Sun Salutations.

I can remember as a kid being fascinated by Yoga. My mom used to have a big book with different poses, all demonstrated by a lady in a VERY 70's leotard. As I got older, I followed the family tradition and became really interested in this peaceful practice. I can remember practicing it as young as maybe 8 or 9 years old. I didn't have a clue what I was doing, however, until I took a class at Long Beach State. My Yoga Instructor there taught me how to breathe correctly, a practice called Pranayama. Breathing is the most important part of Yoga. You can learn to breathe correctly by simply opening your mouth and making the sound: Haaaa. Now continue to breathe out the sound "haa," but close your mouth so that you are now exhaling through your nose. Doing this on your inward breath is much more difficult to teach via blog, but try it anyways. Just keep breathing through the back of your throat as you did with the closed-mouthed "haa," but inhale instead. Another key part of Yoga is to be sure to take up as much space as possible on each move. Really expand yourself here. You want to stretch your arms until you feel they are actually growing longer, especially when you do moves that involve rotating your arms in a circle or that simply include movement pointing outside your core. I don't consider myself anything close to a Yogi, but I enjoy this exercise and encourage everyone to try it. Here I have included a video of a beginners move called Sun Salutations. Good luck, and Namaste.



Love,

Lula Mae