Simple Yoga for Body Health
You don’t have to be a yogi to benefit from trying out a few yoga poses. Yoga can help calm a racing mind, aid in joint flexibility and mobility, and can often be adapted to a chair or standing so it can be done anywhere on anytime you want. One particularly versatile and useful set of yoga postures are cat/cow. They can help particularly with:
- Mobilizing spinal segments, your shoulders, and the pelvic bowl.
- Softening tension in soft tissue structures that surround your joints
- Stimulating your nervous system for a deeper mind-body connection
Try these two postures by breathing out as you round your spine and breathing in as you lift your chest and tailbone. Notice how good this feels! If you are up for more, another easy and super beneficial stretch is the forward fold. Benefits of using a forward fold stretch according to BKS Iyengar in Light on Yoga include:
- Relieving stomach and menstrual pains
- Toning the liver, spleen, and kidneys
- Slowing the heartbeat and rejuvenating the spinal nerves
- Cooling and calming the mind and body
How do these stretches make you feel? Consider making them a part of your self-care routine. Since these yoga postures are easy to take with, you could add them to the end of a workout, a long day of work, or in between anything you do throughout your day.
