Hi Friends!

Try the following yoga poses staying in each pose for 5-10 deep inhales and exhales with your left leg forward. Then repeat each pose with your right leg forward. Then try repeating both poses with each leg forward a few more times.

Warrior II Pose and Extended Side angle Pose are pretty common  yoga poses that you will probably see in every different school of yoga. You may find your yoga teacher using them together or as a transition into more difficult poses. Each pose develops core power and leg strength, while toning your arms, shoulders and back.

Holding these poses with steady deep breathing will bring you to the present moment. This will encourage your nervous system to relax into a state of deep rest. This has the power to alter your physical and emotional reaction to stress in a positive way. Practicing yoga poses with deep breathing regularly can improve your overall health.

Our physical bodies may benefit from deep breathing while practicing yoga but our minds may be so stuck on our worries that it can be extremely difficult to pay attention to the present moment. However, Jesus says “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or wear, “(Matthew 6:24, 27)

Then He continues, “Look at the birds, consider the lilies, if God so clothed the grass of the field, will he not much clothe you?…Therefore do not worry.”(Matthew 6:25-30) By being mindful of the fact that since the beginning, the creatures of the earth have been continually provided for, we can recognize that we are continually being provided for. This offers us a choice. Will we continue to react to negative thoughts of our cares and worries and let these thoughts run our lives? Or will we take a deep breath, pause for a moment and realize we now have a choice of how we will respond? It’s easier said than done right, but we can try. I’m in. How about you?

…may your day be blessed with no stress!

xxoo