Yoga Pose of the Week: Crescent Moon Pose

This week I will be working on the Crescent Moon Pose.

The true name for this pose is Anjaneyasana.

This is a good lengthening lunge, it is a good warm-up for all other backbends. According to one of the yoga books I own (picture below) in this pose there are two directions of movement of energy. "The movement from the back of the waist down extends out through the back foot and allows the hips to descend. The upward stretch beginning at the waist radiates energy upward." This passage taken right from the book.

I use this book along with the one I previously mentioned on my Dolphin Pose post.

Start in down dog

Place the right foot in between the hands

Arch the back, left knee should then be dropped to the ground, press the hands up towards the sky, tilt head back... be careful on the spine.

In yoga it is important to balance each side of the body, so what you do to one side make sure you do to the other. With this pose do the right first and then the left or vice verse.

This pose takes a lot of balance, for me. I fell over the first time trying to get into the pose for the picture. I know this pose is one that I am going to have to take slow and work at. But failure and struggle is apart of the growing process.

So when I was looking back over the pictures of this pose this morning I realized that I forgot to drop my left knee before my pictures were taken... I have added a photo from the yoga journal website of what the final pose should look like.  The picture of my final pose is more Warrior I. I apologize for this mistake *whoops*

Therapeutic Applications

Sciatica

*this taken from yogajournal.com. I will reference this website often.

On the Yoga Journal website you will find a beginner's tip plus step-by-step steps on how to do the pose... so if you are still new to yoga you can start out the pose this way. http://www.yogajournal.com/pose/low-lunge/

Go out and make something happen!

xo

*Shine like Glitter*

Dolphin pose last week was not easy. 

My legs are sore, but I am going to continue to work on it. 

However my arms and shoulders feel much more tone.

Dolphin pose will also help in my rock climbing.

Remember comments are always welcome.

I hope you will still continue to follow me on this journey.

I will be on the ride along with you.

Namaste my friends.

Yoga Pose of the Week: Dolphin Pose

I apologize... this was supposed to be posted last Sunday and for some reason it did not get posted. I will be posting a new yoga pose tomorrow.

I want to start something new not only on the blog but in my life as well. Each week I am going to pick a new yoga pose to work on. I am going to work on it throughout the week and then implement it into a yoga routine. I am starting this because I want to further my yoga practice and I want to learn more yoga poses. I will also read about the pose to learn the benefits of that pose and then share them with you. I am giving myself a week to work on the pose little by little as not to exhaust myself. I hope you will follow me along on this journey. A journey that will help guide me to bettering myself physically and mentally. I urge you to try these poses even if it's to do just that, try. Yoga has many health benefits and does not require you to go anywhere. Because if you are like me I hate going to the gym, with yoga you can do it in your living room.

This week past week in yoga class we worked on handstands, with a partner. The exercise was so much fun, yet a little bit terrifying (I did not want to crush my face on the ground.) However once I got into a handstand, with a little help from my partner (who happened to be my brother), it was exhilarating. I wanted to keep going, but also did not want to exhaust myself. I have had the idea to start a yoga pose of the week for awhile now but never got around to it. After this exercise I thought this would be the perfect time to start.

Dolphin Pose

After doing some reading about the pose in the book that I use (picture below) and by reading online at www.yogajournal.com I found:

Dolphin Pose works to strengthen the core, arms and shoulders as well as the legs. It helps to improve upper body strength and will be useful when moving into arm balances. I picked this pose because I want to continue with working on not a handstand but a headstand and Dolphin prepares the body for headstand. Dolphin also has some great benefits, ones that I know will definitely help with a lot of issues I suffer from. I have listed the benefits below.

I am using a blanket in these photos that I use strictly for yoga. I like to use my blanket when I do yoga at home or when I am doing yoga in the grass. I use a mat in class. You can use which ever. 

*Benefits*

• Strengthens the arms and legs
• Stretches the shoulders, hamstrings, calves, and arches
• Calms the brain and helps to relieve stress and mild depression
• Improves digestion 
• Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause
• Relieves menstrual discomfort when done with the head supported
• Helps prevent osteoporosis
• Relieves headache, insomnia, back pain, and fatigue
• Therapeutic for high blood pressure, asthma, flat feet and sciatica

*These are taken from the yoga journal website. I have included the link above if you wish to read the whole post about Dolphin pose or for any other yoga poses.

If you go onto the Yoga Journal website you will find step-by-step instructions on how to do the pose or there are many videos on YouTube on how to do Dolphin as well.

I found this video on YouTube that uses Dolphin in the routine. I like it, this is the video/routine I am going to use this week.

xo

*Shine like Glitter*
I am looking forward to this new chapter in my life.
Like I said I hope you all follow me along on this journey.
Motivation is appreciated and I will be here to help give you motivation.
Leave me comments and we will share this together.