5 yoga postures to start the day

An alarm clock with a strident alarm, children struggling to get up, a shower taken at full speed or a breakfast spent preparing for the big meeting to come … If this table looks like your day starts, it is great time to breathe and get into yoga. Ten minutes will suffice. But without looking at the watch … and before eating. The key is to listen to your breath.

” Practicing yoga is to take time to take care of yourself by providing your body what it needs oxygen, energy and freedom, says Michael Harismendy, certified teacher in Paris Q. Ome simple postures improve management stress, sleep, muscular tension but also its relationship to others and to oneself. ”

Posture # 1: “Pranayama” or the lengthening of the breath

Sit comfortably, if possible cross-legged, on the floor or on a few books stacked to facilitate posture.

Do not clench in a posture you can not hold.

Put your hands on your knees, keep your back straight, release and lower your shoulders. Open the chest and close your eyes.

Place your concentration on your breath (by the nose). Breathe thoroughly ten times while being attentive to the sensations (tingling of the nostrils, widening of the rib cage …).

“Do not block the thoughts that come to your mind, like work or family,” advises Michael Harismendy, “but make the choice not to pursue them and put your focus back on your breathing.”

Posture 2: the dorsal torsion sitting

Always sit, place your right hand behind you.

Inhale as you stretch and lift your left arm to the sky. Exhale by placing your left hand on your right knee.

Inhale while lengthening your spine. Exhale as you turn right and then back. Take three breaths here and then gently return to the front.

“When you turn back, turn first at the belly button, then at the shoulders, the rotation will be wider.”

Repeat the same posture on the left by possibly reversing the crossing of the legs.

Posture # 3: the cat’s posture

Place yourself on all fours, hands under the shoulders and knees under the buttocks.

Inhale, dig your back and look to the sky. Exhale, round off the back and release your neck and head towards the ground.

“When rounding your back, to strengthen the stretch, push in the hands and knees and raise the middle of the back as much as possible to the sky.”

Repeat the series three times to massage the spine and the muscles around it.

Posture # 4: “Balasana” or child’s posture

From the cat’s posture, sit on your heels, stretch your hands on the ground, far forward, fingers spread, both thumbs must touch.

Place your head towards the ground, front to the ground if possible.

Inspire amply three times. Observe during the inspiration the effects massaging in the back and the general relaxation during the expiration.

Then walk with your hands towards the right until you feel a stretch in your left flank. Stop here for three full breaths.

Come back to the center, then repeat the exercise on the left.

Posture # 5: “Adho Mukha Svanasana” or dog posture upside down

From the child’s posture, go back to the cat’s posture. Inhale while digging your back and looking up.

Exhale, turn the toes, push in the hands and feet, raise your knees and take your glutes to the sky and to the back. This is the famous posture of the dog upside down.

Take three full breaths.

Then walk towards the hands with your head close to your knees, relax your neck (you can bend your knees a little). Let the whole upper body fall forward.

Take two full breaths.

Unroll your spine, vertebrae after vertebrae (from lumbar to cervical) by only raising your head at the end.