Good morning... its time to stretch
I start with a few gentle breaths to waken the body.. here goes.. Tadasana - mountain pose
Inhale through the nose and stretch your arms up and above your head, keeping feet grounded and close together..letting the in breath inflate your chest
exhale through the mouth, returning the arms back down to the sides of the body, noticing how the chest deflates on the out breath.. repeat this several times making the breath deeper with each breath..filling the lungs with fresh oxygen and expelling the stale breath
focus and keep breath smooth and controlled... try to stretch as tall as possible ( keep upper body soft and legs strong, knee caps lifted )
A few sun salutations to warm up the body as seen in previous posts...
and onto some side body stretches... ( some of my favourite asanas )
Starting off in an easy seated side stretch- parsva sukhasana. This is an excellent stretch for the waist and side of the body, including the neck and shoulders.
I find this beneficial for my obliques and back, a part of the body that I dont usually stretch in my usual day to day movements.
This is one of the asana that I have seen noticeable improvement since i started practising yoga. I love the lengthening that I feel from doing this pose.
A more advanced asana can
be seen here Parivrtta janu sisasana ( seated side stretch ) it also shows which muscles are being used.This gives the sides of the body a fantastic stretch as seen in the diagrams, it has many benefits including opening and lengthening the side of the body and intercostal muscles between the ribs.
It also massages the abdominal organs improving digestion.
It is important to keep both sitting bones down and to keep lengthening before stretching over to side.
