My Favorite Yoga Pose...

One of my goals for 2013 is to focus more on yoga. I have done yoga on and off for a while, but I plan to stick with it this year. The guy that teaches the Sunday night hot yoga class I have been loving told me last week that running is the worst thing I can do for my yoga, but yoga is the best thing I can do for my running. I really think I can see a difference so far with the yoga I have done, and it just makes me more willing to stick with it.

As a runner, it goes without saying that my hips, hamstrings and quads are are insanely tight. I am not embarassed to say that I cannot touch my toes. I am working on that. I would have to say that my favorite pose is Pigeon.If

I looked online, and found some of the benefit of Pigeon Pose

• Stimulates internal organs
• Stretch dep glutes
• Stretch groins and psoas (long muscle on the side of your vertebral colum and pelvs.)
• Relieves impinged periformis and alleviate sciatic pain
• Help with urinary disorders

I stole this picture here, and it goes without saying that I don't look like this when I do this pose. Not even close.

This is how you Pigeon:

• Start on all fours in a squared table pose.
• Slide the right knee forward toward your right hand. Angle your right knee at two o'clock.
• Slide your left leg back as far as your hips will allow.
• Keep your hips square to the floor. If your hips are not square, there will be unnecessary force on your back, and you won't be able to open the hips to their fullest.
• If you're not feeling a deep stretch in your right glute, slide the right foot forward--little by little--toward your left hand. With practice, bring your foot parallel with the front edge of your mat
• Your right thigh should have an external rotation, and your left thigh should have a slight internal rotation. This keeps pressure off the knee cap.
• Depending on how you feel, you will be upright on your hands while sinking the hips forward and down. Level two will rest on their forearms, and level three will rest the chest on the floor with the arms fully extended in front of you.
• To get full release in the hips, breathe and release the belly. Stay in this position anywhere from 10 breaths to five minutes.

If you are a runner and you haven't done this pose or if you aren't doing it regularly you should. Even with the yoga classes I have been doing lately, I should be doing it alot more. There is nothing better than a good hip opening yoga pose.

Posted with Blogsy