Beyond building strength and enhancing flexibility, yoga helps you focus and relax your mind. This relaxing yoga workout could help you beat your winter blues and enjoy your holiday season to the fullest. Besides, it keeps bloating away. So are you ready for this restorative yoga workout? Let’s start practicing…
Restorative Yoga for Holiday Season
A strong foundation is essential for a sturdy building. In the same way, you need to ground and center yourself before you begin a yoga practice. So, you will start the gentle Vinyasa yoga practice with a seated posture. From here, you will move on to a core strengthening and hip opening practice. At the same time, it will be quite restorative in nature also.
You will need 30 minutes to complete this therapeutic yoga sequence. Feel free to use props like bolsters, blankets, and straps, wherever required. These yoga accessories will help to reap the benefits if you have flexibility issues.
Try to make the movements fluid from one to the next.
Sukhasana – Easy Pose
Sit cross-legged on the floor, back straight and hands relaxed in your lap. Close your eyes. Take five rounds of deep, even breaths. Inhale and rest your right palm outside your right thigh. Lift your left hand over your head. Exhale and bend to your right. Hold for one minute. Inhale and come back to the center. Exhale and repeat on your left side for one minute.
Cat Cow Pose
Fill your heart with energy. Allow the fluttering mind to relax with this simple breathing Vinyasa.
From the cross-legged pose, come into Table Top pose. Stack your wrists beneath your shoulders and knees under your hips. Extend your toes backward, pressing the tops of the feet on the mat. Inhale and gaze up, arching your back and opening the chest. Exhale, round your back, tuck your tummy and gaze down. Alternate between cow and cat poses for 3 minutes. Come back to Table Top pose.
Uttana Shishosana/Anahatasana – Extended Puppy Pose
It is the time to open your heart and gift love. It is the time for letting go. That is why Extended Puppy Pose, or Heart Melting Pose, is in this restorative practice.
From Table Top, walk your hands forward. Gently rest the forearm parallel to the floor, palms flat on the floor. Lift your hips up while chest moves closer to the floor. Hold the posture for 3 minutes.
Balasana – Child Pose
Child’s pose is a classical rejuvenating and restorative yoga posture. It is well-known for its digestion-boosting and stress-relieving benefits.
Come back to Table Top Pose after you complete Extended Puppy Pose. Sit back on your heels. Inhale and swing your arms over your head. Separate your knees wider than your hips. As you exhale, fold forward from your hips, resting your chest and abdomen on the floor. Stretch out the hands in front of you, palms on the floor. Let the forehead rest between your elbows. Breathing in and out of your abdomen, hold the posture for 3 minutes.
Paschimottanasana – Seated Forward Fold
Seated Forward Bend triggers a blood rush into your brain and face. Meanwhile, as you compress your abdomen, the posture eases bloating and flatulence. Regular practice of this pose also tones the abdominal fat.
Once you complete Child’s Pose, sit back on your heels. Sit to your left side and swing your legs forward. Inhale and bring your arms over your head, aligned with your ears. Lengthen your spine on an exhale. Take a short inhalation and as you exhale, fold forward from your hips. Lengthen your spine while resting the abdomen on your spine. Hold your ankles or foot. Inhale and lift your chest up. Exhale and complete the forward fold.
In the final posture, your chin rests on your shin, abdomen on your thighs, and forehead close to your feet. Hold the pose for 3 minutes.
Ardha Matsyendrasana – Seated Spinal Twist
Twists are integral elements of a restorative yoga sequence. This posture detoxifies your spine and mind alike. Half Lord of the Fish poses boosts digestion. The pose also opens the shoulders, neck, and hips.
Sit upright after completing Paschimottanasana. Bend the left knee and rest the left foot close to right buttocks. Bend the right knee and rest the sole of your right foot on the floor, outside your left thigh. Let the right-hand rest on the mat near the right sitting bones.
Inhale and lift your left hand. Exhale and place it outside the right knee. Push the right knee with the elbows, fingertips pointing to the ceiling. Inhale and as you exhale, twist to your right. Hold the posture for 90 seconds.
Inhale and release the pose. Repeat on the other side for 90 seconds.
Upavistha Konasana – Wide-Legged Seated Forward Fold
Shakira has sung it right…. “Hips don’t lie.” When you are under stress, your hips stiffen. And, holidays tend to put you under immense pressure, right? So, try this restorative yoga pose to open up your hips and release the stress. Bonus: you will be bloating–free.
Sit upright with legs stretched out. Separate your legs wider than your hips. Flex your toes towards you. Using your hands, lift away the glutes muscles so that you will be able to sit on your sitting bones. Inhale, extend your hands up and lengthen your spine. Exhale and fold forward, lengthening your spine, from your hips.
Hold your big toes using the thumb, index, and middle fingers. Gaze ahead and hold the posture for 3 minutes. Inhale, straighten the torso and come back to starting position.
Pavanamuktasana – Wind Relieving Pose
Wind-relieving pose, as the name indicates, eliminates bloating. This posture also improves digestion and calms your mind.
Lie on your back. Stretch your legs out completely. Inhale deeply, and as you slowly exhale, bend your knees. Hold your knees, clasping your arms around them. Inhale and pull your knees as much as possible close to your chest.
Exhale, lift your head and bring your forehead close to the knees. Hold the pose, with deep breathing, for one minute. Inhale and release your legs to relax back to initial position. Repeat two more times, holding the posture for one minute each.
Jathara Parivartanasana – Reclining Spinal Twist
Reclined Spinal Twist works akin to Seated Spinal Twist. The posture helps to detoxify your abdomen and liver. This restorative yoga pose is therapeutic for stress, tension, fatigue, and headaches.
Hug your knees to your chest after you complete Wind Relieving Pose. Extend your arms to the sides at shoulder level. Inhale and as you exhale, place your knees close to your right elbow and look to the left. Hold the posture for 90 seconds.
Inhale and come back to center. Exhale and repeat on the other side for 90 seconds.
Supta Baddha Konasana
A gentle closure is essential to reap the benefits of this restorative yoga sequence. Reclining Bound Angle Pose is one of the underestimated relaxing poses. It opens your heart, calms your mind, and helps you relax.
Stretch your legs out after Reclining Spinal Twist. Bend your knees and join the soles of your feet. Extend your arms over your head to open your heart. Close your eyes and relax in the posture, breathing in and out of the abdomen for three minutes.
It is the time of celebration. So, let go of stress and enjoy the festivities with this restorative yoga sequence.
If you love to practice more such relaxing yoga sequences, try the Track Yoga app today!
Image Credits: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/180000/velka/frosche-beim-joga.jpg
