Yoga is a great form of exercise that strengthens and stretches you all at once. There are so many yoga poses that get some muscles firing while simultaneously opening up the opposite muscles groups. I especially love yoga poses that help those of us who spend too much time sitting each day. The ‘Hip Rocker Lunge’ is an exercise that ignites muscles we need to strengthen (glutes) and opens up other muscles (hip flexors) that we need to stretch, due to sitting too much.
Yoga gets your body moving and your mind slowing down. When you concentrate on your breathing and the muscles that should be working during the yoga poses, you’re able to forget about what else is going on in your life. It’s a great form of active meditation. Yoga strengths your mind-body connection. Having a strong mind-body connection is important to ensure you’re getting the best results from the hard work you put into your workouts.
Because of these benefits, I try performing a yoga routine at least once a week. Here are my favourite yoga exercises.
My Favourite 5 Yoga Poses
- Pigeon Stretch.
My absolute favourite yoga stretch is the Pigeon Stretch. This move is great for opening up your hips if they feel tight. So many of us do have tight hips because we sit far too much.
- Reverse Plank.
Many of us focus too much on increasing the strength of our front muscles, including the chest, biceps, abs and quads. The ‘Reverse Plank’ is a terrific exercise to strengthen all of our posterior body muscles. It works the shoulders, triceps, back, glutes and hamstrings muscles.
- Down Dog.
This exercise gives your hamstring and calves a fantastic stretch! You’ll see how tight your back leg muscles really are when you perform the ‘Down Dog’. Slowly pedal your heels towards the ground, to feel an even deeper stretch in your calves.
- Side Body Bends.
This is a great move that stretches and works your muscles simultaneously. The deeper you bend, the more you’ll feel your muscles work to hold you up. Bend really deeply to feel the stretch from your finger tips down to your hip.
- Airplanes.
This exercise is challenging, no matter what your fitness level is. Keep a little more weight in your standing leg’s heel and slowly lift your other leg up as high as you can, without lifting up your hip. Here’s an advanced version of the ‘Airplane’ move.
To Sum it up…There are so Many Great Yoga Exercises!
Yoga is great form of exercise that strengthens and stretches your body at the same time. It slows you mind down, enabling you to focus and improve your mind-body connection. It’s because of these reasons, that I try to incorporate yoga into my weekly fitness routine. I’ve shared with you, my top 5 yoga poses. What’s your favourite yoga exercise?