Move

Throughout the world, there are few common base themes or expressions that have served in the creation and conservation of every culture, and which have been carried from the beginning of our cultural development to still stand as equally important parts of modern life today. Amongst these there is perhaps one more personally powerful, fundamentally meaningful, and collective unifying expression than all others, hailing shared value to most each and every human, regardless of size, color, shape, class, or education in a special way - and that is dancing. This is the heart of embodiment.

I have a confession to make. In the not-so-distant past I was one of those yogis who irritates the ‘normal’ people in class. I would hang around for thirty minutes before class practicing my arm balances, I would do every single advanced posture in every class. If the teacher happened to include Crow Pose, you can bet I would be pressing from Crow to Handstand and back while most people were still struggling to lift their toes from the floor.

Life has a habit of getting in the way of your well thought out plans. You leave home deciding to do one thing, and distraction after distraction happens to throw off well thought out ideas.

How incredibly annoying!

It’s in times like these we most need to draw upon our inner peace. Unfortunately, these are the times it is hardest to find it.

Here are seven simple moves you can practice on a daily basis to find and keep your zen.

Move 1:

Below, we look at some of the benefits of practicing this set of poses, as well as the science behind those benefits

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is characterized by high levels of glucose in the blood stream. Untreated, this can lead to nerve damage, kidney failure, and blindness.

Undaunted by the devastating effects of diabetes, researchers arranged a boxing match between yoga and diabetes. The fight was going to last six rounds, each one month long.

As we age, our brains naturally lose their function. Elderly people experience memory loss in the form of what they hear in conversations and the things that they remember seeing. Researchers wanted to test whether yoga could improve an elderly person’s memory as well as the standard memory enhancement training (MET). What they found was astounding.

Purvottanasana / Intense East Stretch

Benefits:

• Stretches whole front of body.
• Helps strengthen back of body: arms legs, and torso.

Foundation & General Alignment:

Yoga is a great challenge, and that is why it requires so much practice. Even though yoga can be tough, there are some ways to make it less difficult. Here are five tips to make your yoga practice a little bit easier.

Maybe you’ve heard yoga is great for your body, mind, and spirit, but you can’t get into it. Maybe you’ve been doing yoga for years, but you don’t feel as connected to your practice as you used to.

Some of us commit to a particular yoga style and never look back, but if you’re still looking for that perfect asana practice, or you want to mix things up in your current practice, you might find the remedy through the discovery of your dosha.

Setu Bandha Ssarvangasana / Bridge pose

Benefits:

• Great chest opener.
• Releases tension in upper and lower back.
• Teaches actions for more advanced back bends.

Foundation & General Alignment:

• The back of your head is on the floor while maintaining a curve in your neck.
• Shoulders are on the floor away from ears.
• Press arms down into floor.
• Feet and knees are hip distance apart.
• Chest is up but your chin is not resting on the chest.