With winter lurking at the fringes of the city, laziness is fast creeping in – deep into the crevices of your muscle tissues. Give your aching muscles the relieve they need, all without leaving the comforts of your bed with these 10 yoga poses designed especially for the lazybones among us.
1. Start your morning with Savasana
The morning is the optimum time to engage in meditation. Keeping your eyes closed, lie flat on your back – keeping perfectly still with your palms turned up. Count your breaths, and feel your stomach rise and fall. This morning meditation calms your mind, relieving your central nervous system and body from any remnants of stress and fatigue. It also helps alleviate depression.
2. Stretch your body
This is how you usually wake from sleep. Bringing your arms over your head, elongate the entire body with a slight forward tilt to the pelvis and arch your lower back. This will increase oxygen intake as your ribcage expands. It also ensures that all the muscles in your body are activated, giving you the energy boost you need to start the morning.
3. The Goddess Pose
Place a pillow under your knees. Now lying down, bend your knees and begin moving your heels to your pelvis. Pressing the soles of your feet together, relax your knees off to the sides. This position helps relieve stress and depression, while stimulating abdominal organs, and ensuring proper energy flow to your pelvic area.
4. Ease your stomach
Begin by raising your knee to your chest. Then clasp your fingers around your knee and bring it to your shoulder – alternating from left to right as you go. Finally end the routine by bringing both your knees close to your chest and wrap yourself up in a good morning hug. This promotes hip flexibility, while activating your abdomen, thighs and hips. It also massages your colon since it compresses the digestive system, and helps prevent any untimely flatulence.
5. Do the Hip-Rock
Give your lower back and hip muscles a deep tissue massage with this pose. Bending your knees, place your feet flat on the bed. Then let both your knees fall to one side then the other, swaying in a natural rocking motion. It improves mobility in the lower back, while promoting hip flexibility.
6. Bring it back to Wheel
Keeping the same position of the hip-rock, bring your feet slightly closer. Now applying pressure to the feet, raise your hips into the air. Keep doing so, while keeping your feet, shoulders and back of your arms pressing into the bed. This will leave you energized, and relieve any back pain. It will also stretch the muscles of your chest, arms, legs, abdomen and spine.
7. Sacrum Slide
Begin by slowly swinging your legs till they dangle off the bed. Placing your hands on the bed, allow your backside to slide along the edge of the bed. Now using your arms push yourself into a seating position. Placing your feet firmly on the ground bring yourself to a standing position. This position gives your aching backside and sacrum a much needed massage.
8. Downward Dog for the Lazy
Facing the bed, place your palms and forearms on the bed. Then start to stretch your hip, till your back is flat. You can also bend each leg one after the other, to give your hips a relaxing stretch. This position comes with a plethora of benefits, beginning from increasing flexibility in the entire body to improving digestion while strengthening your body and also easing your nervous system.
9. The Hand to Floor
Slightly bending the knee, place your hands on the floor. Gently bring your hands back till they touch your toes, all the while moving your hips. It will increase blood flow to the brain and head, and also relieves your neck and shoulders bringing repose to the mind.
10. The Mountain
Spreading your toes, keep your feet grounded. Then bring your hands to the center of your heart in Namaste. Set your intentions for the day and begin the morning with a clear mind and strengthened body.
