Article: Yoga During The Pandemic
The last year and a half have had major impacts on everyone. Life will always have unexpected changes, so we must have ways to process and manage this change. Adapting to change can be done in a variety of ways. One way is to move our bodies. It helps alleviate some of the stress and irregularity we might have acquired during the pandemic. Yoga poses such as cat-cow, and sequences such as sun salutations are good places to start to help us be peaceful and to maintain balance.
One impact of the pandemic is how greatly our routines changed. A routine, especially a morning routine, can help shape our whole day. A beautiful practice to help create, or tie together, a morning routine is ‘sun salutations’. This is a certain sequence of yoga poses that signify us saluting the sun, in a way saying thank you for rising and giving us another day. One or more rounds of sun salutations can help us start our day positively and slowly.
Start by standing, with your feet planted firmly on the ground and your hands in prayer position in front of your heart. Inhale comfortably and deeply.
Bend forward reaching down to touch your feet and toes. Exhale.
While inhaling move into a lunge with one foot in front and one behind. Move the front foot backward and hold a plank for a few breaths.
Exhale while lowering yourself down to the floor to a laying position for one breath. Then plant your hands down and push your head and chest up for a cobra pose.
Slowly push the rest of your body up to move into downward dog. Inhale and then exhale while moving into another lunge using the opposite leg as before to step forward.
Take a couple of breaths, then step forward and bend down to touch your toes again. Move back up to a standing position again with your feet planted firmly, and hands in prayer in front of your chest.
Listen to your body and feel how many times you need to move through this sequence before continuing with your day.
Sun Salutation
If you are one of the many who now work from home or have a desk job, it can be easy to get comfortable and sit for long periods. This paired with hunching over a phone or computer can start to cause back pain. Some great yoga poses can be done periodically to help ease the pain and strain in our backs. They can be done once or a few times to help. Specifically, cat-cow is a great yoga pose to help stretch our backs. This gentle, accessible backbend, stretches and mobilizes the spine. Practicing this pose also stretches your torso, shoulders, and neck.
To move through this pose, follow the process below:
Get on your hands and knees in a tabletop position.
While breathing move your head to look up at the sky while simultaneously bending your back so that your stomach reaches towards the ground.
Moving slowly start to move your gaze to the space on the ground between your hands.
As you’re doing this, arch your back so that it is moving towards the sky. Matching your breath to your motions, move through this pose as many times as your body may need. This could be once, or three slow movements or more.
Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva from Pexels
As outlined above, these poses can all benefit you in different ways. From cat-cow, to a specific sequence like sun salutations, they all can improve your immune system and strengthen your lungs as well. Both of which are generally important, especially during the pandemic with a virus that wants to make its home in your upper respiratory system. Take the time to incorporate some yoga into your day, maybe starting with the poses we’ve mentioned.
Share with us in the comments below any yoga poses you love.
~ Namaste ~
🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊🤍🕊
