​​​​​​​Cheryl Fenner Brown C-IAYT​, E-RYT 500, YACEP
yogacheryl.com
  • CONTACT
    • Chat with Cheryl >
      • Yoga Therapy Consultation
      • Reiki Consultation
      • Teacher Chat
    • Bio
    • Resume'
    • Press
    • Join Mailing List
  • BOOK NOW
  • YOGA
    • Classes & Workshops >
      • Prop Recommendations
    • Yoga Therapy
    • Online Self-Care Courses >
      • 5 Days to Intention & Personal Mantra
      • 21 Days to Spring Self-Care
      • 21 Days to Autumn Self-Care
      • 21 Days to Holiday Bliss
      • 21 Days to Summer Self-Care
    • Introduction to Yoga Course
    • Exploring Your Chakras Course
    • Custom Yoga Nidra
    • Thai Yoga
  • REIKI
    • Reiki Sessions
    • Chakra Balancing Reiki
  • TRAINING
    • Mentoring
    • Cancer Teacher Training
    • Online Yoga Nidra Training (10 hrs)
    • Subtle Practices Training (15 hrs)
    • Mudra & Sound Training (10 hrs)
  • CANCER
    • Classes for Patients & Survivors >
      • Private Cancer Facebook Group
    • Teacher Training >
      • 50-hr Cancer Certificaiton Training >
        • Cancer Training Checklist
      • Cancer Immersions
    • Teacher Registry
    • Cancer Home Practice Course
    • Yoga Nidra for Cancer
    • Articles & Sequences
    • Yoga Research
    • Cancer Patient Resources >
      • Cancer Resource Request Form
  • YOGA ENCYCLOPEDIA APP
    • Library
  • BLOG
  • STORE
  • CONTACT
    • Chat with Cheryl >
      • Yoga Therapy Consultation
      • Reiki Consultation
      • Teacher Chat
    • Bio
    • Resume'
    • Press
    • Join Mailing List
  • BOOK NOW
  • YOGA
    • Classes & Workshops >
      • Prop Recommendations
    • Yoga Therapy
    • Online Self-Care Courses >
      • 5 Days to Intention & Personal Mantra
      • 21 Days to Spring Self-Care
      • 21 Days to Autumn Self-Care
      • 21 Days to Holiday Bliss
      • 21 Days to Summer Self-Care
    • Introduction to Yoga Course
    • Exploring Your Chakras Course
    • Custom Yoga Nidra
    • Thai Yoga
  • REIKI
    • Reiki Sessions
    • Chakra Balancing Reiki
  • TRAINING
    • Mentoring
    • Cancer Teacher Training
    • Online Yoga Nidra Training (10 hrs)
    • Subtle Practices Training (15 hrs)
    • Mudra & Sound Training (10 hrs)
  • CANCER
    • Classes for Patients & Survivors >
      • Private Cancer Facebook Group
    • Teacher Training >
      • 50-hr Cancer Certificaiton Training >
        • Cancer Training Checklist
      • Cancer Immersions
    • Teacher Registry
    • Cancer Home Practice Course
    • Yoga Nidra for Cancer
    • Articles & Sequences
    • Yoga Research
    • Cancer Patient Resources >
      • Cancer Resource Request Form
  • YOGA ENCYCLOPEDIA APP
    • Library
  • BLOG
  • STORE

1/12/2015

0 Comments

Home Practice: In the Afternoon

 
By the afternoon, many of us are feeling lethargic and exhausted. This is the perfect time to find a quiet place for some restorative yoga. Even if you work at an office, close your door or find a personal phone call room and give yourself a 20 minute yoga break. These three restoratives are paired with a mudra and a pranayama practice that combine to provide a short oasis for stress and leave you feeling calm yet awake and ready to face the rest of your day. Enjoy! 

Picture
Supported Child's Pose
Salamba Balasana 


Kneel straddling a long bolster. Place a second bolster over first with end of bolster in front of your low abdomen. A third bolster can go under the far end of the second bolster or use a folded blanket or block to support under it. Extend front of body over second bolster and rest forearms on bolster with hands in Adhi Mudra. Rest up to 5 minutes. 
Therapeutics: Creates a calm, grounded space to get away from the demands of daily life


Picture
Adhi Mudra

Make a soft fist with the thumb tucked inside. Turn palms down and rest on knees. 
Benefits: Calms nervous system, facilitates breath in lower abdomen
Practice Tips: Use when feeling anxious or insecure
Contraindications: Low blood pressure


Exhale Retention
Rechaka Kumbhaka


Inhale through nostrils, then exhale completely through nostrils and pause after the exhalation holding the breath out. The length of the pause should be comfortable to maintain.
Benefits: Calming, grounding, quiets the mind

Picture
Reclining Bound Angle Pose
Supta Baddha Konasana 


Sit in front of two long-fold blankets or a bolster parallel to mat. Place soles of feet together and let knees move apart resting on blocks or bolster. Place looped strap around back of pelvis between thighs and over outside edge of feet to help lengthen low back. Lie back over bolster and place blanket under head. Place hands in Urdhva Merudanda Mudra. Rest 5-15 minutes, then release.
Therapeutics: Relaxes floor of pelvis, opens belly and chest, creates a sense of safety and calm


Picture
Urdhva Merudanda Mudra

Make a soft fist and extend thumb away from palm; Lightly press fingernails into the palm; rest back of hands on thighs with thumbs pointing away from each other.
Benefits: Energizes nervous system
Practice Tips: Use when feeling lethargic or depressed
Contraindications: High blood pressure


Elevator Breath

Imagine that the breath is like an elevator car that could travel up and down the length of the spine. Imagine that the elevator shaft is aligned along sushumna nadi, the energetic channel that runs from the perineum in the pelvic floor to the crown of the head. 
Upwards Variation: As you inhale, imagine the breath travelling down the spine from crown to pelvic floor. As you exhale, imagine the breath travelling upwards from the pelvic floor to the crown of the head. 
Practice for 10-20 rounds of breath, then allow the breath to return to normal.
Benefits: Creates a sense of lift on the inhalation and grounding on the exhalation, lengthens both inhale and exhale.

Picture
Instant Maui

Lie on back with legs in the seat of a chair. Lift pelvis off floor and place block or a folded blanket under pelvis. Place arms away from sides and palms up with hands in Pushan Mudra. Rest 15 minutes.
Therapeutics: Induces relaxation response, reduces swelling of feet and legs, relaxes lower back
Contraindications: High Blood Pressure


Picture
Pushan Mudra 

Right Hand: Touch tips of thumb, index & middle fingers together, extend all others.
Left Hand: Touch tips of thumb, middle & ring fingers together, extend all others. Rest hands with palms up.
Benefits: Activates relaxation response
Practice Tips: Use when you feel like you are internalizing the stressors in your life


Alternate Nostril Breath
Nadi Shodhana 

Inhale through right nostril, exhale through left nostril, inhale through left nostril, exhale through right nostril, repeat for 10 rounds at a time, monitoring the effects.
Psychic Method: Breathe in and out through alternate nostrils using your imagination. This method has a subtler affect but is easier to do lying down.
Benefits: Balances the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest), increases communication between the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Index:

    • Anatomic Focus
    • Chair Yoga
    • Chakras
    • Eight Limbs
    • Koshas
    • Posture Specific
    • Prana Vayus
    • Pranayama
    • Sun & Moon Salutations
    • Therapeutic
    • Vowel Spiral
    • Yoga for Cancer 
    • Yoga Nidra
    • 2015 India Trip

    Archives:

    September 2022
    August 2021
    August 2020
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2011
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008
    February 2008
    January 2008
    December 2007
    November 2007
    October 2007
    September 2007
    August 2007
    July 2007
    June 2007
    May 2007
    April 2007
    March 2007
    February 2007
    January 2007
    July 2006
    June 2006
    May 2006
    April 2006
    March 2006
    February 2006
    January 2006


    RSS Feed

    I attend Cheryl's class regularly and feel that my practice has improved immensely over the past few years due to her expert coaching. Her teaching style is clear and compassionate and her previous experience in teaching adults is evident in her organized approach and easy to understand instructions. I also appreciate that Cheryl not only teaches us about how to correctly position ourselves, but also touches on many aspects of yoga philosophy, which in turn has deepened my personal practice and heightened my awareness of the connection between mind and body, breath and relaxation.​
    - L.G.

Vertical Divider
Chat with Cheryl   |   ​Bio   |   Press
Contact   |   ​Join Mailing List
Vertical Divider
Classes & Workshops   |   Self-Care Courses   |   ​Private Yoga Therapy      Reiki
Vertical Divider
Mentoring   |   Teacher Training
​Yoga for Cancer   |  ​ Yoga Nidra

Yoga Encyclopedia App
​
​Blog   |    ​​Store   |    Malas  


Picture

(c) 2005-2022 Cheryl Fenner Brown, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, YACEP