yoga talk...

Vasisthasana: Side Plank Pose

Vasistha literally means "most excellent, best, or richest"... Not only does this pose strengthen your abdominals, arms and legs, it also stretches the wrists and improves your sense of balance.

Try incorporating it into your next workout, holding at least 20-30 seconds on each side.

. . .

"How you do anything, is how you do everything"

Extend Yourself

UTTHITA PARSVAKONASANA (Extended Side Angle Pose)

To get there:

• Start with your feet more that hip distance apart, toes facing the long side of your mat.
• Point your right toes towards the top of your mat and keep your left foot parallel with the back of your mat.
• Line up your back arch and front heel and ensure that you can see your right big toe on the inside of your front knee.
• Lunge deeply through your front leg and bring your right elbow to your right knee. Sweep your left arm up overhead and bring the gaze to your left bicep.
• Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute and come up on an inhale by reaching your left arm towards the ceiling.
• Reverse the feet and hold for same amount of time on the opposite side.

Benefits:

• Stretches and strengthens the legs, knees, and ankles
• Stretches the groin, waist, chest, lungs, and shoulders
• Promotes core strength by stimulating abdominals

Therapeutic Applications:

• Promotes digestions
• Helps low back ache and menstrual discomfort
• Osteoporosis
• Infertility

Prenatal Yoga Poses

One of my Mom-To-Be clients emailed me today asking for some yoga poses not only suitable for pregnant women, but also specifically for back pain relief.

Below are 5 poses that can be done on there own or as a sequence as a way to help with a sore back whether your are pregnant or not :)

Cat/Cow- Great for stretching the full upper back and relieving pressure from the lower back. As you inhale drop your chest and belly to the floor (2nd image). As you exhale press into both hands like you are pushing the floor away from you. Round out your spine and repeat 10-15 times.

Baddha Konasana (Butterfly Pose)- This pose will open your hips and is great for meditation or relaxation. If you are pregnant, try sitting up against a wall to support your back. Focus on keeping the shoulders pulled back, and free of tension.

Prasarita Padotanasana (Standing Forward Fold)- This posture is perfect if you need a little energizing in the middle of your day... Not only will you open up your hips, lower back, and hamstrings, the inversion you create will also bring a fresh supply of blood and oxygen to your brain and other limbs. Please note, that this pose should only be done if your body is warm already.

Seated Forward Fold- A less intense version of the previous posture as there is no inversion here, and you are more supported by being seated. Focus should be on bringing the chest towards the ground and keeping length through your spine rather than rounding the shoulders.

Bridge Pose- While this pose does wonders for tired legs it is also a starting off point for Pendulum Pose... After holding bridge for 3-5 breaths, come down onto your back while keeping the knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Take one full inhale, and as you exhale slowly drop your knees to the right. On your next inhale slowly come back to the centre and repeat on the left side. Complete 10-12 times on each side.

Defying Gravity...

Today some of the instructors and trainers at Steve Nash got a special class with the creator of Antigravity Yoga, Chris Harrison. A former dancer and world class gymnast, this New Yorker ran us through crazy inversions, soothing stretches, and a floating meditation that completely

ROCKED MY WORLD!

If you can make it to a class, Do it! Do it! Do it!

YOGA in YALETOWN!

Flow Yoga @ 7-8pm Tuesday nights!

Located at Homer and Davie. Drop in $15. All levels welcome.

Twisting it Out.

At this time of year where superfluous drinking and eating is the norm, a great way to detoxify your body is through any kind of twist. Below are two poses that don't require much balance and can be held for a longer period of time to really feel the benefits. Traditional Sanskrit texts say that twists have the ability to increase appetite, destroy most deadly diseases, and awaken kundalini, a spiritual energy that lies dormant in our body until we awaken it.

Try holding each pose for 60 seconds, bring the spine back to neutral and then move to the other side. You can repeat this as many times as feels good.

Twisted Malasana
- Tones belly
-Stretches groin, ankles and back torso
-Energizes the spine

Half Lord of the Fishes Pose
- Stimulates liver and kidneys
-Stimulates digestion
-Relieves cramps
-Therapeutic for asthma

Turn Your World Upside Down

Adho Mukha Svasana Downward Facing Dog

Balasana Child's Pose

When I first started yoga the idea of holding a handstand was completely daunting and something only the real "yogis" did. However, since dedicating myself to a more vigourous practice as well as learning the therapeutic benefits of inversions, this pose is one I aim for daily.

Benefits include:
- Calming the mind to help with depression

- Stimulation of the pituitary gland- ie the control center in our brain that releases hormones which help us function properly

- Stimulation of the Pineal gland which is located at out third eye (in between the two eyebrows). Related to the 6th chakra the third eye promotes imagination, psychic ability and dreaming.

- Strengthens lungs

- Tones abdominal organs

- Improves digestion

- Helps relieve symptoms of menopause

- Therapetuic for insomnia and asthma.

Amazing that just flipping your body upside down can have such a positive affect on your health. The real beauty of inversions is that you don't have to balance in handstand to reap the rewards... Other variations of the same action include Child's Pose and Downward Facing Dog.... Add one or both to your stretching regimen and see what happens.