Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer Over 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free (52 page)

Reclined Hamstring Release

Return to lying down. Gently hug your right knee into your chest. Extend your right leg straight up and hold the back of your hamstring or knee. Allow your leg to relax closer to your face with each exhale. Try to avoid pulling the leg with your arms. Just allow your breath to release the tension and move it closer to you naturally. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths. Repeat on the other side.

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Happy Baby

Return to lying down. Hug both knees into your chest. Grab the outside edge of your right foot with your right hand and do the same with your left foot and hand. Point the bottoms of your feet straight up to the ceiling. Gently pull your knees down toward the ground by pulling your feet down. Rock your body from side to side to release tension in your hips and back. Stay here for five long, deep breaths and return to lying down.

Bonus Material:

Designing Your Own AT-HOME YOGA RETREATS

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By now you know that the more you can integrate yoga into your daily life, the happier and healthier you will be.

One thing that can help you do this in a meaningful and lasting way is to create an inspirational environment in your home, one that reminds you to take a deep breath and connect back to yourself. Yoga can then be carried with you throughout your day—whether you’re lounging, relaxing, working, or anything in between.

I like to joke at Strala that practicing yoga is like moving into a bigger house or apartment inside yourself, without the increase in rent or mortgage. You feel better after a yoga practice because your body has more room and your head is a little clearer.

Home is a great place to practice yoga. With a few simple ideas and yoga routines, you can transform your home into a year-round yoga retreat, allowing you to renew and inspire yourself and your creativity every day.

Want to cleanse your entire system and declutter your home while you’re at it, giving yourself a fresh start from the inside out? Then the two-day detox and declutter retreat is on the menu. Are you looking for a bit of inspiration to make a creative shift in your life? I have just the inspiration retreat set up for you. Would you rather kick back, relax, and rejuvenate? If so, the relax, restore, and rejuvenate retreat is suited especially to you. Pick your retreat or do all three. All you need is a weekend and you’re on your way to sheer bliss. Get it on the calendar! Happy

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retreating!

Detox and Declutter Retreat

Your home is your place of peaceful, calm, grounded energy in which you should feel safe and relaxed.

If your home is cluttered and messy it’s nearly impossible to feel at peace. There are a few simple

adjustments that you can make to create calm in your home that don’t require pricey remodeling,

installation of life-size Buddha statues, or digging a koi pond equipped with a tranquil waterfall.

CLEAN AND DETOX

Most of us have clutter to one degree or another in our homes. I confess that I have been known to let

papers and books pile up with the excuse that I need them sprawled out so I can look at them for

reference and inspiration. The truth is, they get piled up so high and are often scattered so widely that at

times I wouldn’t be able to find an important letter, book, or unpaid bill if I didn’t engage in emergency

decluttering. So let’s just say that I personally understand the benefits of decluttering from the inside

out and the outside in. Body/mind/home: there are more connections than we might like to admit!

Confronting clutter can be daunting. Where to begin? When we open our eyes and actually pay

attention to what is around us in our homes we can start to look at what we need, what we don’t, and

what we need to organize. We all have the ability to create calm in our homes and lives. We can treat

cleaning and decluttering the home like a yoga practice that cleans and declutters the mind. Both

practices require daily attention and repetition.

When you practice clearing the clutter you are making room for inspiration and creativity to rush in

and fill the space (without taking up more room). We need to make space inside and out. So let’s get

started doing it.

DAY 1: WRITE IT DOWN

Start your retreat in the morning. You’ll need a notebook and a pen. Sit up tall, where you can sit

comfortably, your favorite spot in your home. Take a long, deep inhale and exhale. Look around your

house. Is there a lot of clutter around that you can easily put away? Are there piles of mail, laundry, and

stuff? Write down where you see the clutter and make a plan for what you are going to do with it. Do

you need to go through the piles, do the laundry, or stack old clothes to go to a donation center? Make

a list and make a plan.

Now, close your eyes and begin to rest your attention on your breath. If your mind starts to wander

toward thinking, gently guide it back. Ask yourself the following questions:

• How is my health?

• What can I do to improve my health?

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• Do I eat things that are not healthy?

• Could I eat more healthfully?

• How is my anxiety level?

• Could I be less stressed?

• What could I do daily to reduce my stress levels?

Open your eyes and write down whatever comes to mind in your notebook. Finding out what might

be cluttering up your health is important, so write freely here. Take a look at what you have written.

Come up with a plan for clearing the clutter in your house that’s getting in the way of living

healthfully. If you have time, begin clearing now. Even if you only have a chance to take care of one

stack of papers, take care of that one stack.

Yoga to Declutter: Morning Routine

Do this routine after you’ve done your writing and your decluttering.

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Seated Meditation

Sit up nice and tall, however you can sit most comfortably. Relax your shoulders, so that they are away from your ears. Rest your hands on your thighs and close your eyes. Start to rest your attention on your breath. Watch your inhales come and exhales go. Settle your mind in the space between. Begin to lengthen and deepen your inhales and exhales setting a slow, easy pace of breathing. If a thought starts to enter your mind, simply observe it like a cloud passing by. Continue observing your breath for three to five minutes.

Breath of Fire

Staying seated, take a long and deep inhale. Exhale all of the air out. Begin to breathe rapidly in and out through the nose. Pick up the pace if you can and keep your inhales and exhales even. Continue for one minute. After a minute slow down your inhales and exhales gradually until you come back to long and deep breathing. Gently open your

eyes.

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Hero

Stand on your knees and lift your hips up over your knees. Bring your thumbs to the backs of your knees and move your calves out to the sides. Press down into the ground firmly with the tops of your feet. Sit your hips down on the ground between your feet. If your hips don’t reach the ground easily or this hurts your knees at all, sit on a pillow or a block. Continue to press the tops of your feet down toward the ground to protect the knees. Stay here for ten long, deep breaths.