 We are having so much fun massaging our feet with balls. Some of my Chair Yoga friends have bought their own balls and practice at home. Julie had been practicing foot massage on a regular basis until her dog stole her ball! Hope you find your ball Julie! Beth and Tim found some balls at Dollar Tree Store that have ribs. They come in a 2-pack
for a...um...$1. They are a little harder than the ones we have been using in class and feel great against my foot. We have been using balls that come in a 3-pack. All of the balls are found in the children's toy section at the Dollar Tree Store. Click the connection below for the original blog entry on foot massage from November of 2013: http://www.yogawithgrace.net/pams-blog/foot-massage Please share you experiences with foot massage or sources for balls. Enjoy fresh feet!
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 We have been practicing Warrior I in our classes over the last few weeks. Click on the cat picture for an instructional video from Yoga Journal for Warrior I.
Click below for another description for Warrior I. http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/1708 Click below for a 51 minute beginner yoga practice that includes Warrior I. http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xw65gy  This week during chair and floor yoga classes, I will challenge participants to
1. use their quadriceps with yoga postures during the upcoming weeks 2. notice when they use the quadriceps muscles during daily activities and report back either in class, on Facebook or on this blog. What are "quadriceps" ? Quadriceps or "quads" are a group of muscles on the front of your thigh. Quadriceps help us walk, run, squat, and kick. The quadriceps work to extend your knee which means when your knee is bent the quadriceps straighten your leg. Try sitting in a chair with legs bent, feet on the floor. Now extend (straighten) your leg and then flex (bend) your knee a few times. See if you can feel your muscles on the top of your thighs contracting. What are some yoga postures that use our quadriceps? We have practiced "goddess pose" during class and is a great quadriceps stretch. More standing poses: Dancer Pose, Warrior I and Warrior II, Chair Pose Sitting Poses: Knee Lift and extend, Knee lift and swing to side What other poses can you think of? What have you done this week? During what activities did you use your quads? (Hint: Did you vacuum? Did you work in the garden? Did you pick stuff or cat up off the floor? Did you walk/jump/run?) Please let me know how the Quad Challenge went for you. My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YogaWGrace My Email: [email protected] Note: Click on the green highlighted poses above for a description. A member of Wednesday Chair Yoga asked me about videos for chair yoga. Below is a 40 minute video from Youtube. This is a great video of a mom trying to do her yoga practice with the "help" of her kids!
 Before Thursday night yoga at Gleason YMCA, one of the participants approached me and shared a little of his story. "John" said he hurt his ankle a few years ago leaving it weak. John said he became inactive because of his ankle. John pointed to his ankle and said yoga practice had improved his ankle! I was so glad to hear that. During yoga practice we do stretches specifically geared toward ankles, but also many yoga poses involve the ankle. For example, when we do Child Pose we extend our ankles out against our mats giving our ankles a good stretch. Downward Facing Dog asks us to balance on the balls of our feet which helps strengthen our feet and ankles. Thank you John for sharing your story!
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AuthorI enjoy yoga as it brings peace to my life. Teaching yoga has brought joy to my life and given me a chance to encourage others in learning yoga. Archives
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