Chair Pose - Utkatasana

Chair Pose is a form of a squat, that increases the strength in the feet, calves, quads and low back and with arms raised will strengthen the shoulders and neck as well.  

Chair Pose - Utkatasana

1. Bend your knees as if you're sitting back in a chair.  Send your sits bones back as if reaching for that chair.  Keep your knees from bending past the toes.
2. Keep your spine long and straight.  *If this is too much for you, sit back on the edge of a chair, or rest your hands on the back of a counter or chair.
3. Raise your arms, with palms facing each other, reaching your fingertips, to prevent bent elbows.  Keep your biceps in line with your ears and in a diagonal line with your hips & shoulders.
4. Ground down into your heels and grip with your toes.
5. Do not shrug the shoulders but keep plenty of space between ears and biceps, creating a square with your shoulders.

***An advanced variation of Chair Pose is seen below by drawing your chest closer to your thighs and knees, with arms reaching straight out in front of you. Keep the core engaged and sits bones reaching backward.

Warrior II - Virabhadrasana II

Warrior II is a powerful stance in which we open our hips, strengthening us from our foundation, being the feet all the way up to the neck.  This powerful stance that if practiced will enable us to find calm amidst our storms.  As we hold this posture, we find ourselves very aware of it's difficulty.  Tune into the breath, even counting the breath or attaching a color to our breath.  Find a focus point. Envision a beautiful lake and imagine the lake with it's crystal clear refection of the sky.  Distract the mind from the uncomfortable with breath and focus.  All else will melt away as you practice this posture.  Hold for at least 5 breaths.

Warrior II - Virabhadrasana II

1. Make sure your stance is wide. Turn your front foot facing forward(begin with left or right).  Take your back foot with toes angling forward slightly.
2. Take a look at your front knee.  Make sure it is over the ankle and you can see your toes.
3. Keep your shoulders in line with legs and torso, with your shoulder blades flat against the back.  Also ensure your shoulders are over your hips. Do not lean forward or backwards.
4. Keep your hips open, as if you're right up against a wall and you can feel both hip bones on the wall, chest flat against the wall.
5. Press into the outside of the back foot and ground down through the heel of the front foot.
6. Engage the thighs upward, so there is no sinking into the knees.

*hands on hips to begin is helpful in creating your foundation before raising the arms.  You may also keep your gaze forward looking right above your front hand or you may look forward of your torso, whichever helps your balance and neck.

One more tip that may help you as you practice yoga: Take pictures or use a mirror while you practice.  Often we think we are in the pose, and when we look at the picture, we find that we are bending a knee or that we are leaning forward or backwards too far.  Maybe our elbows are bent?  We see that and can use it to notify that part of our body when we visit the posture again.  It helps us to be aware of a part of our body we didn't notice before because our brains were consciously paying attention to something else.  In time, our sub conscious takes over and we don't have to consciously think about every aspect of this posture.  Our bodies will naturally go there.

Garland Pose - Malasana & Crow Pose - Bakasana

Arm Balances are one of the most challenging aspects of Yoga.  It is also one of the most rewarding!  There is nothing like finding yourself balancing your entire body weight on just your hands!  It boosts confidence and builds incredible strength.  Crow Pose - is one of the most commonly seen yoga poses.  It involves balance the inner knees on the backs of your triceps.  Sounds simple, right?!  It can be :)  Yoga is all about finding the balance point.  Yoga is also about mindfulness.  What does that mean?  Well, much of what we practice on our mats, is a direct reflection of how we practice life.  Our yoga practices are an opportunity to learn about ourselves, to grow, and to be strengthened in mind, body and spirit.  We are prepared for more difficult postures like Crow, when we practice Sun Salutations.  Sun Salutations are a wonderful way to implement mindfulness, focus, breath and strength.  Grab a notebook and jot down what enters your mind as you practice.  This is mindfulness - to be aware of what is happening in our minds.  Find the patterns of your mind and redirect the unhealthy patterns by focusing on breath.  If we aren't mindful, what may happen when we move into challenging postures is a tendency to "beat ourselves up", through thought and maybe even vocally.  Our bodies listen.  They obey.  It's in our subconscious to do so.  With this in mind (pun intended :), we move into Crow Pose!!

Garland Pose - Malasana - Low Squat

(pictured - top right)

1- Begin by standing.  Stand with feet a little wider than hips distance.  Turn your toes outward diagonally.  Keep tailbone tucked slightly and core engage.

2- Slowly begin lowering your hips down to the inside of your ankles.  KEEP YOUR FEET FLAT! If you're struggling with feet flat and you feel your heels lifting as you lower, step your feet wider, or place a folded blanket under your heels.

3- Bring palms together in prayer or namaste mudra.  Press the palms in and allow the triceps to press the inner thighs outward.  Try not to lean forward too much, although this will happen naturally.

**This pose is a wonderful leg strengthener and hip opener and is very helpful to take before moving into Crow Pose.  

***You may also place a block under your sits bones if you have trouble bending your knees this far down or feel that this compromises your balance too much.  You may still bring palms together with hands at heart center and open the hips, while sitting on the block.

Crow Pose - Bakasana

1- From Malasana (Garland Pose) - Place your hands down on your mat directly in front of you.  Keep your hands inside shoulder distance apart - as if you were moving into a plank position.  Keep your elbows inside your thighs and keep them tucked in ward, so the elbows don't splay outward.

2- Bring the inside of your knees as high up on the back of your triceps as possible, but KEEP YOUR HIPS LOW - not higher than your shoulders.

3-  Keep looking forward, and begin to rock forward. Squeeze your inner thighs and knees IN, almost like you're keep your elbows and triceps in and not allowing them to bow outward.

4-  As you slowly rock forward, you may feel your feet have some small lift.  If so, great!  If not, thats OK!  Stay in "mock crow" for as long as you're able.

*One of the most helpful things I learned was to not put my actual knee on the back of my triceps as this created a lot of bruising.

*Use your core - almost as if you are sucking a basketball into your belly button.  Your belly button being the vacuum.

*KEEP HIPS LOW. I began with my hips very high and I would face plant into the ground.  You are very low to the ground, gaze continually forward, never looking at your feet or at hands.

*The backs of your triceps act as a shelf, however, if you move into this pose with the idea that your arms and chest are doing all the work, then you will not learn this pose in a healthy way.  Draw energy up into the center of you, to your power source, the 3rd chakra or solar plexus.  It's called your core for a reason!  It is the center of you.  Also, engage your Mula Bandha (bandha = lock), by pulling in the parts of you that would sit on a bicycle seat.  This helps create an internal lock inside this core, enabling you to find more strength in this posture, rather than sinking into the palms, wrists and upper body.

Most of all -----  HAVE FUN!

The journey is the destination :)  Enjoy your journey!

Child's Pose - Balasana

Child's Pose is a common posture taken in Yoga.  I immediately think of being a child or of my children when I see this pose.  It's an amazing pose to take as it's an opportunity to come back to myself.  It can an incredibly calming posture!  In the beginning there were aspects of this posture that was difficult for me and sometimes finding comfort here was a challenge.  Do not worry if this happens to you.  I've found that children visit this pose all the time!  As we grow into adults, we get out of the habit of this.  Our bodies become tense, tight and full of tension and stress and our ability to fold ourselves into a little ball is foreign for a little while.  As we practice this, our spirits remember and we find peace.  So... in the beginning, this may be just fine for you, but if you struggle, take it slowly.  Rest in this posture with breath and mindful focus for as long as you're able before moving out of it slowly.

As I move into my practice, and even in life, I move outside my normal comfort zone and challenge myself.  I learn, grow, change, and become stronger.  However, like a long night of rejuvenating rest to recover and restore, Child's Pose calls me home.  It is an opportunity to come back to me, to reflect and turn inward to those things I've learned about myself from my adventure outside.  It's an opportunity to find my breath.  

“Home is where you go to find solace from the ever changing chaos, to find love within the confines of a heartless world, and to be reminded that no matter how far you wander, there will always be something waiting when you return.” 
― Kendal Rob

Child's Pose

** There are many variations, pictured a few I enjoy.  Feel free to move into the variation that calls to you.

1- From a tabletop position (hands and knees on mat).  Bring your knees to the *width of your mat, big toes touching.

2- Begin to draw your sits bones down toward your heels.  If you feel pain or discomfort, you may place a blanket behind the knees.  If you feel pain in your knees, kneel on a blanket or extra mat for relief.

3- Bring your forehead down to the mat, with hands extended out in front of you, palms down OR down by your sides, palms up.

4- Relax your jaw and neck.

5- Breathe.

*Variation - Keep your knees closer together as you sit back on your heels.