Tonight Game of Thrones starts up again and I am LOSING MY MIND! I’m so excited/nervous its nuts. To protect my delicate emotions I’ve made a habit of going into each episode with the mindset that everyone I love in the show will die a horrible death in the first five minutes. THEN, when they don’t die, I’m super excited! This is the game I must play with my mind so I don’t have to look away every time there is a prolonged silence or they zoom in on one persons face for too long (at which time I am always convinced an arrow or an axe will come out of nowhere and crush my dreams)! We all have our ways of riding the emotional roller coaster that is GOT.
You, like me, may need a way to manage this wild GOT anticipation. I’ve got your answer! In addition to being a design junkie, a professional eater and drinker of tasty foods and beverages, and writing about such things on the interwebs for fun, I am also a certified yoga instructor! I’ve already run through my yoga routine this morning to ward off the V unwelcome Sunday scaries and the V welcome GOT nerves so I thought I’d share some of my more relaxing stretches with you…
- Find a comfy spot on the floor (or a mat if you have one) and sit your tush on your heels.
- Bring your toes to touch beneath you and spread your knees out as wide as is comfortable (you can also leave your thighs and knees together if that is more comfortable).
- Hinge forward at the waist to fold your belly over your thighs and touch your forehead to the floor or mat.
- Reach your fingertips out long in front of you.
- With every inhale reach your fingertips further forward, with every exhale lengthen your tailbone back and feel that wonderful stretch!
- If you chose to keep your thighs and knees sealed together with your forehead on the mat, you can either extend your arms out long in front of you or send them back, palms up, to rest alongside your legs.
- You should feel this in your hips, ankles, and thighs.
- Lie down on the floor with your arms long by your sides.
- Bend your knees and walk your feet in towards your tush.
- Now bring your right ankle on top of your left thigh and open up your knee towards the right side, flex your right foot to protect your knee.
- If you feel a deep stretch in this position stay right there.
- If you are not feeling much and want to take it a bit further, interlace your hands behind your left thigh and lift your left leg up so that your left knee is stacked over your left hip and your left shin is parallel with the floor.
- Take the same shape you did on the opposite side to balance out.
- You should feel this in your hips.
Seated Forward Fold with Bent Knees (Super creative, I know)
- Sit upright with your legs outstretched in front of you.
- Put a generous bend in your knees.
- Flex your feet back towards your face.
- Reach your hands high overhead on a big inhale.
- Exhale, hinge forward to drape your belly over your thighs and release your hands to wherever is accessible for you (feet, shins, resting alongside your legs).
- We bend our knees here to feel this in our lower back as opposed the traditional seated forward-fold with straightened legs which is a hamstring stretch.
- You should feel this in your lower back but if you are particularly tight you may feel this from the base of your spine all the way up to your neck.
- Lie down on your back and pull your knees into your chest.
- Pull your right knee towards you right armpit and your left knee towards your left armpit.
- Flex your feet and stack them over your knees like you are going to stamp the ceiling with the soles of your feet.
- Keep your knees bent and reach for the insides or outsides of your feet, your calves, or the backs of your thighs, wherever is comfortable for you.
- Seal your entire spine and shoulders down to the mat, so if your tailbone and shoulders are up off the mat, consider grabbing behind your thighs instead of reaching for your feet or calves.
- You should feel this in your inner groin and along your spine!
These are some of my favorites for releasing tension so let me know what you think! Ready or not WINTER IS HERE (even though it feels like it is 1 million degrees here in D.C.) so you might as well do everything you can to prepare for the GOT whirlwind tonight and start the week of right.
Moose & Malbec 