Achy muscles from surfing or just been inactive for too long? Here’s some yoga poses for you.
Surfing a lot lately or maybe not doing anything at all, feeling your muscles cramping up and the flexibility & lightness in your body no where to be found. Here’s some inspiration to create spaciousness in your body. These poses can be done anywhere, any time of the day. They are great when it feels like your shoulders have immigrated themselves up to your ears (after to much paddling) or when you need to get your body moving again after being landlocked.
Adho mukha virasana
Sit on your heels, knees apart and big toes touching. Keep your buttocks planted firmly on your heels and extend the upper body forward. Place your forehead on the floor and extend your arms fully forward.
If the buttocks don’t stay on the heels while placing the forehead on the floor, then put sufficient height under the forehead until the buttocks release down.
Adho Mukha Svanasana (with hands on height)
Place your hands on a bench or chair, extend your arms and walk your feet back behind your hips. Let your neck & head hang. Push into the hands to extend the arms and trunk into the hips, engage the legs and release the heels towards the floor.
Ardha Uttanasana
Place your palms at chest height on the wall or place them on any other height available. Walk your feet back until your ankles and hips are parallel to each other. Don’t drop your head but keep it in line with your arms. Engage your legs & extend through your arms and trunk.
If your back stays rounded try placing your hands a bit higher.
If you are very flexible watch out that you don’t push your lumbar forward here, instead move the sacrum away from the lumbar, so that the front waist can move towards the spine.
Parvatasana in vajrasana
Sit with knees together on your heels, feet flat on the floor. Interlock your fingers all the way to the webbing and turn your hands inside out. Extend your arms and slowly bring your arms overhead. Don’t let the arms bend while trying to take the arms overhead, instead keep the arms straight and stop when they start bending. Release the arms down and change the interlock of your fingers to do the pose again.
If you feel any pain in your knees then place a blanket on top of your heels to sit higher, if you feel pain on the front of your ankles then roll a thin blanket or towel and place it under the ankles.
Parsva vajrasana (with support)
Stay seated as in the above pose on your heels with knees together. Sit with the right side of your body close to a wall or other support. Extend both sides of your trunk and twist to your right. Place your right hand on the wall and your left on your right thigh. Make sure that your hips stay parallel, so don’t let the left hip move forward. Stay a few breaths and then change sides.
Shaini is an iyengar based Yoga teacher, for ever studying & practicing the art of yoga and enjoying the energy of the ocean in her backyard. Join her in Portugal where she hosts Yoga, Surf & Nourish retreats with www.yogaion.com
Photos by: Concha @seasoulstories
