This isnt EXACTLY yoga, but it IS a daily stretching routine i have adopted for the last 2 or 3 months.
a fair warning however, do not push yourself too far, if you cant do things like i describe, jsut go at your own pace. your body is like a pebble rolling down a mountain. as you work on it, it will start slow, but the more you work on it, teh faster your progress will get, so dont get discouraged, and above all, try not to hurt yourself.
ok so i will try to describe the stretches i do dailyas best as i can. :hippy:
i start with the legs and work my way up.
first i limber up with general stretching of the legs and arms before i sit down, spread eagle, torso/spine straight, upright for the first stretch.
as follows:
i start by leaning in and reaching between my feet, then reach to my right foot, and sway from left to right, keeping my torso bent down and my head tucked down. Center, left foot, center, right foot, center, etc.
from here, after about 15-30 seconds to a minute, i tuck one knee in, and lean toward my outstretched foot, keeping my back as straight (up/back) as possible, tilting my foot upright/inward (toward my body, not pointed outward) and tucking my head down.
i alternate to the other foot for 10-30 seconds after the first 10-30 seconds.
then i tuck my knee behind me, leaving the other foot outstretched, and lean back and toward the straight leg as far back as possible, forming almost an L shape.
alternating legs after 10-30 seconds.
now i sit semi-cross legged. i sit down with my feet together at the heels and toes, tucked in as close to my pelvis as possible/ i try to keep my ab to pelvis ratio as straight as possible, or until i feel the tendons between my leg and pelvis stretching. then i lean forward slowly. your feet may slide away from the crotch, but that's ok as long as you feel the tension between the hips.
now, i straighten my legs straight out in front of me, wiggle my legs a little get them comfortable, and proceed to lean into them, again keeping my back upright and straight and leaning at the hips, keeping my head low.
now i stand up and outstretch my legs to the sides, liek a wide A frame. I lean on one knee keeping the other straight, and as i lower to the ground, i point the straight legged heel down into the ground, and the toes up.
i hold it here for 5-25 seconds, then slide to the other knee, or slide to a standing A-frame stance again then slide back down the other side, again digging my heels down as i lower myself.
while i am down with one leg outstretched, i like to turn into the outstretched foot and reach for it with the opposite arm.
when i am done with this, i stand up, legs shoulder lenght apart, forming a narrow A.
I bend over keeping my butt outward/back and my chest and abs (spine) straight, bending at the hips.
i get as far as possible without bending my abs/chest down.
Next i do the same, but just bend down toward my legs, and tuck my head down, keeping my chest as close to my legs as i can.
after that, i lean forward at the ankles, and form an arc, kind of another A shape. this stretches the calf muscles from the knees down.
now i focus on the calfs. i stand up and step out in front of me, keeping my rear heel down flat on the ground, and bending my front knee as far as possible.
i do this again with the other leg. this time, when i finish, i bend the rear leg, and lean backward to stretch the upper leg in the rear.
again i do the same with the other leg. (come to think of it, i should do both stretches between switching legs...*)
after this, we can finally get to the abs!
now this can be done two ways.
one is to do the chest separately, before doing arm stretches, but as i have grown more limber and able, i can do both as follows, however, if you cant, just arc your chest back and your back separately.
interlocking my fingers and raising the palms, i stretch my arms behind my head, and lean backward at the hips/abdominal muscles.
i arc as far as i can. eventually, i will be able to "roll" into a handstand from this... a long term goal... very long term...
after this, i rotate my abs by leaning at the hips forward, and circling around clockwise from front to right side to back to left side back to front. for 10-30 seconds i do this before altering to counterclockwise motions.
when i finish my abs, i work on my chest (as stated before interlocking my fingers...) if i havent already, and move on to my arms.
my arms get a few well rounded stretches. first, i rotate them, palms up, elbows down, i reach upward and foremost backward.
i do this and build up tension before i rotate them the opposite direction, rolling them around until my arms ar elbows forward, palms up.
If you have a 5-7 foot pole, you can also do this:
Gripping the ends of the pole or stick, stretch your arms out and back behind you as far as you can. if you are limber enough to bring it all the way to your butt, then scoot your hands closer to the center and try again.
next i rotate my shoulders counterclockwise for 10-30 seconds, and reverse direction.
after which i circle my arms, kinda like swimming breast stroke but a much wider arcing circular motion.
once again, once clockwise, again counterclockwise.
finally, i roll my head around similaraly to how we rotate our abs earlier. from left to right to left and reverse to right to left to right.
when i am done with these drills, i move on to situps/crunches, pushups, squats and jogging.
sometimes i'll find a good tree branch and do chin ups too.
after all that. i will work on karate drills, mostly punches and keeping my block up cuz that's where i need improvement.
enjoy
*i do this now, i jsut felt lazy and didnt alter the paragraph.
