Here are pictures that correspond to the Friday BlogPaws yoga session. The idea behind this sequence is that can be done in a chair while blogging to reduce some of the typical tensions that build up while working on the computer for hours in a row.
If you weren’t at BlogPaws or didn’t attend the yoga session there, this is the sequence without instruction for moving in and out of the postures. If you’d like more instruction, please say so in a comment and I will add more when I get back from Salt Lake City.
Begin by sitting tall, feet hip-width apart, parallel on the floor. Take several deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling through the nose.
Raise arms overhead on an inhalation. Stretch up from the hip. Wrap right hand around left wrist. On inhalation stretch toward the right. Repeat on the other side.
Lift chest for a slight bend in the upper back.
Alternate the backbend and a rounding of the back (hold onto the chair for leverage) for seated cat and cow stretches.
Place your hands in the crease where your torso and legs to help you remember to lengthen the spine in preparation to fold forward.
Place your hands in the crease where your torso and legs to help you remember to lengthen the spine in preparation to fold forward.
Hug knee to chest.
Extend leg for foot stretches.
Place left ankle on right thigh. Find hip crease. Fold forward SLOWLY. This helps to open tight hips.
Roll shoulders back. Lift arms overhead. Raise buttocks off chair and move into utkatasana, also known as chair or fierce pose. Be sure to locate the chair with your hands before you sit back down.
Turn sideways in your chair. Hug one knee to the chest and as you let the knee drop down, take hold of the ankle with that hand. Exert light pressure back and upward to stretch out the thigh after the exertion of utkatasana. Release the foot, bring the foot to the floor. Repeat on the other side.
Sit facing forward, feet parallel, hip-width apart on the floor. Place left hand on the outside of right thigh and take hold of back of chair with right hand. Use these as anchor points as you twist gently toward the right. Return to center and repeat on the other side.
Return to center and relax.
The photos were taken in the temporary yoga studio (otherwise known as the front porch) under the supervision of Mystery, Garden Kitty in Chief.