Simple Yoga Poses to Refresh Your Mood

With the recent snow storm, you might have found yourself cooped up indoors for a lot of last week, which can affect your mood and your body in lots of different ways. If you’re surfacing back into the world today and you’re back to your regular work-week, your muscles might be a little tight. Here are a few simple yoga poses you can do anywhere to get your body moving again and refresh your mood. 

1. Shoulder rolls – this is one of the simplest and best things you can do to release stagnant energy and ease up tension in the shoulders (and you can do it at your desk or in a bathroom stall at work). Take a deep inhale and squeeze your shoulders up to your ears. Exhale and roll your shoulders back and down your spine. Keep the slow, circles going in time with a deep breath. Close your eyes if you can. Do at least 10 of these today. Sometimes the simplest things are the most effective.
2. Side stretch – open up your lungs again. We tend to hunch over when we’re stuck indoors. If you were on a Netflix binge the last few days (like me!) then you’ll know what I mean. Sit on a chair or on the floor in a comfortable position with a straight spine. Firm down your sit bones into the seat / floor. Inhale lift the right arm into the air and on the exhale bend to the left. Breathe into the right ribcage and stretch out the right side body, keeping both sitting bones rooted firmly. Breathe here for a few slow, deep breaths. Then switch to your other side. This is a great one for getting the juices flowing again and bringing fresh oxygen into your rib cage and side body to counteract lots of sitting. 
3. Low lunge – open up your hips. Stand on your mat / the ground with your hips squared. Step the right leg back and drop your right knee. If you have sensitive knees, pad the knee with a blanket. Bring your hands to your hips and sink into your front knee. Feel the deep stretch in your right quad and hip flexors. Breathe really deeply into this pose. Stay here for ten deep breaths. Repeat the other side. (If you’re on the move, and doing this in a bathroom stall or public place where you cannot drop the back knee, keep the back knee lifted in ‘high lunge’).

Wherever you find yourself today, and whatever mood you are in – take a few really deep refreshing breaths, and move in a way that releases tension that has built up in the body. If you have any other juicy moves you use to release tension daily, comment below. We could all use a few more poses in our yoga toolbelt!