Hi Everyone,

Here a few yin yoga poses focussing on the lower back and hip area. In yin yoga you hold the poses from 3-5 minutes. It is of great benefit to the body, it works more on the deep connective tissues and joints, rather than on the more superficial yang tissues like the skin and the muscles. Very restorative!

The poses I demonstrate are:

butterfly pose  / also known as  baddha konasana

shoelace / cow face pose

sleeping swan / sleeping pigeon

reclining twist / jatharaparvatanasana

Enjoy the practice!

Esther

Here is some more yoga for the hips, good for dancers, athletes and people with lower back problems. Lots of unconscious stuff is stored in the hips, it’s important and worth it to work on the hips regularly. When you work on your hips consciously you also work on your suppressed emotions and blockages. This is not necessarily fun but rewarding, what you know about is workable, what you don’t know about owns you.

Good luck, and do this with love for yourself…

Esther

In this sequence I start with a :

centering

warming up with a cat/cow stretch

low lunge / ajaneyasana

supine eye of the needle pose

pigeon pose / eka pada rajakapotasana

downward facing dog pose / adho muka svanasana

cobbler, butterfly, bound angle pose / baddha konasana

After many request, here a sequence to help you get more flexible. Now almost all yoga poses will help you do that to a greater or lesser degree, but here a sequence to get you started. You’ll have to do it regular enough, a few times a week at least for you to notice an effect, how quickly you will notice is different for everybody but if you do something for a few weeks you should feel some difference.

Good luck! and let me know if it works for you!

Esther

the poses demonstrated here are:

easy pose / sukhasana

spinal flexes

side stretches

twists

reclining big toe pose / supta padangustasana

mountain pose / tadasana

standing forward bend / uttanasana

pigeon pose / eka pada rajakapotasana

butterfly pose / baddha konasana

Here another practice you can do in the evenings if you want to wind down. I can really recommend this just before you go to bed, you will sleep much more restful and will wake up more rested. Doing something to bring your awareness from your head into your body should be standard practice every night, whether it is meditation or yoga or some other form that works for you. The thing to keep in mind though is to do something that slows you down.

Have a good nights rest with this one!

Esther

The poses I demonstrate in this practice are:

sphinx pose

reclining big toe pose / supta padangustasana

supine eye of the needle pose

butterfly pose / baddha konasana

wide legged forward fold / upavishta konasana

head to knee pose / janu sirsasana

cross legged forward bend

supine spinal twist

Hi Everyone,

Here a sequence of sitting poses to do following this video of yoga standing poses or alternatively after warming up with some sun salutations. This way you can extend your practice time.

Sitting poses can be among the hardest for most people. Traditionally you do yoga to help you learn how to sit. Sitting properly, without effort, so you can be still and meditate. When you try to meditate in a sitting position and your back hurts, hips are stiff, etc, that is all that you can focus on, and its not beneficial.

Doing yoga, opening and loosening your body so that you can sit effortlessly makes a huge difference for your meditation practice. As well as from a physical perspective this little routine stretches the back of the body, opens your hips and works on your core strength. Also, if you repeat this for a week or so you will notice a difference, which is always nice for the motivation!

Keep practicing !!!

The poses I demonstrate in this sequence are:

Staff pose / Dandasana

Seated forward bend / Paschimottanasana

Reversed plank pose or inclined plane pose/ Purvottanasana

Boat pose / Navasana

Cobbler pose or butterfly pose/ baddha konasana

Seated wide angle pose / Upavishta konasana

Baddha Konasana / Bound Angle Pose / butterfly pose

Benefits:

• Helps in opening your hips.
• Stretches groins, inner thighs and ankles.
• Uplifts your mood.
• Stimulates abdominal organs.
• Beneficial for menstrual pains.
• Stimulates the circulation in the pelvic area.

Click on Bound angle pose to find out how to perform this pose step by step.

bound angle pose / baddha konasana

step by step

• Sit with your legs outstretched in front of you, you may want to sit on a blanket or pillow to raise your hips, so you can sit with a straight back.
• pull in your feet and place the soles of the feet together, as close as possible to your pelvis, let the knees fall out to your sides.
• Release your groins, the head of the thigh bones, and allow the knees to relax down as well, don’t push them.
• hold your big toes with the first two fingers and your thumb, or hold the outsides of your feet.
• Keep your pelvis level, sit with a straight back.
• Firm your shoulderblades into your upper back, to help open your heart.
• You can stay in this pose anywhere between 1-5 minutes.
• To come out you lift your knees and straighten your legs again.

Click on Baddha Konasana to find out about the benefits of this pose.