Reduce Stress...BREATHE...YOGA will help!

Sometimes it is just a simple change that we need to make that will improve our daily lives. The change seems simple once we hear it, but it is not obvious to us in the moment of stress and the hectic hustle-and-bustle of our daily lives.

If we take time to breathe, really breathe, we can unlock (or begin to) the tension we are holding inside.

Follow these simple instructions to find your breath. Once you have the muscle memory, you can take the breath with you into all aspects of your daily life.

Let your breath help you find inner calm. In sport, when your adrenaline is running high, your breath will help you fell calm and prepared to perform in the heat of the moment. In a stressful situation in work or at school...with a deadline approaching...your breath will help you find the peace you need to accomplish your goal.

Start by sitting upright in a chair.
Let both feet touch the floor with your ankles resting UNDER your knees.
As your inhale lift your shoulders to your ears.
As you exhale allow your shoulders to roll down your back and toward your hips.
Place one hand on your heart and the other on your belly.
As you inhale feel air enter the space under the hand on your heart.
As you exhale feel air enter the space under the hand on your belly.

Begin to lengthen your breath. Take even inhales and exhales.

Imagine your lungs are sponges. Fill the sponge with an inhale. Empty it with the exhale.

This long, even breath will help balance you mentally AND physically.

This is the yoga you TAKE OFF THE MAT and INTO YOUR DAILY LIFE.

Start a new routine in 2015
Cultivate a Healthy Body and a Healthy Lifestyle