Welcome to day 8! Today’s poses are all about helping you to connect in feeling with different areas of your back. They also give you lots of opportunities to release habitually held tension from your neck. Hope you enjoy feeling more spacious afterwards!
Do each pose for five to eight breaths (or five to eight breaths on each side, if it’s asymmetrical). Do five to eight rounds of abs.
Never stretch into pain. Take care of your body. If you’re pregnant then skip the abs exercise and don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right.
Take three deep breaths, focussing on the sensation of breathing.
Gentle stretch: Standing forward bend
How to do it: Stand with your feet about hip width distance. Activate your feet, tuck your tailbone down, telescope your ribs, and relax your shoulder blades down your back. Inhale and lift your heart, then on exhale forward bend. You can bend your knees as much as you want to. If your low back is tweaky then have your hands at the tops of your thighs and bring your torso no lower than parallel to the floor. Press through your arms to traction your back and tuck your tailbone down. Whichever variation you choose, relax your neck. Take five to eight breaths into where you feel the stretch, feeling for making space with your breath. When it’s time to come out, press your feet against the ground and use your abs muscles to float you back to standing.
Abs exercise: Elbow to Knee
Something zingy: Easy Twisting Lunge
How to do it: Start in a short lunge, with left foot forward. Have your back knee directly below your back hip, right angle bends in both knees. Bring your right hand to the floor in line with your front foot, about 12-18 inches to the right. Reach the other arm up towards the sky. If this is tweaky for your shoulder, then your left hand can rest on your hip. Inhale and roll your collarbones up towards the ceiling. Exhale and relax your neck and jaw. Press both legs into the ground and get your breath into anywhere that feels tight. Take five to eight breaths here, then untwist and switch sides - right foot forward this time.
Final relaxation: Lie on your back in a warm place for at least a minute and let tension drain from your body.