Practice

What can I do in 20 minutes?
Poses that are better at home!

What can I do in 20 minutes?

1. Sit cross-legged, left hand on your left cheek, right hand on your heart. Breathe four smooth breaths.
2. Change hands: right hand to right cheek, left hand to heart. Breathe four smooth breaths.
3. On hands and knees, extend one leg behind for a calf stretch. Then do the other leg.
4. Do "Cat" and "Dog" pelvic tilting. Exhale to Cat, inhale to Dog.
5. Sink into Child's Pose. Stretch arms left, hips right for side stretch (right side). Stretch arms right, hips left for side stretch (left side.)
6. Tuck toes under and lift hips up to Downward Facing Dog.
7. Try 3-leg Dog: With your weight on your left foot, pull right knee in to chest, then extend right leg upward. Other side: Bring right leg down, shift weight to right foot, and pull left knee into chest and extend left leg upward.
8. Jump or walk feet to between the hands. Stay in Forward Fold, running hands down the backs of the legs to encourage hamstrings to relax.
9. Inhale and unfold, stretching arms up above head, then exhale to Namaste.
10. Repeat stretching up (inhale) and forward-folding (exhale), tuning in to your own timing. Progress to a few rounds of Sun Salutations if you like.
11. Take Tree Pose, 5-10 breaths each side.
12. Take Triangle Pose, 5-10 breaths each side.
13. Take Warrior II Pose, 5-10 breaths each side.
14. Sit on the floor with legs extended in a V. Inhale and spiral your torso up and to the right, exhale and extend the torso long over your right leg. Take 5 breaths, then return the torso to center. Repeat on the left side.
15. Bend knees, bring soles of the feet together. Hold the ankles or feet and sit tall for a few breaths.
16. Roll on to your belly and take Locust Pose (inhale and lift head, arms, legs off the floor). Breathe!
17. Roll on to your back and take Bridge Pose. OR, bring knees into chest and roll the knees around in a circle.
18. End with Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose or lie on your back for at least 20 breaths. Relax...soften...release...

Poses that are better at home!
Some poses are better at home than in the studio. Try these:

Seated Forward Bend in a nice hot bath! Let the warm water help your hamstrings release. Outside the bath, this pose also feels great with pillows or a bolster on your legs for you to rest your forehead on. Very nice for relieving headache or anxiety.

Half Forward Fold on your dining room table. The edge of the table should be right at your hip crease. To get the right height, use blankets to raise the height of the table, or stand on a phonebook if the table is too high. Stand at the edge of the table, keeping your legs straight and strong. Then hinge forward from the hips and extend your upper body over the table. Ahh!