One of my favorite things to do in the moment is to get out of my comfort zone and do something new. I was recently in a yoga studio with 3 other friends who had never experienced being in a yoga class. We were all sitting on the floor and doing some yoga poses. I was feeling a bit out of my comfort zone so I asked everyone to join into a few of the poses.
As you can probably tell from the first few poses, I’m not a fan of standing. My first few poses were like sitting and I thought it was weird. I’m always more comfortable in a seated position, but I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to do the poses that way.
The first few poses were great, and you can definitely do them seated, but the poses that are really fun to do are the ones that are really flat and not quite as stable, like the ones that look like someone has cut up the back of their jeans.
The three poses shown above are not all that different from the poses you can do seated. Even if you don’t do the poses with your legs, you might still be able to do them with your body and arms.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the word ‘yoga’, there are many variations of it, but they all revolve around the idea of alignment and balance. When you are doing yoga you are balancing how you’re sitting and how your body is oriented. For example, if you’re sitting, your torso is slightly bent in the right direction, your tailbone is a bit higher than your heels, and your head is a bit higher than your heart. This is called alignment.
Now take a moment to think about how different your body is from the average person. Your legs and feet are still relatively wide, but your hips and shoulders are a bit smaller and shorter. This is called “breathing”. If your body is oriented correctly, you can breathe out all of your internal organs and then inhale all of your organs and blood, and that’s done by pushing down on your belly and chest. This is called “breathing in.
When you’re breathing in, you’re exhaling through your mouth, which is called the diaphragm. When you’re breathing out, you’re inhaling through your mouth, which is called the diaphragm. Because my head is taller than my heart, I have to breathe in and exhale through my mouth every time. Not a big deal, but you can’t breathe in and exhale through your mouth if your head is higher than your heart.
I once told a friend of mine that I needed to do this pose. He said that he was all about yoga, but that his only experience of the pose was from playing video games. I thought he was joking, but it turns out he was right. I have been doing this pose for a long time. I just can’t remember how.
It has been a few years now, but it’s still a pretty simple pose. I just do it without any conscious thought. Just like breathing through your mouth, I suppose. The hardest part is just staying relaxed. You have to stay relaxed while doing it. I find myself doing this one the most each day. It’s not really a difficult pose. In fact, it’s pretty easy.
Like any other pose, I have to find a comfortable “neutral” position. You can probably do it sitting down, but sitting down is one of the most uncomfortable positions. So I am glad I found this position. I have been doing it for about a year now. I get very tired very quickly. The benefits are that it’s relaxing, and my body does not tense up. It also helps to focus the mind.
