As much as I love the festive holiday season, the lead-up to Christmas can leave me feeling frazzled. Whether it’s the multiple work tasks I’m yet to finish or the packed calendar of social events—sometimes, the most magical time of the year can feel like a less-than-merry endurance test in disguise.
I find that stress can manifest in both my mind and body. Whenever I feel stressed, I tense my back, which can lead to stiffness and pain. To alleviate this, I often turn to yoga.
After spotting this 25-minute yoga detox from Alo Moves, which promises to "loosen up any tightness in your body", I decided to roll out my yoga mat and get stuck in. Here’s what happened.
How to do the 25-minute yoga flow
Led by Florida-based Anabella Landa, who’s professionally known as Annie Moves, this is a vinyasa yoga flow, so you’ll move seamlessly from one pose to the next in sync with your breath.
Although yoga poses make up most of this workout—it features grounding poses, like a seated spinal twist and a twisted pigeon pose which are designed to give you a sense of stability—the session ends with a short breathwork exercise, to deepen your relaxation.
What I discovered after trying this 25-minute yoga detox
You don’t need to be as flexible as a yoga instructor to feel the benefits
During the workout, Landa moved gracefully through forward folds and a low lunge twist before executing a seamless cobra pose. At one point, she also kicked her leg up in the air in a half-leg split, while balancing on the other.
My flexibility is very much a work in progress, so I couldn’t match these movements. But I still found relief in both my hips and back as with each attempted twist, turn and spinal articulation, I could feel my body sinking deeper into the poses.
For more difficult poses that I was unable to reach (like the half-leg split and the humble warrior pose), I modified the workout by using a yoga block. I really rate these for elevating your yoga practice; you can get a pair for as little as $12.99 on Amazon.
Dynamic stretches work like magic
I always prefer dynamic stretches to static ones. Dynamic stretches involve moving your muscles and joints through a full range of motion, while static stretches involve holding a stretch for some time. Research suggests that dynamic stretching is better for increasing blood flow to muscles, which could reduce tightness and improve your range of motion.
Thankfully, this vinyasa flow was packed full of dynamic yoga poses. Moves like thread-the-needle helped to stretch out my upper back, shoulders and chest. While downward dog felt very satisfying for the dull ache in my back.
A little breathwork goes a long way
It was refreshing to close the class with a minute dedicated to practicing Lion’s Breath—a breathing technique that is believed to reduce stress by activating your parasympathetic nervous system (your body’s network of nerves that help your body relax after bouts of stress).
Not only did I end the class feeling less tense than the 25 minutes before, it felt like a weight had been lifted.
