Megan Zeitler - August 4, 2022

As a yoga teacher, it’s easy to abandon my home practice. However, over the years I have discovered that even 10 minutes of yoga can change my day around. Wether it be in the morning to get my day started or at night to slow down for the day, I try to make yoga a daily priority. Here are 4 beginning friendly poses you can do at home:

Child’s Pose: Start in table top on all fours. Bring your big toes together to touch, sit back on your heels, and extend your arms straight out in front of you bringing your forehead to the mat.

Options: Place a yoga bolster or pillow under your abdomen or place a block to rest under your forehead.

Benefits: Stretches the spine, shoulders, hips, and thighs. A resting pose in yoga to promote relaxation and bring attention to your breath.

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Legs up the wall: Sit with the right side of your body against the wall and rotate your body to the right bringing the backs of your legs and hips against the wall. Adjust yourself to bring your hips and legs as close to the wall as possible, you can also keep a slight bend in your knees if needed.

Options: Place a folded blanket under your neck or hips. You can also do this pose with a chair by bending your knees and placing your legs on the chair.

Benefits: Helps with fatigue, a great pose to do before bed. Also helps alleviate swelling in the lower body. This pose is a restorative inversion allowing for rest and reset.

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Low lunge to pyramid: Start in table top on all fours. Bring one of your legs forward, keeping a bend in your knee. Your knee should be in line with your ankle. Chin is parallel to your mat, coming up on finger tips to open the chest and create length in your neck.

Options: Place a block under both palms to create more length. Place a block or blanket under back knee.

Benefits: Stretches quads, hand strings, groin, and hips.

From low lunge, take an inhale and on the exhale straighten your front leg. Staying up on finger tips or folding forward for a deeper stretch in your hamstrings.

Benefits: Stretches and strengthens hamstrings.

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Eagle arms: Start in a comfortable seated position and extend your arms out to your side in a “T” position. Cross your arms with one elbow above the other, crossing at the wrists if able. Tuck chin slightly while bring elbows in line or slightly higher than your shoulders.

Benefits: Stretches shoulders, upper back, and back of neck.

Hi! I’m Megan Zeitler, I am from Assumption and have been teaching yoga here for 2 years. If you don’t see me teaching yoga you’ll definitely see me around Assumption, I am involved in ACPA, Assumption Farmer’s Market, and waitress at Dj’s.

Follow Megan on Instagram @meganmzeitler and Facebook @meganzeitler