Beginning Your Yoga Workout.

Beginning Your Yoga Workout.
Yoga is less workout and more mind-body exploration. Yoga
is not exactly about sweating as you push your body into
exercise mode. However, the term "workout" will be used
loosely for simplicity's sake.

Here is a good way to start your yoga plan. Begin with the
"easy pose". Easy pose is a comfortable seated position for
meditation. This pose opens the hips, lengthens the spine,
and promotes grounding and inner calm. You will be sitting
crossed legged like you did in school and as your teacher
probably used to say "Criss cross apple sauce".

With the buttocks on the floor, cross your legs and place
your feet directly below your knees. Rest your hands on
your knees with the palms facing up. Press your hip bones
down into the floor and reach the crown of the head up to
lengthen the spine. Drop your shoulders down and back and
press your chest towards the front of the room. Relax your
face, jaw, and belly. Let your tongue rest on the roof of
your mouth just behind your front teeth. Breathe deeply
through the nose down into the belly and hold as long as is
comfortable.

Downward-Facing Dog. After the easy pose, move into
downward-facing dog. This is one of the most widely
recognized yoga poses. Downward-Facing Dog is an all-over,
rejuvenating stretch. This yoga pose is known to calm the
brain and help relieve stress and mild depression, energize
the body, stretch the shoulders, hamstrings, calves,
arches, and hands, strengthen the arms and legs, relieve
the symptoms of menopause and much more.

Use caution doing this pose if you have carpal tunnel
syndrome, are in the late stages of pregnancy, or suffer
from high blood pressure. Come onto the floor on your hands
and knees. Set your knees directly below your hips and your
hands slightly forward of your shoulders. Spread your
palms, index fingers parallel or slightly turned out, and
turn your toes under. Exhale and lift your knees away from
the floor. At first keep the knees slightly bent and the
heels lifted away from the floor. Lengthen your tailbone
away from the back of your pelvis and press it lightly
toward the pubis. Against this resistance, lift the sitting
bones toward the ceiling, and from your inner ankles draw
the inner legs up into the groins. Then with an exhalation,
push your top thighs back and stretch your heels onto or
down toward the floor. Straighten your knees but be sure
not to lock them. Firm the outer thighs and roll the upper
thighs inward slightly. Narrow the front of the pelvis.
Firm the outer arms and press the bases of the index
fingers actively into the floor. From these two points,
lift along your inner arms from the wrists to the tops of
the shoulders. Firm your shoulder blades against your back
then widen them and draw them toward the tailbone. Keep the
head between the upper arms; don't let it hang. Stay in
this pose anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes. Then bend your
knees to the floor with an exhalation and rest.

Sun Salutations. On days when you think you have no time
for yoga, try and do at least one or two rounds of the Sun
Salutation. You'll feel the difference. After
downward-facing dog, move into 3 rounds of sun salutations.
Stand facing the direction of the sun with both feet
touching. Bring the hands together, palm-to-palm, at the
heart. Inhale and raise the arms upward. Slowly bend
backward, stretching arms above the head. Exhale slowly
bending forward, touching the earth with respect until the
hands are in line with the feet, head touching knees.
Inhale and move the right leg back away from the body in a
wide backward step. Keep the hands and feet firmly on the
ground, with the left foot between the hands. Raise the
head. While exhaling, bring the left foot together with the
right. Keep arms straight, raise the hips and align the
head with the arms, forming an upward arch. Exhale and
lower the body to the floor until the feet, knees, hands,
chest, and forehead are touching the ground. Inhale and
slowly raise the head and bend backward as much as
possible, bending the spine to the maximum. While exhaling,
bring the left foot together with the right. Keep arms
straight, raise the hips and align the head with the arms,
forming an upward arch. Inhale and move the right leg back
away from the body in a wide backward step. Keep the hands
and feet firmly on the ground, with the left foot between
the hands. Raise the head. Exhale slowly bending forward,
touching the earth with respect until the hands are in line
with the feet, head touching knees. Inhale and raise the
arms upward. Slowly bend backward, stretching arms above
the head. Stand facing the direction of the sun with both
feet touching. Bring the hands together, palm-to-palm, at
the heart.

Feeling the benefits of yoga already? You're probably
already convinced that it's your kind of thing!

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Patrick Carpen is the designer, writer and owner of the
website http://yoga.infobay.ws/
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