Yoga Pose May!

Good morning! Before I go get ready to run I thought I'd quick post and share my yoga pose with you all! We are planning to leave around 7:30 to make sure we have enough time to find parking and walk/jog around before the race starts. 

When I heard about Yoga Pose May from Kate (What Kate Ate) and Tina (Carrots N Cake) I knew I wanted to be a part of it. You know I started doing yoga back in January as a way to de-stress and stretch more. I never imagined that I would be so in love with doing it and feeling like my body actually craves it a couple of times a week.  Being a part of Yoga Pose May just meant that I could be even more involved in the blogging community while sharing a new love of mine: yoga.

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The yoga pose I was assigned was rabbit. It is an inverted yoga pose that stretches out your back and elongates your spine. 


Here is my version. 

My flexibility is not quite as advanced as the other picture.

The benefits of this pose : 

• the circulation of your blood will improve
• relieves pressure from your back, shoulders, neck and head
• balances your hormones
• stimulates your thyroid gland
• improves your immune capacity
• it also provides relief if you have a cold, congestion or allergies.

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Steps:
1. Begin in a child's yoga position--kneel down and then lower your buttocks to sit on your lower leg and feet. With your arms on the sides, lower your torso on your thighs, as you bring your head down on the floor. From this position, you can start the rabbit pose.

1. 2. Press your forehead slightly on your knees. Then, extend your arms backward and hold on to the base of your feet. Give your heels a firm hold and then take a deep breath.
   3. Exhale as you gradually lift or elevate your hips. Keep your forehead as close as possible to your knees and the topmost part of your skull (crown of the head) near the floor or mat.
   4.Contract your abdominal muscles as you hold the pose for 5 to 8 seconds, then relax.

Why you should consider doing yoga: (source)

1. Increased flexibility - since starting yoga I have noticed I am much more flexible. I still have a ways to go, but I was NOT flexible AT ALL before I started. My muscles do not feel as tight and I believe it's helped me in other areas of exercising/working out.
2. Increasing lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons 
3. Massaging of ALL Organs of the Body – Yoga stimulates and massages the organs which, in turn benefits us by keeping away disease and providing a warning at the first possible instance of a likely onset of disease or disorder.
4.  Complete Detoxification – By gently stretching muscles and joints as well as massaging the various organs, yoga ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This helps in the flushing out of toxins from every nook and cranny as well as providing nourishment up to the last point. This leads to benefits such as delayed ageing, energy and a remarkable zest for life.
5. Tones the muscles 



I basically picked out the biggest benefits, but there certainly are many more. You can also read more about the benefits of yoga here.


The wonderful thing about yoga is that you can do as little as 10 minutes of it and you will feel the benefits of it. It's very easy to incorporate it into your life by doing some deep breathing and some down dogs. Before the NY state tests I did some breathing with my students to relax them and they loved it. 

I think we would all do yoga daily if we had this background.

Have a wonderful, relaxing Saturday. Maybe think about doing some yoga, whether it be for 5 minutes or 50.

Check out these other pose's too! Christie and Anna are featuring Yoga Pose May on their sites. 

Wish us luck on the race! :)