Does the Body and the Soul Good.

I follow Mandy's blog She Breathes Deeply and was inspired a post she wrote about doing worship yoga. Melanie over at Adorkable also was going to try this and so I thought "hey, maybe they are on to something"
I used to go to flow classes at the gym in Canada which is like pilates/yoga. I miss it. So today while I took Drew outside to play in the bushes I did a few poses that I remembered. I didn't have any worship music with me but I prayed and listened while also doing the stretches. I felt gooood. Really good. It definitely feels good to stretch and practice holding poses which builds strength.

First I did some deep breathing with hands stretching to the sky and back down.
I found some pictures to help illustrate the poses. These are from Women's Health Magazine.

Child Pose: stretches hips, quads and back.

1. Kneel on the floor with top of feet on the floorand knees about hip-width apart. Sit on your heels. 

2. Lay your torso between the thighs and bring your forehead to the mat.

3. Extend arms straight in front of you, hands on the floor.

4. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Stay here for at least one minute. This feels especially good in your lower back

Downward Dog: stretches glutes,quads, calves,back and  strengthens arms

1. From the child's pose move into an all fours position

2.Press firmly through your arms and hands and lift knees off the floor and straighten legs

3. Try to press your heel into the floor if you are able.

4. Focus on pressing up through your arms and torso so that your hips and bum are pushing into the sky

5. Relax neck and head while breathing deeply. Hold pose for a minute. This is great for strength, flexibility as well as circulation since the heart is lower than the hips.

Cobra Pose: Stretches lower back, shoulders, glues, chest and abs

1. From downward dog lean forward almost in pushup position and slowly lower your body to the ground.

2. Place top of feet flat on the floor and push straight up through the hands and arms while keeping hips securely on the ground. 

3. Keep head facing forward and feel the deep stretch in your lower back

Sun Salutation: stretches and strengthens whole body

1. Place back leg straight behind with foot facing to the side as seen above.

2. Place other leg in front while sinking down. Do not allow your knee bend over your ankle. Make sure they are aligned. It should be a 90 degree angle

3. Stretch through your finger tips with your arms at shoulder level. For a deeper stretch continue to sink down deep through your legs and raise your arms straight over head.

4. Hold this pose. 

AHH.. that is better. All the while you are doing this praise Jesus and thank him for everything and anything you can think of. We have a wonderful God who is worthy to be praised.. in EVERYTHING we do. 

I plan to put a few more poses up later. I am going to try this again tomorrow morning and try to remember some other poses.