Great Yoga Moves To Tone, Strenthen and Release Your Stress

Early Morning Asana -A Great Way to Start My Day

I have to tell you that the last few days have been kind of stressful.  There is so much going on with my company right now that I felt the need to really destress and take a break.  So I did.  I took a "destress break" .  I actually took some time for self-care and self-love.  I also went back to what I know works when it comes to releasing some of this negative energy.  Here is my routine...it truly does work for me to release tension and stress.

I love yoga to help me to destres and to also help give me a nice tone to my body.  I have found that after a month of doing these moves in the past I have lost 1 to 2 inches with in two to three week.  I know every one is different but I still believe these moves strengthen you as well as help you to relieve stress.

For more on holistic stress reduction  tips click here

Morning Yoga Routine To Reduce Stress 

I love doing Sun Salutation to help invigorate me.  It not only helps me to relieve stress I found that doing this Sun Salutation has really helped to tone me.

1. Mountain pose: Start by bringing your feet and legs together, spread your toes. Make sure your heels are rooted and firm your legs. Then, roll your shoulders back and down and spread and lift your chest.
2.  Extended Mountain pose: Inhale through your nose and raise your arms up to the side, palms facing upwards. Extend your arms above your head with your hands in prayer position.
3. Swan dive to forward bend, be sure to bend your knees especially if you have tight hamstrings. This will protect the back: Exhale through your nose. Open your arms wide and bend at your waist to a standing forward bend. Your hands should touch the floor if you can or if not, the front of the ankles. 
4. Standing lunge: Inhale through your nose and place your hands next to your feet on the floor and step one foot back into a lunge. Keep the front knee directly over the ankle and keep the back leg firm. Now, exhale and bring the other foot back to form the downward-facing dog position.
5. Downward-facing dog: Spread your fingers and press your palms into the mat, they should be shoulder width apart. Now, lift your hips up towards the sky, lengthening your spine. Gently straighten your legs, pressing your heels down into your mat as far as you can go
6. Plank pose: Inhale and take your shoulders forward directly over your wrists, extending well with your arms to form plank position. Keep your thighs strong and firm, your feet flexed and your belly drawn in.
 7. Knees-chest-chin pose: Exhale and bend your knees to the floor and then lower your chest and chin to the floor. Keep your chest open and your elbows close to the side of your ribcage.
8. Cobra: Inhale and raise your upper body to the cobra pose. Roll your shoulders back and extend the shoulder blades down and press them in towards the chest. Your chest should be lifted and open and elbows should stay close to the body. Make sure to lift up your knee caps and firm your thighs. Your legs and feet should be well extended. As a variation, you can also do an upward dog. 
9.Extended child's pose to dog's pose: Exhale and tuck in your toes while bending your knees and pushing back to the extended child's position. If possible, in the same breath move directly back to downward-facing dog. Pull the belly up and towards the back of the spine.
10.Standing lunge: Now this is where we repeat in reverse the first three postures that start the sun salutation. Inhale, bring your one foot forward in between your hands to the lunge position. Now, exhale, and bring the back foot forward to join the front foot so that your feet are together. Hands on the floor or ankles
11. Reverse swan dive transition: With knees slightly bent, inhale and lift your arms up to the side with your palms face upward to the sky. Now extend the arms above your head in prayer position.
 12. Mountain pose: Exhale to return to Mountain Pose to complete the Sun salutation.
Click Here for video demonstration of these movements

A few tips :

• take your time you time while doing the movements don't rush through the poses
• breathe through the exercises; breathing is what facilitates body in and through the movement
• An easy way to apply this is to allow all upward movements to be coupled with the motion of inhalation and all downward movements to be coupled with exhalation. For example - raising your arms overhead and stretching up is coupled with your inhalation and hinging forward and down (as in touching your toes) is coupled with your exhalation.
• don't give up on these movements, they take time but they are so worth it!

I love to go for a thirty minute power walk after warming my body up with an Asana.  Yoga walking is powerful because it gives you the opportunity to release your stress, anger, and anxiousness.  Follow these steps to have a great Yoga Walk.

• Walk 30 minutes everyday and one hour on the weekends.  Start out slow and intensify your walk as you continue.  Slow down as you come to the end of your walk .  
• While you are walking stomp out your anger with each step you take. Free yourself of any pent up anger or worry/anxiety.
• As you walk if you are feeling any sadness allow yourself to feel the sadness and then walk it out during your walk .  Walk out the sadness in your emotions and body. Release 
• Remove the tension in your shoulders by rotating you shoulders and letting the kinks in your neck, shoulders and back work their way out.
• While walking, turn your spine to the right, and then to the left, several times. Do this gently, and turn your head with your body. 
•  Imagine the numbers 1 to 20 in your head, chest, abdomen, legs, feet, and into the ground (beneath the feet). Do this every day, and you will quickly and effectively relieve tension that has built up in all major areas of your body. 
• A you are walking focus on a positive affirmation, scripture or mantra. Repeat this out loud or to yourself a you walk.
• A you are walking notice your environment, notice the color of the sky, the trees, the birds, notice nature. Visualize  other beautiful places you have been
• Toward the end of your walk stop all thoughts and just walk freely, feeling the beauty of the day and walking feeling more stress free and having a sense of joy

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