BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Yoga Lisa's Yoga Routine

OK this is the quick yoga routine I did outside today in the sunshine. It was lovely! I sort of "invented" this routine since I didn't want to drag my laptop out to watch a video. Any suggestions on ways to improve this?

Begin and Relax
Start by simply sitting down on the ground, cross-legged. Focus on your breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out. Let yourself slow down. If your mind wanders, refocus on the breath. You will probably feel your body begin to relax naturally. Your breathing will probably start to slow down and lengthen. Try to give yourself a good two minutes in this section, so you unwind and prepare.

Cat and Cow
Move forward and get on your hands and knees. Position your shoulders directly over your hands, and your rear directly over your knees.

Inhale, lifting your chest towards the ceiling, your stomach will sink towards the floor. Your back is arching "down". This is cow position, or Bitilasana. Look forward as you do this. Hold for a few seconds.

Exhale, arching your back up in the traditional "hissing cat" type of pose. This is Marjaryasana - cat pose. You want to look down in this pose.

Move betweeen these two poses slowly, breathing in deeply, breathing out deeply. This is not a race - it is a stretching of the spine and shoulders. Repeat this ten times.

Sky and Earth
Slowly rise to your feet. Settle yourself comfortably with your feet slightly apart, your hands at your sides. This is basic mountain pose, or Tadasana. Bring your hands together at your chest - I like to have the fingers interlaced and the pointer fingers stretched out against each other. Breathe in and raise your arms high towards the sky then lean back slightly, stretching your hands a bit behind you. Look towards your hands.

Breathe out and slowly bend down until your fingers are near the floor or touching the floor (depending on your bendiness). Do not strain yourself, but stretch well through your spine.

Breathe in and stand slowly, sweeping your arms out at your sides in a circular motion (right hand to the right, left hand to the left). Bring them in to meet in the center of your chest as you are standing fully upright, and breathe out again.

Now raise your hands again as you breathe in, starting this cycle against. Each time you go down towards the floor, you should be able to go slightly further as your body begins to stretch out. Repeat this ten times.

Dog and Cobra
Get back down into a hands and knees position. Position your shoulders directly over your hands, and your rear directly over your knees. Lift your rear until it is pointing at the sky and you form a triangle with your body. This is the classic downward facing dog pose. The aim here is to stretch out your spine and your legs. The pose is also known as Adho Mukha Svanasana. Hold this for ten seconds (adjust to your strength).

From here, slide your shoulders forward into plank pose. Plank pose is the classic "starting a push-up pose". You have your shoulders directly over your hands, and your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your toes. Again, hold for 10 seconds, more or less based on your strength.

Now lower your legs and pelvis down to the ground, but still keep your arms mostly straight and your head upright and looking forward. Your toes should be stretched out, so the top of your feet are laying on the mat. This is cobra pose - Bhujangasana. Hold for 10 seconds, again adjust to your strength.

Push your rear up into the air into downward facing dog pose again, and go through this cycle three times in total.

After the third loop of cobra pose, slide your rear end backwards to rest on your heels, and lay your chest on the floor. Lay your arms down along your sides. This is child pose, Balasana, a great way to rest and recuperate. Stay in this pose for 20 seconds, to gain some strength back. Then start another set of 3 cycles of the Dog - Plank - Cobra. Child pose to rest. A final set of 3 cycles of Dog - Plank - Cobra. End with Child pose.

Rest
The pose that most people love - corpse pose - laying flat on your back with your arms at your side. Focus on your breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out. Let your body relax. Take in the gratitude of the life you have, appreciate all of the blessings of your world.

Today I decided to add more balance items in.

After the cow-cat part I added in tree pose, doing one leg, then the other.

Then I added a pose that I swear was a yoga pose but I can't find it in any online dictionary. I stood on my right foot and took my left foot in my left hand. Then I stretched my left leg back so it formed a right angle behind me. I stretched forward with my right arm. Isn't that a pose?

Sounds like the King Dancer pose.

Aha!! That is it!! So my mistake was using one hand to hold my foot, not two hands. I will do that properly tomorrow!

Thanks so much!

Oh wait I was doing it right - there are two versions of this pose, one with the hand out in front. Cool! So now I can try both versions

Lisa,

I love doing balance poses, and I've been told by physical therapists that they pay off when you're old. You're less likely to fall down and break a hip if you have been practicing balance poses. I have one I love that seems similar to what you described. I think I made it up, but I'm not sure. I stand on one foot, grasp the other foot with the opposite hand, lean forward, extend the leg back, and reach forward with the free hand. It gives a nice front-of-thigh stretch, too. My husband says I look like the FTD florist symbol!

LOL that is great Susan, you are Mercury, god of speed!

I'm not sure what a stretched-leg version of the pose is, maybe it really is a brand new pose that you get to name!

Then I'll call it the Flower Bearer!

That's a wonderful name!

Today I was super busy trying to catch up on my email pile. I really wanted to do yoga but before I knew it was dark outside. Normally I would have given up but this time I found some candles and went out anyway.

It was *gorgeous*! I loved it so much. You never know when a "hurdle" in life is going to turn into a wonderful result!

Lisa,

Yoga by candlelight can be a wonderful thing. Several studios here offer candlelight classes and there is at least one DVD too!

I love that you are sharing your yoga routines here with us.