🌸 Health Benefits of Yoga Day 3 🌸

On day 3 of this yoga journey we started with 3-part breathing.

3-Part Breathing

How to do…

Lie down and breathe into your belly then ribs then chest and then exhale.

Then we did a Sun Salutation A which was explained in Health Benefits of Yoga Day 2

Poses Learned

Cat Cow Pose

How to do it…

Start on all fours

Start with cat pose – rounded back

Then the cow pose:  bended back

This is great for people with back injuries. It stretches the back and improves alignment. It also helps pain in the back.

Cat

Cow

Thunder Bolt
How to do it…

Kneeling on the feet

Toes untucked

This is great for the feet as we walk on them all day long. This pose stretches them the opposite way they normally are. Pay attention to how your knees feel in case they are sensitive.

Hero

How to do it…

Kneeling, toes untucked

Move your calf muscles and put your feet beside your hips

This is a great thigh stretch. Pay attention to how your knees feel in case they are sensitive.

Cobra

How to do it…

Start flat on the belly, press into feet and pelvis, there should be very little pressure in the hands.

Go into child’s pose right after cobra as it strains the back. Child’s pose is a counter pose to cobra to balance the stretch.

Child’s pose reminder:

Forward Fold 

How to do it…

Sit on the floor, legs extended, press into your heels, feet flexed, lengthen spine and back of legs, breathe in open the heart, breathe out go down into forward fold

Side Fold 

How to do it…

Same steps at forward fold, do one leg at a time instead of both at the same time

Yoga has a lot of mental health benefits…

We ended the session with meditation. We sat in silence in kneeling position. We focused on our breathe. Reprogram the mind that thoughts do not control us. We control what will affect us and what we focus on. We need to be able to look at our thoughts and not be affected. To view them as something passing by. It can’t change our mood. We need to be selective with our mind, what thoughts can come in and affect us and what thoughts can’t. Mediation is harder than it seems but very healthy for the soul. It feeds the soul and instills confidence.

More lessons from yoga:

Be mindful

Do things with intention: do one thing at a time, put care, time, focus and purpose into what you do. We can continue to do things for eternity if we focus on one at a time.

Mat is a sacred place, outside situations or thoughts aren’t brought to the mat

*

Yoga teaches us more than poses. It’s a lifestyle. It encourages taking care of yourself: mind, body and soul. It encourages peace and harmony.

Love always,

Annabel xoxo

 

<a href=”https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/18819301/?claim=5ydwsgjzjba”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>