OUR PROS Teacher and model Mary Beth LaRue is a Los Angeles–based yoga instructor and life-design coach. She loves riding her bike,
scribbling ideas over coffee, and taking long road trips with her family (including her English bulldog, Rosy). Inspired by her teachers Schuyler Grant,
Elena Brower, and Kia Miller, LaRue has been teaching yoga for more than eight years, helping others connect to their inner bliss.
She co-founded Rock Your Bliss, a yoga-inspired coaching company that helps clients “make shift happen.” Learn more at marybethlarue.com.
Writer Christine Chen is the author of Happy-Go-Yoga: Simple Poses to Relieve Pain, Reduce Stress, and Add Joy and a teacher at Laughing Lotus Yoga
Center in New York City. She has studied with Cyndi Lee and Dana Flynn. Learn more at christinechenyoga.com.
- UTKATA KONASANA (GODDESS POSE)
From Down Dog, come to standing and bring your feet
one leg’s distance apart; spin your legs and toes out about
45 degrees. Bend your knees deeply to create a 90-degree
angle between your quads and shins, and press your
knees open so that they align directly with the center of
your feet. Draw your low belly in and your tailbone down.
Position your torso right over your pelvis as you reach
the crown of your head toward the sky. Place your palms
together at your heart in Anjali Mudra (Salutation Seal).
Try to hold this posture for 1 minute; while you breathe
here, find organic movement as you shift slightly from
side to side, or even forward and back, grounding through
your heels and toes. - VIRABHADRASANA II (WARRIOR POSE II)
From Goddess, turn your hips to the right as you spin your
back heel and plant it flat on the mat, parallel to the short
edge of your mat or with left toes turned in just slightly.
Line up your front heel with the arch of your back foot.
Extend evenly through both arms and hands. Direct your
gaze over your right middle finger. Move your right knee
directly over your right ankle, aligning your knee in the
direction of your second and third toes. Breathe for 6 to 8
full cycles. As you lunge forward in this powerful standing
posture, remain receptive to all that’s occurring within you.
Allow sensations, thoughts, and emotions to move through
you with ease by simply reminding yourself that each
experience is impermanent.
- VIPARITA VIRABHADRASANA
(REVERSE WARRIOR POSE)
Keep your legs just as they are in Warrior II, but flip
your right palm up and begin to stretch back, reversing
your Warrior as you slide your left hand down your back
leg. Open into a deep sidebend. Aim for a 90-degree angle
between your right shin and quad, working your thigh
toward parallel with your mat. At the same time, create
a softer shape through your upper body. Let go of the idea
that this needs to a be a “perfect” posture and instead
feel into the shape, making any needed intuitive or creative
adjustments. Hold for 6 to 8 breaths. Come back to Goddess,
then repeat Warrior II and Reverse Warrior on the left side.
Finish in Goddess.
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