I don’t know if it’s just me, my senioritis, or the fact that the weather hasn’t chosen a season yet, but I’ve been finding it very difficult to get anything done these past few weeks. I get home from a long day of class and decide that I have too much work to take a nap, but then am too tired to work. This usually results in me sitting around with various housemates on my phone with my fist in a bag of Smartfood.
I’ve been teaching yoga for the past couple years, though, and I know there are some simple remedies to this problem. It’s amazing how many yoga poses can make your entire body and mind alert. Foremost among these are the poses in the sun salutation sequence. Below I’ve given you the sun salutation, as well as some individual poses, that you can try to help you be more productive!
1. Sun Salutes A & B. This chart is nice, because it includes the inhale and exhale. Make sure you follow these, as the breath pattern is what will really wake you up
2. Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). Make sure you’re pressing back into the pose, and your heels are reaching toward the floor. Lifting one leg or the other and even flipping the pose can feel rejuvenating.
3. Prasarita Padottanasana. Find a wide stance with your legs, keeping the kneecaps lifted forward fold. You can also do this and clasp your hands at the small of your back and then let them fall forward. This can help ease headaches and pains in the upper back and shoulders.
4. Reverse Namaste or clasping opposite hands behind the back. Any pose like this will help wake you up, as you are opening your heart and chest space and reversing that drooping feeling of bending over a keyboard.
5. Crescent Lunge. Open the hips with this pose, and even add in a back bend for extra work on opening the chest, hips, and balancing.
6. Tree pose. Any balancing pose will increase your concentration and help you get ready to work. Try gazing lower at the floor for easier balancing, and lifting your gaze or even closing your eyes to challenge your balance.
Try any of these poses, and feel free to modify based on how your body is feeling! Here’s to a productive and stress free April.