Yoga for the Stay at Home Mother

Yoga is a widely and popular type of exercise that used around the world. It is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice. Yoga normally combines breathing techniques, relaxation, physical posture, or meditation. There are many different types of yoga today, but they all balance around the same basic principle.

    For a stay at home mom yoga can be very beneficial in the sense of just being able to put their mind in a place far away from the craziness of children and running a home. This ability to relax helps maintain stress levels, keep blood pressure down, relieve anxiety, and even depression. All of these things can occur from doing the same exact thing every day and/or just the care of children. The physical aspects for a mom also are beneficial, because their staying healthy but also being able to work on posture, flexibility and even strength. For mom’s I think this should definitely be added into their weekly exercise just for the fact that it relaxes a person and gives them that break to come back energized and ready for the next day.

Some good yoga exercises would be:

• Child’s Pose: Kneel on the floor with your toes touching and knees about hip-width apart then sit on your heels. Lay on your thighs with your torso, bring your forehead to the mat, and then extend your arms out as far as you can. This will stretch your back, quadriceps, and hips.
• Downward Facing Dog: Start with all fours on the floor, then by pressing through your hands lift your knees off of the floor to straighten your legs. Walk your hands a little bit forward to help stretch out the pose and then relax your head between your arms. This stretches your spine, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Its strengthens your triceps and deltoids.
• Tree Pose: Transfer your weight to your right leg then lift and bend your left knee, and place your left foot on the inside of your right thigh. Bring your hands together in front of your heart in a prayer pose. Hold this pose for 1 minute and then do the same for the other side. This stretches your hips, and thighs. It strengthens your spine, abdominals, and legs.

There are so many different poses along with different types of yoga that can be tried and eventually mastered. One of the best things about yoga is that it can be done literally anywhere. It can be done outside, on a trip, in your own home, or at a park. Yoga for Health. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2015, from https://nccih.nih.gov/health/yoga/introduction.htm
The Best Yoga for Women. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2015, from http://www.womenshealthmag.com/yoga/yoga-for-women?page=5