#flexibilitydrills

Flexibility is like untying a knot. If you just pull and force it, you’ll end up making it worse. The body has its own time to release the tension, it will unwind when it’s ready, like a flower blooming, and not a moment before. Spring flowers don’t open in winter for a reason. The fall harvest isn’t ready in the spring for a reason. Your body has its rhythm and its reasons. The yoga practice is about tuning in, feeling, listening and respecting the intelligence of the body. When your mind settles you move into a state of ease and flow that is beyond the depth of any pose, it’s the truth of who you really are and it feels like freedom. _ Last day of #flexibilitydrills with @fitqueenirene on @omstarsofficial Comment below with your experience of the challenge if you participated every day to qualify to win some prizes from our sponsors @skechers @cococommunity @liforme Phot by @ifilmyoga _ #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

@fitqueenirene on Forearm Press Work ❤️ ・・・ Tomorrow is Day 7️⃣ of the #flexibilitydrills challenge! Pose: forearm balance Drill: press up work Forearm balance is one of my favorite poses, and I love to use a combination of strength and flexibility to lift into it. Do your best and remember that it takes a lot of patience and practice! Hosts: me and @kinoyoga Sponsors: @omstarsofficial @liforme @cococommunity @skechers #yoga #yogatutorial #yogavideo

Focus. Think about what you’re doing as you’re doing it. Don’t multi-task in your mind. Devote 100% of your attention to the task at hand. Whether it’s your practice or your life, your full presence makes a big difference. _ Distractions are everywhere and they don’t always appear like distractions. Sometimes they look like fun new ideas. You have to be disciplined with your mind as much as with anything else. One focused concentrated hit on the mark can be more effective than a spastic free for all method. _ It’s not a gift, it’s a practice. My mind is not naturally steady. I’m often thinking about ten thousand things at once. But through practice I’ve learned how to focus on a single point of attention continuously over a sustained period without wavering. If you feel you have a short attention span and you get impatient and frustrated quickly, I understand. I used to be like that too. Sometimes I still am. But practice teaches you the perfect mix of patience, discipline and surrender. _ Day 9 #flexibilitydrills is Standing Split from Class Five from the new course by @fitqueenirene on my online channel @omstarsofficial Photo by @ifilmyoga Leggings @k.deer Sponsors @cococommunity @skechers @liforme _ #practiceandalliscoming #yogachallenge (at Miami Beach, Florida)

In a world of competing interest your most valuable asset in your attention. Spending time focusing on what’s wrong and annoying will only bring you more of what’s wrong and annoying. Mediate on the mess and you’ll get more mess. But if you devote your time and energy to what is good and true then you’ll naturally gravitate towards the good and the true. Create bubbles of joy and pockets of happiness in your life. While there may be suffering, loss and hardship, while sometimes you may to work hard and make difficult decisions, the direction of your life is defined by how you think and feel about it all. You can’t control what happens but you can control how you respond to it. _ Have you ever obsessively checked an annoying conversation thread online just to see what new aggravating posts were added? Or how about checking in on people who have hurt you to kind of see if they still if they’re up to their old antics? Or how about chronic complaining about the general unfairness of life? Stop all that right now. If you can’t help yourself but be drawn into the maelstrom, then you’ll suffer the consequence. You have to help yourself. Don’t waste another moment of your time on activities, conversation, dialogues or people who simply drag you into their mess. It take discipline, patience and devotion. But it’s worth it because you are worth it. You are simply worth too much to spend your time in unhappiness. Not that you can never feel sadness or grief or anxiety again. That would be a false promise and unrealistic. But if you find yourself devoting time, energy, and emotion into thoughts, activities or people that simply drag you down, you have to close the door and redirect that attention to yourself. That choice may be the deepest expression of self-love that exists. It’s not against anyone else, it’s for yourself. You matter to yourself at least as much as other (sometimes annoying) things matter to you. Self love isn’t selfish, it’s the foundation of true love. You can’t give to others what you don’t know how o give to yourself. _ Day 8 #flexibilitydrills is Urdhva Dhanurasana with @fitqueenirene on @omstarsofficial The drill today comes from class five 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

So many people assume I was naturally flexible and that it all came easily to me. But the first time I tried to touch my toes they were miles away. My back was rounded and the backs of my legs were so tight so I had no idea it would ever be physically possible to fold. And yet here I am today more than twenty years later folding forward. Life is like that, if you have a dream, work hard for it, day after day, give all of yourself with no holds back, one day you will succeed. It may not always happen as quickly as you’d like, but with a good mix of effort and Grace there is nothing you cannot accomplish. _ Forward bends in yoga unlock a whole series of poses. Start with flexibility and all your strength poses will be so much easier. If you’re trying to press into handstand but your forward bend is tight you’ll need so much effort. If you’re trying to put your legs behind your head but your forward bend is tight you’ll be blocked. Simple poses lay the foundation for more advanced ones. Don’t jump ahead. Put in the humble work wherever you are with full faith that your biggest dreams will come true in the end. _ Day 2 #flexibilitydrills is Padangusthasana. Watch Video 1 from @fitqueenirene new course on @omstarsofficial and see how the rag doll roll can get you deeper in your forward bends! Check Irene’s post for more videos. Use code FLEXDRILLS for a free month of access to OmStars.com. _ Photo by @ifilmyoga Outfit @liquidoactive #practiceyogachangeyourworld #onebreathatatime 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

When I first tried to put my leg behind my head it didn’t just go. My chest felt like it was going to collapse and I could barely feel what was happening in my body. But slowly, with practice and patience my hips opened. I’ve seen yoga students of all shapes, sizes and ages put in the work of practice and have their hips open. It’s not about forcing or willing your body, it’s actually so much more about listening. Yoga works best when you focus on the process and don’t get too attached to the goal. If you put too much attention to the pose and you make the pose your goal then you might end up making sacrifices along the way that could harm your body. The real goal of yoga is the inner experience and every pose is merely a tool to wake up your awareness. The interesting thing is that the moment your paradigm shifts to this state of non-attachment the body usually opens right up. _ Day 4 of #flexibilitydrills is Eka Pada Sirsasana. If you’re not yet ready for the leg behind the head, watch class 2 on @omstarsofficial with @fitqueenirene for some Pigeon Pose variations that will help you unlock your hips. Share your journey to win some prizes from @liforme @sketchers @cococommunity Photo by @ifilmyoga _ #practiceandalliscoming 🙏

When you feel you have nothing left to give, when you think you just can’t be any stronger, when you’re stretched to your absolute limit and you want to give up, exactly then, at that moment when you feel utterly hopeless, you have to push through. That’s when it matters, when all the work you put into the spiritual path counts. You feel in the asana first. One like this, Kurmasana, asks you to do the impossible. It’s done first in your body and then in your life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt like I could go no further, do no more, in my practice and in my life. But there, in that quiet space of the breath, I made a choice and I set a humble goal. I asked myself to take just one more breath. That one breath opened a door to one more step forward. Then, over years the steps accumulated. It wasn’t always linear. Sometimes I took a few steps forward and a whole bunch of steps backwards. But over twenty years of practice I have found more faith, more strength, more peace and more happiness than I ever thought would be possible. Every time you practice you take one step down the road of faith. _ Day 5 #flexibilitydrills is Kurmasana. Dare to try the impossible with class 3 by @fitqueenirene on @omstarsofficial Photo by @ifilmyoga Leggings are a sneak peak of my OmStars collection by @liquidoactive Challenge sponsors @skechers @cococommunity @liforme _ #practiceandalliscoming 🙏 (at Miami Beach, Florida)

Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power.  Lao Tzu #saturday #strengthtrainingathome #flexibilitydrills #stretchingexercises #moveon #innerhappiness #innerpeace #selflovematters #bewithyourself❤️ #bethebestme #bethebesteveryday #bethebestversionofme #selfworkout (at Hariohm Nutrition Centre) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTqvjIjIv42/?utm_medium=tumblr