Yoga for the working gal, and lads

Hello lovely people!

How is everyone enjoying their day? Very good I hope! 🙂

I have a fun blog post today, revolving around one of my recent, not so recent hobbies. That hobby would be Yoga! As you may already know I am an avid runner, and generally hit the trails on my workout days. As of recent I noticed myself growing g a little bored of my runs. Not to mention, after working on my feet all day, my legs were telling me ‘hell no’.

That’s when I decided to pull out the yoga mat. The big difference is that when I’m doing yoga is, its much easier on my feet and knees, which are typically my weak spots after work. If fact, as I sat there it seemed every inch of my legs were a weak spot. Stiff and achy I devised a set of stretches, easy enough to do them after work, and anywhere at all.

Whether you work siting down, or are on your feet for the 8 hours of the day, these stretches are a sure fire way to help say ‘sayonara ‘ to stiff legs. And if this post is a hit I can continue on with any other stretches! 🙂

Just as a little disclaimer, I am not a Yoga expert or anything, just a lover of it. And if any of these poses may seem too difficult or anything, know your bodies limit and stay within it ❤

Also, I have no idea if these have real names or not, so bare with me.

#1.

Start sitting cross legged on your mat or pillow. Carefully place your feet together meeting up your heels and ball of your feel. You will begin to feel a stretch in your groin and inner thigh. You may gently press down on your legs for a more intense stretch, or just use the weight of your legs.

#2

This was my most favorite stretch, courtesy of when I used to kick box. At the beginning of the class we always were led in a series of stretches and I always loved when we got to this one. So, Starting in a plank position, bring forward your right/left leg (whichever one you want to stretch first) and lower it close to the ground, almost kneeling. Carefully sink back until you feel a stretch in your Quadriceps. This will feel like it is stretching the front half of your thigh. It is alright if you cannot sink as low, or if you sink lower than good for you!

#3

This next pose is pretty straight forward. Sitting with your legs together in front of you, move your fingers forward to touch your toes. By no means do you actually have to touch your toes. As you can see, I was quite stiff and could barely touch mine 😛 By the end though, after short breaks I could. It is a good idea to start where you can touch, and ease slowly into the stretch.

#4

 

This is pretty much the same stretch, just isolating each leg for an individual stretch. I’m sure we’ve all done this stretch at some point in our life, it is a very popular one for good reason! I like to do it then come back to touching both my toes, to see how much farther I can reach 🙂

#5

Last, and certainly my favorite after a long day is the corpse pose. Why is this the only name I can actually remember? Probably because its the most literal 😛 I don’t think a whole lot of instruction is needed for this one. Lying on your back with your hands facing up (my own boo boo), breathe deep and clear your mind. Stay in this pose for as long as needed. Hey, have a nap if that’s what you need. The key to this pose is to unwind.

 

I hope this has helped, and/or inspired anyone today! Thank you for reading as usual, and let me know if you like seeing these kinds of posts on my blog!

Ciao!

~M