by Mariam Gates
Focus your eyes on a point in front of you.
Hold for five breaths.
Downward Dog
Hold for five breaths.
Switch sides (left leg forward).
Hold for five breaths.
Warrior III
Start in Mountain Pose.
Focus on one point.
Lift your right foot behind you and balance with your arms behind you, palms facing down. (This is called Airplane Pose.)
Keep your chest lifting and your spine long.
Hold for three breaths. Then bring your arms out in front of you. Balance. (This is Warrior III.)
Hold for two breaths.
Switch sides and repeat.
Tree Pose
Lengthen through your spine.
Rest your left foot on your right ankle or above the knee.
Focus on one point and find your balance.
Lift your arms out to the sides and then up over your head.
Hold for five breaths.
Switch sides and repeat.
Seated Pose with Goal Post Arms
Hold your arms as if they are goal posts. Inhale and pull your arms back.
Exhale and round your shoulders, bringing your arms forward, elbows toward each other (touching if you can).
Repeat five times.
Arm Twist
Bend your right elbow and pull it to your chest. Rest your right hand on your left shoulder. Bring your left hand to hug the elbow toward your chest and deepen the stretch.
Hold for three breaths.
Bend your left elbow and pull it to your chest. Rest your left hand on your right shoulder. Bring your right hand to hug the elbow toward your chest and deepen the stretch.
Hold for three breaths.
Repeat on both sides.
Extended Arm Twist
Bend your right elbow behind your head and place your left hand on your right elbow.
Hold for three breaths.
Bend your left elbow behind your head and place your right hand on your left elbow.
Hold for three breaths.
Repeat on both sides.
Table Top with Thread the Needle Pose
Inhale and lift your right hand up and over your head. Keep your eye on your right hand’s thumb.
Exhale and bring your hand back down and “thread the needle” under your left arm.
You can stay here or bring your right shoulder to the ground for a deeper tension release.
You can stay here or extend your left hand high.
Hold for three breaths.
Switch sides.
Upward Dog
Press your palms into the floor.
Roll your shoulders back.
Lift your legs and thighs off the floor.
Focus on one point.
Inhale and exhale (three times).
Child Pose
Press back and rest onto your heels.
Bring your head to the floor with your arms out in front of you.
Relax.
Inhale and exhale (three times).
On the next inhale move into Upward Dog, and then press back into Child Pose on the exhale. Alternate back and forth for five breaths.
Seated Twist
Bring your right hand to your left knee.
Twist your spine all the way to the left and place your left hand behind you.
Inhale and exhale and twist a little more.
Switch sides
Repeat two times in each direction.
Neck Release
Bring your right ear toward your right shoulder.
Use your right hand on your head to gently stretch your neck.
Extend your left palm toward the floor.
Hold for three breaths.
Switch sides and repeat.
Repeat again on each side.
Energizing Breath
Stand in Mountain Pose and bend gently through your knees.
Inhale and sweep your hands up.
Exhale forcefully and swing your arms back.
Repeat quickly five times.
Body Twist
Twist your body from side to side (lifting your back heel).
Let your arms swing all the way around to your back and shoulders.
Twist back and forth (five times each side).
Airplane into Eagle
Start in Mountain Pose.
Focus on one point.
Lift your right foot behind you and balance with your arms behind you, palms facing down.
Keep your chest lifting and your spine long.
Hold for three breaths.
Bring your right arm under your left arm.
Bring your right knee over your left knee.
Hold for three breaths.
Switch sides and repeat from Airplane Pose.
Standing Half Moon
Stand with your legs together, pressing both feet evenly into the ground.
Bring your right hand to your side and lift your left hand high. Lean to the right without causing any strain.
Breathe and focus. Notice the long stretch down the left side of your body.
Bring your left hand to your side. Inhale and lift your right hand high. Lean to the left.
Breathe and focus. Notice the long stretch down the right side of your body.
Come back to center and repeat on both sides (two times).
Let It Go
Bring your hands up over your head.
Bring them down, palms facing the floor, all the way to the ground.
Bend your knees and swish your hands out to the side like you are sweeping something away.
Repeat three times.
Child Pose
Press back and rest onto your heels.
Bring your head to the floor with your arms out in front of you.
Relax.
Inhale and exhale (three times).
Lying Twist
Lie on your back.
Bring your bent right leg over to the left for a deep twist.
Relax.
Inhale and exhale (three times).
Switch sides.
You can use a yoga strap, bathrobe tie, or towel for this relaxing sequence.
Seated pose
Bring your right foot into your hands.
Press the sole of your foot with your thumbs.
Hold your toes and rotate them back and forth.
Interlace your fingers between your toes, and toggle and twist gently back and forth. (If this is too uncomfortable, just continue to hold and rotate the toes.)
Circle your ankle in one direction and then the other.
Switch sides.
Lying on your back
Hug your right knee into your chest.
Position
your right ankle across your left thigh (this is called Figure Four).
Bring your arms around the left leg and gently pull toward your chest.
Hold for five breaths.
Switch legs.
Extending with strap
You’ll need a strap for this pose.
Place the strap across the ball mound of your right foot.
Extend the right leg (while keeping the left leg on the floor).
Hold the strap in your right hand and open the right leg to the right.
Hold and breathe. (See what is comfortable here.)
Switch legs.
Extending with strap/across the body
Switch the strap into your left hand.
Extend the right leg across your body to the left.
Hold and breathe comfortably.
Straighten the right leg.
Let go of the strap and bring the right leg to the floor slowly. (Count all the way to twenty before getting all the way down.)
Notice the differences between the right and the left side.
Switch sides. Start with the Figure Four.
Savasana
End with five minutes in Savasana pose for total relaxation
CHAPTER THREE
Mindful Breathing
Pay attention as your next breath comes in through your nose. Notice whether the air is cool or warm. Can you feel it move into your chest and fill your stomach? Exhale slowly.
You are always breathing, and it is easy to take it for granted. As long as you’re not panting from a run, suffering from a chest cold, or (heaven forbid) choking on something, you probably don’t give your breathing any thought.
And yet your breathing affects how you feel. If you are upset, one of the first things you might be told is to “take a deep breath.” It’s widely known that focusing on your breath helps you to calm down and communicate more clearly.
You will inhale and exhale approximately 20,000 times today. Obviously breathing keeps you alive, but it can also help you to feel more relaxed in any situation. It is a connection to the present moment that is always available. When you slow down and deepen your breath, you immediately increase the health of your entire respiratory system. It is an instantaneous way to move from that agitated fight or flight mode into the rest and renew response.
Breathing is the fastest route available from anxious to calm. By changing how you are breathing, you shift from a reactive state to a receptive state. In the 1970s, Dr. Herbert Benson, a researcher at Harvard University Medical School, called that shift the “relaxation response,” which describes the body’s ability to slow down and increase blood flow to the brain. Slower, deeper breathing equals a calm perspective.
This connection between our breathing and our state of mind actually works both ways. If our breathing is unsteady or shallow, it can make us feel nervous and uncomfortable. Many people, even when they are not experiencing stress, unconsciously breathe shallowly: Their breathing only accesses the top of the lungs and constricts the diaphragm’s range of motion. Breathing primarily in the upper chest can become a habit with some unwanted results.
Try It
Shallow Breathing
Place a hand on your stomach, right below your belly button. Take a deep breath that starts at your belly so that you can feel your hand being pushed forward. Now move your hand to the top of your chest, and try inhaling and exhaling short breaths only from that spot. It is not as relaxing as a full breath that fills your torso. Can you feel how if you continued to breathe shallowly like this it could actually make you anxious?
If you’re experiencing stress or running late it is common to take shallow and quick breaths or even to stop breathing altogether for a moment. This actually makes you feel worse and decreases your ability to use your higher brain capacities, because your system has been triggered to think there is a problem. Your brain starts to go into alert/lockdown mode. Rapidly, that basic functioning part of the brain (the lizard brain) turns to one thing only: survival.
To make matters worse, if your lungs do not get the needed full cycle of oxygenated air, they may hold on to excess carbon dioxide. Your body’s response is to try to take in more oxygen, but with the carbon dioxide still there, not as much oxygen can get in, which eventually leads to that feeling of anxiousness.
The good news is that noticing and making a small change can bring instant relief.
Try It
Slowing Down the Breath
Put your finger on the starting point of the outer circle, and on your next inhale trace the entire circle with your finger. As you reach the exhale point, reverse and slowly trace your way back to the start while exhaling. Move to the next circle. Take long, full breaths in and out. Repeat the process at least three times. How do you feel before and after this exercise?
It is really simple: Those deep slow breaths allow for a complete oxygen exchange in the body. A full cycle that brings in oxygen and trades out carbon dioxide regulates your blood pressure and heart rate, two crucial things that are out of balance when you feel anxiety or full-blown fear. When you are breathing deeply, your lungs fill and your belly rises. This alerts the central nervous system in the brain that everything is A-OK. Any alarm bells and flashing lights that were starting to go off inside you can be reset to a neutral state—there’s no crisis here. It is truly the fastest way to feel relief. You are then able to better respond from that calm state.
Using the Breath to Connect to the Moment
Any time you pay attention to your breath, it shifts your focus to the present. In addition to relaxation and mental clarity, concentrating on your breath brings you automatically into the moment because the only breath you are ever taking is this one right now. The breath is always there as an anchor to this moment. While your mind can be like a boat, prone to drifting off on the sea of your thoughts and emotions, the breath is there to pull it back. For most people, the mind is floating off constantly. But pausing to feel the physical sensation of your next breath as it moves in and out brings you immediately back to here and now. That shift from distracted to aware is literally only one breath away.
Try It
Sit comfortably.
On your next inhale try counting slowly 1, 2, 3.
Pause.
Exhale slowly, counting 1, 2, 3.
Inhale 1, 2, 3.
Pause.
Exhale 1, 2, 3.
Do you see how when you are focused on the breath, you are focused on the present moment?
When I focus on breathing I inhale and it feels like I am filling up with something good, and when I exhale I feel more calm.
—Kai, age 11
I like the breathing exercises because no one knows I am doing them. If I feel nervous because I have to do something in front of the class, I can take slow breaths (1, 2, 3, 4 in and 1, 2, 3, 4 out) and I feel stronger
inside.
—Riya, age 12
BREATHING TOOL KIT
Try these breathing techniques to give yourself a stress release or energy boost any time you need it. Each of these exercises is also a mindfulness tool. You can use the breath to connect to the present moment—immediately.
FULL ABDOMINAL BREATHING
Full abdominal breathing is our natural state when relaxed. Look at animals and babies and how their stomachs rise and fall when calm. If you pay attention, you may find that at times you are holding in your stomach instead of letting it rise and fall with the breath. Filling your abdomen fully with breath may not be the “look” we are going for, but actually it should be. The benefit of focusing on full abdominal breathing is that you activate that calm internal state (no matter what is going on).
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br /> Place your hand on your abdomen.
On your next inhale, breathe in slowly, expanding your stomach so it makes your hand rise up.
