YOGA @ HOME
Relieve Anxiety
Elizabeth Reumont shows us 8 poses that really work
- Downward Facing Dog
(Adho Mukha Śvānāsana)
Start on your hands and knees, shoulders
over wrists, knees under hips. Tuck toes
under, extend arms by spreading fingers and
pushing floor away. Through bent knees,
press sitbones back to heels, lift knees away
from floor and extend legs. Continue to draw
shoulders away from the floor, lift hips and
sitbones up, drawing the heels towards the
floor. Release the weight of the head with ears
alongside upper arms. Stay 10 breaths, evenly
inhaling and exhaling.- Teepee Twist
Come to sit down. Extend your legs in front of you. Place your hands
next to your knees, then bend your knees and place your feet between
hands. Squeeze your inner ankles and knees together, wrap left
forearm around both legs and bring right hand behind right hip. Twist
to the right, stay five breaths lengthening the spine on each inhale,
twisting deeper on each exhale.
Spinal twists, inversions, hip openers and front extensions all have a calming affect on the body.
Twisting the spine aids in letting go of stressful storylines and ‘resets’ the core of the body. It
also helps the psoas, the fight or flight muscle, to release. Front extensions further lengthens
the psoas, with hip opening both helpful in lengthening the psoas as well as releasing the
muladhara chakra area, a place we store tension in basic survival situations. When we invert, it is
another chance for the body and mind to reset, literally flipping our world upside down to gain a
different perspective.- Uttanasana Variation
Walk feet behind wrists. Plug down equally between hands and feet,
extending legs and arms. Release head down, draw belly in towards
spine. Stay 10 breaths, evenly inhaling and exhaling.
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om body