Happy Holidays! Now go do a yoga practice for yourself!

Namaste Holiday Yoga Ornament

Happy Holidays from Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor!   I hope you are all enjoying this special time of the year.

We've been enjoying family and friends coming over to our house, including our two sons and daughter-in-law, and our 3 month old grandson (our first grandchild!).  It's been wonderful to see everyone.

Because of my own busy-ness in getting everything ready for guests, I've neglected my yoga practice, and I'm feeling it.  So today, the day after Christmas, I'll be devoting a good couple hours to my own practice, starting out rather gently, including sirsasana (head stand) and sarvangasana (shoulder stand), and seeing where it goes.  I'm so looking forward to it!

I know many of you who attend classes at Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor are disappointed that there are no classes offered this week.   I suggest to you that you also find time today, or sometime this week, to devote to your own yoga practice.   No, not two hours (unless you are so moved!), but I bet you can find 20 - 30 minutes for a practice at least once this week.   Yes, I know it's easier to come to class and follow along with what I'm teaching, but if you've been taking yoga classes regularly for a few months or more, you have a good idea of what poses you can practice at home.

If you need ideas to get you going, I suggest standing poses be your base practice, and also include adho mukha svanasana (downward facing dog pose) and any inversions you feel safe in practicing on your own (legs up the wall, headstand, shoulderstand).

 Also refer to these Sequences for Practice for more ideas.

For those of you who are taking the Gentle Yoga classes, you might do the supine leg stretch pose (lie on your back and take a belt, strap, or bathrobe sash over your foot and stretch that leg up and hold for 10 -- 30 seconds, then take it to the side and hold for the same amount of time), followed by simple seated poses, including twists.   Then a downward facing dog pose with hands to a chair (against a wall!), or hands to your kitchen counter.   A standing pose or two will be good for you also, if you remember how to do them, and if you feel you have the stamina for them.

Don't worry if you don't get the pose exactly right!     Move mindfully, and observe how your body is reacting to the poses you're doing.

Enjoy!