Noel Schroeder, a Boston-area yoga teacher and co-creator of the DVD "Notice Your Experience," designed the following pose-a-day yoga plan as a powerful antidote to life's daily stressors. Use it to ease into your day or to undo tension in the evening -- or both.
Monday: Take a Deep Breath One minute, you're enjoying your Sunday coffee, lounging on the sofa. The next, it's Monday morning and your alarm's going off. The weekend has come to a screeching halt, but the transition doesn't have to feel like whiplash. This posture helps you greet your week head on, with a clearer, calmer perspective.
Seal Pose What It Does: Stretches the belly and aids digestion; restores the curve in the lower back; helps protect the spine from long hours of sitting
How to Do It: Lie on your stomach with your legs and feet relaxed. Then, reaching your arms forward along the floor, straighten them just enough to lift your torso into a gentle backbend. Do not strain or force; this should be a very passive and subtle stretch. Hold for 3 to 5 breaths, then release. Repeat for 1 to 5 minutes.
Tuesday: Think Clearly You can feel the stress mounting. Remember to take things slowly and stay loose as you find your rhythm. Use this gentle stretch to help undo back and leg tension and keep you grounded and steady.
Supported Seated Forward Bend What It Does: Stretches hamstrings and inner thighs; releases tension along the spine; quiets the mind and promotes focus; stimulates the sixth chakra, which activates intuition and wisdom.
How to Do It: Sit on a cushion on the floor with your legs extended on either side of a chair. Fold forward at the hips and rest your forehead and arms on the seat of the chair. Take deep, slow breaths through your nose and hold for 3 to 5 minutes.
Wednesday: Get Grounded If a midweek slump has left you out of steam, get back on track by carving out a moment of calm. This easy reclining pose does just that, with an ultra-relaxing stretch that helps you get out of your head.
Supported Goddess What It Does: Releases tight hips, stretching the groin muscles; connects you to the grounding energy of the root chakra, located at the base of your spine.
How to Do It: Lie on your back with the bottoms of your feet touching and knees splayed to the sides, resting on pillows or rolled blankets. Feel your spine on the floor.
Place your palms on your belly or rest your arms out to the sides, palms up. Let your belly slowly rise and fall with each breath. Remain here for 3 to 5 minutes, or however long you like.
Thursday: Clear Out the Gunk What if I don't get this done in time? Why hasn't she called? Worries have been accumulating -- and they're cluttering your head. Left unchecked, even the tiniest stressors will inhibit your best ideas from coming through.
Treat yourself to a few moments of stillness with this pose, and watch your inspiration re-emerge. Supported Pigeon What It Does: Opens the hips and groin; lets go of stress and pent-up emotions; quiets the mind; promotes emotional release
How to Do It: Sitting cross-legged on the floor, swing your left leg around, extending it straight out behind you, with tops of the feet and toes against the floor. Fold forward at the hips. For added support, put a folded blanket or pillow under the right hip. Rest your forehead on a cushion or blanket and relax into the pose for 2 to 5 minutes. Repeat with the other leg.
Friday: Soothe Frazzled Nerves As another hectic workweek slows to a close, it's time to downshift -- and ramp up your self-care. Friday's pose quiets your mind and nervous system, restoring your inner resources so that you can fully enjoy the weekend ahead.
Supported Child's Pose What It Does: Releases the muscles in the back; gently opens the hips; boosts your energy.
How to Do It: Sit back on your heels with your legs folded under you and the tops of your feet on the floor. Open the knees wide and bend forward at the hips. Rest your forehead (or your chest) on a pillow or blanket and keep your arms slightly bent. If your buttocks don't reach your heels, place a blanket under your thighs. Relax and breathe deeply for 3 to 5 minutes.
Toronto police have identified a man who plunged to his death from an eighth-floor balcony downtown late Wednesday in the city's latest homicide.Ryan Williams, 38, of Toronto, fell from a balcony just before midnight at a highrise in the area of Church and Shuter streets, police said in a news release on Thursday.Paramedics say they transported a man to a trauma centre. He was pronounced dead in hospital, according to police.Williams is the city's 24th homicide victim of the year.Police have sai
A Secret Service agent assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris’ detail was removed from their assignment after displaying behavior that colleagues found “distressing,” the agency said.
Sabrina Carpenter went braless wearing the Mirror Palais Anemone Dress in butter featuring illusion tulle adorned with lace appliqués along the neckline and hem
When the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately rules on Donald Trump's claim of presidential immunity from prosecution, a third of those deciding the matter will be justices he appointed to their lifetime posts. Those three - Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch - posed questions from various angles as the nation's top judicial body heard arguments on Thursday in a case that provides a vital test of the power of the presidency. A key question, Gorsuch said, is "how to segregate private from official conduct that may or may not enjoy some immunity."
Reuters/Brendan McDermidA federal judge in New York upheld a defamation verdict against Donald Trump, keeping him on the hook for the $83 million he owes E. Jean Carroll, the writer who accused him of sexual assault.Trump had motioned to receive a new trial, but Judge Lewis Kaplan rebuffed that effort, determining nothing was wrong with the first one that ruled against him.The decision affirms that Carroll suffered harm from Trump publicly railing against her in 2019, as she went public with her
Inside a garage in an established Edmonton neighbourhood, animals were being slaughtered and the meat was advertised for sale to consumers, a CBC News investigation has learned.Police entered the rented garage in the quiet residential Woodcroft community in February 2023. Images shared with CBC News show piles of goat carcasses, tubs of blood and the remains of a skinned baby goat on a makeshift slaughter table.Neighbour John Bos told CBC News that the sounds of bleating goats first alerted him
Jonathon Candy, 42, fatally shot his wife, Lindsay Candy, 39, and three of their four children, ages 18, 14, and 12, on April 22, before dying by suicide
Gracie Hunt, the daughter of Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt and his wife, Tavia, marked the first day of the NFL Draft by posting photos of herself in team colors.
ABC/Randy HolmesLike hundreds of thousands of other rapt viewers, comedian Wanda Sykes is getting a lot of mileage out of the Manhattan criminal trial of Donald Trump, the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records connected to his sexual relationship with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Podcaster Ben Meiselas insisted this week that Trump, present this week in-person for the beginning of the trial, had suffered
Former White House attorney Jim Schultz reacts to former President Donald Trump’s remarks comparing campus protests about the Israel-Hamas war to the deadly Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally.
