Gosh. Havnt posted since I started my “new life”. After Thailand me and my fiance moved to a smaller city in Sweden to start our first jobs as newly graduated doctors. We bought an apartment close to both the citycenter and the hospital and now we have been here for a few months. I actually quite like this town. Work is tough but I really like my clinic and all the collegues. I started running again to experience our surroundings and their are so many beautiful places. I have to stop all the time and strike a yoga pose just to take it all in. So much water and beautiful nature in and around the city. Love it! The picture above is one of my sudden stops during a sweaty run 🙂 If you want more yogaupdates, check my instagram @yogaripped. Soon vacation’s coming up and then Ill hopefully have time to make some updates on the blog!
I’ve dreamed about the sun and blue skyes for so many cold, dark swedish months and now we’re here! It’s even better than I imagined – lazy days with snorkeling, sunworshiping, beach yoga and hanging out with friends, wonderful bungalow hotel and I’m sold. Could’nt ask for more. And the Thai-people are so nice! This break is just what I need before reality kicks in.
When we get back home me and my fiance are moving to his hometown Karlstad and starting our first jobs as doctors. Ofcourse I’m excited for this new period in our lives but I’m also sad to leave all our friends, my family and Uppsala behind. For me it’s a big step and two weeks break in Thailand to catch my breath could’nt have come with better timing. Hanging out on the beach has had me thinking. Life is a bundle of memories and thoose I remember the most are the new experiences that came with both new great things but also pain and worries over what your leaving behind. Even the not so positive experiences have always served a purpose for me and helped me grow in to the person I am. That thought calms me a little bit and makes me think that there is no point in worrying about this new change, whatever comes with it will have a purpose in my life in some way.
So I lean back a bit more in my sun-chair, take a sip of my fruitshake and smile, enjoying the present and definitly looking forward to the future!
A few days ago me and my fiance finally graduated from med. School! Now we are in Thailand for some vacation before work kickstarts in February. So nice to get some laid back time with relaxed days at the beach, yoga and diving! So beachyoga definitly coming up! Just had to share this great morning stretch first that I totally forgot to post 🙂
In the morning my hamstrings are always so stiff and I feel so unflexy, kinda like a box:) Theese are some poses I try holding for a while (after my warmup rutin ofcourse) to give my back, hamstrings and hips a nice stretch!
1. Standing split can be a tough one so I usually start against a wall and push myself up with my arms, almost lifting myself up to make my tippytoes touch the floor.
2. When attempting non assisted standing split I start by lifting on leg while my other knee is bent. Then I bend over and when my head reaches my knee I straighten it. Then I just lean a little bit forward, balancing on my hands while I try to reach as high as possible with my upper leg!
3. This forward fold is superyummy for thoos hamstrings! To get further I put my hands together behind my legs and slowly pull my upperbody closer to my legs. One breath at a time!
4. The next step is to get your head past your legs! This is how far I get now, but there is still work to be done:)
Challenge yourself with some yoga warmup and stretching in the morning, promise it’s a great way for your body to start the day!
This pose is about flexibility, strength and confidence. You need to be flexible to be able to put your weight on your arms and not your chin while standing in this position. Focus on stretching your back and opening up your chest and neck. You need strength to hold the pose. You need confidence to dare balancing on your chin!
1. Start by lifting one leg up and moving your weight to your arms.
2. Now slowly bend your arms and move towards the ground like a pushup, until your chin reaches the floor.
3. When you reach the floor, move your weight over to your arms at the same time as you kick up your other leg. If you can’t get up with a easy kick, do’nt force it. Instead use a wall to climb up with your legs to practice standing in this pose.
4. When your up with both legs, tighten your whole body to gain control in this pose.
Starting by warming up my back sitting in lotus. Then I use the wall to stretch out back and shoulders. Over to warmup for wheel and in to wheelpose. After this stretching hips in different positions. Ends with mermaid and king pigeon pose.
Try to stay at least 5 breaths in every position. Take it easy, it’s about warming up so don’t force anything, stop where your limit is today. Do the warmup a few times and you will notice getting further for each time!
Okej lets get flexy! Here are some tips on how to open your hips and back to be able to reach that foot with your hands.
Start by stretching your hips and warming up your back. Good pose for this is wheel. Warmup video coming up! Never force a backbend, just relax your neck move in to a pose when it does’nt hurt.
1. A good starting pose is Mermaid. (The last picture). Just lift your leg and place your foot against your arm. Connect your arms behind your head and feel the stretch.
2. Another tip is using a strap. Tie it around your foot and hold it with a distance to your hands that feel comfortable.
3. Next tip is using a wall to assist your leg. This way you can just relax your neck and try to reach your foot. It’s also a great hipstretch to get ready for the next step.
4. When you feel ready, try grabbing your foot with the opposite hand and move it towards your shoulder. Now grab both hands around your foot and turn your arms, elbows facing up. Relax your neck and feel your foot against your head. Video coming up!
Good luck yogis!
Remember to check my Instagram if you want more yoga ❤ @yogaripped
Hope you’ve had a great holiday and thay you’ve got your newyears resalutions ready! 🙂 My main yoga goals for 2015 is pressup handstand with both legs and getting more control in handstand to get better at making shapes. I’d also like to get more flexible and improve my balance over all.
Above is a video of a flow I put together with crow (bakasana) to handstand back to crow and then to one legged crow. Theese transitions where some of the goals I accomplished this year and I’m so proud and thankful for the progress. I can’t believe that I had my accident a few months ago and I’ve healed this fast. I never thought I would be better at handstands than before the accident, I was afraid I would’nt be able to do it at all! Super thankful for yoga in this fast progress. This year I started this blog and my Instagram @yogaripped and I’m so happy I did! What a wonderful way to workout! I’ve gotten amazing inspiration from theese wonderful communities and so much support from all you awesome readers, THANK YOU! It has really helped me stay positive and motivated this year!
Now to some yoga tips for pressup from crow to handstand and back.
1. Start with your back against the wall and use your head and back for balance pressed against the wall when you lift your legs from your knees.
2. When you can do this, practice it to build thoose muscles and stability. When you feel ready, try without a wall but with a strap around your triceps, right above your elbows. This helps to keep your arms stable.
3. When pressing up, push your elbows and legs towards your center, this will help you focus strength in your core and keep your arms stable.
4. Lean forward with your upperbody to make the curve of your back more straight, this makes it easier to lift your legs.
5. When your float of thoose knees use your fingers to keep balance in your hands and hold your focus in the floor.
6. Getting down to crow again is the same technique but now you start by lowering your legs as the same time as you lean forward, getting your upperbody slightly in front of your arms. Focus focus focus your core and slowly land on your arms. It’s all about practice! I can’t count the times I’ve tried this and failed. Just stay consistent in your workout and it will come! Goals are great because they can keep you motivated and when you accomplish then you feel great. And a fat bonus is getting ripped in the process 🙂
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 3,800 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.
Hope your having a great holiday! Santa gave me a new yoga mat so today I tried it out with some new poses! Finally feeling some progress with my leg behind my head. This pose is all about opening thoose hips with stretching.
Next pose is a variation of chinstand called locust pose. I thought it was hard to get my legs up so I used the wall to assist! Now back to my christmas candy 😉 happy holidays!
Finally some sunshine! And because of holidays I had time to enjoy it! In Sweden it gets dark around 3 p.m now and it’s rare with sunshine so it’s been really hard for me to get sunlight in a while. So when I saw the sun today I decided to do some yoga outdoors. Made sure to have gloves though, the ground was freezing… Maybe some peeps walking by thought it was kinda wierd, me popping handstands outdoors in December but I was just happy to put smiles on their faces. It felt great. Can’t think of a better workout actually. So tip for the holidays is to take your yoga outside. Especially if it’s sunny. It dos’nt have to be for long, think my fingers lasted about 25 min, but thats enough to get your puls up, working thoose muscles and getting some D-vit from the sun! Gave me a happy start today. 🙂 Happy holidays everyone!! ❤️
YogaRipped 