1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Exercise
photo of Paige Waehner
Exercise Blog

By Paige Waehner, About.com Guide to Exercise since 2000

Exercise of the Week - Yoga - Vacation from Stress

Wednesday October 1, 2008
Turning on the television right now can be hazardous to your health. Just this morning, I mistakenly watched a morning news show and was reminded about the financial crisis, the high price of gas and a multitude of other things that made me feel like throwing something at the TV (not that I would ever do that to your precious baby, dear husband).

We're all under pressure right now and, though it seems impossible, it's more important than ever to take care of our bodies and minds. Today, I'm issuing a challenge to my readers, and myself, to take a little vacation from stress with a few simple yoga exercises. Carve out at least 5 minutes (more if you can) and do each of these exercises, focusing on deep, full breaths.

Back Stretch
catstretchsquat.jpg (37018 bytes) catstretchsquat2.jpg (31138 bytes)
Lower into a squat with the hands on the thighs, back arched. Pull the abs in and round the back up towards the ceiling as you exhale and then smoothly go back into an arch as you inhale. Repeat 15 times.

Sun Salutations
sunsalutation1.jpg (13089 bytes) sunsalutation2.jpg (25880 bytes) sunsalutation3.jpg (31890 bytes)
Begin in a standing position and inhale as you sweep the arms up and overhead. Exhale and engage the abs as you tip from the hips and lower into a Forward Bend, with hands on the floor, feet or shins (bend the knees if you need to). Inhale and come up until the back is flat and exhale back into Forward Bend. Inhale and come back up, sweeping the arms overhead until palms touch. Repeat the series 4 to 8 times.

Spine Twist
spinetwist.jpg (15860 bytes)
Lie down on a mat and bend the right leg and place the right foot on the left knee.  Slowly twist to the left while taking the right hand straight out on the floor, the left hand gently pressing on the right knee.  Relax into the stretch and feel it in your lower back and hips.  Hold for 15-30 seconds and repeat on the other side. 

Comments

October 1, 2008 at 10:25 pm
(1) Sally says:

Great Yoga Tips!

October 3, 2008 at 5:43 pm
(2) fanny says:

I have added 20 or 30 minutes of Yoga every morning before work and feel so much better because of it.

October 6, 2008 at 8:23 pm
(3) vinod khullar says:

Excellent Tips.Good for bigneers.

October 8, 2008 at 9:47 pm
(4) poch says:

It helped me! thanks! I was looking for an exercise that will wake me up and this is it!

Leave a Comment

Line and paragraph breaks are automatic. Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title="">, <b>, <i>, <strike>

Explore Exercise
About.com Special Features

Learn how you can reduce your your numbers with these nutrition and exercise tips. More >

Keep yourself, and your family, happy and healthy this fall with these tips. More >

  1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Exercise

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.