When you enjoy crossing paths with a fit, toned and generally pleasant individual it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he or she practices yoga. Surely by now most people understand the physical and mental benefits of yoga. Yoga is perfectly accessible to even the laziest and unmotivated of persons. I’ve heard more than my fair share of misconceptions about yoga, but they are simply that: misconceptions. Regardless of whether you to practice for an hour, thirty minutes or even five minutes a day, the bottom line remains: you will undoubtedly reap the many wonderful benefits yoga has to offer.

In this post-post modern era of instant gratification it’s hard to commit to practicing yoga for an hour every day; but, lucky for us overworked, overstressed and under nurtured creatures there is no wrong way to practice yoga. Yoga is unique because it’s a system of movement in which the asanas can be modified not only to fit the individual yogi’s needs and goals, but it’s also a system of movement in which the asanas can be manipulated to target multiple areas of the body simultaneously. The efficiency of yoga as a system of exercise is unmistakable. The asanas don’t need to be overly complex or arranged in any particular order per se. For example, practicing five rounds of Surya Namaskar A followed by five rounds of Surya Namaskar B (a.k.a. Sun Salutations) while integrating the breath into each movement every morning equates to a legitimate yoga practice. It is what I like to call a “moving meditation” because it increases the heart rate, tones the entire core and upper body all while generating and maintaining mental equanimity through the incorporation of breath. Another great example of maximizing the efficiency of your asana practice is practicing utkatasana, a.k.a. chair pose while squeezing a block with your hands. Utkatasana is already quite challenging. It strengthens the legs and core and when squeezing a block overhead in between your palms you instantly layer on another dimension: Mr. and Mrs. Triceps. In addition to maximizing the efficency out of your yoga practice, modifying postures like this keeps your practice fresh and interesting. Hold this pose for ten ujjayi breaths. I challenge you to reply to this post if you don’t feel anything. Get your yoga on!

YOGI TIDBIT TO TRY:

Find a yoga block. Stand at the top of your yoga mat with the feet together holding the block between your palms widthwise with your arms down. Already here, begin squeezing the block to engage the arms. As you inhale, bend your knees deeply, drop your hips extend your arms overhead keeping them as straight as possible. Focus on lengthening your tailbone towards your heels. Spread your toes and take as much weight as you can into your heels. Pull your naval in towards the spine to protect your low back and imagine both sides of your torso are equally long. Resist collapsing the torso onto the thighs, so as you sit deeper into your chair pose lift your chest up a bit higher. Resist the urge to puff your ribcage. Resist the urge to look up because doing so crunches the back of your neck. Continue squeezing the block in between your palms and you'll feel the triceps working as they roll in towards one another. Relax your shoulders away from your ears. Relax your face. Take ten deep ujjayi breaths here before pressing your feet down to straighten the legs and release the arms to rest.

MODIFICATION: If you have a sensitive low back, practice this pose with your feet hip distance apart instead of with the feet together.