Yoga at Home with Laura, Self-taught Yogi!

Yoga at Home: Excellent Beginner's Yoga Video! - Mountain Pose Demo

 

Greetings.  To date, I have rarely found videos for beginning yogis that are well done.  Too many jump right into showing the pose with very little explanation and assume a base of knowledge that few beginners have.  However, a couple of days ago, my email in-box brought an excellent video for the beginner which shows you how to do the moutain pose.

Here is why I think this youtube video (which only has just under about 500 views so far) of the yoga mountain pose is ideal for the beginner:

1)  The instructor, Robin Downes, speaks clearly and slowly.

2)  She explains the purpose of the pose and shows how to do it step-by-step, literally from the toes to one's head.

3)  She doesn't just toss out the yoga sanskrit terms (in layman terms, sanskrit is an ancient language of India) rapid fire (as so many yoga instructors do) and assume the beginner is following along.  She links them effectively to her demonstration of the mountai pose.

4)  She emphasizes the importance of proper breathing and shows you how to do it.

4)  She has "real, regular people" in her video.  She appears "real" herself.

5)  In short, she makes the pose accessible to the beginners.

6)  I enjoyed watching this succinct explanation of a basic yoga pose.

Watch it now! It takes less than 3 minutes.

 

 

 Yours for learning how to do yoga at home with clear, succinct explanations!

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, the Beginners Yoga at Home Mentor,

 

Yoga at Home: Backward Handclasp -Great for Loosening Tight Shoulders!

Do you ever wake up in the morning with stiff shoulders?  Are you guilty of hunching over your computer at work only to realize an hour or two later how tight your rotator cuffs and shoulders feel?  Well, I have a simple (although not necessarily easy to do at first) yoga "fix" for such problems.  It's called the yoga backward handclasp or shoulder stretch and it's perfect for getting tight kinks out of your shoulder blades, rotator cuffs, and upper arms.  Check it out!  I do this yoga pose daily.

Backward Handclasp/Shoulder Stretch

Type of yoga pose: Active, can be done seated or standing 

Body parts targeted:  Upper arms, shoulder blades, spine, back muscles

How to do the pose:

1. Sit or stand erect. If seated, the Japanese sitting pose or any cross-legged pose (simple cross-legged pose, half-lotus, or full lotus pose) on your mat is most conducive for the backward handclasp.
2. Gently and firmly raise your left arm directly into the air as high as you can. F  -e  -  e-  l   the stretch—I often imagine myself trying to reach the clouds as I lift my arm directly into the air—I enjoy elongating my arm straight above my shoulder.
3. Slowly, move your right hand behind you, palm facing outward, and bend your elbow so that the back of your right hand is against your spine.
4. Bend your left arm at the elbow so your left hand, palm downward, touches the center of your back. Your left elbow is pointing straight up into the air.
5. Carefully work your left hand while at the same time inch your right hand slowly upward so that the fingers of your two hands can clasp each other if possible. This may be difficult when you first practice this exercise. Some beginners use props like belts or towels to make the reach if they can’t clasp their hands. I just kept my hands on my back as far as they could reach.
6. Hold this position motionless for 5 seconds.
7. Gently release your fingers and come out of the pose reversing the steps you used to enter it. Again, feel the stretch and imagine touching the clouds as you raise your left arm again directly up into the air. Release and bring your arm down. Inhale and exhale at least once. Raise your shoulders toward your eyes and gently shake them out.  That should feel so good!
8. Reverse sides and do the same steps starting by raising the right arm directly up into the air.  Inhale and exhale again after finishing the exercise.

Practice Time: Hold the pose for 5 seconds; add 5 seconds each week until you are holding the pose for 25-30 seconds on each side.

Number of repetitions:  1-2 on each side

Key benefits from this pose: 

1. Improves your posture.  You may start walking with more grace and elegance by adjusting and straightening your spine and back muscles.
2. Develops the seldom-used trapezius muscles at the top of the shoulder blades and the muscles under the shoulder blades. Helps to broaden and straighten the shoulders.
3. Opens the rib cage.
4. Helps prevent calcium deposits in the arm joints.
5. Eases tension in the shoulders and upper back.
6. Firms and tones upper arms.
7. Enhances breast health, according to some yoga teachers.
8. Enhances symmetry in shoulders and upper arms.  Yoga teacher Tara Fraser recommends this pose for people who play racquet sports like tennis to restore muscular balance for the less used arm.

 Special hints and Laura’s experience with this pose:

This exercise can seem difficult at first! Don’t become discouraged if it takes you a few weeks or even a month or more to be able to interlace your fingers as shown above.  If you store a lot of tension in your neck and shoulders, you may find it helpful and soothing to do this pose with the neck rolls back to back.

This was one pose I didn’t do for a few years when I was doing yoga off and on after my son was born. When I took it up again a few years ago, I could not clasp the fingers of my hands together at all and I felt a slight strain even attempting this! My left arm was much stiffer than the right. But, I focused on holding my hands as close together as possible. Over the next few weeks, I was able to inch my hands closer and closer until I could interlace my fingers and hold my hands together.  Yoga is so effective in creating or restoring balance in the body that later, I could not even remember which side had been the stiff one.

Yours for opening and loosening your shoulders with yoga,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, the Beginners' Yoga at Home Coach

 

 

 

 

 

Yoga for Beginners: Start with Gentle, Achievable Yoga, Please!

You see this pose?!  I decided to browse for some photos of impossibly difficult yoga poses that real people, like me, and perhaps you, cannot hope to achieve - at least in this lifetime!  Such photos anger me, truth be told.

In a way, I think it's a crime that too many of these intimidating photos seep out into the media. Luckily, when I began yoga at age 15, I saw few photos of pretzel poses like this one.  If I had, I would have not even attempted to learn yoga.  This is acrobatic yoga.  No doubt, hundreds of years ago, probably quite a few Indian yogis could master such poses.  However, I believe that the essence and spirit of current yoga practice includes presenting poses that are accessible to most, if not all people.

Had I thought yoga was limited to such acrobatic yoga, I would have never started a yoga practice.  And, I would have not reaped the benefits of energy, flexibility, and serenity that I have enjoyed for years!  I strongly suspect that the preponderance of these types of photos versus those of the simpler, less visually dramatic poses that I do, have discouraged many people from considering yoga at all.  They just tell themselves, "whoa, I am too inflexible to do that!" 

Consequently, I strongly believe if you are a yoga newbie, begin with gentle, restorative yoga, period! Once you master gentle yoga poses, then the light is green to move on to more intense poses and yoga practices and maybe even seemingly impossible yoga feats as shown above.  But, your mantra should always be to learn and progress in gentle, baby steps.  If you follow this guidelines, you will advance much farther in the long run with your practice and gain tremendous results.

Yours for starting with gentle yoga,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, the beginner's yoga at home coach

 

Yoga at Home: How to do the Recharging/Relaxation/Sponge Pose (Savasana)

 

Below are the instructions for how to do the Recharging or Relaxation Pose (Savasana) or aka "The Corpse Pose" (shudder - I dislike the latter name!). They are included in my book, Yoga at Home, Gain Energy, Flexibility, & Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day.  This pose is also called the "Sponge!"  So many names for such a seemingly easy pose!  You would think no instructions would be required! But, here they are.  As I said in my previous post, the simplicity of this yoga pose belies its power.

Sponge or Recharging Technique (Sanskrit name is Savasana) 

Type of yoga pose:  Passive, supine

Body parts targeted:  Entire body and nervous system

How to do the pose:  

Lie on your back on your mat and extend your arms and hands so they are limp at your sides about a foot from your body, palms facing upward.

Close your eyes and inhale deeply extending your abdomen. Hold 2-4 seconds and exhale deeply while constricting your abdomen. As you inhale, imagine drinking in delicious air.  As you exhale, picture releasing toxins and impurities from your lungs.

 

Keeping your body as limp as possible, perform the following movements.

Raise your left leg a few inches into the air and allow it to flop gently to the mat as limply as possible. Raise your right leg and repeat the movement. 

Bend your left arm at the elbow with your upper arm still resting on the ground and allow your left forearm and hand to fall limply on the mat as you did with your legs.  Repeat the same   movement with your right forearm.

Lift your entire left arm from the shoulder a few inches and allow it to flop gently onto the mat.  Repeat the movement with your right arm.

Gently raise your buttocks off the ground and allow them to gently flop back onto the mat. Gently roll your head from side to side and stay relaxed inhaling and exhaling gently and deeply. Focus on your toes and mentally command them to “deeply relax.”

Continue to your feet and give them the same command.  Work up to your calves, knees, thighs, groin area, abdomen, lower back, and upper back, neck, and head, giving the same command and pausing a second between each body part.

Gently roll your head from side to side, further deepening your sense of relaxation.

Continue lying on your mat for 2-3 minutes, inhaling and exhaling deeply, enjoying total relaxation. 

Practice time:  The sponge should take 2 to 5 minutes. You can also enjoy it for much longer if you have the time.

Number of repetitions:  1

Key benefits from this pose:

1. Helps you cool down after a yoga session. 
2. Releases tension while relaxing the mind and body.
3. Enhances serenity and may alleviate hypertension.
4. Recharges the body and replenishes your natural energy reserves, especially after doing a number of yoga poses that release energy.

Special hints and Laura’s experience with this pose:

You can heighten the relaxation benefits of this pose by imagining that you are in a favorite spot in nature—perhaps on an idyllic beach, soaking in the warm, golden rays of the sun as you command and allow each part of your body to relax. Feel the rays of the sun infusing all the pores and cells of the particular body part with light and warmth.

Just as you ease into and out of each pose, relaxing after a yoga session or sequence of poses helps you to fully assimilate their benefits and to distribute the energy released from doing yoga.

Yours for recharging with the "sponge!"

 

Laura Venecia Rodriguez 

 

Yoga at Home for Beginners: Book Excerpt: How to do the Shoulder Stand

I do the shoulder stand daily.  It's easier for the non-athlete like me to master than the head stand (still haven't done that) but has many of the same benefits, especially for the internal organs.  Here is an excerpt from my soon-to-be released book (next few weeks).

Copyright 2011

 

Shoulder Stand:  (Sanskrit name is Sarvangasana)

Type of yoga pose:  Active and passive inversion  

Body parts targeted:  Spinal column, upper back, abdomen, brain, circulation, eyes, ears, internal organs and glands  (sexual glands and organs, thyroid and parathyroid glands, pituitary gland, and salivary glands)

How to do the pose:

1. Lie on your back on your mat and relax with your arms and hands at your sides.

2. Face your palms downward.

3. Inhale distending your abdomen and hold your breath while tightening your abdominal muscles and stiffening your legs.

4. Press downward against the floor and using the palms of your hands as a lever, slowly lift your legs off the floor while exhaling.  Keep your knees straight. This is the same way you enter the plough. 

  

 

5. Take at least 5 seconds to smoothly raise your legs straight up in the air until they are almost perpendicular with the floor. The more slowly you raise your legs, the firmer and stronger your abdomen will become. If needed, you may rock you knees and forelegs back and forth a bit to gain the necessary momentum to lift your lower back and buttocks off the floor.

6. Place your right hand against the kidney region of your back and brace yourself with it.  Place your left hand also against your back for additional support.

7. Raise both legs together until your entire body is vertical with your elbows resting on the floor and both hands supporting your back.

8. Keep your legs and body as straight as possible with your chin nestled into the space in front of your collarbone—i.e., the jugular notch.

 

 

 

9. Hold the pose motionless for 15-20 seconds.

10. To exit the posture, bend your legs at the knees and gently lower your legs until your knees are about one or two inches from your face.

11. Place your right hand on the floor and brace yourself with it.  Follow by placing your left hand on the floor and also brace yourself with it.

12. Keep the back of your head on the floor while bringing your lower back slowly onto the mat holding your buttocks in your hands.

 

 

13. Slowly straighten your legs until they are again vertical in the air.

14. Keeping your knees straight, slowly lower your legs until they are resting on the floor. You may wish to enhance the abdominal firming effect of this pose by holding your legs taut for a few seconds when they are one to two inches away from the floor.

 

Practice time: Hold the pose for 15-20 seconds during your first week of practice. Add 5-10 seconds a week until you can hold the pose for 3 minutes.

 

Number of repetitions:  1

 

Key benefits from this pose:  

 

1. Benefits and energizes the entire body.

2. Massages and stimulates the spinal column.

3. Increases blood supply to brain to increase energy, tones the nervous system, and can improve mental faculties such as the memory.

4. Stimulates the thyroid and parathyroid glands, and enriches the pituitary gland.

5. This inversion repositions organs and glands into their proper place by countering the downward pull that gravity puts on the body.

6. Enhances circulation and helps to relieve strain placed on blood vessels when the body is upright for long periods. May alleviate varicose veins.

7. Can help regulate weight because the pose helps stimulate the thyroid gland.

8. Strengthens back and can build up chest.

9. Can eliminate headaches.

10. Stretches and strengthens shoulder and back muscles.

11. Stretches muscles and ligaments of the cervical region (the top part of the spine that consists of the seven vertebrae of the neck and the disks that separate them).

12. Strengthens entire nervous system.

13. Stimulates sexual glands and organs and boosts the libido. 

 

Special hints and Laura’s experience with this pose: 

 

If you have had a neck injury or shoulder problems or have high blood pressure, consult your physician or medical advisor before trying this pose.

 

Some yogis say the shoulder stand gives you almost the same benefits as the headstand. However, the shoulder stand benefits the thyroid gland more whereas the headstand increases circulation in the brain. Because this is an inverted pose and the blood flows downward, women should avoid this pose during menstruation.

 

Go up into the shoulder stand only as far as you comfortably can. People who at first find the pose difficult are often advised to use a wall to help get them into the position or at least to acclimate themselves to getting their legs vertically into the air.  I never found this necessary. I simply raised my legs as far up into a vertical position as was feasible for me in the beginning and after several weeks I was able to achieve the hold in a complete vertical position. 

 

However, if you find this pose difficult at first, yoga instructor Tara Fraser offers a suggestion. She recommends adding more padding under your shoulders and elbows by using folded blankets or a platform made out of four foam blocks.  She says though, to avoid cushions because they are too squishy. 

 

Come out of the shoulder stand slowly and smoothly to avoid hurting your spine or back. The shoulder stand flows naturally with the plough—do them back -to -back. As I exit the shoulder stand, I go right into the plough. Watch out—these two poses done in sequence can really amp up your libido!

 

Yoga at Home: Book Excerpt: How to do the Side Bends (with more details)

 
In 2009 I explained how to do the side bends but an excerpt from my soon-to-be released book offers more details and photos. Unless you're a dancer or have a particular profession in which you do a lot of side bending, you will especially benefit from this pose.

Copyright 2011

Side Bends  

Type of yoga pose:  Active, standing 

Body parts targeted:  Waist, thighs, and spine

How to do the pose:

1. Stand tall, straight, and relaxed with your hands and arms at your sides. Your feet should be apart about shoulder width and face forward.

2. Gently and slowly raise your arms out from your sides until they are extended sideways, elbows straight at shoulder level and palms facing down or straight out to the side (I alternate the position for my palms.)

   

3. Inhale and bend in slow motion (as if in a dream…) to your right, taking at least 5-10 seconds to reach your farthest position (and it may not be too far when you start…).  

4. When you have reached as far as you comfortably can, hold the pose motionless for 10 seconds, exhaling and inhaling as needed. Keep your knees straight during your hold and keep your arms in a firm, straight line.  Your arm muscles should feel taut. Feel the s – t – r – e – t – c – h in your waist and spinal column. Also, tighten your buttock muscles as you hold the pose to enhance its firming benefits.

 

5. After your holding time has elapsed, again in slow motion, straighten out of the pose and move back into an upright, standing position with arms extended sideways with elbows straight at shoulder level and palms facing down or straight out.  Slowly move your hands and arms back down to your sides.

6. Breathe in and out slowly and relax for a few seconds.

7. Repeat the pose on your left side and remember to move gracefully.

Alternative Side Bends

1. Do steps number 1 and 2 as explained above.

2. Lift your arms and form a firm arc above your head by clasping your hands and intertwining your fingers.

 

3. As in the first version, inhale and bend in slow motion (as if in a dream…) to your right, taking at least 5-10 seconds to reach your farthest position (and it may not be too far when you start…).  

 

4. Repeat steps 4 through 7 from the original version.  This version is more challenging.

Practice time: Hold the pose 10 seconds on each side.  Add a few seconds a week until you feel comfortable holding the pose for 25-30 seconds on each side.

Number of repetitions:  1-2

Key benefits from this pose:  

1. Firms and strengthens the waist muscles and help reduce weight in the waist.

2. Tones and firms seldom used muscles in the thighs.

3. Strengthens and stretches side muscles and eliminates tension in them.

4. Gives the spine a beneficial sideways stretch.

Special hints and Laura’s experience with this pose: 

The side bends are a simple stretch. If, however, you have been inactive and rarely move from side to side, you may find the toning action in your waist muscles to be intense. 

Be mindful about keeping your knees straight.  If, at first, you find this difficult, bend to your side only as far as is comfortable while still keeping your knees straight. Also, when you move into your stretch toward your side, let your head hang down with your neck limp. Be sure to lean to your side and not toward your front or back when you do this pose.  (I have been guilty of this.  I tend to move my arm backwards …Use a mirror or take a video of yourself to make sure you are holding the pose correctly.) You should feel no strain in your back.

As with other yoga poses, over a few days or weeks, gravity will do its work. With consistent practice, you should be able to bend farther and more comfortably to each side.  And, as you increase your holding time, you will notice a wonderful release of tension and firming action in your waist.

Copyright 2011

Yours for a firm, strong waist,

 

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

 

Yoga at Home for Beginners: Book Excerpt - How to do the Locust

Below is another excerpt from my soon-to-be released beginner's yoga book.  The locust pose is one of the most challenging poses for me because I have never had much upper body strength and the pose involves lifting up much of your body weight.  Check it out.

Locust Pose (Sanskrit name is Salabhasana)   Copyright 2011

Type of yoga pose:  Active, prone 

Body parts targeted:  Hips, buttocks, lower back, abdomen, and thighs

How to do the pose: 

1.     Lie face down on your abdomen on your mat with your face resting on your chin. Your arms should be at your sides.

2.     Extend your toes straight out and bring your heels and toes together.

 

 

 

3.     Clench your hands into fists and place your fists thumbs down so that your hands are like firm levers.

4.     Inhale deeply, tighten your whole body, push downward with your arms on your fists and raise both legs up into the air as high as you can.

 5.     Hold your legs up in the air for 3-5 seconds while holding your inhalation.

6.     Slowly, gently, and smoothly lower your legs back to the mat taking at least 3-5 seconds or longer while exhaling evenly. Do not collapse into a heap!

7.     Inhale and exhale deeply for at least one full breath.

8.     Allow your body to go limp.

9.     Repeat if desired.

Practice time:  Hold the pose for 3-5 seconds during the first week. Add a few seconds each week until you can hold the pose for 10-15 seconds.

Number of repetitions:  1-2

Key benefits from this pose:

1.     Strengthens the muscles of the buttocks, lower back, abdomen, and thighs.  (It can help create the infamous “yoga butt.”)

2.     Firms and trims the hips, buttocks, and thighs.

3.     Improves circulation in the organs in the abdominal cavity.

4.     Helps boost the libido by benefiting the sexual glands and organs (sex becomes sexier!)

Special hints and Laura’s experience with this pose:

This pose is one of the strenuous ones explained in this book because you have to lift much of your body weight.  That’s why it is an effective strengthening pose.

Use your fists as firm levers to push and hold you up in the air.  Keep your thumbs again the floor and keep your fists close to your sides.  When you go up into the locust, move your body weight onto your chin and your arms.  Also, it can help to visualize your legs high up in the air as you raise and hold them there.

Be patient with this pose. Don’t worry if you can hold it for only 3 seconds for days, weeks, or even months. Consistent practice is the key. This pose challenges me because I have never had much upper body strength. After doing this pose I have to catch my breath and inhale and exhale deeply several times. 

I’d like to make one other point about the Locust. I do it as part of a set of poses—the cobra, bow, and locust poses in that order. I find they naturally flow together and enhance the benefits of each other. Together, these poses have proven an effective antidote to lower back pain. I discovered this recently when I was not paying attention to my posture at my work desk during a long writing project. I rose from my desk and my lower back protested in pain. The pain didn’t dissipate until I did a sequence of these poses that unwound the kinks in my back. What wonderful and immediate relief they provided—I was delighted!

Yours for yoga power,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

 Copyright 2011

 

 

Yoga at Home for Beginners: New Book Excerpt - Knee and Thigh Stretch

My soon to be released book is with a book designer at the moment, receiving its final touches.  Here is an excerpt that explains how to do the knee and thigh stretch that appears in Chapter 8. 

 

Knee and Thigh Stretch or Bound Angle Pose (Sanskrit name is Baddha Konasana; baddha means bound; kona means angle) - Copyright 2011

Type of yoga pose:  Active, seated 

Body parts targeted:  Thighs and legs

How to do the pose:  

1. Sit erect on your mat with your legs straight out in front of you, knees straight, toes and heels together.

2. Bend both legs at the knees and slowly bring your feet toward you, heels together, until the soles of your feet are as close to your groin as is comfortable.

 

3. Intertwine your fingers and grasp both feet with your hands. Continue to sit tall.

4. Sitting erect and continuing to hold your feet with your hands, slowly press down as far as you can toward the floor without straining or experiencing pain. 

5. Hold the pose motionless for 10 seconds.  

6. Slowly and gently ease the pressure from your legs and allow them to rise and return to their original, relaxed position.

7. Inhale and exhale slowly for up to 5 seconds and repeat the pose if desired.

 

Variation of this pose (sometimes called the “Tailor pose”)

1. Sit on your mat with your legs straight out in front of you and heels and toes together.

2. Bend your legs at the knees and bring your feet toward you until they are roughly at the distance from your body that your knees were when your legs were extended. (However, it can be valuable to try this pose with the feet at different distances from the pelvis/groin area.) Press the soles of your feet together, intertwine your fingers, and clasp your hands over your feet.

3. Bend your elbows outward and bend forward aiming your forehead for your heels.  Rest your elbows on your calves, thighs or the floor.  Hold for 10 seconds while inhaling and exhaling evenly.

Practice time: Hold the pose for 10 seconds during the first week; add 5 seconds each week until you can hold the pose for 30 seconds.

 

Number of repetitions:  1-2 

 

Key benefits from this pose: (including the variation):

 

1. Removes tension from the thighs and back.

2. Increases flexibility along the inside of the thighs and in the tendons.

3. Stretches seldom-used muscles and tendons of the inner thighs and enhances limberness.

4. Helps tone and slim the thighs.

5. May eliminate pain in the hip joints.

6. Helps energize the legs by releasing tension and increasing strength.

7. Enhances the way you walk – you will soon have more bounce and vitality to your step.

 

Special hints and Laura’s experience with this pose:

 

Always sit tall and erect; avoid slumping or you won’t reap the maximum benefits!  Do not bob your legs up and down to try to maximize your stretch. Never push or strain.

When I began this pose my legs stuck almost straight up in the air! Being able to reach the floor with my legs bent seemed impossible.  Nevertheless, patience and persistence prevail.  It may take you a few weeks or even a couple of months before your legs can reach the floor.  Don’t be discouraged. Your thighs benefit even if you can stretch your legs only a bit in the beginning. Over time, gravity and daily downward gentle pressure on your legs will do the trick!

Copyright 2011

Yours for flexibility with yoga,

 

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

 

 

 

Yoga at Home: How to do Classic Yoga Poses Can Vary Widely

Above is a drawing showing one popular variation of the cobra pose which is excellent for the back, spine, chest, and internal organs in the lower torso. 

Below is another variation of the cobra pose the way I learned it.  

 

 

The variation I do is less common these days it appears.  I did run into a work colleague last week who told me she does it the same way I do it - we learned it from the same Richard Hittleman book.  Hittleman was a well-known yoga instructor in the late 60's and during the 70's.  Aaah - I know I am dating myself.

A church friend and yoga instructor recently reviewed some chapters and photos from my soon to be published yoga book (target date is February 2011) and differed with how I do the cobra.  That night I rushed down to my yoga bookshelf and thumbed through 4 or 5 of my books and found the cobra presented in at least 4 different ways.  Two of the books presented the cobra the way I do it - with the hands pointing toward each other and not forward.  Pheww!  Then, the following day I saw yet another version of the cobra in the Washington Express newspaper that showed a male-female couple with their torsos raised quite high off the ground.  I was taught that the part of the body right below the navel should always remain on the ground. 

Who's right?  I have no idea.  All I know is that I have never torn a muscle, dislocated anything, or experienced soreness from my yoga practice.  I must be doing something right.  Clearly, there is probably no single "right" way to do yoga poses.  What's most important, I think, is that you ease into and out of the poses, pour your heart into the poses, pause between poses, and always observe and listen to your body as you move and stretch.  If you follow these precepts, you should gain energy, flexibility, and serenity from your practice - regardless of the particular variation of the poses that you choose to follow.

Yours for all gain with no strain in yoga,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

 

Yoga at Home: Book Excerpt: How to do the Half-Locust

I do the half-locust pose shown here every day.  It's a bit strenuous but excellent for rejuvenating the organs in your lower abdominal area and for helping to strengthen and firm your butt and upper thighs. Step-by-step instructions follow below.

Half-Locust Pose (Sanskrit name for locust is salabhasana) 

Type of yoga pose:  Prone

Body parts targeted:  Hips, buttocks, and thighs

How to do the pose: 

1.    Lie on your mat with your chin and abdomen face down, arms at your sides.

2.    Bring your heels and toes together so that your toes are extended                                  outward away from your body.

3.    Clench your hands into firm fists and place your thumbs down closely against your sides.

4.    Rest your chin on the mat so that it’s resting more on your lower lip than on the tip of your chin.

5.    Inhale and using your fists as firm levers that are pushing down, slowly and gently (taking at least 3-5 seconds) lift your left leg as high in the air as you can. Make sure that you leg is straight and not bent at the knee.

6.    Hold this pose for 5 seconds, inhaling and exhaling as needed.

7.    Slowly lower your left leg taking at least 3-5 seconds or longer.

8.    When both legs are on the ground, let your body relax into a limp position for a moment or two, inhaling and exhaling at least one full, deep breath.

9.    Repeat the same movements using the right leg.

Practice time: Hold the pose for 5 seconds during the first week; add a few seconds each week until you can hold the pose for 10-20 seconds.

Number of repetitions:  1-2

Key benefits from this pose:

1.    Slims and firms the hips, buttocks, and thighs.

2.    Stimulates circulation through important organs including the liver, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive organs and glands (it can boost your libido– immediately!)

3.    Strengthens the abdomen and muscles of the lower back.

4.    Works out and tones the often neglected muscles in the pelvic area

Special hints and Laura’s experience with this pose:

This pose is intense – especially when you begin. You may feel a slight burn in your buttocks and upper thighs.  If you can hold your leg up in the air for only 2-3 seconds, that is fine. Consistency is what counts. Take your time to work your way up to hold the pose longer. Because this pose is intense and requires lifting some of my body weight, I have to catch my breath and inhale and exhale deeply after completing it.