Active Recovery Yoga Session
Goal: To focus on active recovery through a gentle yoga session geared towards stretching the muscles, enhancing flexibility, and promoting relaxation.
Daily Benefits: This session helps to ease muscle soreness, improve joint mobility, and reduce mental stress, all of which are beneficial after more intense workout days or stressful activities.
Gentle Warm-Up
- Walking or Light Movement
Instructions: Start with a few minutes of walking or any light movement to gently increase the circulation throughout your body.
Equipment used: None
Duration: 5 minutes
Muscles worked: Overall body
Main Yoga Poses
- Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Instructions: Kneel on the floor, touch your big toes together, sit on your heels, separate your knees as wide as your hips, and bow forward, laying your torso between your thighs and forehead on the ground, stretching your arms forward.
Duration: Hold for 2-3 minutes
Muscles worked: Back, shoulders, and hips - Cat-Cow Stretch (Marjaryasana and Bitilasana)
Instructions: Start on your hands and knees, alternate between arching your back towards the ceiling while looking at your belly button, and dropping your belly towards the mat while lifting your head and tailbone upwards.
Duration: Continuously move through poses for 2 minutes
Muscles worked: Spine and abs - Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
Instructions: From your hands and knees, lift your hips up and back to form a V-shape with your body, pressing the floor away with your hands, and keeping your head between your arms.
Duration: Hold for 1-2 minutes
Muscles worked: Entire body, particularly hamstrings, shoulders, and calves
Cool-Down and Meditation
- Instructions: End your session with some gentle seated stretches or lying down poses like Savasana (Corpse Pose), followed by a few minutes of meditation to fully relax your mind and body.
Duration: 5-10 minutes
By incorporating this Active Recovery Yoga Session into your weekly fitness routine, you can help your body heal and recover more effectively, enhancing both physical and mental well-being.
