Do you have a favorite yoga pose - one you hope to keep doing forever? If so, which pose is it and why?

I asked that very question to Karen Allen, the star of the Raiders of the Lost Ark series. She ran a yoga studio for several years and still loves doing yoga! She is an amazing woman

She said:

"Janu Sirasana [sitting, bringing your head to your knee] is one of my favorites just because it felt so great in terms of both stretching my hamstrings and lower back - who doesn't need that! Tadasana [mountain pose] is a fantastic pose just because it's really the most simple and yet the most difficult pose. Shavasana [corpse pose] is also a favorite pose because it's really the reward of your practice, the shavasana where you just lay down in a pose at the end of your practice. If you've done a good practice and if you've been really focused and you've breathed really deeply and clearly and if you've really opened up your system, you can actually have a profound experience of your interior self. You can actually have a unique thought! Which is hard to come by these days, we're so in constant response to things around us, we're so over stimulated by our environment. It's so rare to have a thought that isn't stimulated by something we're taking in through our eyes or our ears."

For me personally I love doing tree pose. It stretches out my spine, it helps my balance and it really feels "good" all over.

Lisa,

I was so excited when I read about Karen's love of yoga in your interview transcript. Thanks for taking the time to share the details here!

I love tree too. In addition to all the wonderful benefits you mentioned, I think it helps me get mentally centered as well.

Are there any poses for learning how to the split, since yoga lossens the limbs a lot?

Kimmie, any of the poses that stretch the hips will ease your way into splits, but you have to realize that everyone's bones are connected a little differently, so poses that are no problem for one person can be impossible for another one. Push to your edge but not over it into damage.
You can try wide leg downward dog, and wide leg forward fold with the goal of finally getting your head to touch the ground. Pigeon is good for loosening the hips, too. You need to lengthen the hamstrings too and the whole spectrum of warrior poses, forward folds and downward dog help there. It may take constant practise for a long time to get your hips and hamstrings loose enough for splits or, like me, it may never happen. But yoga is all about the journey, and all the stops along the way are good.

Great advice regarding the preparatory poses for full splits, Claybird! Like, you I have a body that may never be able to execute them completely either. It's fun observing the progress that occurs over time though, isn't it?

Thanks Claybird. I'll try them out. I'm planning to incorporate yoga more into my exercise regime. I hear its good for women's limbs and muscles as they age. I've just hit my 40's and would like to stay limber. Again thanks.

I wouldn't call it my favorite, but I'm really feeling the need to do pigeon pose.

One of my favorites is Warrior II followed by tree.

I know what you mean. Sometimes what we need the most is what we avoid. Pigeon is a great way to stretch the hips and quads, areas that tend to be tight for so many of us. I have found that the more I stretch my hips the better my low back feels so I keep coming back to it.

Sun Salute

I have been doing tree pose whenever we go out shopping, if Bob is staring at something for a while. He does that sometimes, if we go to a hardware store, he'll stand pondering his options and I'll go into tree pose for a while. I've gotten much better at the pose, and it helps to pass the time calmly!

I like the child's pose. It allows me to recuperate after I try to keep up with the yoga teacher.

I want to comment that I've gotten so calm about tree pose that I just do it anywhere now, I don't even think about people maybe looking at me I'm amazed at how much easier it's gotten, with my regular practice! It's great for passing the time in line

Hi Lisa,

It's great that you are able to do tree with such ease! Now, may be time to kick it up a notch. I have one yoga teacher who likes to encourage us to try tree with our eyes closed - give it a try and see how it goes.