Think you can’t do yoga? Don’t go anywhere! Our latest 30 day challenge will teach you a pose a day for the next month, so that by the end of it, you will be a master…Check back daily for your fix
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Yoga has been on the rise for quite some time now. For those who participate in the ancient practice, it’s become a lifestyle that they simply cannot live without. But for those that don’t, it can often feel like a closed shop with many teachers in classes assuming everyone knows their downward dogs from their triangle poses.
But there is actually a lot to learn in yoga, from breathing to the nuances of a pose. And really learning what you’re doing can mean the difference between having a rewarding experience you can build into a genuine love and walking out feeling inadequate and inflexible.
This is why we called on a leading London yoga teacher to create our latest Healthista Challenge – where you learn in detail a different pose or aspect of yoga every day.
Day one of our 30 day challenge focuses on breathing, the first step to mastering yoga.
Sarah Malcolm (@sarahmalcs), a London based yoga teacher, will be taking us on this journey.
Although Malcolm teaches in London based studios, she also teaches at worldwide yoga retreats.
She wants to encourage her students to not be defined by one body type, but rather to feel good in their own bodies.
Healthista’s 30 day yoga challenge
Each day you will be learning a new aspect to the practice, so in a month you will have learned the basic yoga poses in depth and participate in classes or do a proper sequence yourself.
Shockingly to most people, yoga is a meditation that anyone can do. You don’t need a specific body type to master the practice, you just need the right skills – and you don’t need to be bendy! Our 30 day challenge will give you the skills to become a true yogi.
Why breathing is important
The first step in any yoga class is to focus on your breathing. But why is that?
When we focus on breathing, emotions and stress are bypassed, so we can then focus on what our body is doing rather than our mind. By focusing on our breath, we can deal with our emotions and make the energy flow better, ultimately enhancing the experience of the meditation.
Breath focus while making different movements also allows us to center in more on our movements, helping to reduce the chance of injury.
Ujjayi breathing – explained
In day one of our 30 day challenge, Malcolm shows us the basic breathing in any yoga practice. Malcolm then switches to a different breathing – Ujjayi.
‘Ujjayi is a victorious breath that keeps the fire going in the body and it’s the breathing that is practiced during yoga most commonly. It helps conserve energy [which is what yoga is all about] rather than releasing the breath and releasing the energy,’ says Malcolm.
‘By learning Ujjayi breathing, we have our basis for the daily yoga we will be practicing for the next month.
‘This is the breathing we will return to if anything becomes too strong during the practice’.
Check back in tomorrow for the next move in our yoga challenge video series.
Follow Sarah on Instagram @saramalcs
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