So cool! Seven consecutive days of "super pleasure" experience

Linda is obviously a layman in yoga, so it is impossible for her to reach Miss Mai’s level instantly. Smart Linnda started to make a seven-day yoga plan for herself to see what level she could achieve in just one week!

There are a wide variety of yoga fitness classes and related teaching materials on the market today. A quick glance in a bookstore will reveal several schools of yoga, including Hatha Yoga, Oki Yoga, and Ananda Yoga. When a novice starts out, it is inevitable that he will feel dazzled. Friends suggested that a complete layman like Linda could find the simplest way to get started. As for courses with additional difficulty such as high temperature and handstand, you can try them after you have a certain foundation. Yoga beginners do not need to be too picky about choosing a coach, because the initial goal is definitely to put feeling first and results second.

To describe the feeling of the first week of yoga in one sentence: from standing shakily to barely keeping up with the movements, and then no longer struggling to complete the movements. Because she had prepared for the worst before starting, Linda's persistence in yoga during the first week gave her more confidence than frustration. For non-sports professional athletes like her, being able to keep up with the pace is considered a success!

Day 1: Use your breathing to manage tension

Wear loose clothing to go to the gym for the first time. It is inevitable to feel nervous when starting something new. The coach advised Linda to adjust her breathing: find a position that you feel comfortable in (you can lie down or sit, but make sure your whole body is relaxed), gently close your eyes and start taking deep breaths. When you inhale, contract your abdomen, and when you exhale, you should feel as if the breath is being carried to your spine. During the breathing process, try to feel that you are in a very good mood, put aside all distractions, and imagine the most wonderful pictures in your memory. This process lasts for about five minutes. When you open your eyes, the world in front of you is indeed much clearer than before. My self-confidence also increased a lot.

Compared with the old students, the degree of perfection of today's movements is naturally much inferior. However, the coach said that there is a degree to one's limit. The standard of this degree depends on whether you can still breathe normally. Only when you can exhale and cooperate with the coach, can you bend to the best. After the 70-minute class, Linda felt a little tired and her limbs were a little sore. But I felt more tired and fulfilled, which is different from the feeling of sweating profusely during aerobic exercise.

Effective breathing technique - abdominal breathing

Let's learn an effective breathing method: abdominal breathing. First, lie flat on your back, put your hands on your abdomen, start to breathe in deeply, feeling your abdomen rising, then exhale, feeling your abdomen falling. Breathe in slowly and deeply, allowing the air to flow into the bottom of your lungs.

On the second day, give your spirit a bath

It is said that yoga can cleanse through three channels. One is posture, which is when we do postures one by one. One is breathing, which eliminates the garbage in your respiratory tract. The other is to eliminate mental garbage. So today, Linda mainly uses neck exercises to awaken brain activity. Dry wash your face with both hands, imagine that it is the hands of a loved one caressing you, let your mind move with your hands, then use your fingers to comb your hair from front to back. After completing the movement, use yoga breathing to relax your body, relax your shoulders, turn your head to the left and right three times each, then lean forward and backward, try to do it in the right direction each time, repeat three times, and finally, exhale the turbid air in your chest with all your strength. There are many similar movements in yoga, which are not difficult to do, but they are very useful for maintaining a refreshed state. The first time Linda did it, she felt like she had given her brain a bath.

Day 3: Initial weight loss training

Women who sit in the office for a long time will definitely worry about the fat on their abdomen and legs. The weight loss effect of yoga is not as immediate as that of aerobic exercise, but long-term and continuous practice of yoga can shape the body's curves into even lines. After practicing for a period of time, you will find that your waist and abdomen will become noticeably looser when you wear clothes, and your body shape will also be more balanced. There was a girlfriend from Malaysia who proudly showed Linda her high school photos. At that time, she weighed 40 pounds more than she does now. Later, she practiced yoga while studying in the UK, and after many years, she achieved remarkable results. She told Linda the daily weight loss exercises: after calming the mind, first stretch the shoulders backwards to stretch the muscles on both sides of the spine, then stand with the legs slightly apart, cross the hands behind and clasp them together, and change from straightening the back to bending the upper body forward as much as possible, hold for 15 seconds, twice a day, and four times in two days. The first time I tried this movement, although I didn’t feel as light as a swallow, I could feel my limbs were very stretched. Those who can stick to it will definitely benefit greatly.

Day 4: Diet and exercise

Judging from various books about yoga, yoga is a lifestyle, not just a sport. Yogic diet is also a big part of this lifestyle. The advice from my coach and friends is to try to eat lighter food, with clean green food being the best. Linda's breakfast today was milk cereal, whole wheat bread and fruit. I don’t eat red meat at noon. Instead, I have a few whole small fish and a salad with vegetables and fruits. Many yoga enthusiasts also recommend that drinking some soup before meals is good for the stomach. Nuts, such as walnuts, dried fruits and almonds, can provide calories to the body. After a day of yoga and diet plus normal exercises at night, Linda felt cleansed from the inside out.

Day 5: Say goodbye to insomnia

Dealing with a pile of things in the office every day can cause a lot of pressure and make people prone to anxiety. In recent months, my sleep quality has been much worse than before. It is difficult to fall asleep at night and I often wake up in the middle of the night. After finishing the last pile of trivial tasks of the workday, before going to bed, Linda lit a stick of incense in the well-ventilated large bedroom, sat on the big bed and began to practice several postures to stabilize her nerves. After practicing some movements to help her fall asleep easily, she lay down and fell asleep on her right side. My heart feels clean and my dreams are especially sweet.

Day 6: Outdoor yoga, return to nature

Yoga is best practiced at any time of the day on an empty stomach, and the best time is after waking up in the morning. This Saturday, Linda didn't sleep in and got up early. After using the toilet, brushing her teeth and washing her face, she placed a cushion on the balcony. In the fresh air and morning sunshine of the weekend, she slowly reviewed every move from the previous few days. Although there is no atmosphere of a large classroom, the quiet environment makes it easier for people to concentrate. The main exercises in the morning are postures that activate the nerves.

Day 7: From local to whole body

Yoga emphasizes the whole body and mind. After practicing the abdomen and legs in the morning, I felt that other joints in my body were stiff. So in the afternoon, you should comb your whole body.

Before going to bed at night, Linda looked at herself in the mirror and felt that she looked much more radiant. A week is not a long time, and the benefits of yoga on my skin and body are not yet obvious, but the increase in self-confidence is obvious. Linda thought that as long as she persisted patiently, yoga would bring her surprising changes from the inside out over time. She believed that catching up with Miss Mai would not be an impossible task!