Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: lie down and stretch your outer hips
Tight hips have a lot to answer for, and it isn’t just that they keep you from sitting cross-legged in comfort. Tight outer hips in particular lead us to stand with our toes rotated outward, putting strain on our knees and lower back. In our intricately connected bodies, they can even contribute to shoulder pain. […]
Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: find your inner monkey
The Five-Minute Yoga Challenge started as a response to two of Gretchen Rubin’s Rules for Adulthood: “What you do EVERY DAY matters more than what you do ONCE IN A WHILE,” and “By doing a little bit each day, you can get a lot accomplished.” That, in a nutshell, is the philosophy of My Five […]
Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: twist in a chair to free your back
When something feels as good as a deep twist, how is it we forget to do it when we need it most? We sit at desks, shoulders tense and upper backs gripping, then get up and walk away, carrying our tension with us, when we could, with a few minutes of twisting, leave them behind […]
Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: half a headstand with 3 blocks and a wall
The Five-Minute Yoga Challenge started as a response to two of Gretchen Rubin’s Rules for Adulthood: “What you do EVERY DAY matters more than what you do ONCE IN A WHILE,” and “By doing a little bit each day, you can get a lot accomplished.” That, in a nutshell, is the philosophy of My Five […]
Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: spend a week walking your dog
Place a penny between your index and middle finger moundsMy friend Terri told me recently that she’d had a pain in her foot that was given temporary relief whenever she did downward facing dog pose. So she found herself doing dog pose five or more times a day – whenever the pain-relieving effect wore off. […]
Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: roll your feet on a tennis ball to loosen tight hamstrings
Is there such a thing as yoga magic? If you struggle with tight hamstrings, this Five-Minute Yoga Challenge might lead you to say yes. The effects can be startling the first time you try it. Continue to roll your feet daily for a week and some of that “shock of the new” will drop away. […]