For the next few weeks, I’m focusing on a new flow yoga mini-series to help you go from one pose to the next easily. Yoga means “union” and is the mind-body-spirit connection that we all can use.
And If yoga is intimidating (or it’s better) to you, you can call it modified stretching or something similar so you can remove the mental blocks (…and yoga blocks if you choose 😉).
Stretching is needed to reset our tight and daily working bodies. So I hope this will help you through the rest of the year whether you’re traveling or staying put where you are.
…And a flow yoga routine is something easy you can practice and do year-round and anywhere, so I’ll give you a flow yoga sequence below for someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen (myself included).
This time I’ll focus on yoga for those who do regular cooking or baking. If you know anyone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen, you could share this with them.
Even if you don’t think you’re good at yoga, the benefits to your body outweigh the few minutes spent… and some benefits can’t be achieved with other exercises, as you’ll not reach those hidden body muscles and crevices.
We tend to use the same few muscles for everyday use like our biceps and legs, when in fact we have about 600 muscles.
And whether you’re in the kitchen, traveling, or in an office, it’s good to plan to have a yoga mat or towel nearby, so you can stretch every day.
A mat can be a good reminder, as we take for granted that our bodies work for us every day without missing a beat. 🫀
We can all use a stretch once in a while where we let our hair down and take off our shoes and socks.
So grab your mat and here we go!…
If you’re working in the kitchen often, you’re looking down most of the day at the kitchen counter or the baked items you’re preparing. This puts a strain on your neck and all the nearby muscles running down your shoulders and back.
This mini-series of poses, or flow yoga, would be great to help you unwind and restore as you wait for your timed baked goods to bake in your oven.
You gotta love the oven for that reason!…
And last time I mentioned how great your freezer is for storage (another great piece of equipment to be grateful for). And this week it’s all about optimizing your waiting on your oven.
With an oven, you can set and forget your food cooking for a few minutes. So you can get to your other tasks… and a few resetting yoga poses while your food is baking evenly.
What flow yoga will help you do:
🧡 Undo the tension and strain you put on your body from preparing your food and bakes, even if you don’t feel it in the moment.
🧡 You may realize you need more stretching which is exactly what your body wants. Note: you can’t do too much yoga, but you can overwork parts in yoga. And if you ever do, you realize how delicate and resilient your body is.
🧡 And the best part of yoga (I think) is you will feel like a million bucks when you get back to the rest of your day.
Most poses you can do while you’re watching television, but after you already know the correct posture and alignment. That’s why it’s good to get proper instruction from a studio. But if that’s not possible, then use this general rule:
1) If it feels like a good stretch to your body in the moment, then you need more of it. It should never hurt (where you bite your lip in wincing pain).
Yoga is individualistic. Everyone has different bodies and nuance tolerances, so you have to use how YOU specifically feel as a guide and not what others tell you they feel when they’re in the pose even from one Vata to another (or from Pitta to Pitta, or Kapha to Kapha)…if you get my drift?
2) If you’re in a pose carrying any body weight, then do not move the body part that is carrying the weight if it’s a weak area. For example, in Plow pose laying down where your legs go behind your head, your neck carries the weight of your legs and parts of your torso, so you wouldn’t want to move your neck when you get in the pose (and it’s easiest to stare at one distant spot or a light in the ceiling above).
Yoga is totally a personal journey where you get to know your body after you get the basics down.
Yoga has good body benefits even if you don’t get into your zen (and that’s a good mind benefit).
Determine Your Weak and Strong Areas
For each of us, we’re physically stronger in some areas and weaker in others, and that can be specific to specific poses.
For example, my strength is flexibility and balance. And the more I do yoga, the stronger the muscles become to support my weight (like in a Plank). It can be the same for you or you could be strong and want to work on balance, like in a Tree Pose. Or flexibility and balance in Bird of Paradise pose. It’s all just practice.
And in yoga, endurance of how long you can stay in a pose is mostly determined by your patience and the strength of specific muscles.
If you’re newer to yoga, find out what your strong areas are. And what the weak ones are. We all have them and sometimes we don’t know what they are until we make a small mistake in yoga that shows up as a ‘lil pain a day or two later.
…That teaches us for the next time and also lets us know we’re alive!
Baking Flow Yoga Poses
So to start, practice some Cat-Cows to loosen up.
Then you can rest in a Child’s pose (or Hare pose if you want to really tuck in). There’s no hurry in yoga (except when your buzzer goes off for your bakes! ⏲)
…And so when you’re ready, then lie on your front like you would on a beach towel laying face down or reading a book.
Then reach back and grab your ankles if you can, or just alternate one ankle with the same side arm at a time, if that’s too much of a stretch initially.
You’d be surprised that you can change pretty quick in flexibility after a few minutes or sessions! The longer you hold the pose, the easier and better it is and becomes.
…Remember when you tried the splits and you could stretch even more the longer you stayed in the pose? …And don’t raise the bar too much, like a gymnast who’s built for that!
So then after grabbing your ankles, look up and peel your shoulders and thighs off the floor if you can. Lift off. Look upward. This is really good for your back and neck. And this pose is called Bow pose. Stay there for as long as you can and let go and then try again a few more times.
And from there you can move into Pigeon pose, where your forearms are perpendicular (straight up from the mat), and then hinge one leg forward, and the other leg straight back behind you.
You’ll feel a nice stretch in your thigh, back, and legs that withstand so much weight when you’re standing. In your pigeon, look up slightly. And whenever you have the opportunity.
Pigeon pose is a really good stretch for your neck, back, butt, and legs. One side tends to be tighter than the other. And you’ll feel it as you alternate sides.
You can then get into a neutral Downward Dog as a flow yoga step for transitioning.
Then flip or turn over to your back on the mat (so you’re facing up).
It’s tempting to take a nap. And if you have time, go for it! But don’t forget about your oven if it’s on!
And then lift your bottom up off the mat into Bridge pose. You can feel relief in your back. This is a good one to use a yoga block.
You can insert the elevating block where your back ends and meets your tail bone. And then just comfortably rest on the block without doing anything. How nice!
The block isn’t preventing you from reaping yoga physical benefits as it helps you get stretched further in height. So it helps you and isn’t a crutch in case it feels that way!
You go higher (literally) than you would normally. Yoga is all about making your life easy… gotta love that! 🧡
And finally, when you come back down, get into your Happy Baby pose where you grab your big toes with your forefingers and thumbs (something monkeys can’t do!).
Happy Baby can leave you feeling relaxed without a care in the world for a few minutes and is a great way to end your yoga session. And you may just want to come back for more!
…And your bake should be about ready now or ready for you to check on. 😉
If you want to get more awareness about what your body is telling you, or would like to learn more about the Ayurvedic perspectives in the mind-body connection, you can take the body balance quiz.