HEALTH

Newsflash: You don't have to be a yogi to find your zen. Yoga is beneficial for everyone and is very helpful for when you want to de-stress, or just chill. Feeling sad or bummed out? Time to master the yoga mat...

Take it from Drake: Sometimes it’s truly best to just be in your feelings. Or, rather, flow through them. “When you’re sad, you want to feel all of the sadness, process it and then release it,” says Alex Silver-Fagan, a Nike master trainer. “Yoga gives you the safe space to do that.”

And don’t let the low-impact movements and slow pace fool you: Holding each pose, even in a beginner sequence, requires a lot of balance (aka core strength) and flexibility.

Training Tips:
+ Start with a simple sun salutation sequence to center yourself.

+ Then, move into some heart-opening poses (that’s a fancy way of saying backbends), like camel pose or upward-facing dog, as part of a soothing stretching routine.

+ Adding a few minutes of deep breathing before or after your flow also can make you more mindful. Hulslander suggeststhe 4-7-8 technique: Breathe in through your nose for four seconds, then hold it for seven before breathing out through your mouth for eight. Repeat four times. Ahh, instant zen.

What's your fave yoga pose? Let us know in the comments!

by Amanda Tarolton | 5/29/2019