Interview with Gwen Bell co-founder and instructor at Yoga Garden yoga studio in Motomachi, Yokohama (Japan). Take-out Yoga: Yoga for Modern Life! Day 1 of 7 day interview - scroll down for more interviews.
Day 1 – Q 1: I’m interested in yoga but I work long hours in an office and I’m too tired to go to a yoga studio after work. What can I do?
Reply: One of the reasons I enjoyed doing yoga so much when I began practicing is that it didn’t require me to have a ball, weights, surfboard or any other equipment to participate. All you need is your body. At work, first consider your desk set-up. Do you have to strain your eyes or neck to see your computer screen? If so, you may want to elevate your computer. Here are a few simple yoga stretches you can do throughout the day without leaving your desk.
First, place your feet about hips-width apart on the floor. Sit with your spine erect and directly over your hips by bringing your body forward and away from the chair back. Lengthen through your spine and as you do so, inhale and draw your shoulders up towards your ears. Exhale slowly, allowing the shoulders to return to a neutral position. Repeat throughout the day to release tension in the neck and shoulders.
On the next inhalation, lift both of your arms over your head. Bend the right arm and take hold of the right elbow with the left hand. Apply gentle pressure to the right elbow and breathe deeply for a count of 5. The neck is relaxed. Inhale, extend the arms up, and repeat on the opposite side. Bring the arms back down and interlace the fingers. On an exhalation stretch the arms out in front of the body, palms facing away from you, and hold for a count of 10. Extend the arms, hands still interlaced, overhead, and lean to the right for a count of 5. Repeat on the opposite side.
Breathing
Breathing is what separates yoga from other types of exercise. Practice by inhaling through the nose, filling first the diaphragm, then the lungs, and finally the bottom of the throat with air. Exhale smoothly through the nose. Inhalations and exhalations are long and effortless, with the exhalations growing longer than the inhalations throughout your yoga practice. Try practicing breathing this way, taking complete breaths, throughout your day at work. One effect this breathing technique has is to increase the flow of oxygen in the body, thus creating a calming effect on it, reducing stress and increasing productivity. Pay attention to the gap between inhalations and exhalations, which will bring awareness to the present moment.
I highly recommend Gwen’s classes. She is an amazing teacher. To find out more about Yoga Garden see their website www.yogagarden.jp or email Gwen at gwen@yogagarden.jp