De-Stress, Mobilize, and Reenergize With Some Quick Yoga

Here at the Whole Life Challenge, yoga is one of our go-to mobility practices. To share its benefits with you, we’ve partnered with MyYogaWorks, as their approach to health and well-being aligns so well with ours. Together, we’ve created a series of follow-along videos for each week of the Challenge.

The last two weeks we’ve focused on specific body parts – the hamstrings and the spine. This week we’re going to share a more integrated mobility sequence with you. In this video, instructor Vytas Baskauskas will take you through a set of full-body exercises known as sun salutations that will invigorate both your mind and your muscles.

If you’ve never done sun salutations before, don’t worry. This video will walk you through it step by step. It will also show you modifications to fit your level of strength and flexibility. All you have to do is listen and follow along.

My favorite part of sun salutations is actually the breathing. While my body always feels energized after these movements, so does my brain! I feel better able to concentrate and think clearly. I believe this is due to the deep breathing and overall circulatory benefit. I mean, if your whole body and your brain are getting properly oxygenated, that can hardly be bad, right?

And certainly, if you’ve been sitting in your car or at your desk for a while, then getting the blood and the breath flowing can help you feel better – and it just takes ten minutes.

Try this sequence:

• In the morning, to wake yourself up and get a great start to the day
• When you arrive at work, to clear your body of the morning commute
• In the afternoon, when you’re feeling that post-lunch slump
• Before your workout, to get yourself moving and ready to rock
• Any time you feel stressed, to clear your mind and reset yourself

YogaWorks

The founders of YogaWorks, Maty Ezraty, Chuck Miller, and Alan Finger, were all serious and highly accomplished yoga practitioners who wanted to share the gifts they learned from their own wise teachers. In 1987, when they opened their first studio on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, they gathered many styles of yoga under one roof, which attracted the best teachers in Southern California.

As yoga gained popularity in the U.S., the demand for well-trained yoga teachers began to grow. With the help and inspiration of senior teachers Chuck Miller and Lisa Walford, Maty created the world-renowned YogaWorks Teacher Training Program in 1990. Based on direct teachings from Indian yoga masters, this program has formed and guided today’s yoga leaders, including Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Annie Carpenter, Natasha Rizopolus, Vinnie Marino, Kathryn Budig, and many more.