Morning-time Stretches

I have always liked the idea of yoga.  As a longtime dancer, anything that gets my body stretching, bending, and twisting feels amazing.  I distinctly remember my first introduction to yoga.  I was at my neighbor Barb's house.  Her husband at the time had a book about yoga.  I must have been 7 or 8, and I tried to read all the words--including the Sanskrit names--but really the pictures were what floored me.  I tried to contort my body into the positions, try them out in any order that I like, but more often than not, it hurt and didn't really feel that good at all!

Only later in life, after many a theatre warmup with sun salutations and an official yoga class here and there, have I begun to understand the philosophical and physiological underpinnings to yoga that make it what it is.  I don't practice a particular style of yoga (more out of ignorance than anything), although what I do is probably most akin to Hatha Yoga.  First and foremost, it's about breath.  This was obviously one aspect that went right over my head when I was younger.  Second, it's about slowing down and going deeper.  Each breath brings you deeper into the pose.  Third, yoga shouldn't hurt.  Even now as I push my body further I have to remind myself to pull back and listen to the signals my body is telling me.

I've begun to practice yoga every morning on our newly finished back porch.  There is something magical about doing sun salutations as the sun is peeking over the rooftop.  Although you can't see it in this picture below, you can imagine how cool it would be.  And I even saw a rainbow this morning!  Beautiful...

I get to listen to the sound of birds chirping delightfully (and the occasional chainsaw from a neighbor who is up and at it far too early).  If the wind is blowing just right, the chimes blow and add their own soft mellow music to the mix.

Pentatonic-scaled wind chimes.  Ethereal...

At first my goal was to do 20 minutes of yoga every morning.  I managed to do that and much more as time seems to whiz by.  Although I had to stop during my recent illness, I just jumped back into my routine, and I feel great.  I start with breathing and centering, then gentle warmup twists and forward bends (usually seated).  I move into cat and cow pose to warm up my back, then child's pose for a rest.  Next I do sun salutations--12 simple flowing moves that get my body all warmed up and aligned.  I typically do between 3-6 sets of sun salutations (a set is two times through, one on each side of the body).  Sometimes I stop here.  Other times, I go through more pose sequences.  And I always always always end in relaxation pose.  Even if I can't stay there for very long, going forth into my day relaxed and calm is the best feeling in the world.

A face-down view from my yoga mat.

To find out more about the poses (and their Sanskrit names), go to www.yogajournal.com.  They even have a cool "build your own sequence" application!

And after yoga?  I enjoy a freshly brewed cup of coffee.  I start the coffeemaker before I go out to the porch each morning.  It's my treat to myself for morning-time stretches done well :-)