You may be under the impression that yoga is mostly an exercise in relaxation. But the right approach can actually take your session from sedating to percolating. For starters, Yoga breathing can be absolutely amazing in lifting your energy.
Whether you are a six-day-a-week yogi, or someone who considers it a supplement to their normal training programme, including several different types of yoga in your program can help bring equilibrium to your body.
To get fired up during your yoga practice, incorporate the following Up-Down Dog series after you do one leg of a standing pose for five breaths. So if you did a Warrior I pose, you would follow it up with this sequence, and then repeat again after you’ve completed Warrior I on the other side.
After performing a standing pose…
Downward Facing Dog:
- Move into Downward Facing Dog by folding forward from your hips, bending your knees if necessary, until your hands touch the floor.
- Step your feet one at a time behind you, and then lift your tailbone into the air, directing it toward the ceiling.
- Hold for five breaths.
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Plank pose:
- Transition into Plank pose (the top of a push-up position), then lower down to the floor in a triceps push-up (elbows tight to the body) to come into Chaturanga Dandasana.
- Take five deep breaths.
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Cobra pose:
- Next, move into either Cobra pose (keeping your legs on the floor and lifting your chest to the sky or Upward Facing Dog (planting only your hands and feet on the floor).
- Maintain this position for five full breaths, then move back into Downward Facing Dog.
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Warrior I:
- Step forward and rise into the other side of the standing pose you began with (Ex: Warrior I), then repeat this series.