Building a Strong Body, Mind and Spirit with Yoga

Yoga practice can help open yourself up to learning. With steady practice you learn more about your body, mind and spirit. This knowledge can help you become strong in many ways and in many aspects of life.

People who practice yoga become stronger parents, stronger leaders, grow stronger in their faith, and open themselves up to receive new things. It can help give balance to your life. The outer world is often chaotic and can cause chaos within. Once the body, mind and spirit begin to balance out, you will feel more capable of handling problems with the outside world. But first, the inner world must be in harmony and balanced to really achieve success.

Body, mind and spirit begin to synchronize from steady practice. Once these 3 key aspects of self begin to align, they can begin to grow. You will notice your body becoming stronger, leaner, and feeling better in your own skin. Your mind will begin to clear, your thoughts will be more focused and positive. Your spirit will begin to feel alive again. These three qualities coming together will grow and promote your self esteem, self awareness as well as making you more aware of how you interact with other people.

The following four poses will help you build strength, endurance, flexibility and mental focus.

Hero Pose- Hero pose helps you master breathing and strengthens arm muscles. It is also very calming. It will help you gain flexibility in the knees, hips and ankles but it can be quite difficult in the beginning. If you find this pose is too demanding on your knees and ankles, try sitting on a block to relieve some of the pressure and gradually use shorter blocks until you can sit on the floor comfortably.

Locust Pose- Locust pose helps you gain upper body and lower back strength. It strengthens the spine and gives it flexibility. This is a good posture to help alleviate menstrual problems for women in the early stages of menopause.

Warrior Pose- Warrior pose is a good all over body pose because it engages the lower body and upper body. It helps promote mental focus and clarity as well.

Warrior Pose 3- Warrior pose 3 is great for balance, endurance and mental focus. It also helps strengthen legs and ankles. This pose will probably feel awkward at first, but after practice it will get easier and you'll feel more graceful doing it.

Be care with Warrior Poses as they can cause you to pull a hamstring if you over extend the active leg. Only go as far as you feel comfortable into a pose. Over time this pose will become easier and you will gain more flexibility and balance. Use props if you are having trouble mastering this pose in the beginning.

Adding these poses to your morning routine can help you jump start your day. You'll be more relaxed and have better focus during the day.