Throughout this semester, the winter season can be best characterized as a time of warm hot chocolates, weekend ski trips, unfortunate realizations that you wore the wrong shoes out in the slush, and heinously cold and windy mornings trekking to that 8 am you wish you didn’t sign up for. However, as Charles Dickens once said, “March is the period where the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” As the weather is warming up, we are in a period of time where all of us begin our journey back outside to do some fun physical activities that can surely increase our serotonin levels. Here are some great yoga exercises as well as workouts for cardio and core:
Cardio + Workout (3 sets total)
Mountain climbers (30 seconds): beginning in a plank position, keep your core engaged and your back straight as you move each leg forward to about your chest
V-ups (10-15 reps): Start by lying down on your back either on the floor or on a mat. Extend your arms behind your head and your legs straight out, with your feet touching. Keeping your feet together and toes pointed, slowly lift your legs up at the same time as you lift your upper body. Reach for your toes with your hands and squeeze your abdominal muscles in.
Yoga:
Apanasana (1 minute, 8-10 breaths): Lie on your back and draw both knees toward your chest. You may hold onto your shins, forearms, or hands. Gently rock side to side, massaging your back body and lower back. Play with gently curling your pubic bone toward your navel and then down toward your mat to release and lengthen your lower back.
Supta Matsyendrasana (2 minutes, 8-10 breaths each side): Keep your knees drawn into your chest. Take your arms out to your sides in a T shape, palms up or down. Ground both shoulder blades down into your mat as you inhale deeply. As you exhale, drop both knees to the right, stacking them atop one another. Take 4–5 breaths and repeat on the other side.
