Covid-19 Update

Boost Your Energy With Yoga

Eating the right diet for yoga, sleeping enough, and keeping well hydrated go a long way towards feeling full of vitality and focus. However, we live in a busy world. Managing the above components is not always easy. Yoga, with its unique synergy of body and breath work, is perfect when your reserves are running low.

Using Yoga to Boost Your Energy

Yoga poses for energy focus on bringing ‘Prana’, life force, back into the body. Effective poses are those that extend the spine allowing energy to circulate throughout the whole body, and poses that open the chest, encouraging the intake of more breath – the ‘Prana’. Certain poses work on other aspects of creating energy. Evoking empowerment, and strength, when you are feeling weak and depleted, revitalizes. Grounding and stabilizing poses balance energy-zapping agitation. Certain conscious breathing techniques ‘Pranayama’ create calm. Others fuel your body with uplifting energy.

Unblock stagnant energy and release blood flow by stretching through the spine and opening the chest. Here’s how:

Mountain Pose Toe Lifts (Tadasana)

With your feet flat on the floor, legs hip distance apart, and arms by your sides, take a deep inhalation and lift your arms up above your head, coming up onto your ties and opening your heart and chest. Exhale and bring your arms and feet slowly back down. Repeat the sweeping, and lifting, and dropping, motion several times.

Cat Pose (Marjaryasana)   

cat-yoga-pose

Kneel on all fours with your knees hip distance apart, your hands under your shoulders and your toes curled to the floor. Exhale and arch your spine upwards, pulling your abdominal muscles in. Move your head downwards. Inhale and keeping your hips in place, drop your weight creating an inverted curve in your spine. Lifting your chest and head. Face forwards. Use one long, flowing motion. Repeat several times.

 

Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) 

cobra-yoga-pose

Lie on your stomach with your legs together, the tops of your feet flat and your toes pointing away from you. Bring your hands to the sides of your shoulders, pressed into the floor. Rest your chin. Face forwards. Exhale, lift your chest from the floor, straightening your arms, creating a deep curve, and stretch, in your spine. Open across the front of the body. Keep your hips down and look ahead. Hold this position. Inhale. Return to a rest position.

For grounding, stabilizing, and empowering use the following poses:

Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)

 

stabilizing-yoga-pose

Stand with your legs wide apart in a triangle. Turn your right foot 90 degrees and your left foot angled slightly towards you to create balance. Face towards your right foot. Try not to tilt, or twist, the hips. Raise your arms so that they are vertical to the floor. Look towards your right and bend the right leg so your thigh is horizontal to the floor. Feel the strength through your thighs and core muscles. Hold. Repeat the position on the other side.

Tree Pose (Vriksasana)  

tree-yoga-pose

Balancing positions ground and calm your mind, increasing clarity. Stand, feet hip distance apart. Splay your toes so that your weight is evenly distributed. Lengthen your spine and face forwards. Exhale, lift your right leg and rest the instep of your foot on your upper thigh, creating a triangle. If too difficult, place on your lower leg, (though not at the knee joint). Focus in front of you. Take slow breaths to enhance stability. Bring your hand into a prayer position in front of your heart. Exhale, raise your hands and create a triangle above your head, crossing your thumbs. Reverse the motions to release. Repeat on the other side of your body.

What’s your favorite yoga move for re-energizing? Let us know in the comments or stop by our yoga studio in Delray Beach!