • Use a block under your lifted foot.
  • Take a different level of the pose.
  • 1.(“Kickstand” your foot to ankle.)
  • 2.(Arch to calf.)
  • 3.(Place sole of your foot on your inner thigh.)

Pose Description:

  1. Start from a standing position with your hands at your heart in prayer position.
  2. Firmly root your body weight to your the sole of your left foot.
  3. Keep your hands in prayer position.
  4. Open your right hip and kickstand your foot on your ankle. (Picture 1.)
  5. Maintain stillness in your spine, core and left foot rooted.
  6. Lift your right foot arch up to your calf and gently push your sole into your lower leg. (Picture 2.)
  7. Use your core and pelvic muscles to lift the ball mound of your foot to your inner thigh.
  8. Place your heel slowly to your inner thigh like standing on a tight rope. (PIcture 3.)
  9. Push your palms equally together and up over your head.

Categories: Balancing Poses Yoga Poses

RUNNERS LUNGE POSE

(Runners Lunge)

Benefits:

For your body:

  • Opens your inner thigh and hip muscles
  • Strengthens your extended legs quad muscle
  • Can build even more awareness of your pelvic muscles

For your mind:

  • This pose can calm your mind from being too emotional
  • Increases recognition of the thoughts you may have too much of
  • Allows you to overcome the thought that you aren’t flexible and learn new ways of thinking about flexibility

For your spirit:

  • You can jump and get over any “hurdle” in front of you
  • When your body becomes more flexible your mind will follow and then how valuable this connection with yourself will become
  • You control the pace of much more than just the speed of your body, but time because of your breath and your mind because the control of your thought process

Modifications:

  • Lower your back knee to the floor to support to-tight hips.
  • Use two blocks under your hands or forearms.
  • Get a towel or pillow to lay on or to place your knee on.
(Lowered to your forearms runners lunge)

Pose Description:

  1. Start in a push-up position.
  2. Kick your right foot back.
  3. Draw your right knee forward to a low lunge position.
  4. Heel-toe your right foot outside your right pinky finger.
  5. Step your right foot forward with your toes in a line with your fingertips.
  6. Open your right leg and hip how you need to.
  7. (You can lower your back knee down to the mat.)
  8. Plant your back ball mound evenly to flex your left thigh.
  9. Lower your forearms to the ground to increase a stretch.
  10. Breathe here for a few cycles.

Categories: Yoga Poses

SIDE-PLANK POSE

(Side Plank Pose)

Benefits:

For your body:

  • Stimulates your spines fascia strength
  • Encourages tricep and overall arm strength
  • Focus’ your oblique muscle engagement and whole core engagement

For your mind:

  • Centers your mind as you focus your gaze on one point you’re looking at
  • Concentrates your mind on a different perspective of gravity and how your body stacks in a different position
  • Increases your focus on just your breath

For your spirit:

  • Removes fight or flight responses by making you feel like you will fall, but you won’t
  • Strengthens your belief that you can stand on one hand
  • Improves your posture and this will lead to greater confidence in oneself, you are great

(Your body is your own so be sure to do these poses the certain way your body needs to do them, not the way my body does them in the pictures.)

Modifications:

  • Begin in a tabletop position to bolster yourself with your knee.
  • Take a forearm plank if you have a wrist injury.
  • Have a wall nearby to support your back.

Pose Description:

  1. Start from a push-up position.
  2. Place your weight unto the palm of your left hand and exhale.
  3. Rotate your feet left so the “knife-edge” of your foot is on the mat.
  4. Gently flex your feet.
  5. Lift your right hand to the sky.
  6. Gaze at the wall and breath.

Categories: Balancing Poses Yoga Poses

STANDING SPLITS POSE

(Standing Splits Pose)

Benefits:

For your body:

  • Intense stretch for your hamstring muscle
  • Good for helping with blood flow to your brain
  • Increases balance and strength in your ankles

For your mind:

  • Stimulates your equilibrium which centers your mind
  • Concentrates your mind on a new perspective that takes effort
  • Focus’ you to elevate yourself out of anxiety and into a calmer state of mind

For your spirit:

  • You can overcome fear
  • You are stronger than you think you are, just kick a little more
  • Letting go of imbalance will give you the strength to understand balance in this pose

(Your body is your own so be sure to do these poses the certain way your body needs to do them, not the way my body does them in the pictures.)

Modifications:

  • Place two blocks in front of you to keep your balance.
  • Use a wall to plant your foot on to increase your stretch.
  • Bend your standing leg.
  • Use a chair to support your balance.
(Place your palms on the ground or blocks.)

Pose Description:

  1. Start from a forward fold position.
  2. Root your weight to the sole of your right foot.
  3. Release your left foot of the ground.
  4. Lift your left heel to the ceiling.
  5. Relax your neck and engage your abdominal.
  6. (This is an intense stretch.)
  7. Kick your lifted left leg straight as you can.
  8. Soften your upper back, control the stretch.
  9. Clasp your ankle with your hands.
  10. Place your forehead to your shin.

Categories: Balancing Poses Yoga Poses

TOPPLING TREE POSE

(Toppling Tree Pose)

Benefits:

For your body:

  • Strengthens your psoas muscle and pelvic floor
  • Stretches your shoulders, elbows, and wrists
  • Increases the control of your eye muscles and how not to engage them too hard as you hinge forward

For your mind:

  • Connects your mind to creating breath and body movement
  • Extends your focus to balance on just one-leg
  • Centers your mind on relaxing your gaze to think clearer

For your spirit:

  • When you fill-up too much, you need to pour out and give to others
  • This takes time, patience is the key to unlocking the movement that supports the body the most
  • Tension is a disguise and its time to peel these layers back

(Your body is your own so be sure to do these poses the certain way your body needs to do them, not the way my body does them in the pictures.)

Modifications:

  • Airplane your arms behind you.
  • Bring your hands to your chest in a prayer position.
  • Put blocks in at the top of your mat to give yourself the confidence to tilt forward.

Pose Description:

  1. Start in a standing position.
  2. Interlace your fingers behind your low back.
  3. Open the width of your shoulders to stretch your chest.
  4. Step your right foot forward and place your body weight there.
  5. Lift your gaze and your back left leg.
  6. Punch your interlaced fingers back.
  7. Ground your right foot and kick your left leg.
  8. Diverge your eyes and breath here.

Categories: Balancing Poses Yoga Poses

WIDE-LEGGED FOREHEAD TO KNEE POSE

(Wide-Legged Forehead To Knee Pose)
(Wide-Legged Forehead To Knee Pose)

Benefits:

For your body:

  • Stretches your spine
  • Stimulates your equilibrium
  • Engages toes and tones inner thighs

For your mind:

  • It helps you focus your mind more on how your breath feels.
  • It helps you think more clearly.
  • It gives you the experience of hearing profound quiet thoughts going on in your mind

For your spirit:

  • Balances you from inside-out
  • Strengthens your connection to intuition
  • Even when everything feels restricted, you can still get through it if you focus and breath.

(DISCLAIMER: DO THESE POSES TO YOUR ABILITY; YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN BODY AND WHAT YOU DO. BE SAFE, AND YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.)

Modifications:

  • Place your fingertips or palms on the floor or your front thigh.
  • Put a block on either side of your front leg to support your balance getting used to your head below your heart.
  • Bend your knees more to get comfortable.
(Bolster your balance with your fingers on the ground.)
(Place one or two fist between your forehead and knee.)
(Use two hands on the ground or use a couple blocks.)
(Cup your calves with both hands to feel your forehead on your knee.)

Pose Descriptions:

  1. Start in a standing position.
  2. Reach your arms over your head.
  3. Steeple grip your hands to stretch your back.
  4. Step forward onto your right foot.
  5. (2-3 feet distance between your feet.)
  6. Bend your knees a tiny bit to release your hips.
  7. Lengthen your spine and draw your chin down toward your chest.
  8. Keep your chin here and curl forward from hands to arms and down.
  9. Gaze at your knee to control balance, then diverge your eyes to your belly button.
  10. Place your forehead on your knee with reduced tension.
  11. Gently graze your pinky fingers on your mat.
  12. Press your feet down slowly to feel your hips level with the floor.
  13. Breathe here for a few cycles.
  14. Exit by rewinding.

Relax, Rest, and Practice Again. You Can Do This! You Are A Yogi!

Categories: Balancing Poses Yoga Poses

WIDE-LEGGED FORWARD FOLD POSE

(Wide-legged Forward Fold)

Benefits:

For your body:

  • Increase blood flow to your brain
  • Stretches and strengthens your groin
  • Rebuilds strength to your plantar fascia

For your mind:

  • Clears your mind
  • Allows you to think about small movements of your toes
  • Focus’ your mind on the exhalation and your upper spine

For your spirit:

  • Gives you a new perspective to see the world as
  • Will help you move forward with ease
  • Benefit your ability to surrender

(DISCLAIMER: DO THESE POSES TO YOUR ABILITY; YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN BODY AND WHAT YOU DO. BE SAFE, AND YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.)

Modifications:

  • Use one to two blocks in front of you to support your balance.
  • Bend your knees and shorten the distance between your heels.
  • Keep your hands on your hips or utilize a chair in front of you.

Pose Description:

  1. Start in a standing position.
  2. Step out to the side as wide as comfortable to your body.
  3. Parallel your feet and root your feet firmly down.
  4. From your low belly tilt forward.
  5. “T” out your arms to help you extend your upper back.
  6. Maintain your hips vertically above your heels.
  7. Place your hands to the floor.
  8. Reach and grab your ankles to pull yourself down.
  9. Lift your heel an inch and slip your fingers underneath.
  10. Deepen slowly.
  11. Pull-on your heels to help extend deeper.
  12. Reground your feet, hug in your belly and gently release the weight of your skull to the floor.
  13. Breath here.
  14. Exit slowly.

Relax, Rest, and Practice Again. You Can Do This! You Are A Yogi!

Categories: Yoga Poses

HORSE POSE

(Horse Pose)
(Horse Pose)

Benefits:

For your body:

  • Strengthens your lumbar facia
  • Centers your whole body
  • Encourages whole-body engagement

For your mind:

  • Strengthens your focus while still being
  • Mentally connects you to slow down your body movements
  • It gives you focus on your spine and how to center yourself more.

For your spirit:

  • It gives you the confidence to overcome fear.
  • It will pass
  • You are stronger than you think right now, and this will show you how to grow.

(DISCLAIMER: DO THESE POSES TO YOUR ABILITY; YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN BODY AND WHAT YOU DO. BE SAFE, AND YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.)

Modifications:

  • Put your back on a wall.
  • Place a chair behind you to squat down on.
  • Reach your arms in front of you for a counterbalance.

Pose Description:

  1. Start in a 5-pointed star position.
  2. Bring your palms together.
  3. Stretch your spine and engage your abdominal muscles.
  4. Toes out to place your feet at 45 degrees.
  5. Bend your knees.
  6. Bring your prayer hands to your heart.
  7. Sway side to side until stillness.
  8. Maintain a flat back position.
  9. Root your soles down here. (It should feel like you are falling backward.)
  10. Relax your eyes and engage throughout your body.
  11. Go as low as your thighs become level to the ground below you.
  12. Breath here.

Relax, Rest, and Practice Again. You Can Do This! You Are A Yogi!

Categories: Balancing Poses Yoga Poses

5-POINTED STAR POSE

(Five-Pointed Star)

Benefits:

For your body:

  • It opens and stretches all the joints in your body
  • Stimulates muscle-to-bone and tendon strength
  • It gives you a connection to your spine and its alignment while strengthening.

For your mind:

  • Focus on your mind and body connection.
  • Allows you easy access to understand extension and restraint
  • Softness can calm your mind to think more clearly about the breath and body

For your spirit:

  • Well, you can recognize you’re a star.
  • It opens you to your natural height.
  • Stretches you out to center you

(DISCLAIMER: DO THESE POSES TO YOUR ABILITY; YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN BODY AND WHAT YOU DO. BE SAFE, AND YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.)

Modifications:

  • Shorten the width between your heels
  • Put your back up against a wall to help you stabilize

Pose Description:

  1. Start in a standing position.
  2. Step out to a wide-legged position.
  3. “T” out your arms.
  4. Parallel your feet and root them down firm and even.
  5. Open your palms forward and lift your arms up to 45 degrees.
  6. Reach out and root down as equally as you can.
  7. Draw into your belly to stretch your joints.
  8. Relax your neck.
  9. Breath here.

Relax, Rest, and Practice Again. You Can Do This! You Are A Yogi!

Categories: Yoga Poses