| Thursday Thirteen #1: Thirteen Yoga Poses
In keeping with my take on last week’s centered theme, I thought I’d share with you 13 yoga poses - some that I like, and some that I don’t. This is my first Thursday Thirteen. We’ll see whether I can actually come with 13 things to talk about each week, but we’ll give it a try for now.
- Child’s Pose: This can be a good pose to get you into your yoga for the day. It’s a gentle stretch, low to the ground, and is a good place to start focusing on your breathing.
- Chaturanga: Ah, push-up pose. I’ve never been terribly good at push-ups, and Chaturanga is made especially hard by forcing you to keep your elbows closer to body. It makes you work your triceps a lot more, and my triceps have never really been my strongest muscle group.
- Crow: Every now and then, I’m asked to do a yoga pose where I have to balance entirely on my arms. Mainly, these involve me flailing around, occasionally getting into the pose for a few seconds. More often than not, however, I end up falling on the floor. With Crow, I can almost do the pose, but only when my elbows are bent.
- Half-Moon: I like half-moon, but it’s surprisingly hard to keep my balance.
- Cat
- Cow: Cat and Cow go hand in hand. You inhale as you go into cow, opening your chest, dropping your belly, and as you exhale you move into cat - rounding the back and dropping the head. I like doing this sequence, and it’s a good warm up to your practice.
- Triangle: I also like triangle. It’s not too technically difficult, but you can focus and really get a good stretch out of it. Plus, I think it looks cool.
- Eagle: Seriously. This pose is crazy. It’s a remarkably good stretch through the shoulders and arms when I get the top half right, but my legs just can’t wrap around themselves all that well. Keeping your balance is hard!
- Reverse Warrior: I always feel graceful in reverse warrior, although I have to be careful in any of the warrior poses to protect my knees.
- Pigeon: I love pigeon. Anyone who has seen me knows that I don’t sit in normal positions, so pigeon is quite natural for me. You can do a forward bend from this pose, and I could just stay there for quite some time. Comfy.
- Tree: Tree amuses me, and I’m not quite sure why. It’s a pose I don’t think I’ve ever really done during a yoga class, but it’s one I just like to do anyway.
- Dead Bug’s Pose: The first time I heard of dead bug’s pose I had to laugh, but it really is a good description. Lie on your back, grab your toes and let your legs drop open. It’s a good pose as you’re finishing up - a relaxing stretch.
- Savasana: The end of your yoga practice. Relaxation. Surrender. Good night. ::ashoo::
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I have about as much grace as a weeble wooble. So, I will take your word for it on all of these… I may be willing to do a lot for a ‘yoga butt’… except… maybe yoga. I would get hurt. Probably badly.
Great tt!
I used to do yoga.. then I stopped. Which was bad because I’m so awkward that beginning again makes me feel foolish.
Just between you and me… If a yoga practitioner falls in the living room, and no one is there to see or hear them, do we still make a noise?
TT’s posted here and here.
Kelly - I have almost as much grace as you do - one of the reasons I’m doing yoga. I always end up hurting my ankles by being clumsy, and on many of the balance poses I end up on the ground or having to come out of it.
Deanna - No need to feel foolish when doing yoga. We practice our yoga in the privacy of our living room. We’d probably benefit from a real class every now and then, but at least this is a start.
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