15 Minute Yoga Challenge
Mar 16, 2022
15-Minute-Yoga-Challenge - In one month to inner balance
Most of us try to be as productive and active during the winter as we are in the summer. If we don't succeed, we quickly blame ourselves. Especially after the first weeks of the new year, when the initial motivation of our new resolutions may have waned. In fact, however, it is perfectly natural to need more rest in the dark season. Between half an hour and an hour more sleep is a normal need of our body in winter.
The reason why we often feel listless, tired and unmotivated at this time of year is mainly the lack of sunlight due to the impenetrable cloud cover and the short days. On the one hand, yoga can help us find the peace and quiet we desperately need in winter, and on the other hand, it can give us the energy we need to get going, especially at the beginning of the new year.
In this post, you'll learn how to reduce fatigue and low mood - especially over the many grey and wet days - with just 15 minutes of yoga a day, which exercises are particularly suitable for this and why it's worth taking on our 15-minute yoga challenge.
Shape the new year with yoga
Yoga promotes the release of the happiness hormones endorphin and serotonin. The latter is not produced enough by your body during the winter due to the lack of light; however, they are important to make you awake and give you energy. So even a few simple exercises a day can brighten your mood and help you in many other areas.
Yoga can also strengthen the immune system, which is particularly stressed in cold and wet weather. You can find out more about this and how yoga can provide relief from cold symptoms in our blog post Yoga against colds.
15 minutes of yoga a day - your new routine
Maybe you know what it's like: you would like to exercise regularly, but on day 3 you prefer to sit on the couch when you think about jogging or going to the gym. Especially when it's still cold and grey outside, but the tea is so warm and the blanket so soft, sport is not always too tempting. With a yoga challenge, things can be quite different. But why?
Quite simply, our yoga routine consists not only of exercise to make you sweat and challenge you, but also of rest, mindfulness and meditation. Often, on a particularly uncomfortable day, after a few gentle stretches and neck circles, you can then make yourself comfortable with a blanket in the relaxation position of Shavasana.
On days when you want to recharge your batteries, you can challenge yourself with more active yoga flows. With this variety, your motivation will stay with you and you will always look forward to the next day.
It isimportant to find a routine. With it, you build a habit that can support both your physical and mental health in the long term. Just 10-15 minutes a day is enough to anchor your yoga practice and make it part of your everyday life.
A big advantage of this challenge is that you don't get a predefined daily plan, but can choose and combine the exercises according to your own needs. So feel into yourself every day and find out what you need. Then you only have to do one thing: Unroll your mat and dive into the yoga experience.
Yoga for strength
So this yoga challenge becomes a journey dedicated to many different aspects of your physical and mental health. One of them is strength. The different exercises not only strengthen the mind, but also the body, so that we can achieve both mental and physical goals. These two exercises are particularly suitable for this:
- TheWarrior - Virabhadrasana: As the name suggests, this asana helps us build strength. In its three variations you can strengthen especially your legs and back. The chest and lungs are expanded and the abdomen, groin and legs are stretched.
- The Boat - Paripurna Navasana: This position strengthens the back, abdomen and hip flexors while stimulating internal organs such as the intestines for better digestion. If you have a sensitive tailbone, a foldable yoga mat is worthwhile for this asana. This can be doubled under the lower back to protect it. The LUVIYO foldable yoga mats, such as the All-In-One Oasis yoga mat, are suitable for this.
Yoga for inner peace
In yoga, the outward gaze should turn inward, because that is where our relationship with ourselves begins and thus also how we treat our fellow human beings. In everyday life, it is often difficult to maintain inner peace and stress often builds up due to the hectic pace of professional and private life. This is counteracted with our Yoga Challenge. The following two exercises are very suitable for this:
- The Chair - Utkatasana: This powerful position helps you find your inner balance and relieve stress. A controlled, flowing movement combines with deep breathing and finally comes to a standstill where a demanding position is held. This allows you to quiet your thoughts and focus on the energy in your centre.
- Thesun salutation - Surya Namaskara: The exercise is composed of different upward and downward movements that are controlled by inhaling and exhaling. These include, for example, the mountain pose, the forward bend, the dog looking down and the cobra. The sequence of movements stretches and strengthens many muscles, releases tension, has a calming effect and warms up your body.
Yoga for flexibility
Flexibility in yoga is not only about the mobility of your body. You learn through meditation, which is an important part of a yoga challenge, how to take note of your thoughts and then let them move on without holding on to them. In this way, your mind takes on a more flexible posture and you can learn not to let negative thoughts and emotions control you.
- TheCamel - Ustrasana: This asana takes place on the shins. If you have sensitive knees, a foldable yoga mat can help here. The flexibility of the abdominal, back and shoulder muscles, as well as the psoas, is trained and the chest is stretched. The exercise also activates energy and helps to open the heart and mind.
- Standing Straddle - Prasarita Padottanasana: An advanced asana that is great for stretching your lower back, hips and the insides and backs of your legs. It deepens your breathing and is said to help release emotional baggage.
Yoga for Mindfulness
A conscious yoga routine leads you to consciously take time every day to pay attention to your body and mind. You notice changes, but also constancy in your yoga practice. In this way you learn to consciously perceive and reflect on things, people and situations in the outside world as well as thoughts and feelings in your inner world. The following exercises, which you can easily incorporate into your everyday life, can also help you to do this:
- The mountain (Tadasana): Like its namesake, this exercise stands for steadiness and stability. The deep stillness of the position gives you the opportunity to concentrate fully on your breathing and thus calm your mind and dedicate yourself completely to the here and now.
- Alternate breathing - Anuloma Viloma / Nadi Shodana: This breathing exercise, alternating between breathing through the right and left nostril, is said to help harmonise the two hemispheres of the brain. The various forms of yoga breathing - pranayama have a positive effect on the nervous system and help to direct mindfulness inwards. Thus, with deep, slow breathing, you can learn not to be guided or distracted by fears, thoughts and impulses, but to consciously direct your attention to your breaths again and again.
Yoga for every day
Strength, inner peace, flexibility and mindfulness - the new LUVIYO Challenge offers you the chance to listen to yourself and decide for yourself which exercises are right for you on which day. With the daily routine you will soon return to a state of calmness and tranquillity, which your mind and body need especially during or after winter. So relax, take a deep breath ... and off you go.