The holidays are a wonderful time—filling the darkest period of the year with lights, and seeing friends and family. However, as I’ve gotten older I've taken on more responsibility for the festivities, which can feel overwhelming when added to the usual stresses of work and parenting.
To get everything ready I've had to drop my usual exercise routine, canceling my gym membership to keep me in the black and reducing my runs to once a week.
It's not the end of the world—there's always more spare time in January—but I have missed the stress relief that comes from movement.
That's why I'll be taking some time for myself on Christmas day to do a short yoga practice. I've always turned to yoga during stressful periods to take a mental break and shed any tension I've been holding in my body.
I went looking for a short, feel-good routine and found this "Yoga To Feel Your Best" practice on the Yoga with Adriene YouTube channel.
I like this slow, gentle practice because it focuses on straightforward yoga stretches for beginners and simple breathwork. It also features one exercise I always find useful—searching for tension in your face, jaw, neck and shoulders, and then trying to soften those muscles.
Adriene Mishler also includes a tabletop sequence, performed on your hands and knees, plenty of gentle back twists, and a series of hip opening poses such as butterfly and child's pose.
There's also a head-to-knee pose, which delivered a hamstring stretch that I desperately need. To do this, you stretch out one leg and fold forward over it while maintaining a straight back. Anyone observing my practice would wonder why I was simply sitting up straight, but the truth is that my hamstrings won’t let me hinge forward any further! And that's why I need to keep practicing.
If you're able to get away for 30 minutes over the holidays, join me in giving this yoga routine a go.
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