Chapter (11)
Detox and yoga minutes
with Indi Mountain
10 minute yoga flow for back and shoulder
1. Child’s pose
Starting here, allow the body to just relax, the head can rest on the floor or on a cushion, close down the eyes and breathe, watching the breath and feeling yourself relax more on each breath as the body starts to soften
Take a couple minutes here (or as long as you want), to just connect to the breath
Walk both the hands to the right, lengthen into the left side body and hold this for a few breaths, then walk the hands to the left and again hold there and breathe, before coming back into the centre
4. Warrior 2
From downward dog, sweep the right leg up and behind then step the right foot in between the hands, ground the left foot down to the mat and rise up into Warrior 2
Have the back foot parallel to the back of the room, and the arch of the front in line with it
Reach the arms away from each other, relax the shoulder and look to the front hand, keeping the spine long
Hold this for a few breaths
Warrior 2 helps open up the hips and strengthen the legs, whilst stretching out the shoulders and strengthening the arms
2. Cat/cows
Bring the body up into a tabletop position and move through a few gentle cat/cows
Inhaling as you arch the back and bring the gaze up
Exhaling to round the spine and separate between the shoulder blades, to create a deep stretch in the upper back
A great pose to release tensions from the spine and to keep it mobile
5. Peaceful Warrior
Flip the front palm and reach it up and overhead creating a stretch in the right side of the body, resting the left hand to the left leg
This pose should be felt more as a side stretch than a backbend, and helps to create space in the ribcage by stretching our intercostal muscles, and giving more room for the breath to travel to
7. Plank
From ragdoll step into a plank and lower down to stomach
3. Downward Dog
From cat/cow tuck the toes under and lift into a downward dog
Peddle the legs out to help stretch through the legs
Lift the hips towards the ceiling and push the chest towards the thighs to lengthen the spine, and stretch through the back of the body
Downward dog is an amazing pose to generally stretch out the whole back of the body and has a very calming and grounding effect on the mind
6. Ragdoll Fold
Windmill the hands forward to frame the front foot and step both the feet to the top of the mat
Soften the knees and catch opposite elbows in front, then sway gently side to side her
A very calming pose and lengthens the fascia in the back of the body
8. Sphinx Pose
Bring the forearms on the mat, lift up the chest and push into the hands/pull the chest forward slightly to build tension in the front of the body, and a bit of compression in the lower back
Holding this for a few breaths to open through the chest and stretch into the spine
Lower the chest down to the mat and slowly push back into a childs pose to then start again and repeat on the left hand side
10 minute desk detox
Staying seated, close down the eyes, soften the jaw and the neck and start to focus on the breath
A really nice and calming breath is to find a number to count up to on the inhale and make the exhale a count or two longer to help get into the parasympathetic nervous system to calm the mind and body down
Keeping the body as still as possible, slowly drop the head back and take a few very slow full rotations with the head and neck, taking this in both directions around 3 or 4 times
With the head back in the centre roll the shoulders up to the ears and down the back, noticing the difference in sensations from the shoulders being tense by the ears, and relaxing when released down the back of the body. Doing this as many times as you’d like to help open up the front of the body
Interlace the fingers, bring the forearms together and rotate the wrists. This stretches out the wrists, forearms and fingers. Doing this a few times in each direction
Reach the arms overhead and interlace the fingers, flips the hands and take a big stretch up, pushing the palms of the hands to the ceiling then lean them over to the right to stretch out the left side body, holding this for a few breaths, coming back to the centre for a moment then taking this to the other side. This will help bring some movement into the spine through lateral flexion, and will help to stretch the shoulders, and open into the ribcage
Hands on the knees move through some seated cat/cow poses, inhaling to pull the chest forward and arch the back, taking the gaze towards the ceiling and exhaling to push the chest away and round the spine, bringing the gaze down. Moving through as many of these as you’d like, bringing movement to the spine and broadening through the top of the back to release tension from the shoulders
Bring arms into eagle by threading one under the other, this is an amazing stretch for the shoulders and top of the back, either holding, or raising slightly on the inhale and lowering down on the exhale to bring some movement into it
A really nice and calming breath is to find a number to count up to on the inhale and make the exhale a count or two longer to help get into the parasympathetic nervous system to calm the mind and body down
Keeping the body as still as possible, slowly drop the head back and take a few very slow full rotations with the head and neck, taking this in both directions around 3 or 4 times
With the head back in the centre roll the shoulders up to the ears and down the back, noticing the difference in sensations from the shoulders being tense by the ears, and relaxing when released down the back of the body. Doing this as many times as you’d like to help open up the front of the body
Interlace the fingers, bring the forearms together and rotate the wrists. This stretches out the wrists, forearms and fingers. Doing this a few times in each direction
Reach the arms overhead and interlace the fingers, flips the hands and take a big stretch up, pushing the palms of the hands to the ceiling then lean them over to the right to stretch out the left side body, holding this for a few breaths, coming back to the centre for a moment then taking this to the other side. This will help bring some movement into the spine through lateral flexion, and will help to stretch the shoulders, and open into the ribcage
Hands on the knees move through some seated cat/cow poses, inhaling to pull the chest forward and arch the back, taking the gaze towards the ceiling and exhaling to push the chest away and round the spine, bringing the gaze down. Moving through as many of these as you’d like, bringing movement to the spine and broadening through the top of the back to release tension from the shoulders
Bring arms into eagle by threading one under the other, this is an amazing stretch for the shoulders and top of the back, either holding, or raising slightly on the inhale and lowering down on the exhale to bring some movement into it
