Extreme Yoga Poses

For my blog this week, I decided to research extreme yoga poses for fun!
The ones I found look really cool. I actually tried a couple and could kind of do all three poses!

The first pose is called Mayurasana.


This pose requires large amounts of arm strength and balance. To get into this pose, you rest your body on your forearms, while bending your elbows. Make sure your wrist are rotated back toward your toes. You then lift your feet off the floor while suspending your body in a plank position.

The second pose is called Urdhva Dhanurasana.
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To get into this pose, you start from a standing position and then lean back and bend your back until your hands touch the ground. To make this pose more intense, move your feet and hands together. Once satisfied with the pose, try to return to standing using your core strength to pull yourself up.

The third pose is called Scorpion pose.

This pose starts with a forearm stand. You then sway your back and bend your knees until your toes point toward the top of your head. You can make this pose more intense by bringing your toes down to touch your head.

The last part of the article talks about Acro Yoga.
This is a combination of yoga and acrobatics. It is where you partner up and try to complete poses together. You can end up balancing on top of someone else's feet, hands, back, etc. The possibilities are endless. In class last Wednesday we split up into groups and tried a little bit of Acro Yoga. It was very difficult but rewarding at the same time. 



http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/extreme-yoga-poses-12428.html

Breathing Methods

For my blog this week, I read an article about how to cope with depression, anxiety, and fatigue through breathing and meditation.
For anxiety, it is best to focus on lengthening exhalations. It is best to make your exhalations soft and even from beginning to end. To work on fatigue, you first settle into your everyday break then pause briefly after exhalations. It is good to explore the lengths of your exhalation and inhalations, and to focus on the sound of your inhalations. For depression, it is best not to force your breaths. Start by slowing down your breathing and then counting the lengths of your inhalations and exhalations. Next try to match your inhalation and exhalation lengths to make them even.
These breathing methods like they would be really helpful. I know when I am stressed I try to slow down my breathing and it really helps. Next time I get stressed, I might try these methods out.

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/1523

Best Yoga Poses for Women

For this week, I looked up an article about the best yoga poses for women. The poses include half pushup, planks pose, plow pose, supported head stand, feathered peacock pose, mountain pose, downward dog, warrior pose, twisted chair, and marichi's pose. These poses were chosen because they have specific benefits that are good for women. For example, the half pushup and plank pose stimulate calcium retention, which is vital for fighting osteoporosis. The plow pose and supported head stand pose invert your body, which is helpful for regulating the thyroid and parathyroid glands. The glands are vital for maintaining hormone production. The twisted chair pose and Marichi's pose benefit a woman's adrenal system and help support your bones. The adrenal system makes adrenaline in the body. These poses, along with downward facing dog, help to quiet this system and alleviate stress. We have done many of these poses in class, including twisted chair, warrior pose, downward dog, plank, mountain pose, and half pushup. I would like to try the others though, specially feathered peacock and supported headstand pose.

http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/10-yoga-poses-women-7741.html