This US presidential election has gotten all of our panties in a bunch and we need some serious presidential level yoga stat!
No matter which candidate or political party you’re for, there’s a roller coaster of emotions happening as we await the fate of our country.
Between the debates, the accusations, the claims and all these lavish promises of a better future for all, it can be hard to sort through the real and the unrealistic. It can be just as challenging to keep your cool when someone oversteps their boundaries or says something that you completely disagree with.
So, the next time you feel anxiety levels rising high, bust out these presidential moves to keep your calm and presidential demeanor:
Upward Facing Wolf
Reopen your chest and let out some of your frustrations by coming to Cobra Pose on your belly. Straighten your arms to lift your hips and knees off the ground in Upward Facing Dog. As you hover here, press your hips and heart through your arms and lift your gaze to the sky to exhale a big old fashioned “HOWL,” releasing all your building frustration.
Donkey Dolphins
Relinquish any tension that the polls have you storing in your low back and hips by coming into Dolphin Pose (pictured) and lift one leg to the sky, strong and engaged. Bend the lifted knee and arch your hips open to stretch it all out.
Lion’s Breath Warrior
Take a peaceful but firm fighting stance in Warrior I with your hands behind your head to help you relax through the passionate debates. Need to respond to a candidate’s comments? Add to Warrior I by forming a cactus with your arms and pressing your ribs forward, exhale loudly and stick your tongue way out as you breathe out, “HA, HA, HA.”
Re-concentrated Eagle
Find your most patriotic Eagle Pose and simply stand on your toes to bring your concentration back into this moment and off of past misdeeds. Allow all that new focus to direct you toward what is important to you and your community today, right now, in this moment.
Change of Perspective
Choose Rag-Doll, Shoulderstand or Headstand to find some upside down time to meditate into. Perhaps try to see every angle on a situation so you make decisions from a well rounded and intelligent place instead of a stressed out and angry one.
Twisted Dog
Still can’t get your panties unbound? Then wrap ’em up more! If you’re going to be in knots about something, at least let it be something within your control.
Bind your dog from below by threading your hand to the opposite leg (pictured) or bind it from above by taking three legged Down Dog and lifting the opposite hand to capture your lifted leg as you kick up. Pause here and sink into its juicy, twisty, stretchy goodness. Ah blissss!…until you turn the news back on.
Use these yummy 2016 presidential postures twice a day, or as needed, to undo some of those harsh emotional knots as we speed toward election day!