Yoga Poses For Beginners

Hey loves! How are you and your love ones holding up during this pandemic? I hope everyone is staying safe. I wanted to change up the pace a little today and motivate some of my readers with alternative ways of staying healthy. I’m partnering up with my good friend Yelena to bring you some Yoga Poses for Beginners!

I know, I know, not my traditional post, but you know what? We are not in “traditional times” anymore. I too needed some motivation to get some exercise in and following Yelena on Instagram gave me some encouragement to do so.

**This post contains affiliate links, which means I will make a commission at no extra cost to you should you click through and make a purchase.**

How We Met

So before we jump into the lesson I wanted to share a little on how Yelena and I met. Ironically I met Yelena when I was in the process of buying my house. Which would mean that I’ve known her for almost three years. 😲 It is crazy how fast time is flying. She was my loan processor at the time, so she could have made my life a living hell, or be my savior. Guess which one she turned out being? 😏 If you want to go through my home buying process then definitely check out my post on Buying a House for the First Time.

A Little Bit about the Woman

Hi everyone! My name is Yelena Veliko. Born in Russia and came to the US when I was four. Right now I live in Raleigh, NC currently and work full-time as a manager in the mortgage industry. I absolutely LOVE my job and my team. I am really competitive, extroverted, energetic and have a huge heart. In addition to yoga, I love painting, drawing, writing, photography and my most recent adventure I’m embarking on – becoming an equestrian! My sister and I have a long-term goal to travel to Ireland and ride through the countryside on horseback for a few weeks.

Let’s Get Down to It

I am a resilient person. This became evident to me early in life when I first started wondering why my mom was so different from other moms. Watching my mother’s mental illness progress meant seeing the mother I loved disappear. She was replaced by a stranger who spent most of her time in alternate realms. When she came back to ours, she was cruel and abusive. It was not her fault, but she lost her capacity to love us.

When My Chapter Started

At age 21, I lost her from my life completely, and consequently lost myself. I spent my early 20s desperately creating some semblance of normalcy and safety in my life. I graduated college, found a job, a partner – all seemed fine. Despite appearances, a teapot-boiling-over, high-pitched ringing anxiety consumed me. Yes, I was pushing myself through the daily motions of everyday life. I was a “highly functioning” member of society. But I was directionless. I was in constant pain. Fear ruled my choices. The voice of my intuition was completely suppressed.

Then, moment after inconspicuous moment, everything in this perfectly constructed, safe life started to erode. I found myself completely alone, in a new city, with no real relationships with anyone – not even with myself. To me I was on the precipice of a remarkable opportunity for either growth or destruction. I chose the former – to confront my essence and create a new life as the best and truest version of myself.

Why I Chose Yoga

Yoga started calling to me as I dove into months of interpersonal work to discover my “authentic-self”. For the first time in many years, I was intentionally focused on nourishing my soul, mind and body.
One Saturday morning, this past September, I nervously walked into a local hot yoga studio to answer my intuition’s call. I signed up for teacher training and began a positively life-altering adventure.

To me, yoga is art in motion. It’s a way to express myself and get in touch with my spirit. When I’m on my mat, nothing else matters. My trivial problems can melt away and I can feel myself as I am in that moment. The beads of sweat I see fall on my mat are reassurance to me that I am detoxing my old self and becoming someone better, someone stronger, the person I know I was always meant to be; the best version of myself.

How Yoga Fits in My Life

Yoga has become integral to my everyday life because it brings me so much joy, reduces my anxiety and ultimately changes my life for the better in so many ways. I am physically stronger, more centered and more energized than I have ever been. Yoga has taught me to be present in the current moment, challenge myself and believe in my own power. I work every day to be true to my authentic self; this means fostering all of the things that bring me joy and following my intuition. My ultimate goal is to bring beauty and love to everything I do and make the most of every moment I am blessed with.

The Message

My practice has taught me to know, love and trust myself. I have learned countless lessons about the power of patience and persistence. I have found my center for when I start to spin away. Most importantly, I am no longer a prisoner to that painful anxiety that riddled me for years. I have the strength to make decisions based on my dreams now, not my fears. Yoga was the vehicle in my journey out of a mundane, directionless existence and into a purposeful, powerful, mindful and joyful life of perpetual growth. I have seen and felt firsthand how powerful this practice is and I want to share my passion for it with the people around me for the rest of my life. Namaste, Yelena Veliko

**This post contains affiliate links, which means I will make a commission at no extra cost to you should you click through and make a purchase.**

What is Yoga

Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six Āstika schools of Hindu philosophical traditions. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Wikipedia

Let’s Learn Some Easy Poses

Tabletop

Benefits: Aligns the spine and calms the spirit. Warms up your body gently and prepares you for a good practice.
Cues: Place your hands under your shoulders, knees under hips. Flip your feet onto your mat and face your fingers towards the top of your mat. Gaze down slightly above your hands.

High Plank

Benefits: Strengthens your entire body. Teaches your body to behave as a whole. Encourages grounding in the present moment and mental courage to face challenges.
Cues: Step your feet back to hips width distance. Engage your abdominals. Stack your shoulders over wrists. Gaze down with a neutral neck.

Low Plank

Benefits: Builds upper body strength.
Cues: Hinge two inches forward and lower down from high plank. Bend your elbow to 90 degrees. Gaze down with a neutral spine.

Upward Facing Dog

Benefits: Improves posture by strengthening backline muscles. Cultivates new energy and opening to balance your mind and heart.
Cues: Flip your feet and press the tops into your mat. Lift up while squeezing your shoulder blades and opening your heart.

Downward Facing Dog

Benefits: Lengthens and relaxes the muscles on the backline of your body. Relaxes your mind and nervous system.
Cues: Send your hips back and up. Bring your gaze back through your legs. Place your hands shoulder width apart.

Quick Poses

Before You Go

I hope this post was not only informative but also relaxing. Always remember that you can always have fun exercising, living a healthy life. I mean you do know the saying “Life is what you make it”? Let me know if you felt this post was beneficial and if you want to see more like it. Yelena and I make a great team so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind coming back and showing everyone one more Yoga poses or better yet a YOGA SERIES!?!?!? 😳😲 Until next time, stay safe, share, and comment. Let us know if you want to see more just like this and better! 😊

Thank you to My Collaborators!!

• Yelena Veliko – Our Yoga Instructor
• Thomas Kelley – Yelena’s Photographer

Make sure you show them love and FOLLOW them on Instagram!

Join My Tribe!

I have created a Brand New Tribe on Tailwind  called Bosses on a Mission. If you would like to join please click the link. It cost you nothing to promote yourself and I would love to Build a Friendship through design. This is a Pinterest focused group where you can pin your own content for other members to share. The more re-pins the better right? Come join the rest of the Bosses and let’s Build Your Brand today!