Video: Vinyasa w/Abs & Warriors

Here's a six minute vinyasa with abs & warrior variations I made. Next time I do a video I'll have to remember to go slowly because when I do the voice recording over it I feel like I'm going so fast! Ah well, I'll remember for next time.

Yoga Tip: Reverse Prayer Hands

Reverse prayer pose, or pashchima namaskarasana, is an intermediate position for the hands. It's great for anyone who deals with wrist pain, and great for the upper back. Plus, sometimes it's just nice to switch up subtle aspects of your practice to go a little deeper.

How to do it: 

1. Start standing or seated, spine long. Inhale. On your exhale, bring your arms behind you, fingers pointing towards the ground, palms lightly together. Inhale and rotate your arms so your fingers point towards you, and then to the sky. Your hands may come apart here (like mine do), and that's ok so long as you're moving in a pain-free range of motion.

2. Exhale and lightly press the pinkies into your back as you press your palms together. Collar bones broad, spine long. Breathe here, relaxing into the pose. Come out gently.

Tip: This might be really intense for someone with tight wrists or a tight chest. If you're finding this too challenging, just reach your hands back and, instead of creating prayer hands, spread your fingers wide and lay the back of one palm on your back, and press the back of the second palm on top of that hand. Then, in time, work your way to reverse prayer. Always stay within a pain-free range.

Benefits: Strengthens the wrists and forearms. Stretches elbows and shoulders. 

Yoga Tip: Upward Facing Dog

Urdhva mukha svanasana, also known as upward facing dog, is a recurring asana in sun salutations and since we do it so often I thought it'd be helpful to give some tips about the posture.

How to do it:

1. Start on your stomach, legs straight behind you, tops of the feet resting on the mat. Hands planted into the mat by your armpits, elbows in tight to the body, forehead on the mat. Inhale. Exhale.

2.On your next inhale, push into the tops of the feet and the hands, pulling yourself slightly forward and up off the mat. Wrists, elbows and shoulders are in line with each other. Draw the shoulder blades toward each other so the collar bones are broad. Legs are engaged, buttocks is firm. Head slightly back. Breathe deeply here.

3. To come out, you can either roll over the toes into downward dog, or lower yourself gently to the mat.

Tip: Only your hands and tops of the feet are on the mat in the pose.

Benefits: Stretches the chest, lungs and abs. Strengthens wrists, arms and shoulders. Firms the buttocks and stimulates the abs.

Movement: Full Dancer's

In the tech world, I sometimes feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. Then, every once in a while, I stumble upon really cool things like learning how to make a gif (is that how you say it? learning how to gif? I don't know). This will be really helpful for explaining how to do different poses. Yeah! Gif for the yoga blog win!

Yoga Tip: Dancer's Pose

Dancer's pose, or natarajasana in Sanskrit, is one of my favorite poses. There are so many ways to express the pose- some people point their extended arm to the sky while others stretch it out in front of them; some keep their torsos parallel to the ground while others keep it more erect. There's really no "wrong" way to do the pose. As long as you make sure your alignment is in check, don't worry if you see it done multiple ways. Here's how I like to do dancer's:

Step 1: Set the foundation in tadasana- mountain pose. Stand tall, feet together. Tuck the tail bone under slightly for a long spine. Shoulders back, collar bones broad. Engage the knee caps. Look straight ahead and find a drishti. Focus on that one point and breathe.

Step 2: Inhale the right arm to the sky and turn your left palm away from you with a counter clockwise rotation. Without actually moving, shift your weight into your right leg.

Step 3: As you exhale, bend your left knee behind you, reaching the heel of your left foot to your left buttocks. Keeping your left palm away from you, grab the arch of your left foot. The left hand is really important, so make sure the palm is away from you and you're grabbing the arch of the foot. Once you're in this position, breathe. For some of you, this might be enough of a sensation and you may want to stay right here, breathing and lengthening. If you're not at your edge here, then move on to the third step: 

Step 4: As you inhale, gaze at your drishti and send your body forward, right arm extended out in front of you. Kick your left leg up behind you and push out of the ball of the foot. Keep the right kneecap raised, and feel length from the right heel all the way through the ball of the left foot. Keep with your breath here, making sure your right arm and hand are energized. Quiet expression, full breath. After five to ten breaths, come out as gracefully as you went in and repeat on the other side.

Benefits: Improves balance. Stretches the arms and chest. Stretches the thighs, groins, and abs.

Tips: Use your drishti! Having that focal point is so important to balancing in this posture. One thing that helps me is keeping the back leg active. If I try to raise the leg and it's limp, I fall without fail. When it is energized and the muscles are engaged, the pose comes easier. 

Yoga Tip: Upward Plank Pose

Upward plank pose, or purvottanasana for you Sanskrit lovers, is a great pose to stretch the front body, ankles and wrists. It helps to combat fatigue as well, so a great pose to do when you need to feel more alert. Here's how it's done: 

Step 1: Start in Dandasana, staff pose. Sit tall, legs extended, feet flexed. Palms should press into the floor (if you can reach), shoulders back, collarbones broad. Inhale. 

Step 2: Upon exhaling, bring your hands about eight inches behind you. Feet are still flexed, spine long. 

Step 3: As you inhale, push your toes to the ground and lift your pelvis to the sky. If it feels right for you, drop your head back. Breathe here, feeling the stretch across the entire front body, from the tops of the feet all the way through the arms and shoulders. Exhale and come back to your starting pose Dandasana.