Yoga in Five Minutes: Quick Sessions for Stress Relief
- In This Quick Guide:
- Session 1: Butterfly Take Flight
- Session 2: Triple Stretch
- Lengthen and Balance
Will five minutes of yoga really do you any good? You bet your hurried self it will! Some yoga poses can make a big difference when you are stressed or need a quick energy boost. Try peppering these five-minute yoga sessions throughout your day to bring you serenity and balance.
Session 1: Butterfly Take Flight
Let this movement help keep your seated meditation practice a wakeful one. Hold each pose for three breaths, then move into the next pose. Go back and forth and feel your energy soar, then return to your meditative pose. Repeat if you begin to feel sleepy again.
- Butterfly. Relax into Butterfly pose, bringing your heels in toward your body only as far as you can still keep your spine straight, and bow forward. Hold for several breaths.
- Staff. Straighten your legs and bring your hands to the floor directly under your shoulders, keeping your arms straight and fingers pointing forward. Hold Staff pose for several breaths.
- Upward Facing Plank. Flow into Upward Facing Plank pose, holding for several breaths with strong arms and a straight body.
Session 2: Triple Stretch
Feel the full stretch of bodymindspirit in the powerful relationships inherent in this strength-producing sequence. Move slowly from one pose to the other, then repeat on the other side. Don’t forget to breathe fully throughout this sequence.
- Lightning Bolt. Move into Lightning Bolt pose, breathing deeply, and arms straight up over your head, palms facing inward.
- Warrior 1. Continue to ground yourself with your legs as you move into Warrior 1, lifting with your torso.
- Warrior 2. Bring the arms down parallel with the shoulders, Warrior 2. Breathe in strength and confidence. Exhale as you change sides.
Lengthen and Balance
These poses balance, lengthen, and strengthen the body for an infusion of serenity, grace, and confidence. When you’ve completed this sequence, repeat, and ending in Prayer pose.
- Mountain pose.
- Tree. Move into Tree pose, balancing first on one side and then on the other.
- Mountain pose. Come back to Mountain and rest for several breaths as you feel your body re-centering.
- Shiva, or Dancer pose. Move into Dancer pose, opening the chest and fully expanding the front of your body. Repeat with the other leg.
- Mountain pose. Again, return to Mountain pose, feeling your body re-centering as you breathe.
- Crow. Squat down into Crow pose and feel the front of your body contracting for balance.
- Prayer pose. End in Prayer pose, to give thanks.
With these quick yoga sessions you’ll feel refreshed, balanced, and serene. Enjoy your relaxation, and namaste!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Yoga Illustrated, Fourth Edition, by Joan Budilovsky and Eve Adamson; Revised with Carolyn Flynn
