Hip and Glute Stretch of the Office Chair Yoga

When sitting at your office desk, working hours at a stretch you are bent on your keyboard for long durations. In this near immobile position where you use only your fingers and arms (and brain), you develop stiffness in various parts of the body. The hip and buttocks are hardly moved, and so it is not uncommon to develop stiffness in these parts of your body. At times you could find it difficult to get up and move when you have been sitting for a long time.

The hip and glute stretch of the office chair yoga, helps you to ease the muscles of your pelvis and increase the circulation of blood there. In the long run such exercises can help to you to prevent hip and lower back related ailments too.

These exercises are quite simple and you need not even move out of your office chair. To begin with, adjust your position on the chair by shifting slightly ahead on the chair. Move your back away from the back rest. It is a common practice to keep your wallet in your back pocket. A fat wallet would prevent you from sitting comfortably. So it is advisable to remove your wallet from under you hip when you sit, and particularly so when you do this exercise.

Now lift your right leg and place your right shin on your left thigh. Adjust the position of your right ankle over your left thigh according to your comfort. The closer the ankle is to your abdomen, the better. Place your right hand on your right knee and left hand over your right ankle. Breathe slowly and consciously at this position, and inhale deeply. As you exhale, move your chest forward and bring your chest as close as you comfortably can to your right thigh.

Stay in this position and keep breathing slowly, consciously and deeply. If you can bend enough to take your chest all the way down to your right shin, that would be great. Drop your head over your right shin. You now feel a stretch to your hips, buttocks and glutes. To sharpen this stretch you can let your arms down by your sides and let them hang limp.

Stay in this position for some time and then lift your back. Switch the position of your legs and place your left leg on top of your right leg, and bend forward once again. Apart from stretching your hips and glutes, this exercise also compresses your abdominal organs and improves the secretion of digestive juices.

Sources:

Office Chair Yoga: Hip & Glute Stretch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkXyPuDec2s

Quick Hip and Glute Stretch

http://gettingridofthepudge.blogspot.com/2010/04/quick-hip-and-glute-stretch.html

Glute Stretches

http://www.answerbag.com/glute-stretches

Office Chair Yoga: Hip & Glute Stretch

http://fooyoh.com/fitness_video/watch/WkXyPuDec2s

Pincha Mayurasana pose

The Pincha Mayurasana is an acrobatic pose of the Ashtanga yoga series. In this pose you turn your body upside down and hold on to this position as long as you comfortably can. Due to your heart being above your head, your face and head benefit from the increased supply of blood. This leads to benefits like improving your memory, eyesight, reducing hair loss, improving skin tone, etc.

You start doing this pose by being on all fours. You rest your body on your forearms and feet, and raise your hips to be the highest point in your pose. Inhale deeply, and as you exhale push the floor down with your feet to heave your torso up and lift your legs and torso up till they are vertically upside down.

You balance your body on your forearms, and in this position, your elbows hold the maximum weight. Place your palms flat on the mat and spread your fingers to reveal the web between them. This gives you a more secure base to steady yourself in this upside down position.

Keep breathing slowly and consciously when you are in this position and do not stop breathing. The tendency is to hold your breath when you are in a precarious position. Avoid doing this.

This simple sounding move to bring your body in an upside down position is a difficult one to master, and you will have to practice doing this over a few days or perhaps weeks. Once you are able to achieve this position hold on to it for between two to three minutes, or as long as you find it comfortable and then exit this pose.

While exiting, lower your legs as slowly as you can to prevent landing them with a thud on the floor. Use your elbows, shoulders and hips as the fulcrum to lower your legs back to the mat.

Sources:

Pincha Mayurasana

http://www.ashtangayoga.info/practice/asana-sequences/intermediate-series-nadi-shodhana/item/pincha-mayurasana/

Pincha Mayurasana - Ashtanga Yoga

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3fCSrveAkM

Ardha Pincha Mayurasana

http://www.howcast.com/videos/22096-Episode-39-Ardha-Pincha-Mayurasana

Benefits Of Pincha Mayurasana | Yoga Tips & Guides

http://yogademo.com/tag/benefits-of-pincha-mayurasana

Sitting Back-to-back Holding Hands pose of Partner Yoga

Doing partner Yoga has the advantage of you being able to leverage on your partner’s strength. The Sitting Back-to-back Holding Hands pose of partner yoga feels more like a game rather than an exercise. This pose nourishes your hips and lower back and also your arms.

Sit on your buttocks on a mat with your back resting against your partner’s back. You need to be sitting cross-legged and rest your arms on your thighs. Move your arms to your sides and hold your partner’s arms.

Inhale, and as you and your partner exhale, lift your arms above your head. When in this position, both partners press each other’s arms slightly to increase the pressure on the arms.

You also feel a stretch along your abdomen, chest ribcage and heart. Pause at this position for some time and then lower your arms, and move your and your partner’s arms to your left knee and another pair to your partner’s left knee. This way you end up twisting your spine, as your left knee and your partner’s left knee are at opposite ends, as you are facing in opposite directions. As you do this, lengthen your spine and draw your belly inwards, and turn your face towards your left.

Pause at this stage for about three to five breaths, and then bring your arms to the center and lift them above your head once again. Inhale, and then lower your arms, this time taking them towards your right knee. Now turn your face towards your right. Pause and then bring your arms back to the center and raise them above your head.

Introduce a variation here, by bending towards your right and lowering your right arm (and your partner’s left arm) towards your right (and your partner’s left). Pause and then bend towards your left.

Another variation is to sit face to face with your partner and then taking your right arm behind your back. Your partner does likewise. Extend your left arm towards your partner’s back and hold your partner’s right hand. Your partner too does likewise. Interchange the position of arms and repeat this movement.

Repeat these movements to your left and right for between three to five times and then exist this pose.

Sources:

Partner Yoga

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q26BdBI-PJo

Yoga For Couples

http://www.couplescompany.com/advice/health/yoga/yogapartner.htm

Partner Yoga

http://www.bluescreenlife.com/health/partner_yoga.html

Ease the cramped feeling in your legs during pregnancy by doing the Standing Spiraling Twist Pose

The Half frog yoga pose is an adaptation of the normal frog pose. This half frog pose can be done by those who find it difficult to do the normal frog pose. This pose is so named due to the resemblance of your body to that of a frog when you are in this pose.

You basically nourish your hips and spine when you do this pose. It is useful for those with tight hips to overcome this syndrome, if they do this pose under medical advice and professional supervision. For this reason, you need to talk to your doctor before you do this pose. Ideally you need to learn to do this pose under the guidance of a trained yoga teacher. Doing this pose regularly can over a period of time enables you make your hips and spine supple.

But those who already suffer from acute sciatica, slipped disc or any other hip or spine related ailment, should avoid doing this pose.

You may look upon the half frog pose as a first step towards doing the full frog pose and other poses that involve backbends. When doing the half frog pose, you attune your thighs and spine to get used to the back bend posture and as you use one leg and one arm, at a time, you make it easier for you to do the full frog pose eventually.

Lie down on the mat and place your forearms and palms on the mat. Lift your shoulders and chest up. Cross your left arm in front of you and place your left palm on your right forearm. Now bend your right leg from the knee and lift your right foot. Turn around your right foot to hold it and press it down till your right heel touches your buttock.

As you press your foot down, your right elbow moves up. When you do this, press you abdomen against the floor and release muscular tension along your right thigh, As you do this, also ensure that you keep your chest centered towards the front, and also keep pressing the pubic bone down.

After you do this with your right leg and right arm, repeat it with your left leg and left arm. After doing it this way, using one arm and leg at a time, for some days , you would be able to do it using both arms and legs to come into the full frog pose.

You should stay with your breath all this while inhaling deeply followed by a long sustained exhalation. This exercise is especially beneficial for runners, cyclists and others who need to maintain supple hips.

Sources:

Yoga, the Half Frog Pose or Ardha Bhekasana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri63KzEFilE

Half Frog Pose

http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2465

Half frog pose / ardha bhekasana

http://www.yogatic.com/yoga-video/half-frog-pose-ardha-bhekasana/

Ardha Bhekasana (Half Frog Pose)

http://www.homeremediescures.com/yoga/mandukasan-half-frog-pose.html

Flying Bird Yoga pose

In doing the Flying bird yoga pose, you mimic the position of a bird in flight, hence the name for this pose. This pose helps you to nourish your hips, spine, glutes, quads, calf muscles. It also is a chest, heart and rib cage opener move, in addition to nourishing your shoulders, triceps and biceps.

Although a simple pose, it would be advisable for you to consult your doctor before you start doing this pose. Such consultation is obligatory for those who suffer from any neck, hip and lower back related ailments like spondylitis, scoliosis sciatica, slipped disc, etc. To do this pose in the right way, learn to do it under the guidance of a yoga tutor.

You start doing this pose by lying down flat on your abdomen. Your legs are straight down your hips and your feet are placed together with your big toes touching each other. Your foot soles are facing upwards and your toes point away from you with your toenails touching the mat.

Your arms are by your side and your face is turned to one side to enable you to breathe properly. Inhale, and as you exhale move your arms to place your palms flat on the mat. Bend your arms from the elbows and push your palms against the floor to raise your chest and abdomen off the mat.

Keep your toes pressed against the mat, and raise your chest up further, till you can bring your face forward by curving your neck and spine. Now stiffen your spine and the muscles of your neck and shoulders, as you lift your palms off the mat. This way, you hold yourself aloft by engaging the muscles of your abdomen and shoulders. This step also increases the pressure on your spine and hips.

In this position, it is your hips that function as the lever to hold your torso up. With your arms and legs aloft, you look like a bird in flight. Pause at this stage and then lower your palms to the mat.

Now bring your arms by your sides and lift your arms and legs off the mat. Stiffen your spine and also spread your fingers and stiffen your triceps and biceps to enable you to hold on to this position. Lift your chest and legs as high up as you can. Remain in this position for between one and three minutes, or as long as you feel comfortable and then exit this pose by lowering your chest to the mat.

Sources:

Yin Yoga - Flying Bird

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3k-GK96CHY&feature=related

Yoga Poses

http://www.yoga.about.com/od/yogaposes/An_Index_of_Yoga_Poses.htm

MindBodyWarrior Yin Yoga Flying Bird

http://www.3gpdb.com/videoy.php?b=LUP69XT-x3E&mindbodywarrior-yin-yoga-flying-bird