Happy Summer days, everyone!
It’s already summer time, and in Europe, days are much longer now — it is still bright outside at 9PM or so! It tends to throw me off to realize that it is already quite late at night. This is one of the things I love about German summer. I also love that in Germany it’s not too humid or super hot like in Japan. OH MAN….I don’t think I can survive living in Japan during the summer time after getting used to the German one. I grew up in Southern California my whole life and I only knew that PERFECT WEATHER. I mean, we had some heat waves but it was never TOO BAD. And then I lived in Japan for a few years after only knowing “perfect weather”, so that transition was quite tough. Summer was super humid and hot; Winter was super cold and gray…….! But I guess living in Japan was a good practice for me to get used to the winter season in Germany. Although I haven’t really experienced the REAL German winter yet (due to global warming, there hasn’t been much snow for the last few years.)
Yoga has always been there to help me through stressful and difficult times. I always was able to stay mindful thanks to Yoga and I was trying to keep my calmness and clarity in my head whenever things got tough.
I am sure these days have not been easy for many of you —- COVID-19 hit us all quite hard. So many restrictions and changes. Some of you might feel like your freedom has been taken away in a certain way. As I mentioned before, I had yoga with me ALL THE TIME just to stay focused. Even just the breathing really helped me. So I thought of doing some posts to share some stress-relieving poses.
Here is another tip for boosting your Immune System:
:: Tree Pose Vrksasana ::
Here’s a little something for your to relieve some stress: Wide-legged forward fold
(Prasarita Padottanasana)
Yoga pose for relieving stress: Prasarita Padottanasana – Wide-legged Forward Bend
This is a nice standing pose which strengthens the and also helps to relieve some tension in your spine / lower back. By folding forward, you feel free from any tension in your back. (PLUS forward fold is a great anti-aging pose — your heart is over your head and refreshes your blood flow).
Benefits: It lengthens the spinal column and stretches the backs of the legs and the back muscles. It is a great pose for relieving stress since it calms the mind, provides relief from anxiety, mild back pain, and shoulder tension. It is a great hip opener. It calms your mind to prepare yourself deeper into the study of yoga.
You can come into this pose after you’ve done some sun salutations to warm up the body and the mind first. Make sure that your legs are a bit warmed up so that your hips are bit loosened up before you come into this pose.
- Stand with your legs quite far apart from one another (extend your arms out to the side so that you can see how far you want to keep your legs apart)
- Feet are posting inward — pigeon toed (this helps to open up your hips and you can fall forward a bit more)
- Place your hands on the waist and hinge from the hips – inhale here
- Exhale fold forward by focusing on lengthening from your spine.
- Draw your belly in and up, and reach the crown of your head towards the earth. Try to engage your standing legs — don’t lock your knee caps but ‘lift’ them.
- Your hands can be on the ground in line with your feet in toe-lock, or on hips, or interlaced behinds you reaching for the sky.
Keep your jaw soft and smile even if you are upside down. Namaste <3
