In the winter, whether its been cold or warm near you, its worth it to invest some time in moving your body and heating up your core. You may be feeling the overload of a new diet, sluggishness leftover form the holidays or chocolates from your V-Day celebration. The point is, the winter can be long, sedentary, and sometimes makes you feel out of whack. Instead of giving into this slump, you can improve your digestion, enhance your core strength and get you ready for an energetic spring that is on its way.
One of the best and easiest ways to do this is with a quick and deep yoga practice. In this practice, you’ll need a mat or soft surface. No weights, no props, and no prior experience necessary. You’ll stretch, deepen your core strength, and shake off that winter slump.
*By the way, I did this at 20 weeks pregnant. It doesn’t make it a prenatal workout, but it can be easily modified if you’ve already been working out beforehand.
Here is the run down:
Do each pair of poses for 10 breaths, unless otherwise specified. Repeat on the other side before moving onto the next set of moves. Keep breathing, inhaling and exhaling with each part of the move.
- Cat and Cow: Start on your hands and knees. Bring your wrists under our shoulders and your knees under your hips. Inhale as you curl your chest up and lift your hips. Exhale as you engage the core and curl the spine, tucking your head and hips under. Repeat for 10 breaths.
- Knee Curl and Release: From hands and knees, lift your right leg behind you. As you exhale, curl your knee towards your nose. As you inhale, reach it back out. Repeat for 10 breaths and switch sides.
- 3-Legged Dog Planks: Press back to a downdog and lift your right leg as high as you can. As you inhale, shift forward to a plank pose, keeping your leg lifted off the ground. AS you exhale, push back to your 3-legged downdog. Repeat 10 times and switch sides.
- 3-Legged Dog Stretch: Lift your right leg again and peel our hips open. Bend your right knee to depend the stretch. Hold for 5 breaths and switch sides.
- High Lunge Reach: Step your right foot forward between your hands. Lift up into a lunge, with your back knee off the ground and your front knee bent. Lengthen your arms up towards the ceiling and engage your core. With a long spine, tilt forward and sweep your hands to your hips. As you inhale, reach back up. Exhale to lower. Repeat 10 times and open to a Warrior II.
- Warrior Windmills: Rotate your back heel to the ground and open your arms to a “T”. Keep your right knee bent and your left leg long. Inhale as you sweep your right arm up and back. Exhale as you reach your right arm to your torso. Inhale to lift back up, exhale to lower back down. Repeat 10 times and bring your hands to the ground. Step to downdog and switch sides, repeating the High Lunge Reach and Warrior Windmills on the other side.
- Downdog and Chair Squats:Hold downward dog for 5 breaths. Spread your fingers wide and push into your hands to length the spine. Squeeze your thighs and press the backs of your knees back to lengthen the legs and push your heels towards the ground. After 5 breaths. take your feet wider and walk your hands to your feet. Sit back into your hips and heels as you lift your arm into a Chair pose. Squeeze the glutes and engage the core. Hold for 5 more breaths. Then walk your hands back to the ground and take a seat.
- Boat and Hip Stretch: Sit tall with your knees bent. Grab onto the back of your thighs. Lift your heels but keep your toes on the ground. Engage the core as you lift your right leg up. Hold it up and lengthen the leg and inch as you inhale. Bend it back in another inch as you exhale. Repeat 10 times, then cross your right ankle over your left thigh to stretch (you cal lower the left heel to the ground). Hold for 10 breaths and repeat the entire sequence on the other side.
- Boat and Canoe: After your stretch, lift both legs into boat pose, with the knees bent and shins parallel to the ground. Reach your arms out or place your hands on the ground for support. Inhale as you lengthen and lower. Exhale to lift back to boat. Repeat 5-10 times, releasing all the way onto the ground.
- Reclined Twist: While fall on your back, hug your right knee into your chest. Hold it for 5 breaths, then twist it across your body for 5 breaths. Switch sides and repeat.
- Relax and Restore: Lengthen the legs all the way onto the ground and rest for 10 breaths. Then return to a comfortable seat and take 10 breaths to finish your practice.
If you are looking for even more, with videos to follow, make sure to check out the upcoming Healthy Body 4 Life challenge, coming up February 29th. You’ll get recipes, workouts, checklists, and more. All content is downloadable so you can have it to keep.
Enjoy!
