Yin – The ultimate unwind – 3 poses
Yin yoga has to be one of the best ways to unwind years of tension that build up in your body. Imagine the same patterns that your body moves in, day in and day out. In our culture, those patterns often involve sitting at a desk, leaning over and generally are not good for our postures. Take these three poses into your life and start to undo.
Reclined twist.
Unlike the regular inclined twist, this one has us crossing our legs in front of the body before the twist. That cross gives our whole sideline a lovely long stretch. Especially in your shoulders, lower back muscles and glutes. 
Start by lying down and crossing your legs in front of your body. Bringing both legs to one side, stretch your arms out and turn your gaze away from your legs. Micro adjustments include moving your buttocks into the centre, drawing your shoulder blades down and directing your arms away in a slight Y shape.
Hips up Childs pose
This is a really amazing opening for your shoulders and the sides of your body. Like most yin poses, time in the pose is what it takes for the real magic to happen. Your two biggest muscles in your body, Lattisimus Dorsi, run down the sides of your body. These get an incredible lengthening in this pose. Take time to get into all fours and slowly walk your hands forward keeping them shoulder-width apart. 
As your arms move forward invite your upper body towards your mat. Make sure to keep your hips lifted with your thighs preferably at 90 degrees to the floor. A good yoga teacher or mirror can help. Maintain this posture for five good minutes and focus on your breath. Breathing deeply here is super useful as you almost get a stretch from the inside out. As you breathe in deeply feel your ribs expand out into your sides.
Toe squat
For most people, this can be challenging. But don’t be put off trying. You have 26 precious bones in the feet. All supported by ligaments and small amounts of muscle. Spending their time, day in day out in restrictive shoes may lead to a restriction in the mobility of your feet. And why does this matter so much?
Basically your feet are the foundation of your whole body. Everything in your body starts at your feet. Walking, standing are just the start. Get problems with your feet and you can find that issues as far up as your jaw can be affected. Our whole body comprises of connective tissue known as fascia. And once the gliding lines of this tissue get a restriction, the results normally impact all other movements.
For this pose kneel down and turn your toes under. You may want to twist around and physically bring the little toes forward as they can have a mind of their own. Start to sit back with your buttocks on your heels, making sure not to arch your back. Hold this pose as long as you can. As with all yin poses, never go into pain, but go to your edge. A good qualified Yin teacher can adjust this posture for you to graduate you into it.
Join Anna this Friday for a gorgeous Yin, epic Nidra and Candlelight Yoga class. Booking link here. 20% off for members !!!