YOGA EXERCISES

Childs Pose to Low Cobra Exercise

Goal: To strengthen arms and strengthen the body’s core.

Asana 1: From childs pose(sitting on heels with chest resting in between thighs, big toes touching) with arms reaching up overhead, fingers spread wide, palms/hands/fingers touching the floor, inhale and come up and forward over hands into a push up or plank position, shoulder directly above wrists, shoulders pressing down, chest open, SLOWLY lower down towards floor keeping the elbows in and touching the side of the body, lower all the way down as you exhale, inhale and lift the head and chest of the floor, pointing the pubic bone towards the floor, elongating and protecting the lower back, exhale push into the floor with the hands and push back, elbows in, to sitting on the heels. Repeat 3-4 times always using breath.

Shoulder Exercises

Goal: To help gain flexibility and openness in the shoulder region in preparation for arm and arm undulation work.

Asana 1: Standing with feet hip distance apart, pelvis pointing downwards, arms at your side, shoulders pushed down and back, head looking forward, chin slightly downward so you have a nice long line in the back of your neck extending up out of your back, make a large circle with your arms, moving them from back to front, arms straight, doing this 4-6 times, making big circles in the air, rotating the whole arm. When you raise the arms, take an inhale, as the arms come down, exhale. Then reverse the circle and do it again another 4-6 times. Remember to engage the belly and stay firmly grounded and rooted in your posture as you make the circles with your arm. Try not to sway at all.

Asana 2: Standing with your toes together, heals about 1-2 inches apart, pelvis pointing downwards, arms at your side, shoulders pushed down and back, head looking forward, chin slightly downward so you have a nice long line in the back of your neck extending up out of your back, inhale as you lift your arms out to the side and raise them up to the ceiling, either bringing the palms of the hands together above your head in prayer position or open, palms facing one another on either side or your head, above your head. Exhale as you bring the arms down to your sides as you tilt and fold your body forward, letting the arms hang down in front of you at the bottom and bending your knees slightly, working towards bringing your chest to your thighs. Let your head and neck hang in a relaxed manner. From here, inhale as you raise your torso up halfway, creating a flat back, pushing your chest forward and looking down at the floor with your head, keeping a straight line with your neck and back. Your hands in this position should be resting either on your calves or thighs.

Once you are here, extend the arms out to the side and begin to press your shoulder blades together and bring your hands and arms in towards each other behind your back and try to clasp your hands together. Then, with the hands clasped, exhale and bring torso back down into the forward fold, resting here for 3 or more breaths, still keeping the hands clasped together.

In this position you can straighten the elbows and pull the shoulders back and try to bring the palms of the clasped hands together, or you can simply keep the hands clasped and let gravity take the hands to the floor. After a couple of breaths, inhale back up to halfway position, unclasp the hands and bring them back out to the side and exhale bring the hands and torso back down to a forward fold. On your next inhale, raise the arms out and upwards and bring your torso all the way up to standing, and exhale bringing the arms down at your sides to the starting position.

You can repeat this exercise as many times as you want. I recommend repeating this exercise at least 3 times in a row on a regular basis when you want to increase flexibility in the shoulder region.

For online belly dance exercises go here.