MI OLA Yoga Challenge

For the past 14 days our yogi-mermaids have been leading the #MIOLAYogaChallenge. Now it is time to put the whole sequence together. Thank you for all the amazing photos and people posing along! Let’s do this!

**It is always important to consult your physician before starting an exercise program. If you’re already a practicing yogi, jump into this. If not, we strongly recommend taking a yoga beginner course at your local studio so that you understand the basics, and proper alignment. In other words, this yoga sequence is recommended for this that already have an established yoga practice – you understand proper alignment and know your limits.

#MiOlaYogaChallenge

Begin in a comfortable, seated position. Start to deepen your breath, bringing your awareness to the current moment. Once you feel grounded, and present, walk your hands forward coming into a Downward Dog position. Stay here for five rounds of breath, creating space in between your shoulder blades. Use your next inhale to step in between your hands. Slowly roll up with an exhale to stand.

Begin your first of four rounds of Sun Salutations A.

Once you’ve completed four rounds, take a moment in Tadasana to ground down through all four corners of your feet, breathing into the arches of your feet, and tips of your toes. Begin your first of two rounds of Sun Salutations B.

Now that you’re all nice and warmed up, let’ begin to flow from pose to pose (squeezing in both sides if a pose calls for it, back-to-back) for our full 14-day sequence from the #MiOlaYogaChallenge!

Day 1: Chair Pose

- With your feet together, align your knees over your ankles, and sit back.

- Lifting your arms overhead, focus on dropping your shoulders away from your ears and arching your UPPER back, but keep your ribs in (you can do it!)

- Lift your toes putting all of your weight in your heels - now spread em’ and reground your toes.

- Navel draws to spine, and then hang out for 10 rounds of breath. Your booty will thank you!

 

Day 2: UTTANASANA (STANDING FORWARD BEND)

- Move your feet to inner hip width distance apart. This will allow for more internal rotation of your legs to release your upper inner thighs (groin) back, move the sitting bones back and apart, and maintain a neutral, concave, lower back curve for a safe and awesome pose.

- To balance the action of the release of the groin, LIGHTLY scoop your tailbone to hollow your belly.

- Press down through the feet as you simultaneously engage and draw UP through the legs, hugging skin to muscle and muscle to bone all along your legs to protect your joints and create stability. Then from the strong pillars of your legs you can release your upper body down.

- Rather than allowing your whole upper body to ‘sag’ downwards, come up onto the fingertips of your hands and bend your elbows out to the sides, pulling your shoulder blades onto your back as your spine and torso release down.

 

DAY 3: PLANK (OPTIONAL: KNEE TO NOSE VARIATION)

- Align your hands under your shoulders & firmly press the Earth away. With your arms straight and stable move that sensation down to your core.

- Strengthen the low belly (hint: engage your bandhas); hips stay low!

- Activate your legs! Extend energy out through your heels & breathe

 

DAY 4: KING COBRA:

- Palms placed under shoulders

- Press into Cobra. If that feels good - stay there!

- To keep going, draw your navel into spine, lifting your chest and bending your knees simultaneously as you straighten through your arms.

- Reach your head high and then start to drop it back as you reach your toes towards you head (or in my case…hair.)

- Drop out of it incredibly slow. Like slow mo. So. Slow. Slow. Slow. Sllloooooww.

- Take a moment laying on your belly for your back to re-stabilize, then push back into child’s pose

 

DAY 5: ARDHA BHEKASANA (HALF FROG):

- This is a tricky one for those of us with tight shoulders. Warm up with lots of quad opening, low lunges, and backbends such as cobra and bow pose. Practice seated and supine hero’s pose (Virasana) is also a great way to open up the front of the thighs and as you can see here the bent leg is in a prone version of reclining hero pose (Supta Virasana).

- Turn your upper body towards the leg that you are bending and reach back with that arm as if you were hitchhiking (palm facing up and thumb facing out).

- Grab for the big toe side of the foot and then as you spin the hand over the top of the foot so that your fingers are in the same direction as your toes (with the arm resembling chaturanga) turn your belly, ribs, and chest forward again.

- Curl your shoulder blades into your back and lift your face and chest skyward.

- Breathe and Enjoy!

 

DAY 6: DHANURASANA (BOW POSE):

- Lay on your belly, reach for your feet.

- Breathe into the front of your body and begin pressing your feet back while lifting your chest up.

- Breath, press, lift.

 

DAY 7: PUPPY POSE TIPS:

- Start in table top; with your hips stacked over your knees, begin to walk your hands out in front of you.

- Keep a Downward Dog upper back formation in mind as you lower your forehead to the ground (Check for ants. Ants? Hover your forehead. No ants? Gucci.)

- Stay in the pose for two breaths. Allow yourself to breathe out any thoughts about how sexual this pose looks. Once those have passed, remain in the pose for 5 more rounds of breath.

 

DAY 8: BALANCING TABLE TOP:

- Start on all fours and extend opposite arm and leg.

- Bend the lifted leg and reach back with the opposite hand to turn it into a balancing half bow.

- Open the chest and press the foot up to the sky.

- Use the core to stabilize and not topple over!

- Breathe and enjoy

 

DAY 9: CAMEL TIPS:

- Start by standing on your knees, toes tucked.

- Bring you hands to your low back and press your hips forward. At the same time lengthen your chest up towards the sky. (please don’t collapse your back!)

- If that feels good, begin to reach for your heels, one hand at a time.

- Want more? Untuck those toes, drop your head back to open your throat. Keep pressing those hips forward and opening the heart UP.

 

DAY 10: KAPOTASANA / VIRASANA (PIGEON / HERO POSE):

- Start in tabletop with your knees under hips.

- Sit up to the top of your shins and start to lower your booty in between your calves. If it starts to hurt your knees, BACK UP. Roll or fold a blanket and place it in between your knees and sit back.

- If you want more: Lower yourself back by propping yourself up 1st with your hands, then move to forearms, then all the way down.

- Stop where you feel right, and breathe.

 

DAY 11: WHEEL (URDHVA DHANURASANA)

- Warm up your quads, hip flexors, psoas, shoulders, and upper back before this pose. This pose is as much about flexibility as it is about strength.

- Maintain parallel feet and good internal rotation of the thighs to create space in the lower back. Start in bridge pose and then place the hands alongside the ears.

- Inhale press through the hands and come up to the top of the head and pause.

- Now suck the arm bones into the sockets (plug in!) and on your next inhalation straighten your arms to rise into the full pose.

- This is an amazing liberating and powerful backbend, opening up all the chakras and of course, backbends open up our hearts in a way that is so beautifully liberating and profound

 

DAY 12: SIDE PLANK (OPTIONAL: FOOT GRAB):

- Begin in plank.

- Use your core strength to begin stacking the hips, bringing one leg on top of the other and the shoulders to be in line. Your top hand is active at it reaches up to the sky.

- Press the bottom hand firmly into the ground, as if you’re pressing the earth away.

- Lift the hips with every breath - more energy, but not more tension. Eventually begin looking up to the sky, maybe even lift that top leg!

 

DAY 13: FIREFLY TIPS

- Begin in a forward fold. Bend your knees and being to walk your hands between your legs and behind you.

- Use your thighs to grip your triceps as you sit your bottom back, slowly lifting one leg and then the other.

- Straighten through your arms, elongate your neck and breathe!

 

DAY 14: HEADSTAND / HANDSTAND

- Before attempting headstand you should have a solid handstand. This means that you can support your full body weight in your arms. I practice what I call the ‘headless headstand’/ meaning that you should be able to push down so much through the forearms that the head lifts off the floor.

- Lift your shoulder blades and don’t forget to use your legs! Squeeze the midline and reach your tailbone up to your heels creating a support in your belly, a length in your lower back, and a feeling of driving the feet up to the sky!

 

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the #MiOlaYogaChallenge! Congrats to our three winners of the challenge, @yogaandjoy, @daisyfasy, @yogafitwithbritt !

 

Interested in joining the MI OLA Ambassador Program?

Know of anyone who should #GetOutThere with us?

Then shoot us an email at info@MI-OLA.com