This will be my last and final post about my free inquiry which was yoga. I learned so much while doing these blog posts. I learned about how the wonderful app YOGA has many free yoga routines for any time of the day and for multiple different experiences. I used almost every routine that they have on their app. I learned about all the different types of yoga poses and made a post about the most common ones within the routines that I was posting about. I learned about the health benefits of doing yoga and also the physical benefits. I learned about so many different types of yoga that there are out there, some I have never even heard of. I loved choosing yoga as one of my free inquiry project because it was something I was always interested in learning more about and practicing more. This journey of learning more and practicing yoga more has made me feel so calm, relaxed, and energized. I hope that I will be able to continue to have time to practice yoga on a regular basis because it does make you feel better in so many ways. I hope that you enjoyed this yoga journey as much as I did.
Category: Free Inquiry Page 1 of 2
Today I decided to do the slow flow yoga routine. First, we are going to start with the easy pose, sitting with legs crossed, back stretched tall. We are going to stretch our neck while still being in the easy pose, stretching our neck side to side and forwards. Now we are going to move to a standing forward bend, trying to get out belly flat against our thighs. From there, we are going to move into Warrior 1 pose with our left leg forward. Lunging in this position we are going to raise our hands to meet above our head, now switch to the right leg and repeat. From there, we are going to a tree pose, first balancing with our left leg, then our right leg. Now we are going to go to the standing mountain pose which is just standing upright with our hands rested at our sides. Now we are going to come to a seated position with our legs crossed, we are going to place our right hand on the mat, reaching our left hand over our head, stretching our left side as much as possible while our backs are straight. Now we are going to switch to stretching out the right side. Next, we are going to sit with our legs straight out in front of us with our backs stretched tall, taking one leg and bending it, and putting the opposite arm across our body and stretching our back, then switch sides. Finally, we are going to end off with the easy pose with our legs crossed, backs stretched and hands resting on our knees, breathing in through our noses and out through our mouths.
Hopefully, you liked this quick routine.
Here are the rest of the most common yoga types which are continued from the previous post.
- Kundalini- This type of yoga focuses on the movements connected with breath, it can also include chanting and meditating. This practice is about bringing out the energy at the base of the spine and bring it out through the 7 chakras (areas of energy throughout the body).
- Bikram- This type of yoga practice consists of 26 different poses done in a specific order within an hour and a half class. This yoga is also done in a heated room around 40.6C, this room is usually very humid as well.
- Jivamukti- This is similar to the vinyasa type of yoga because there is are flowing movements with chanting, meditation, and reading and affirmations. These types of classes start with a warm-up and change by the week on focusing on different parts of the body or different poses.
- Yin Yoga- This type of yoga is a slower pace and is more focused on relaxing and meditating. This practice can use props and hold poses for several minutes. The main focus in this type of practice is lengthening the connective tissue (tendons and ligaments) which will, therefore, improve circulation and flexibility.
https://www.drweil.com/blog/spontaneous-happiness/the-8-most-popular-types-of-yoga/
There are multiple different types of yoga so I will be describing four different kinds within this post.
- Hatha- It is a combination of breathwork with physical postures. It usually involves an introduction to basic yoga postures for beginners. It is more focused on relaxing and stretching.
- Vinyasa-This style is more focused on rhythmic breathing which follows with flowing postures and somewhat vigorous mind and body workout. It links breath with movement so it is a bit more fast-paced and more athletic. This one is a bit more intense as well so it will help burn calories and sweat lots.
- Ashtanga- This one is also focused on linking breath to movement. Ashtanga is a bit more structured and follows a more specific sequence of poses in the same order. This type of yoga will leave you hot and sweaty and is physically demanding.
- Iyengar-This particular type of yoga is very meticulous, it is all about proper posture and poses. This type of yoga uses lots of props including, blocks, blankets, balls and straps. These tools are used to help people find the right alignment of stretch. This is sometimes taught without music and helps people focus on the stretch or pose and hold them for longer periods of time.
Next post I will be talking about the other four types of yoga
Information retrieved from
https://www.drweil.com/blog/spontaneous-happiness/the-8-most-popular-types-of-yoga/
This week I have been doing research along with my own opinion on the benefits of yoga. I believe that yoga makes you feel an inner calm and relaxation. When I do yoga I feel so at peace and connected to my body and mind. I feel so relaxed and organized when I do yoga. The one thing that I have a problem with is that I cant do a yoga practice unless I have organized and unpacked my things and done my homework to get things off my mind before I can relax. This is why I love doing yoga at the end of the day as a stress reliever. Yoga can benefit many things in the human body, it can increase flexibility, increase muscle strength, improve posture, improve respiration, increase energy, help with metabolism, help with weight loss, improve cardio, and improve circulation and blood flow. Yoga can also improve your mental health by relieving stress and anxiety as well as many other things. I love doing yoga and I wish I could do it every night because it is so healthy for your body. I will post a link down below that has many more physical and mental benefits of yoga.
https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/count-yoga-38-ways-yoga-keeps-fit
Since I have done a few yoga exercises I thought it would be helpful to create a list with images of poses that are incorporated in my yoga exercises.
Easy Pose-
Seated neck stretch-
Seated twist-
Seated side bend-
Bound angle pose-
Half wind relieving pose-
Wind relieving pose-
Lying spinal twist-
Bridge pose-
Corpse pose-
Child’s pose-
Mountain pose-
Tree pose-
Prayer pose-
Cat pose-
Balancing table pose-
Downward dog-
One leg downward dog-
Standing forward bend-
Standing side bend-
chair pose-
side angle pose-
Warrior 2 pose-
Today I decided to really practice my stretching and this routine will helpfully increase my flexibility. First, we are going to start off with the easy pose which is sitting cross-legged with hands placed on knees. Then we are going to stretch our necks as tall as they can be. Now we are going to press out chest forward with our hands placed on the yoga mat, just behind out bum. Then we are going to twist our upper body by pushing one hand against our knee and turning our body in the opposite direction, and then again twisting the other way. Now we are going to come back to facing forward and bend our upper body over our crossed legs trying to put our belly button to the ground. Next, we are going to be on our hands and knees bending our back to try and stretch our belly buttons to the yoga mat. From there we are going to keep our weight on our hands and push up to our feet, stretching our hamstrings. Now come up to a standing position and bend all the way over trying to touch the back of your calves. Next, we will be standing up with feet shoulder-width apart facing forward, we are going to take our left arm out and bend to the left trying to place our left hand on our left foot, keeping our back extended and long, now switch to the right side. Then we are going to come to a standing position with our feet together, lifting one foot up to place either above or below your knee and balance, then switch legs. Now were are going to end with a standing side bend with arms straight above our heads, and then switch to the other side.
I definitely feel like my muscles are warm and that that was a great stretch. 
Today I decided to try the energy booster routine on my YOGA app. To start this routine you lay in the corpse pose, which is laying on your back flat with your arms by your side. Then we move to the half wind relieving pose which is laying on your back and bring one knee up to the chest and pull your knee in with your arms and pull yourself up halfway and using your abs to hold you up. Then you switch legs. Then we move to the upward tree pose which is you standing up straight and bringing your arms up to your head breathing in and breathing out while bringing your arms down to your sides. Then we do the downward dog and bending your knees but keeping your heels on the ground. Now we go onto our hands into a plank position and bring your leg up to your chest and lunge forward, and switch legs. Then we move into a one-legged downward dog and switch legs. Now we come up to our feet and bring arms to meet above your head and lean to one side, then the other. Now we’re going to do a full plank. Then we sit cross-legged and put arms behind back on the mat and expand your chest. Now we are going to lean all the way forward with our legs still crossed, trying to put your belly button to the floor. Finally, we come up and are still seated cross-legged and rest arms on knees and breathing in and out. We have completed the energy booster workout and I feel energized.
Also to give you some information on my last post about the bedtime yoga routine, I had a great sleep and that routine really worked!
Tonight I decided to try the bedtime yoga routine from my YOGA app. I have been trying to get more sleep recently and having better and deeper sleep, I thought I would give this yoga routine a go.
First, they start with a sitting “easy pose” and are playing soft piano music. You hold that pose for 30 seconds. After that 30 seconds, there is a neck stretch, sideways, forward than another side in constant motion. Then there is a seated twist in which you are sitting cross-legged and twisting your body to one side while lengthening through your ribs and back, switch sides. You are to hold each of these poses for 30 seconds. There is a seated side bend, you sit cross-legged and put one arm onto the mat and lean towards it, stretching through your side, then switch sides and holding each for 30 seconds. While doing these stretches you are reminded to be aware of your breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. The next stretch is sitting on your bum and knees are touching the mat as far as you can while reaching forward trying to put your belly button to the ground. This is followed by a wind relieving pose, you are to lay on your back with your knees pulled in and hold for 30 seconds. Now it is time for the lying spinal twist, laying on your back bringing one knee up and crossing it over your body, pulling your upper body to the opposite side giving your back a nice stretch, then switch sides. Next up is the bridge pose, you lay on your back and bend your knees, raising your lower back off the mat and using your abs to hold you up. The final pose for this routine is the corpse pose, you lay completely flat on your back (if comfortable) and focus of your breathing and continue to be relaxed.
I feel very relaxed and ready to go to sleep after this routine, I will let you know if this yoga routine helped with my sleep at all!
Today I started my first yoga practice! I have practiced yoga before but I have never been this serious about gaining strength and flexibility. I have danced since I was 5 years old and gained flexibility over the years but I stopped dancing when I was 17. Over the past 3 years, I have lost flexibility and strength. I want to get back into the habit of being fit and healthy and this is why I chose yoga. Today I laid out my mat, put on my yoga wear on and put on some calming music. I started stretching my arms, then neck and then legs to get warmed up. I have taken some yoga classes before so I knew where to start but after getting warmed up, I felt a little lost. So I decided to try and find an app that had an instructor. The app is called YOGA. It has multiple different lessons to do different things for your body. Every lesson has a video to follow along with.
After my yoga practice today, I feel more relaxed and I am probably going to be a bit sore tomorrow, especially after not having stretched in a while. For my next yoga practice, I am going to focus on stretching which will allow me to gain more strength.