3 Energetic Yoga Poses

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best yoga poses, crescent lunge, downward-facing dog, energetic yoga poses, energising yoga, energy yoga, hot yoga, vinyasa yoga, wheel pose, yoga poses, Yoga With Paul

Yoga can be calming and grounding. It can also be energising. These three energetic yoga poses are perfect for recharging and revitalising the body to keep you strong, flexible and open to what each day brings.

Anjaneyasana (Crescent lunge)

This is a fantastic energising pose that activates the major muscle groups of your core and lower body, opens your heart, and gets the energy flowing along your spine.

1. Root the front foot with the knee directly above the ankle.
2. Straighten the back leg.
3. Distribute the weight back onto the toes as the rear heel pushes towards the earth.
4. Tuck the pelvis and draw the inner thighs towards each other.
5. Lift the rib cage to open your heart and lungs.
6. Extend the spine.
7. Raise the arms straight, without bending elbows or the wrists.
8. Clasp hands together or separate them with palms facing and fingers spread.
9. Breathe.
   

   Recharge with wheel pose

Wheel pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana)

Wheel pose is a challenging, invigorating posture that creates great space in the body. The amazing front body stretch and compression of the spine reverse our normal posture, rebalancing our energy and opening our hearts.

1. Lie on your back with the soles of your feet on the floor, close to your bum, feet hip width apart and parallel to the sides of the mat.
2. Place your hands on the floor just above your shoulders with fingers spread wide, finger tips pointing towards your shoulders.
3. Contract your inner thighs so they pull together, but maintain hip width distance.
4. Send your arm bones into their sockets so that you feel your shoulder blades come on to your back. Your elbows are moving towards one another but stay at shoulder width.
5. Press evenly into your feet to lift your hips and lower back off the mat.
6. Press into your palms and lift your upper torso off the mat, bringing the crown of your head to touch on the mat.
7. Check that your inner thighs and inner upper arms are still pulling towards each other, with hands and feet planted firm. Then press into your palms again to straighten the arms and lift your head off the floor.
8. Relax your neck and let it hang with gravity.

 

Adho Kukha Shvanasana (Downward-facing dog)

Downward-facing dog is a great posture for immediately activating and engaging the whole body, at the beginning of your practice, or as a reset from the stress of the day. It engages the major muscle groups, stimulates the digestion and elongates the spine.

1. Start on your hands and knees, with knees directly below your hips and your hands slightly ahead of your shoulders.
2. Place your palms with index fingers parallel and turn your toes under.
3. Exhale and lift your knees away from the floor.
4. Keep the knees slightly bent and the heels lifted away from the floor.
5. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of your pelvis then lift your sit bones.
6. Push your top thighs back and stretch your heels toward the floor.
7. Straighten your knees but be sure not to lock them.
8. Press the base of your index fingers into the floor, keeping your arms firm.
9. Lift your inner arms from the wrists to the tops of the shoulders.
10. Keep your head between the upper arms, relaxed but not hanging.

What’s your favourite energising yoga pose? Share in the comments!

Simple Yoga Poses for Abs

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Yoga is a fantastic way get great abs. Regular practice will help tighten and tone your midsection and build the muscles that support your spine. These two simple yoga poses for abs via Yoga Basics are a great way to add targeted core work to your practice.

Upward Boat Pose

1. From a seated position bend the knees, bringing the feet flat to the floor with the legs together. Slide the hands behind your hips with the fingers pointed forward and elbows bent away from you.

2. Lean back to lift the heels an inch or two off the floor. Draw the shoulder blades together to lift and open the chest.

3. Slowly begin to straighten the legs, kicking out through the heels, lifting the legs up as high as comfortable. Release the arms forward, parallel to the floor with the palms facing down. Keep the chest open and the shoulders down and back.

4. Breathe and hold for 2-6 breaths. Put as much effort into lifting the chest as you are in lifting the legs.

5. To release: exhale and bend the knees, lowering the feet back to the floor.

Benefits: Boat pose tones and strengthens the abdominal muscles, improves balance and confidence, and stretches the backs of the legs.

Plank

1. From Standing Forward Fold, step or jump both feet back 4-5 feet into a push-up position.

2. Spread the fingers wide apart with the middle finger pointing forward, press into the palms with the arms are straight. Tuck the tailbone under so the legs, hips and torso are one straight line. Press the crown of the head forward and with the toes tucked, press the heels back.

3.  Breathe and hold for 1-4 breaths.

4. To release: either bend the knees to the floor into Child pose, or bend the elbows and lower down into Kataranga.

Benefits: Plank pose builds upper and core body strength, lengthens the spine and strengthens the low back muscles.

Read more about core yoga poses at Yoga Basics.

Questions? Ask in the comments!

 

 

 

 

Are Headstands For Showoffs?

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best yoga poses, handstands, headstands, inversions, New York Times, strength yoga, yoga benefits, yoga blog, yoga postures, yoga practice, Yoga With Paul, yogi

The New York Times published an article this week called ‘Yoga For the Showoff’ about the popularity of headstands and handstands. Tongue in cheek, for sure. But is the gentle dig fair comment? Does wanting to do a headstand or handstand automatically make you a  showff?

Just last week I blogged about the benefits of headstand and as a teacher I stand by it. There are many ways inversion strengthens and supports the physical body. On that basis, even if you did headstands or handstands purely to showoff they would still make a contribution to your well being.

On a mental level, what’s wrong with being thrilled and energised by doing inversions? They’re fun. They give you a new perspective. They make you feel like a kid again. They give you confidence. That new-found confidence might mean that you more willing to speak up, stand up, take on a challenge, or assert yourself in a difficult situation. That’s not being a showoff, it’s being a strong, confident person, in mind and body.

Tweet your showoff yoga selfies to @YogaWithPaul !

photo credit: IMG_20160103_165914 via photopin (license)

Toe Stand Tips

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best yoga poses, Bikram postures, how to do toe stand, improve your yoga, strength yoga, toe stand, yoga for feet, yoga postures, yoga tips, Yoga With Paul

Toe-stand (Padangustasana) comes at the end of the standing series in Bikram, when you’ve been working hard for 40 minutes. As a result, it can be tempting to cut corners, or even skip it. However, it has great benefits for balance, strengthens the feet, ankles, legs and core, as well as increasing flexibility. In other words, it’s worth doing!

There is an excellent article in Yoga Journal that gives tips on how to improve your toe stand. By doing complementary exercises, you develop strength, balance and mental and physical agility. Below are two suggested exercises. For the full article go to Yoga Journal.

Squat

Photo via Yoga Journal

From Tadasana (Mountain Pose), place your hands in prayer position (Anjali Mudra) in front of your chest and start bending your knees, pressing your thighs and heels into one another. Lift your heels off the floor, pressing the balls of the feet down as you keep your core engaged. Maintain a long spine, trying not to hunch over or lean forward as you lower. This will help you build core strength and find your balancing point. Hold here, taking 10 deep breaths.

Skater Pose

Photo via Yoga Journal

Start seated with both knees bent in front of your chest and your feet flat on the floor. Extend your right leg out in front of you and reach for your right foot with both hands. Keep your sitting bones grounded and lift your chest. Then, when you’re ready, shift your body weight forward, pressing the foot of your bent left leg into the floor. Press down so much with your left foot that your hips and right leg lift and you find yourself balancing. This pose will increase your ankle strength and flexibility. Look at one point in front of you and take 10 deep breaths before switching sides.

Questions about toe stand? Ask in the comments or Tweet @YogaWithPaul

 

What’s Your Best Yoga Pose?

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best yoga poses, best yoga postures, hot yoga, learning yoga, mindfulness, what kind of yoga are you, yoga asanas, yoga postures, yoga practice, yoga tips, Yoga With Paul, yogi

Next time you practice yoga stop and ask yourself: What’s your best yoga pose?

Not best in a competitive sense but best for how you feel in the pose, or the sensation it gives you afterwards. Then ask yourself why you think it’s your best pose.

The answer will reveal something about where you are in your practice.

Is your best pose is one that comes easily? This is normal — we all like to feel a sense of achievement — however, beware of competitiveness. If our “best” poses are only best because they are better than someone else’s we are still comparing ourselves to others, which is not the goal of yoga.

Is your best pose one that you recently learned or improved upon? This indicates you are committed and eager to learn, which is a wonderful trait. Practicing a new posture can give great confidence and satisfaction, especially if it opens a new dimension of physical experience, such as inversions, or balancing poses.

Is your best pose one you find difficult? This is the sign of dedication and determination. Often the poses we find hard are exactly the ones our body and mind need the most, so if you are able to find joy in these challenging poses you are on your way to deepening your experience of yoga.

Is your best pose different every day? This means you love to explore and are attuned to different needs of your physical and mental being in each class. Be open to these experiences and enjoy the freshness of each new favourite.

Tell us about your best yoga pose – and why you like it – in the comments!

 

3 Tips for DIY Holiday Yoga

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best yoga poses, yoga

 

Ten days till Christmas … and no doubt several weeks worth of socialising, shopping, sorting, cooking, cleaning, organising, wrapping… Whatever your holiday observance, this time of year is hectic and tends to affect our yoga practice.

Many of us travel, studios are shut or running on limited hours. Public transport is busier than ever. In short: it can be hard to get to yoga, just when we need it the most to stay calm, fit, and mindful.

Self-practice is the perfect DIY yoga solution. Whether you do Bikram, Vinyasa, you can easily practice at home.

These are my three tips for successful self-practice over the holidays:

1. Streamline the sequence: You don’t have to do a full 90 minutes to get the benefits. Feel free to cut down to 60, 45 or even 30 minutes.
2. Work the right way: If you’re doing a short sequence, you still need to practice postures in the right order. Warm up with pranayama and the Bikram opening sequence, or some sun salutations, before attempting any challenging asanas.
3. Meditate, meditate: If the world is in a spin, lie down in savasana and let it all go. Stress builds up fast during the holidays. Embracing the mindfulness and meditation of yoga will keep you grounded, and take off the strain.

How do you keep your holiday cool? Share in the comments.