By: Vanessa Taylor
We are living in trying times. These are now the days of homeschool, curfews, and quarantine. For moms, this is especially hard. Full time working moms have to worry about childcare and meeting their children’s new educational needs. Stay at home moms now have to be teachers on top of everything else they are still responsible for. And the temporarily laid off moms have the additional worries of making ends meet and putting food on the table. But no matter your situation, just know that you got this. You are not alone and this too shall pass. The one thing that helps get me through the stress of it all is practicing yoga. And you may want to consider it for yourself too.
Yoga is the union of body, mind, and breath. Flowing through the postures helps to relieve stress and anxiety, helps build your immune system by increasing lymphatic drainage, and increases blood flow which will give you that boost of energy. Even if all you have is 15 minutes before the kids wake up to do a few postures, it can help increase your mental clarity to deal with the day ahead of you. Here are 6 beginner friendly postures that you can try today.
Easy Pose
It’s always good to start and end your practice with a moment of stillness. Sitting indian style with palms facing down, close your eyes and take a very deep breath in. Hold it for 3 counts and slowly release. Do this for 5 cycles. Benefit: Deep breathing lowers your heart rate and blood pressure. It releases tension in the body and helps reduce feelings of stress. Forward Bend
Standing straight with your legs together, raise your arms over your head to the sky and bend forward at the waist as far down as you can go. Your hands may reach your knees, shin, or toes. Dangle here for a few breaths. Slowly bring yourself back up at the waist with your head coming up last.
Benefit: Calms the mind/body, stimulates internal organs, soothes the nervous system
Warrior 1
Bring your right foot back with toes facing at a 45 degree angle. A nice wide stance here
is great. Bend into the front leg and raise both arms overhead- head and heart open to the sky. Hold and repeat with your left foot back. Benefit: The stretch in your shoulders and spine helps release stress tension and improves mental clarity. Downward Facing Dog
From a kneeling position, bring your feet/legs shoulder width apart and your hands over head on the floor. Palms flat and facing down. Flex your toes and using your hands and feet straighten your legs and poke your booty way up. Benefit: This posture brings your heart above your head which brings fresh oxygenated blood to your brain. Talk about mental clarity! It also helps relieve back pain, headaches, and fatigue. Child’s Pose
Sit back on your heels in a kneeling position. Knees can be close together or spread wide apart- whichever is comfortable for you. Bring your upper body down with arms
stretched out overhead. This pose is a symbol of surrender in the ancient tradition, so this is a great place to come and surrender to the present moment and all things in life we can’t control- like the current pandemic! Benefit: Restorative post that calms the mind and relieves stress Corpse Pose
Lie on your back with your legs straight out in front of you, and let the toes fall out. Your arms are alongside you with palms facing up. Close your eyes and just focus on your breathing. This is your final moment of stillness before you attack your day! Benefit: Relaxes your whole body and releases stress, tension, depression and fatigue. While you’re taking care of everyone around you, don’t forget to take care of yourself. Yoga requires you to just bring YOU. Practicing some postures a few minutes a day can bring you wonders. You got this mommas!
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