How to do a vinyasa -
1- Set up your mat, if you do not have a mat, a towel is fine. lay your towel or your mat on the ground. Make sure you are in comfortable clothing.
2- Next come into a table top position, where your hands and your knees are touching the ground. Push off of your hands and your feet, and lift your pelvis to where the back wall meets the ceiling. Congrats, you are in downward facing dog!!! :)
3- The next part of your vinyasa, is lowering down towards the ground. Doing this as many times as you do during a yoga class, will help you to build strength. To lower down, you will want to lower your knees down towards the ground first.
4- Next you will want to lower your chest down to touch the ground and finally your chin to touch the ground. (this is called lowering your knees, chest and chin towards the ground). After doing this pose many times, the strength you've built will allow you to do a full chataranga, which is like doing a push up to lower down to the ground and without touching your chest or your knees, but that comes later!
5- Now your knees, chest and chin, hands and feet should be touching the ground. The next part of the vinyasa is either cobra or upward facing dog. If this is your first time doing a vinyasa, you will want to do cobra and work your way to upward facing dog. Cobra pose is easy from knees chest chin! So you are in knees, chest, chin, (with your knees, chest and chin touching the ground) you will want to sweep forwards. Your hands, feet, knees and chest will stay touching the ground, but the motion of your body is lifted slightly as you push off with your hands and lift your head towards the sky so that the front of your neck is feeling stretched. Here you will feel your abdomen stretching as well, thats a good thing! I've never felt as deep of a stretch as I do when doing this pose in my abdomen. Its such a wonderful feeling. When you are comfortable in this pose and have done a vinyasa a few hundred times (just kidding, maybe 50) you will want to do upward facing dog instead of cobra. Upward facing dog is where, instead of keeping your chest and knees on the ground, they are lifted, as you push off your hands and lift your head towards the sky, and your chest towards the wall in front of you, while you arms straighten. Once you've done your vinyasa a few times, this will begin to have a nice flowy sweeping motion to it. I wouldn't try this unless you want a deep intense stretch in your abbs.
5- Now your knees, chest and chin, hands and feet should be touching the ground. The next part of the vinyasa is either cobra or upward facing dog. If this is your first time doing a vinyasa, you will want to do cobra and work your way to upward facing dog. Cobra pose is easy from knees chest chin! So you are in knees, chest, chin, (with your knees, chest and chin touching the ground) you will want to sweep forwards. Your hands, feet, knees and chest will stay touching the ground, but the motion of your body is lifted slightly as you push off with your hands and lift your head towards the sky so that the front of your neck is feeling stretched. Here you will feel your abdomen stretching as well, thats a good thing! I've never felt as deep of a stretch as I do when doing this pose in my abdomen. Its such a wonderful feeling. When you are comfortable in this pose and have done a vinyasa a few hundred times (just kidding, maybe 50) you will want to do upward facing dog instead of cobra. Upward facing dog is where, instead of keeping your chest and knees on the ground, they are lifted, as you push off your hands and lift your head towards the sky, and your chest towards the wall in front of you, while you arms straighten. Once you've done your vinyasa a few times, this will begin to have a nice flowy sweeping motion to it. I wouldn't try this unless you want a deep intense stretch in your abbs.
6- Next to finish the vinyasa and get yourself back to where you started, downward facing dog, you will want to push off of your hands and your feet and lift your pelvis to where the back wall meets the ceiling. Your gaze will no longer be rising up towards the sky, but will be facing your feet now. And tada!!!
Congrats you have done a full vinyasa!!!
Congrats you have done a full vinyasa!!!how do you feel!? Hope you liked it !! Happy New Years!!! :)
Also, I've figured out how to make chocolate covered marshmellows even better, (i know i didn't think it was possible). By using parchment paper, you can place the marshmellow on the paper after dipping in the chocolate, and when it dries and hardens you can actually lift the dripped chocolate up with the marshmellow from the paper! It makes the treat alittle tastier:)
And finally, the other night I met up with one of my best friends for this amazing dinner at a place in Brooklyn called Sel de Mer. It is delicious, and I definetly recommend it if you like seafood, and they weren't too pricey either. I had the grouper with eggplant and tomatoes as a special for only 16$! The restaurant is a little hole in the wall on Graham Avenue. Delicious and I felt very French sitting in there:) lol. Afterwards we met up with our bos and I gave her her gift, its a circle scarf!!! I took a little picture just cause she looked so gorgous and I wanted to show you!! hope you like it!!
Here's to a great 2010!!! sending you lots of love, peace and positive wishes for a healthy and happy New Year!
Nikki, Happy New Year to you and yours!! May your dreams become a reality in 2010!Vinyasa sounds great!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a great time!
hugs hugs
Mmm, chocolate....
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Awww, the scarf looks beautiful! And so do you and Laura!
ReplyDelete