Being Your best Self.

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That’s what yoga means, being your best self, emotionally, physically,mentally etc. You educate your body to listen more deeply.
1.How do you breathe? Dysfunctional breathing could be due to tightly held muscles. 2. How do you relax? Can you let go at will? 3.How is your posture? do you keep reminding yourself of the perfection of mountain pose?4. do you consciously move with good biomechanics?
How do you rate 1-10?
Do some simple deep yogic breathing and stretches.
Warm ups.
Banana stretch 3x each side ……………………Breath of fire in bridge 10x
baby pose. rocking 6x ……………………………….shoulder practice in pairs
Winder pose 6x …………………………………………..massage shoulders using squidgy balls.
side stretches 3x each side with side cycling.
supine tree with 5 gates breathing on each side.
scissors splits into plough 3x
Seated.
1.Dantien massage 2. turtle breath& massage soles, calves , thighs 3. Elbow plank pressups 6×4. 4. cobra with block. 5. lizard. each side 6. flying fish each side.
Standing.
1.Sun Salute. 2.Standing twists.3. Qi Balloon dance..
4.Using a wall.
Stretch one leg to wall … come down to lunge 6x each side
………………………………………..forward bend
………………………………………..side stretch
………………………………………..side twist
………………………………………..half moon
………………………………………….aeroplane

5.Moon prayer sequence both sides
6. Shakti Banda
a) Vajrasana 2 minutes b)Padadirasana. 1 minute each side c) palming eyes.
to be continued next week.
Autogenic relaxation 15 minutes.

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YOGA YOUR BRAIN AND STRESS 21.1.16

Yoga practice.

Science tells us the reason yoga has such beneficial effects is mainly because when we concentrate on a challenging posture the cognitive side of the brain gets busy dealing with the physical details and is thus able to turn off the stress. The more you challenge the cognitive ( Left side of the brain) the more effective it becomes at releasing stress. Similarly the emotional side of the brain ( the right side) releases emotional stress as you breathe through the left nostril if only for a few minutes.
Breathing practice.

1. Left hand on heart and right hand Lower Dantien… breathing in as belly inflates …right up to heart and out as belly deflates. 3x
2. Five gates breath. Breathing in from soles of feet, palms of hands,belly, thoat, skull and out from skull back down to feet.3x
3. Cosmic breath seated. 3x
4. Close right nostril with thumb and breathe only with left nostril for 2 minutes.

2)Warm ups. Pulsing, slow motion, cycling, gyrating and pendulum, V rocks, supine archer, square breath, facial exercises in seated posture( Giraffe,goldfish, puffer fish, lion, chin over shoulder, dropping chin back)

3.Seated.
Coffee grinding.3x each side. shoulder massage with tune up balls, shoulder rotations, rooster spreads his wings for wrists, wrist work in cat,
Arm swings 3x each side. table dancing 3x each side. turtle breathing pose.
Full camel 2x rest in child pose. Wide angle pose. Cat to tiger sequence.
Lunge practice with side twist. Both sides. Down dog with raised leg . bent knee and rotations.

4. Standing.
Standing cat. 4x…. warrior sequence. Both sides. Krishna dance pose and rise and flow
dancer in pairs.
Rainbow qigong dance. Both sides. Moon rise and flow.3x
Moon over water. Both sides.
End practice. Seated Om Mani padme Hum.
Relaxation. Autogenic practice. 10 minutes.

Om Shanti.