This is from a project which was created for social media content for Shiseido. I shared basic yoga poses you can practice at home! Enjoy!

資生堂さんとソーシャルメディアのコンテンツを作成した際のものです！毎日できるヨガポーズを紹介しました。是非参考にしてください：）

hirokoyoga x Shiseido‘s Ultimune for Happy Skin

For the last month of this year 2015 (I know, I can’t believe it either!) what better way to end the series…with poses to RESTORE.

 Staying healthy is not always about being active and moving. It’s all about balance. When we get the best night’s sleep, we feel refreshed the next day like a new person.
This series includes Savasana, what some of my students tell me is their “favorite pose”. And I’m sure they are not the only one:)

If you have time, start in a seated position, elongate the spine toward the crown of your head and find a comfortable place to first, close the eyes. Tune into your breath. Put all your thoughts away in a box, wrap it up,  and leave them outside for now. Clear the mind. Follow your inhale, and your exhale.

1) If you can, go through some poses that suit you from the series below.

2) Bridge Pose– Lay on your back. Bend the knees and separate them hip distances apart. Heels are right under the knees, closer to the sit bones. (When you lengthen the hands alongside the body, the tips of the fingers touch your heels.) Press the palm of the hands into the ground and lift the hips up. Careful not to compress/hurt the lower back. Imagine, LENGTHENING. Lengthen the tailbone toward the back of the knees.

This may be as far as you go, but if it feels okay: slowly roll the shoulders in toward the spine so that you are coming on to the outside edge of your shoulders. Interlace the fingers. Press the forearms, upper arms firmly into the floor, letting your hips lift up, and chest towards the chin. Keep the knees parallel. Make sure you don’t lock the throat, lift the chin up slightly. BREATHE. Take a few breaths, and VERY SLOWLY lower the hips one vertebra at a time

3) Savasana (corpse pose)- Lay on your back and straighten the legs. Make sure that the areas of the body touching the floor are even on both the right and left side. Find evenness. Symmetry in the body can help get you into an even more relaxed state. The back of the head is also evenly distributed on to the ground. Feet are slightly separated and the toes flop out naturally. First place the hands on the belly. Close the eyes.

Feel the breath with your hands. Then release the hands to the sides, palm side faces up, alongside the body. Let go. Let go of any tension. Surrender your weight into the floor beneath you. Let the body melt into the ground. Remember that breath and focus on just the breath. Relax the toes, heels, calves, knees, thighs. Hips, stomach, lower back, back, ribs, chest, shoulders. Hands, arms, fingers. Release the neck, chin, cheeks, nose, back of the eyes. The clench of the teeth, and the forehead. Let go of all tension. Notice not only the outer, but the inner organs relaxed. Then the mental state calming down.

This pose is always the pose that ends a yoga class. and ideally, this pose induces sleep and prepares you into a good sleep. It reduces stress, anxiety and is nothing but restoring. You can even incorporate it into your day when you are feeling wiped out. Take 10 minutes, lay down for Savasana and rejuvenate. As the year comes to an end, many of us like to reflect back on the year–what happened, or what didn’t. Was it a stagnant year? or one of change? Whatever it was, your are “exactly where you need to be.” We all experience different life stages and movements in life. Sometimes a year could be full of unexpected surprises and drama, or sometimes it could be so normal you felt bored. In any state, that exact experience is meant to be there. It’s what connects you to a greater whole, and definitely leading you to where you want to be. As they say, “forever is composed of nows“. So let’s always stay present, and make the most of the now. Stay in tune with your inner self, and live & let live!

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2) Extended side angle pose – Again start from the right side. From Warrior 2 pose, slowly bring your right elbow on to the right thigh. Lift the left hand up toward the ceiling, feeling the opening of the right side of the body. Slowly bring the left hand up and over the head, creating a long line from the heel of the left foot to the tip of you hand. Keep the legs strong, and press into the right elbow to keep the right side of the body nice and long too. Repeat on the left side.

4) Twist in chair pose– The infamous chair pose known universally, exists in yoga too. It may not be everyone’s favorite, but done right-it’s as energizing as could be. Standing with the feet together, slowly drop the hips. Make sure that the belly is lifted, and bring more weight on to the heels. Despite dropping down, see if you can invest in lifting through the crown of the head as well. Bring the hands to a prayer position and keeping the hips where they are, twist from the lower belly and spine and bring the right elbow to the outside of the left thigh. Press the hands together and as you do, lengthen the spine and twist a bit more. Breathe, and soften areas of tension, aka shoulders, face, teeth…repeat on the left.

“There are some things that you only learn through experience. I’m learning everyday…”

Today, I am updating my 3rd post of the Ultimune series, RESIST…and  my first post from PARIS:)
I have just relocated and enjoying the refreshing change of environment,
as well as immersing into this wondrous city!
It is all worth the work and effort, but in reality…moving is a TASK. It’s a process to get ready pre-departure, and then to get accustomed post-arrival. While exploring the city, people and some cheese & wine, and pastries in between, my daily yoga practice has kept me grounded and peaceful mentally and physically.

Life is a Journey, Not a destination.

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I’m quite sensitive to the climate and subtle changes in the air. Maybe it’s being in tune with nature–or maybe that’s just who I am:) Either way, changes in environment, affect me mentally, physically and hormonal-ly–and having struggles with these ups & downs is what has also gotten me closer to yoga.

For anyone though, the ever-changing world can be a tough place to be at times. So, lets do the best to keep an open heart and stay strong, with first, these simple poses to PROTECT:

1) Cobra pose Lay on the belly. Hands come next to the chest. Inhale-As you push into the hands, peel the chest off the ground, just using the UPPER BACK. Shoulders come away from ears, shoulder blades in. Hug the elbows together. As you lift, keep pressing into the front of the feet. Two points: 1-Avoid compression in the back by trying to LENGTHEN the back, not arching. 2-Draw the chin in a bit and feel the release in the back of the neck. Exhale, and lower the body and relax:)

2) Cobra pose interlaced This time, a variation of the above Cobra, but feeling more opening in the chest & warmth in the shoulder blades. Interlace the fingers at the back, and lift. Same points to keep in mind. Breathe into the collarbones! Reach the hands back toward the feet, and IF it feels good, lift those hands a bit toward the ceiling. Exhale, hands stack in front of the forehead for a release:)

3) Upward-facing dog Keeping those toes un-tucked, again on the belly. Moving on from Cobra, bring the hands down lower, below the chest. Shoulders stay away from the ears. Now Inhale, press into the hands and push the floor away, as if you’re coming out of the water for a breath. Lift the thighs this time. Reach the chest forward and up, buttocks lengthen back.4) Plank to Chaturanga Plank pose engages the core, and Chaturanga challenges the core strength. Again, on the stomach, bring your hands under the shoulders. Then, straighten the feet back, tuck the toes in, so that the whole body lifts away from the floor. You want to imagine being in a straight line here. Belly drawing in, and lifting up keeps the pose firm.

If your arms feel strong, you can shift the body forward of your hands slightly, and as you bend the elbows back lower again, in a straight line. Please do drop the knees if necessary. Same difference:) 

Even though I try to take care of myself as much as I can,there are moments in life when life brings you surprises and the unexpected. So, it’s always good to be prepared for these moments with a sturdy core and immunity, to be ready for anything that comes your way, accepting it in a calm state, without reacting (too much, at least!)

Remember, any time during the day, stop for a moment. Notice the breathe. Stay with it, steady and even:)

“Life is not a race, it is a gift. Enjoy it, don’t rush through it.”

Find out how you can boost your skin’s protective power with Shiseido Ultimune at http://www.shiseido.com 
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Here’s more on YOGA to incorporate with your daily use of Shiseido’s Ultimune!

For me the allure of this product was that it “boosts the power of your skin to protect itself”. (Yes, apparently the skin has an immune system too!) –and the Shiseido team brought to my attention that it optimizes the 4 powers of the skin to:

1) protect, 2) resist, 3) energize, and 4) restore

Yoga is beneficial for well-being in all aspects, but upon hearing this, certain poses lit up in my mind–ones which especially suit these keywords.
Setting themes & intentions with your practice always work positively,hand-in-hand.
Try them out while you set your focus on these monthly themes.
Watch out for new themed updates on Ultimune days:)
(and message me if you have any questions!)

But before that…some poses to WARM-UP

Activate the body in the morning by increasing circulation-and start the day on the right foot, and end it on one too! See how you feel (mind and body), before and after.

Step 1: A few prep poses like neck and arm circles, plus a few deep inhalations and exhalations in a sitting pose of your choice (a chair is perfect too!)

Step 2: The poses below with steady, even breaths

1) Raised hand pose Stand in a standing position hip distance apart with your arms alongside the body. Maintain the spine long, and check bottom-up: the center of your heels align with the hips,shoulders, & ear lobes. Start bringing your attention to the body. INHALE, slowly open and lift the arms from the sides, and reach the tip of your fingers toward the sky. Try straightening the elbows, relaxing the shoulders. Remember, root down into the feet but reach way up, letting the chest lift. Breathe. Steady your gaze. This is a moment to get your mind focused and prepare for the day, or “log-off” for your night sleep.2) Forward fold Bring the hands down to your sides, and EXHALE, fold forward from the hinge of the hips. Let the upper body relax and hang. See if you can bring your hips over your heels. (Most of us need to lean forward just a bit- feels a little like you’re toppling over!) If your hamstrings feel tight, (believe me, not just you!) Bend the knees to any extent! Hands catch the outer ankles or calves, and relax those shoulders.

Again, breathe. Go deeper with your BREATHING. Finally drop the head and let the head hang, feeling the release in the back of the neck. This lets the blood flow into the brain for the morning, and very calming at night for the nervous system. Slowly lift from the heart with a flat back, or just roll up one vertebra at a time like a rag doll… depending on your capacity.

3) Standing heart-opening pose In standing, interlace the fingers at the back and feel the chest lift, as you bring the shoulder blades together. The priority is to move the shoulders away from the ears, then lift the hands upward if accessible. It’s easy to arch in the back but remember to draw the belly in and up (don’t forget that core!)-and draw the tailbone down (if you had a tail-that would be where it’ll be) toward the heels. Breathe into the heart, and across the collarbones. Steady and even:)

I think there is always a time in life (or every other day) that we compare ourselves to someone else or something we don’t have–meaning clearly that our attention is going outward, instead of inward. The media nor the complex society we live in doesn’t help. There will always be distractions, but peace can be found anywhere, anytime as long as we have the intention to be there. So let the breath awareness cultivate mind-body connection.

Yoga emphasizes the aspect that no single person is the same. It brings out the best of each person’s uniqueness…to its max! Boosting that inner radiance, results in what we often hear as the ‘glow’ (i.e. “The girl is glowing!)”). You will feel it, and others will see it, too 🙂 Now you’re prepped- Stay tuned for the first theme, yoga to PROTECT, and more!

Find out how you can boost your skin’s protective power with Shiseido Ultimune at http://www.shiseido.com 

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Yoga For Shiseido ULTIMUNE… coming soon!