12 Yoga Poses for Bone Health and Strength - Fishman Method for Osteoporosis Yoga

Transcript

hey guys Kendra here so the New York Times recently published an article about 12 yoga poses that are great for bone density and health and a good friend of mine asked me to record all the poses so he could do it along with me and I thought what a great opportunity to share it with all of you um so it's 12 poses it should take you about 12 minutes to do once you know all of them super quick super easy and it's a great thing to fit into your day so before we get started the things that you'll need a yoga mat um if you have it a yoga block doesn't have to look like this but if you have a block or um like a small stool or something you can put your hands on and also a strap um or if you need a like a small towel or um a belt that works too okay so let's get started standing we'll start in tree pose right foot to the calf or to the upper thigh press your foot into your leg your leg into your foot and ground down through the standing foot pull the core in and if you feel steady you can lift your arms all the way up overhead into a wide V keep engaging the core and try to keep your hips straight facing straight forward the knee is only an accessory keep the hips facing straight forward and use your outer right glute to help you open the knee out to the right it's more about balance less about flexibility keep pulling up through the core ground down through your foot and up through the crown of the head breathe and release other side left foot to the right shin or inner thigh not on the knee press the foot into the leg leg into the foot lift up through the core ground down through the standing leg to support the right leg and keep your hips facing straight forward use your left glute to help you open the left knee out to the side Breathe Here Standing Tall feeling the center of your core really strong shoulders down your back keep engaging everything towards the midline nice deep breaths if you start to waver and wobble here that's okay it's meant to be a balance pose and release now step your feet wide and turn the left toes out right toes in hands on your hips look over your front leg shift your left hip back reach all the way forward and take your left hand down to your left shin right arm reaches all the way up and overhead the idea here is to drop your left hip back towards the wall behind you so you have a nice long straight line on the left side waist the right hip presses back tailbone lengthens and you have a long line from the tailbone to the crown of the head keep squeezing the shoulder blades together and widening through the chest imagine you were between two panes of glass Breathe Here pressing equally through both feet holding your breath come all the way way back up pressing through your back leg switch legs right toes turn out left toes turn in reach towards the right right hand drops down to your shin same thing here push the right hip back towards the wall behind you and lengthen through the tailbone all the way through the crown of the head press equally through both feet and extend from the tailbone to rotate your chest open Draw the shoulder blades together stay very active in your legs lifting the kneecaps deepening through the right hip to lengthen the right side of your waist option for the head is either to look forward or straight up press through your back leg to come up widen your stance a little bit further shift your weight towards your left leg and come into Warrior Two so look down and make sure that your left knee is right over your left ankle and the knee is out towards the pinky toe side of the foot so you should be able to feel this in the left hip press out through the back leg so we're working in oppositions here left leg rolls out right leg presses back press down through your hips but lift up from your rib cage engage through your shoulders and reach through your fingertips and if you can go a little bit deeper keep breathing almost there straighten your left leg turn your feet back to center right leg leg out left leg in bend your right knee right over the big toe of the right leg and same thing here roll through the outside of your right foot knee towards the pinky toe side of the foot left leg presses back from the top of the thigh think of pressing down through the feet from the hips and as you press down through the hips lift the rib cage off of the hips pull the belly in engage the shoulders down the back reach through the fingertips and breathe here if you find that your breath is stopping back off straighten your legs turn the other direction left toes out right toes in bend your left knee come back into Warrior 2 and then reach your left arm straight forward nice and long left elbow down to your knee right arm reaches all the way up over your ear you want a straight line from the crown of your head to your right heel option to put your hand behind your left knee on the Block but I like this option too firm the legs from the hips rotate your chest open go deeper keep pressing through the outer edge of your back foot core engages to help you open your chest nice long line deep breaths see if you can go deeper again we're working in oppositions here so the front knee bends of the back leg straightens the left elbow is just lightly on your left knee the shoulders are opening to the side press through your back leg to come up right toes out left toes in Warrior Two reach towards the front right elbow to right knee left arm reaches up and overhead and then again imagine a straight line from the crown of your head to the left outer heel press the right knee towards the pinky toe side of the foot and the left thigh back towards the wall behind you engage your core to help you open your chest and remain light on that right elbow on your knee Breathe Here nice deep breaths if it starts to get challenging start to deepen your breath a little bit more press through the back leg to come all the way back up and then grab your block and swivel your feet all the way to face forward and take the block on the inside of your left foot good pivot your feet forward so your right your right heel is on the ground lift both arms up overhead take your left hand into your right hip to help pull it back and then reach all the way forward with your right hand down to the block come up to the block lift your chest flat press through the back leg and then open your left arm towards the ceiling coming into a Twist press equally through both legs the right heel and the left heel sending the left hip back towards the wall behind you roll your shoulders open find the Twist from the core four and see how long you can get from your tailbone to the crown of the head press down through the feet out through the core rotating through the chest deep breaths here the deeper the breath the more you can go into the pose take your left hand back down come all the way up swivel your feet to the other side right foot turns out left left toes turn in Block on the inside of the right foot lift both arms up overhead right hand into your right hip crease reach all the way forward to lengthen hand down to the block Square your hips so the right hip is pulling back press both legs down and then open your chest towards the front leg keep the legs really straight press down through both legs pull that right hip back towards the wall behind you and use your core to help you twist your chest open shoulder blades pull down the back and you have a long line from your tailbone to the crown of your head stay steady here with your breath legs are strong quads are active hips are even find your strength in your legs breathe deeply into your core and then see if you can twist a little bit more through your upper back squeeze the shoulder blades together drop the right hand press through your back leg to come all the way back up and we'll come down to the floor from hands and knees come all the way down to your chest hands underneath your should underneath your um by your rib cage press your hands down lift your chest but don't arch your neck all the way back reach the arms all the way back legs off the floor shoulder blad should be pulling down your back like you were trying to reach back to touch your toes next Day's Night nice and long legs are lifting from the backs of the thighs and reaching through the toes if you feel this in your lower back you might come down a little bit engage your core and tuck your pelvis so that the pubic bone is sitting into the floor it'll help lengthen your lower back what's more important here is the length from the crown of your head to your toes not so much the height keep breathing nice deep breaths squeeze the shoulder blades together right from where your um shoulder blades meet so not in the neck but a little lower and then lower down turn your head to one side take a couple breaths press back to all fours and then come to lay on your back roll down one vertebrae at a time and then move your heels as close as you can towards your hips press your hips towards the ceiling roll your shoulders underneath you and then interlace your hands underneath your back so what's important here is not to move your head keep pressing the back of your head into the floor roll your upper shoulders down and back into the floor and use your upper arms to press into the floor drive your heels into the floor and internally rotate your knees in towards each other so again if you feel this in your lower back you can press the tailbone towards the ceiling almost like tucking your tailbone a little bit nice full deep breaths here and there's a lot of activity going on here pressing through the legs pressing through the arms breathing into the chest stay with it breathe through it release your hands lower your hips down to the floor and then grab onto your strap or towel or belt and we'll take the strap around your right toes straighten the right leg all the way towards the ceiling if you need to bend your knee a little bit that's okay too as long as you feel it in the belly of the hamstring hold on to each end of the belt with one hand and press the right hip towards the wall in front of you you want to lengthen the right side waist we're going to stay here for 30 seconds keep activating through the left leg internally rotating it almost like you're rotating the toes towards the ceiling lengthen equ through both legs and then ground your shoulder blades down your back as well it's a very active stretch breathe find your breath and again if you're feeling it too much in behind the knee you can bend the knee take both ends of the belt in your right hand and slowly take the right leg out to the side making sure that you keep the left thigh pressing down towards the mat pay attention to your shoulder blades here make sure your shoulder blades are released down onto the floor it's okay to bend the knee that's uh in the band so make sure you can also feel this in the inner thigh and in the hamstring and not in the attachment up near the tailbone keep pressing that left thigh down left foot is very active and then keep pressing the right hip towards the wall in front of you so you're deepening that right side waist and then coming all the way back up to the center switch hands with the belt so the left hand takes the belt take the leg over just a couple of inches like five or six inches from here drop your right hip towards the floor and then take the leg all the way over to the side drop that right hip forward roll it forward and then extend the right arm out to the side look over your right shoulder the right leg is straight or slightly bent press your big toe Mound into the belt so you're extending through the inside of your leg will help fire up the stretch in the outer hip you can breathe right into the core here to help you accentuate the twist so you're still remaining active the foot is off the floor kind of an active stretch nice full deep breaths and then bringing it all the way back to the center and we'll switch legs left foot in the belt right leg extends and then take one end of the belt in each hand anchor your shoulders down your back and then straighten both legs as much as you can if you can't straighten it that's okay I would rather see it a little more forward than um too far forward and bent good press through the right leg and drop your left hip towards the wall in front of you so what I mean by that is if you feel like you can't can't straighten your leg all the way it's okay to keep it bent keep breathing nice solid deep breaths I'm going to take both ends of the belt in your left hand keep the right thigh grounded on the floor as the left leg goes out to the side not all the way to the floor only as far as you can go without lifting the right hip off the floor they're staying very active through the right leg core is pulling back and the toes are slightly rotated towards the floor the toes of the leg in the belt inhale and exhale feel the sensations of your legs press through the right leg keep the toes pointing towards the ceiling core is active lift the leg all the way back up to the center switch hands with the belt take the belt all the way over to the right about six inches you'll feel a major stretch here and then go all the way over towards the right let your leg come all the way down so keep it off the floor drop the right or the left hip towards the wall in front of you then press the big toe Mound into the belt so you're thinking of dropping the left hip towards the wall in front of you and then pressing through the big tow Mountain which is going to lengthen the entire outside of your left leg left arm is open to the side breathing into the twist here lift the leg back to the center take the belt off you can put it to the side and then draw your right knee into your chest hug the knee in left leg extends and then take the knee all the way across the chest down to the floor so you can roll all the way to your left and then open the arm out to the right so that left knee is fully on the floor press the left hip towards the wall in front of you and let the breath deepen The Twist from your core and the longer you stay in this the more intense the stretch will become you might feel this in the right shoulder but the more you do it the more that right shoulder will open and there's still a little bit of activity here press the right hip away from your shoulder shoulder down into the floor and breathe long solid breaths breathe in and breathe out breathe in and breathe out bring your right knee back into your chest bring your left knee up to meet it right leg extends Flex the foot on the floor and then take the left knee across your chest all the way to the right you can shift that bottom hip under and then open your chest to the left and again drop that left hip towards the wall in front of you deepen The Twist from your core and then let your left shoulder open naturally from your chest breathe into any of the sensations that you feel any tightness or holding see if you can send your breath there and soften so while we're working here we're also working to release breathe in breathe out bring your left knee back into your chest hug both knees into your chest press your hips down knees in and then set yourself up for corpse pose let your arms relax out to the sides let your legs Fall Apart let your head be heavy on the floor and fully relax let go of all of your muscles follow your breath just let your breath be normal and see if you can completely and totally let go if your mind starts to wander just go back to your breath watching your breath go in and out and start to wiggle your fingers and your toes take a nice reach overhead big breath in draw your knees into your chest roll to your right side and rest completely on the floor press yourself up to sit come to a comfortable cross-legged position and that is your practice