Month: April 2014

 
A relaxing evening yoga sequence, to help you wind down and relax for the new week

Wind down your weekend with this relaxing asana sequence from yoga expert Stephen Sturgess. Find a quiet spot, put on some relaxing music, and clear your mind for the week ahead (don’t forget to do some light stretching beforehand). You can use this sequence any time you need to de-stress and clear your mind. The best bit is, you don’t need to be a yoga-fanatic, just give it a go and see the difference it makes.

‘The sequence of yoga postures that follows will help you to unwind from your daily activities by freeing tensions from your body, awakening energy in your spine and increasing the blood circulation to your brain to both vitalize and relax you for meditation. Breathe deeply and smoothly in and out through your nose, unless otherwise stated.’

 

1) Upward Thunderbolt Pose – Urdhva Vajrasana

a) Kneel on the floor, with your buttocks on your heels, your hands on your thighs and your body upright but relaxed (below)

 

b) Inhaling, raise both your arms above your head, stretching your spine slightlyback, and expanding your chest to open your heart and lungs. Look toward your hands, hold for five breaths, then release.

 

2) Hare Pose – Shashankasana

Exhaling, bend your body forward, reaching your arms in front of you and resting your forehead on the floor. Keep your buttocks on your heels if you can. Hold for five breaths, then release.

 

3) Cobra Pose – Bhujangasana

Lie down on your stomach, resting the tops of your feet on the floor. Inhaling, press your hips into the floor and raise your upper body, supporting yourself with your hands under your shoulders, elbows tucked in. Arch your back slightly and look up, pressing your shoulders down and back. Hold for five breaths, then release.

 

4) Downward Dog – Adho-Mukha-Svanasana

Exhaling, tuck your toes under, straighten your arms and legs, and raise your hips high. Push your heels into the floor and your buttocks into the air. Relax your head between your arms and direct your gaze toward your knees. Hold for five breaths, then release.

 

5) Cat Pose – Majariasana

a) Come down onto all fours, aligning your knees directly under your hips and your hands directly under your shoulders, with your back in a relaxed straight line.

b) Inhaling deeply, arch down your lower spine and extend your head, neck and chest upward. Push down through the hands to lift your upper spine and look directly ahead.

c) Exhaling, tuck your tailbone under, draw your abdomen in, bow your head to look toward your navel and arch up your whole spine.

d) Repeat the arching down (Step b) and arching up (Step c) movement five times in total.

 

6) Child’s Pose – Balasana

Inhale as you sit back on your heels. Exhale as you fold your upper body forward to rest your forehead on the floor if you can. Rest your arms by your sides, palms facing upward. Take your attention inward and focus your awareness on your breath. Rest here for ten breaths, then very slowly sit up into Thunderbolt Pose (see part a of the first exercise).

 

7) Corpse Pose – Shavasana

If you are finishing your practice here, lie down on your back with your head, neck and spine in a nice straight line, your feet a comfortable distance apart and your arms slightly away from the sides of your body, palms facing up. Let your feet fall loosely to the sides and remain completely still. Close your eyes and relax your whole body. Maintain the inner focus of your mind by being aware of the natural rhythm of your breathing. Remain here for as long as you feel the need.

 

Anyone can benefit from Stephen’s expert guidance in Yoga Meditation, which offers a wide range of yoga postures, purification practices, breathing and meditation techniques, which will help you develop a supple body and a clear contented mind.

£12.99

Order your copy with free UK postage here

 

 

 

Everyone is counting down to the weekend, but do you feel refreshed enough on Monday morning? Michael and Jessica Hinz show you how to make the most of your weekend.

‘For anyone who works from Monday to Friday, weekends seem to take forever to arrive. Then from Friday night, time flies and before you know where you are it’s Monday morning again. If you try to pack in all the things that you haven’t had time to do during the week, there’s a danger of those precious two days bursting at the seams.

You’ll probably want to see friends or relatives. If you have children, you’ll also want to spend some quality time with them (especially if they’re usually asleep by the time you get home from work during the week), as well as with your partner. You may have leisure interests to pursue. Then there are regular chores, such as cleaning,laundry and ironing, and perhaps some home maintenance projects…

However, if your weekend becomes ruled by never-ending to-do lists, you may find yourself going to work on Monday morning more tired than you were on Friday evening, and so your break won’t have carried out its function of refreshing you for the week ahead.

 

Learn to make the most of your weekend

Schedule into your weekend at least one or two periods of slower time, giving you 10 to 15 per cent more time than you think you’ll actually need. If you finish the activity sooner, so much the better: you’ll have time for a coffee or a chat. If you’re rushing somewhere immediately after an early breakfast, make sure that you get some relaxation time later in the day – perhaps idly reading your paper after lunch instead of in the morning.

Mark the weekend out as special and do things that are a little unusual. For example, you could take the opportunity to explore some of the areas of your neighborhood that you don’t know well. Many of us have tourist or leisure sites on our doorsteps that we assume are of more interest to visitors than to locals – but why should this be so?

Weekends are for chores and for parenting, as well as for leisure. Efficiently attending to tasks will give you a satisfying sense of jobs well done and make you feel that you deserve any idle time or treats afterwards – which perhaps is a good reason for scheduling the tasks for Saturday mornings. To be efficient, prepare for your chores during the working week by doing any necessary shopping in advance. A big shopping expedition is a feature of many people’s weekends, but with a little ingenuity (including use of the Internet) you can avoid this.

Saturday night is a prime time for giving a dinner party, and many hosts find that they spend the whole day preparing: devising the menu, tidying up, shopping and cooking. With a little forethought some of these tasks can be done in advance, leaving you with more energy to enjoy the party. Many choose to be ambitious with their cooking, not because they enjoy it, but because they believe that they have to make a special effort for friends. That’s fine, but make sure that you don’t overstretch yourself and compromise your own enjoyment of the evening.

No matter how well you balance your weekend, there may be times when you suffer from “Sunday evening syndrome” – characterized by anxieties about the week ahead and difficulty getting to sleep. Often we go to bed on Sundays earlier than on Fridays and Saturdays, but it can be tricky to reset our body clock to working time. On Sunday evening your priority should be to unwind. Do something gently enjoyable. Don’t go to bed until you feel tired: prepare yourself for sleep by doing something that relaxes you.’

 

Learn to Balance Your Life equips you with everything you need to find fulfilment in all areas of your life: identify your priorities and allow enough time for them; maximise your finances; use your work and leisure time enjoyably and profitably; and make your home a calming yet energising place to live.

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