Whether or not you feel stressed, we can probably all agree that finding ways to be proactive about our well-being is a better option than waiting until stress starts to affect our health. Because long-term stress can lead to digestion issues, headaches and even heart disease.
One of the more popular techniques to lessen stress is doing yoga, and it has so many additional benefits for the mind and body. That’s why we took a moment to speak with Tory, National Director of Yoga for Life Time, about yoga and how we can use it in our daily lives, especially those of us who feel like we are too busy to keep a regular practice.
And as a bonus, Tory put together three 5- to 10-minute yoga routines that you can fit into your day at home or when you’re on-the-go. They’ll not only help you to stretch and strengthen your muscles, but the poses will relax your body and mind so that you can get better z’s — and maybe stress less.
Q
What are the benefits of yoga?
A
Yoga supports people by giving them the tools to deal with any situation that shows up in life. If you look at the focus of yoga when it started thousands of years ago, it was to help calm the reactions of the mind so the practitioner could be present. The word yoga means connection, so it’s connection to anything; connection to body/mind to the physical being; to the community around us.
We typically think of this as a physical exercise of a way to stretch the body, which is a great side benefit. But really, it’s about the breath and how we connect to ourselves — the rest is secondary. If I had to pick the top benefits of yoga, I’d say it’s the discovery of breath that leads to self-acceptance so I can love the skin I’m in today. This way I can move mindfully, by choice rather than reacting.
Q
How long do you need to do yoga to see results?
A
It depends on what results you’re looking for. Some people start doing yoga for flexibility or for stress reduction. The number one reason people say they can’t do yoga is because they feel that they aren’t flexible enough. This is ironic because they are also the people who will get the most benefit from doing yoga. It’s not about being able to touch your toes — it’s about moving comfortably.
If you are looking for physical benefits, yoga is one of those exercises that you don’t need recovery days from. You can really get great benefits from doing 5 or 10 minutes a day. And you can incorporate it into a daily routine to help calm the body and mind down to get better z’s. But if someone is just looking for a vigorous exercise and way to tone their arms, they can do a Vinyasa-style yoga 2 to 3 times a week.
I think the more people get into it, the more they enjoy doing it because of the calming effect, and how it helps you to show up and to be present in all aspects of life.
Q
What’s the best form of yoga for an athlete or someone who is active?
A
It’s hard to point to one answer. Typically, for runners, bikers or athletes who need to cross-train their body in a way that will release lactic acid and give length to the muscles would benefit from a Yin practice, or what we call Surrender at Life Time. In an hour, students will maybe get through 6 poses [each held] for about 5 minutes where you can release all muscle engagement to stimulate the fascia and help to create more mobility in the joints.
Yin is one of the fastest growing yoga practices right now. Vinyasa [is] still the most popular, but it’s exciting to see a slower more mindful practice growing in popularity, plus it’s also the gateway drug to meditation.
Q
What if someone wants to do yoga but doesn’t have time?
A
There are a lot of fusion classes today that incorporate yoga and different types of workouts like a warrior sculpt or yoga sculpt where you do yoga with weights in your hands. High intensity interval training (HIIT) with yoga is really popular now. These workouts get the mind-body benefit with the cardio pump. That’s the nice thing about yoga, it’s constantly evolving. Lots of options out there.
Q
How can you use yoga to get better sleep?
A
I go back to yin or restorative practices; the differences between the two are very subtle. Because they look similar from the outside. Yin you don’t use a lot of props and you feel a real tug at the muscles. Almost immediately it’s uncomfortable. Whereas restorative, you usually prop yourself up on a pillow or bolster where you can feel the muscle releasing. Yin gets into the connective tissue, and restorative focuses on the release of the muscle fibers. Both help to alleviate lactic acid or just the tension of what’s going on in the body that we’ve been gripping all day from sitting for too long.
Anytime we slow down it helps to take the nervous system into rest and relaxation. Again, it comes back to the breathing. The stretches are nice, but what makes yoga, yoga, is the breathwork. In those practices where you take a deeper, longer breath and you really focus on the exhale being a slow, smooth exhalation, you start to stimulate the vagus nerve — one thing that helps control your lungs, your heart rate and digestive system. Just getting those longer, smoother breaths in before bed helps to bring everything down.
THREE-PART BREATHWORK: DIRGA PRANAYAMA
- With eyes open or closed, take the first breath in (through the nose) all the way to the belly until you feel pressure all the way around to the lower back. Then exhale (mouth closed) and squeeze it all out until you feel the pit of your abdomen draw in and out, so really hollow it out, until you have zero air.
- Inhale again until you feel pressure in the belly and the ribs as well, that’s the second chamber. Then exhale and squeeze it out, all the way down to the bottom with a closed mouth.
- Fill it up again, belly ribs and take it all the way to your chest then one more sip in — creating pressure/stress, then out the nose (with the mouth closed) as slowly and smoothly as possible.
1. WAKE-UP FLOW
Core Warm-Up
- Exhale all your air. At the bottom of the breath squeeze as much air out as possible and feel the belly muscles draw up and in.
- Release the belly and draw air back in.
- Exhale completely again. This time keep the belly muscles pulled up and in as tight as you can.
- Shallow breath; with the belly locked up you’ll have to breathe in the upper chest and side ribs.
- Hold for a count of 10.
- Reset: take 2 to 3 natural breaths.
- Repeat the above steps 2 more times.
Spine Warm-Up
- Sit at the edge of your bed or chair hands grasping the edge of the mattress or chair.
- Find natural breath in and out through the nose.
- Inhale: pull your fingers into the side of the bed, helping to pull your shoulders down and back as you lift your chin up towards the ceiling and arch through the spine.
- Exhale: push your palms into the top of the mattress, helping to spread the muscles behind the shoulders blades as you tuck your chin to your sternum and round through the spine.
- Repeat 3 times.
- Inhale back to a comfortable seat.
- Exhale: bring your left hand to the outside of your right thigh and twist to the right.
- Gaze over your right shoulder and hold for 3 breaths allowing each exhale to twist the spine a little deeper.
- Repeat on the left side.
Feet and Calf Warm-Up added to Spine Curls
- Still seated at the edge of the bed.
- Inhale: press your heels into the floor and draw your toes up towards the ceiling as you pull your fingers into the side of the bed, helping to pull your shoulders down and back as you lift your chin up towards the ceiling and arch through the spine.
- Exhale: press your toes into the floor and lift the heels up as you push your palms into the top of the mattress, helping to spread the muscles behind the shoulders blades as you tuck your chin to your sternum and round through the spine.
- Repeat 3 to 5 times.
2. SPINE AND BACK FLOW
- Start standing.
- Inhale, reach arms up over head.
- Exhale, hinge at the hips and fold over the thighs.
- Inhale, straighten the right leg and bring a gentle bend into the left knee.
- Exhale, draw your nose to the right (straight) knee (notice sensation in the right glute).
- Inhale, switch legs, left leg straight and a gentle bend in the right knee.
- Exhale, draw your nose to the left (straight) knee.
- Inhale, lengthen the torso up halfway and squeeze the shoulder blades together and feel the belly muscles firm.
- Exhale, plant hands on the ground and step the feet back so the body makes a plank.
- Inhale, hold plank firming up the muscles in the arms and shoulders.
- Exhale, keep the arms straight and slowly lower just the knees down to the ground feeling the lower abdominal muscles working.
- Inhale, shift weight forward into the arms.
- Exhale, with knees still on the ground slowly bend the elbows and lower the torso all the way to the ground.
- Inhale, lift just the chin and feel the cervical spine.
- Exhale, lower the forehead down.
- Inhale, lift the chin and the shoulders bringing sensation into the mid-back.
- Exhale, lower the chest and chin back down.
- Inhale, straighten the arms any amount creating a backend that feels right for your body.
- Exhale, press back onto hands and knees.
- Inhale, lift tailbone and chin while dropping the belly (cow pose).
- Exhale, tuck the chin and tailbone while drawing the belly up and in (cat pose).
- Inhale, Cow.
- Exhale, Cat.
- Inhale, Cow.
- Exhale, press hands into the ground, tuck the toes and lift the hips up to the sky (down dog).
- Inhale, engage arm muscles.
- Exhale, draw belly muscles in and step both feet up to hands.
- Inhale, lift the torso up halfway and draw the shoulder blades towards one another.
- Exhale, fold over the thighs and relax the neck and jaw.
- Inhale, stand up and reach arms over head.
- Repeat 3 to 5 times.
3. FINAL WIND-DOWN SEQUENCE
- Start standing.
- Exhale, fold over thighs.
- Inhale, lengthen the spine.
- Exhale, step the left foot back into a lunge and drop the left knee to the ground.
- Inhale, hand onto either the hips or right thigh.
- Exhale, slowly over the next 5 breaths inch the hips forward and down to increase sensation in the left hip flexor.
- Inhale, create space in the hips by lifting out of the compression you just created.
- Exhale, bring both hands to the inside of the right foot.
- Inhale, create space in the pelvis by possibly walking the right foot out towards the right, away from the mid-line of the body.
- Exhale, sink and settle in and play with the edge of sensation for 3 to 5 minutes. Time for some Yin (focus on natural breath while in the pose).
- First you find the function of the shape for your body.
- Once you have the function settle into the bones. This is playing with the edge of sensation, meaning you may start on your hands but as your body moves beyond the fight or flight responses (typically 2 minutes in), you may find that you can move to your elbows and sink the weight of the body forward more.
- After 3 to 5 minutes, come out of the pose (just as important as being in the pose). Do so with as little muscle engagement as possible. Move slowly and remember to breathe.
- Move your body slowly into a place of neutrality, lying on your belly, back, or a simple seat. We call this a rebound, a time of non-reactivity. It’s human nature to want to shake off agitation and discomfort. This is a space to observe the discomfort, breathe and notice how long it takes before the agitation loses its power over you.
- After about a minute of not reacting then you can mindfully move in any way that feels right.
- Make way to forward fold.
- Inhale, lengthen spine.
- Exhale, step the right foot back into a lunge and drop the right knee to the ground.
- Inhale, hand onto either the hips or left thigh.
- Exhale, slowly over the next 5 breaths inch the hips forward and down to increase sensation in the right hip flexor.
- Inhale, create space in the hips by lifting out of the compression you just created.
- Exhale, bring both hands to the inside of the left foot.
- Inhale, create space in the pelvis by possibly walking the left foot out towards the left, away from the mid-line of the body.
- Exhale, sink and settle in and play with the edge of sensation for 3 to 5 minutes. (focus on natural breath while in the pose).
- Follow the same 5 foundations of a yin pose laid out above.
- Make way onto back.
- Hug knees into chest (slow breath down, 4 to 5 seconds in 4 to 5 seconds out as smooth of an exhale as possible stimulating the vagus nerve).
- Inhale, “t” arms open
- Exhale, drop knees over to the right for a twist (hold 10 breaths).
- Inhale, knees back into chest.
- Exhale, drop knees to opposite side (10 breaths — same 4- to 5-second breath in and out through nose).
- Inhale, knees into chest.
- Exhale, squeeze forehead to knees.
- Inhale, hold, and take in another couple of sips on the inhale.
- Exhale, let everything fall to the floor. Close eyes and rest for a couple of minutes.
Interested in checking out one of our four signature yoga classes? Click here to learn more. And if you’re new to yoga and just want to try an intro class, find out more here.
ABOUT TORY
“I was tricked into yoga. That’s how it goes.”
Tory was an actor living in New York in the mid 1990s, and had a Shakespeare acting coach that used breathing techniques and stretches as a way to find the foundation for character.
Yoga became his way to show up in character and still be authentic. Tory started touring around the country, and the word got out that he was doing yoga and the other actors asked him to do little 15- to 20-minute sessions on the stage. “I taught what felt right in my body. I taught that way for almost 10 years without any formal training.”
Tory started teaching around 1997 and received his first 200-hour in 2006, and since then, has undergone and has led many trainings. When he met Jonny Kest, his style of yoga really spoke to Tory. “No two people can do the poses the exact same way. Or experience it the same way. There isn’t alignment for a pose, there is an alignment for a person.”
When he moved back to Minnesota, Tory taught at and managed a boutique-style yoga studio before he was asked to develop the yoga programming for Life Time around 2010. And in trying to figure out who Life Time was in the yoga world, Tory and his team focused on yoga practices that went to the root of yoga to help members deal with everyday stress on the mat so they could apply it to their daily lives.
“It’s been an amazing opportunity and what I love about Life Time is that there are so many people that care about what they do. Someone asked me why I’ve stayed as long as I have, I’ve been here for 8 years, and I’ve just never felt so welcomed, even when I was working at little boutiques. And when I came here I felt like everyone had open arms and I was at home.”
Written by LTWL Staff
This article is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations in this and other articles is at the choice and risk of the reader.
Tagged as: LTWL Staff, brief workouts, flexibility, short workouts, yoga Print Article