Yoga Poses for When You're Sad

Do you keep practicing yoga, even on days when you are sad?

I once heard a friend say that yoga is not always a practice for feeling 

better, 

yet it is a practice used for 

feeling more

.

I love this thought, and I love that my yoga practice supports me even on days when I am gloomy, upset, grieving a loss, or feeling depressed.

Yoga can help us feel

more

, so that we can release negative feelings.

On days when you are feeling sad, or ready to release sadness, try these yoga postures to help you connect with the place you're in. You may just find that after your practice, you feel a little lighter. And if after practicing you still feel some intense feelings, please still give yourself permission to be exactly as you are; sometimes we need to feel heaviness before we can feel lightness again.

Begin in

seated meditation

.

Find stillness in a comfortable position.

Close your eyes and tune inward.

What's going on for you in this moment? Though it may be uncomfortable or a little unsettling, see if you can invite the feeling of sadness. Notice where it is present for you in your body. Maybe your hands or feet? The center of your chest? Your hips?

Without trying to change anything, simply notice. Bring your attention to your body.

If you're craving some movement, consider seated cat/cow for a few minutes, cat/cow from hands and knees, or a few sun salutations.

Then, come into 

pigeon pose

. From downward facing dog, draw your right knee forward toward your right wrist. Allow your hips to sink down. Feel free to slide a block or pillow under your right hip, crawl your hands forward, coming down onto your elbows or letting your forehead rest on the ground.

Stay here for 1-5 minutes on each side. Be sure to keep breathing!

Again in this pose, invite feeling. If there are tears, allow them to process. Remind yourself, you are exactly where you need to be. Let your body be heavy, and your breath deep.

From pigeon, do a few rounds of

low lunges (anjaneyasana)

on each side. You can have your arms up overhead, lifting through the chest, or bring your arms down by your sides. You can even take a lizard variation, both hands inside the front foot.

Move around a bit and stretch your hips in a way that feels right.

Take a few audible exhales through your mouth. Release.

Move through downward facing dog on your way into

Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)

 pose. Take up a lot of space in this pose.

Notice the wide stance of your feet, and the expansive reach of your arms. Get tall in your spine and gaze forward over your front middle finger. Set your gaze.

Then, allow the pose to intensify a little. Breathe more. Feel the large muscles in your legs start to fire. Engage the muscles around your core, your center, and picture energy lifting up through the spine -- tailbone all the way to the crown of the head.

Tune into your power center. Perhaps today, even with the feeling of sadness, you can also feel the energy of strength. Notice the play between these two energies, and offer what you can in the pose. Surrender your expectations.

If you can, stay for 8-10 breaths on each side in Warrior II. 

Next, have a seat on your mat. Take your legs wide to a straddle and take

wide legged (seated) forward fold

. You can walk your chest forward down toward the mat, tucking your chin into your chest. Or maybe you try an upright version of the stretch, with your fingertips placed on the ground behind your hips, and you lift up through the chest, finding a little backbend.

Deep breaths here, sending energy into the back body and the backs of the legs.

End with

legs up the wall

 pose. Scoot your booty as close to the wall as you can, lay back, and then bring your legs up the wall. Allow your whole body to soften and rest. Let the breath slow down.

Come back to the feeling of when you started your practice. Notice your emotions, and where you may feel them in the body.

You can begin counting the breath for a few minutes, inhaling to a count of 4, and exhaling to a count of 5 or 6. Or, try inviting the mantra,

I am that I am

. On the inhale,

I am

. On the exhale,

that I am

.

Stay for as long as you like, taking your time to finish your practice and return to your day. Always the option here to spend a few minutes journaling about what came up for you. 

Here's a summary of the 

YOGA FOR SADNESS 

practice:

• Seated meditation. Notice where in your body you may feel your emotions.

• Cat/cow to warm up

• Pigeon pose (1-5 minutes on each side)

• Low lunge or lizard on each side (breathe into the hips)

• Downdog

• Warrior II

• Seated wide legged forward fold (Upavistha Konasana)

• Legs up the wall (deep rest)

• Optional journaling :) 

A Tip for Vinyasa Yogis

Photo by Lucid Reflections.

Calling all Vinyasa yogis! How many downward facing dogs, planks, low planks, and updogs do you think you've done?

Chances are, if you've been in a lot of Vinyasa classes, your shoulders will start to feel it. It's important that you use proper alignment to avoid stressing the shoulder joint.

Next time you're doing your yoga practice, try this: place your hands a little wider on your mat. Take up a little more space than you have before. We're talking maybe an inch difference... separate the hands a little bit, and really spread the fingers wide.

Photos by Jobi Otso. 

Notice the freedom that is created in the shoulder joint as you move through a vinyasa sequence with your palms placed a little wider.

Also concentrate on activating the upper back; firm the shoulder blades and draw them down toward the tailbone.

Before starting class you can even do a few shoulder rolls to notice sensation in the upper back. Lift the shoulders up toward the ears, and then roll them back and down. Hold them there, trying not to let them creep up towards the ears at all. Think, lower ribs in. Shoulders away from the ears.

Photo by Lucid Reflections.

As always, check in with your teacher and ask questions if anything feels uncomfortable. Trust your body and be willing to try mixing it up a little bit every now and then... even seasoned yogis can fall into some bad habits! Namaste.

The Toes in Yoga

Photo by Jobi Otso.

The more you practice asana (yoga poses), the more you realize that small things are actually big things. 

Alignment of the limbs... the quality and speed of the breath... engagement of specific muscles...even the difference between looking up or down can make a big difference in how a pose feels, and how much benefit you receive from it.

Photo by Lily Michael Photography. Model is Allie Rae.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the toes in yoga. By engaging and spreading the toes, you can create a stronger base for standing / balancing poses. You draw more muscular support from the rest of the lower leg, which extends a longer line of energy through the body.

In every pose, we seek to draw as much Prana as possible into the body-- more life force, light, healing, and circulation. This extends from the crown of the head all the way down through the toes.

Throughout your practice, your toes should be alive and engaged, not just hanging out! This make a big difference in a lot of poses.

Photo by Cait Loper.

Here are some examples:

• The toes stabilize during any balancing pose, like Tree. By spreading the toes, you draw more grounded energy up from the earth beneath you. You activate more muscles in your feet, and stabilize the arch more.

• In the transition from Plank to Chaturanga, rolling over the toes with a unilateral movement helps you maintain correct alignment of the hips and creates the smoothest possible transition in the vinyasa sequence. If you're in the habit of flipping over one foot at a time, check in with your teacher for help re-learning this transition and talking about why the feet should move in unison.

Above photo by Jobi Otso.

• For balancing poses like Crow and Eight-Limbed pose, activating the feet and toes actually helps draw energy into the core, helping to increase the sense of lift and lightness as you 'fly.' The same goes for headstand and handstand; by activating and flaring the toes, you are creating a longer line of energy from the ground all the way into the part of your body that's extended farthest.

Photo by Justin Kral of Kral Studios.

• In Prasarita Padottanasana, engagement of the two big toes helps align the pelvis correctly. Engaging the big toe flexors has the added benefit of strengthening the longitudinal arch of the foot, too; in addition to being toe flexors, these muscles are also dynamic stabilizers of the arch. (You can read more about this on The Daily Bandha).

Photo by Brynna Bryant.

It's so important to be aware of your feet and toes during your yoga practice. Wake them up! Spread the toes. Notice the way this draws more energy into your body. Enjoy the added benefits of every pose when your feet are active.

Illustration by Laura Taylor Mark.

Here are some other great articles about how the importance of the feet during yoga:

• why toes matter, from Yoga Journal; includes information about how healthy feet and toes help prevent inflammatory conditions like bunions and tendinitis 

• Ever tried Toe Squat? This is a wonderful (and sometimes intense) pose for increasing flexibility in the toes and feet.

• 5 poses to build balance and stability in Toestand

Cheers to your happy yoga toes!

5 Tips for Vinyasa Yogis

Photos via Pinterest.

Do you practice a lot of vinyasa flow yoga? Here are some great tips for great alignment, and for deepening your practice!

Tip #1: In Downward Dog, try moving the hands a little wider apart on your mat. This will allow your shoulders to move more freely between downdog, high plank, Chaturanga, updog, and the transition back to downward dog. These poses should not make your shoulders hurt, so if you’re feeling pain, check in with your alignment! I made this adjustment to my posture recently, and have noticed a huge difference when transition between the poses! 

Tip #2: Spread your feet a little wider on your mat than you normally do in high lunge, Warrior I and Warrior II. Stability comes from taking up a lot of space on your mat. Picture your feet drawing in toward each other, so you engage the inner thighs.

Tip #3: In Triangle, soften the palm of your hand that’s reaching up. You do want to stretch and awaken the fingers, but you don’t have to grip. Instead of flexing so hard that your fingers are stiff, picture someone pressing on the center of your palm so that it gently relaxes. Notice how this allows energy to flow through your hand and whole arm, into the shoulder, extending downward. This way, prana does not get blocked anywhere in the pose; instead, the energy flows through you. Notice where you can do this in other poses: back off a little, instead of gripping, and notice the energetic difference it makes.

Tip #4: Remember mula bandha. Mula bandha helps you contain all of the powerful energy you create in the body during each pose, and it protects your spine.

Tip #5: Offer the poses. When you become tired or frustrated, give the pose away. Instead of clinging to your progress or telling yourself you’re ‘good’ or ‘bad’ at a certain posture, let it go. Surrender your attachment to the practice.

What tips do you have for vinyasa yogis?

Hip Openers

Photo by Justin Kral of Kral Studios.

Last night I worked on hip openers: frog, pigeon, low lunge, Hanumanasana.

I hold so much tension in my hips. A lot of the time I avoid going to these places of tension… it’s been so long, I think. It’s going to hurt.

Photo by Cait Loper of Cait Loper Photography.

Instead, I turn toward what’s comfortable, what’s easy. Sometimes it is easier to grip than to release—to draw the muscle toward the bone in Crescent Warrior, rather than place a block under the hip and settle in for Half Pigeon.

But when I go the easy route, there is some part lingering beneath the surface that says, You’re cheating yourself.

Photo by Cait Loper of Cait Loper Photography.

 Beneath the fear and hesitation and uncertainty lies your inner knowing.

I was proud of myself for being willing to move toward sensation in the poses last night.

A big part of yoga is allowing—allowing what is. Letting whatever comes up to come up. Not running from it.

Photo by Justin Kral of Kral Studios. 

Be willing to go there.

Reconnecting with the Self

 Photos via Old Brand New.

We all go through periods of time when we fall away from our practice.

The yoga mat collects dust. Perhaps the body becomes stiff or fatigued, the mind busy. Perhaps we are suffering, and we don’t know how to make time for ourselves, for healing.

Today I am sharing a post from my sponsored yogi Ty about the wonder of becoming present. Even if it’s been a while, yoga is always waiting for us. Today is a good day to practice, whether we are doing asana or simply noticing the breath.

Not that it needs to be said, but life is funny. Sometimes it plays out just the way you hope. Sometimes it throws you a curveball, but you adjust and make the best of it. And sometimes it just consumes you in a manner that—try as you may—takes you away from the things that bring you joy and provides you with a sense of purpose.

I recently found myself navigating one of these moments of consumption. While I felt like it just snuck up on me and stayed for the better part of the summer, hindsight suggests I should have seen it coming. My job had been straining me in many ways for quite some time. Mentally, emotionally, physically . . . it was slowly getting the best of me and turning me into a person that I did not like very much.

I was crabby and yoga-less.

Not knowing the best way to rid myself of the crabbiness, I knew how to address the absence of yoga in my life. So a few weeks ago I grabbed my mat, a towel, and a full bottle of water and headed to a hot yoga class. I was stiff and unable to move with the fluidity I had developed heading into the start of the summer, but something far more important happened on my mat that day. 

As the sweat poured out of me and I did my best to focus on nothing more than my breath, my mind became clear. I embraced the moments that followed and left the studio with a sense of joy.

While the state of euphoria faded later that afternoon, I found myself consumed with my hour of clarity on the mat. It was the first time in months that I felt like myself and I wanted more. A few days later I returned to have a similar experience, rekindling my love of yoga but in a slightly different way. After months off of the mat, the asanas weren’t exactly coming naturally to me. Since my initial foray into yoga was fueled by the physical practice this should have frustrated me, but it didn’t. 

Instead, I became more focused on rooting myself to my mat and getting lost in the cadence of my breath. 

It was a revelation of sorts, one that made me feel like I had the potential to control that funny thing we call life. While some yoga teachers talk and write about yoga’s ability to provide you with the skill set to maintain control of the self, it isn’t something you can wrap your head around until you experience it on your own.

As I have worked to immerse myself in a more regular practice during these last few weeks, I have continued to regain control and have allowed myself to delve into the moments of clarity. If I can offer one piece of advice to anyone reading this, allow yourself to do the same. I am going to continue to do so. Let’s hold each other accountable through communication and community engagement. We will all be better for it. Our community will be better for it. And in time our positive energy will reach far beyond ourselves and make the world a better place.

Thank you, Ty, for this inspiration! I know I can relate fully to your reflections here, and I’m grateful for your courage in sharing so honestly.

Insanely Cool Yoga Video

I watched this yoga video and immediately wanted to watch it again. And again.

Not only is Phillip Askew's control of asana downright impressive, but the sense that comes through in watching his flow is that he has a sincere dedication to his practice.

He is a devoted yogi.

How many hours has he spent holding a headstand? How long before he could do Hanumanasana? The point is that he's lost track of the time it took, but he knows the patience required to reach that place in the journey.

I love the humble moments in the film, too: at eighteen seconds, when he sits quietly on the bridge, and at four minutes, when he thoughtfully places each ankle behind his head before a well-deserved savasana.

At no moment in watching his practice do I get the sense that Phillip is trying to impress others by practicing yoga in public places. He is simply exhibiting his truest self: the one that moves effortlessly between the poses, the one that honors his own body and spirit on a regular basis.

Thank you, Phillip and the filmmakers, for sharing this beautiful example of what yoga really is. Namaste.

Yoga for Back Pain Relief

Photo via Urban Yoga Girl.

Do you suffer from back pain? 

Yoga can help.

Today I bring you a handy infographic from

Yoga Paws

on smart steps for healing as well as yoga postures that relieve back and spine issues.

PS

10 yoga poses for chronic pain

, and

learning to listen to your body

when it's hurting.