Slow Flow for Stress Relief

If today you are dawdling getting to the mat because you “just don’t have the energy” or are “too stressed out,” this one is for you!

Rolling out the mat and working through these 7 poses will help wash the stress away with little to no effort. They are all done seated or close to the ground.

They will release tension in the body and leave you feeling ready to move on with your today with a brighter outlook.

No props required.

Seated Cat//Cow – Begin sitting tall, tune in to the breath. Inhale, squeeze the shoulder blades behind you, arching through spine. Exhale, round and contract, letting the head be heavy. Go in and out of these two poses following the flow of breath.

2. Side Bend – Interlace fingers, reaching them up overhead. Palms up. Stay heavy through both sit bones. Inhale to grow tall. Exhale to reach the hands to the left. Inhale up. Exhale, to the right. Do a couple rounds.

3. Forward Fold – Extend the right leg out to the side, with the left knee bent and foot inside the right thigh. Turn to frame the extended leg. Point the toes, turn the palms up and passively fold down. Letting gravity do the work, focus on stretching along the right leg.

4. Deer Pose – Bend into the right knee. Send the left leg back behind you. Finding two 90 degree angles in the legs. Bring fingertips down in front. Exhale to fold down. Inhale to push and round all the way up. After a few rounds, fold all the way down.

Repeat 3 and 4 on the other side.

5. Low Lunge – From table top, step the right foot through to the top of the mat. Coming up on the fingertips, Melt the hips forward and down. Stay long through the spine. Think of extending long through the crown of head.

Repeat on other side.

6. Sphinx – Lower down to the belly. Legs extended back, with the feet hip width apart. Slide the hands out in front of you. With the elbows roughly under the shoulders. Push down through the palms, lift up through the chest. Roll the shoulders back. Push into the pubic bone or tops of the feet.

7. Reclined Butterfly – Lower down on to the back. Bring the soles together and drop the knees out to the sides. Choose where you place your hands, on the hips or out to the sides.

These 7 poses are a part of the 30 minute practice recently shared on my YouTube