Way to get after it this summer with your HIIT workouts girl! Not only are you on top of your fashion game, but also you’re getting in time for you- for your body, mind and spirit with your workouts, no matter what type you choose! With a new season upon us (hello Fall) it’s the perfect time to re-set and remind ourselves that recovery & regeneration are just as important in your wellness journey, helping to prevent injury, illness, and body fatigue. In addition to stretching (see 6 yoga poses below to incorporate into your routine), other options to aid in recovery could
include: foam rolling, attending a restorative or gentle yoga class; Cryotherapy; Compression Therapy and massage. Treat yourself girl, and your body will thank you!

Try these stretches to calm the body and the mind (remember, never force the stretch but ease into it with each breath & use props-towel, blankets, block, etc, when needed):

1. Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Kneel on the floor. Touch your big toes together and sit on your heels, then separate your knees about as wide as your hips. Exhale and lay your torso down between your thighs. Lay your hands on the floor alongside your torso, palms up, and release the fronts of your shoulders toward the floor.
Feel how the weight of the front shoulders pulls the shoulder blades wide across your back. Balasana is a resting pose. Stay anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. To come up, first lengthen the front torso, and then with an inhalation lift from the tailbone as it presses down and into the pelvis.
Balasana provides us with an excellent opportunity to breathe into the backside of the body (lungs, rib cage, hips, glutes). Imagine that each inhalation is "doming" the back torso toward the ceiling, lengthening and widening the spine. Then with each exhalation release the torso a little more deeply into the fold.
Benefits
*Gently stretches the hips, thighs, and ankles
*Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and fatigue
*Relieves back and neck pain when done with head and torso supported (can use a block, blanket or towel for support)

2. Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana)
Sit on the floor with your glutes supported on a folded blanket and your legs straight in front of you. Press actively through your heels. Rock slightly onto your left buttock, and pull your right sitting bone away from your heel with your right hand. Repeat on the other side. Turn the top thighs in slightly and press them down into the floor. Press through your palms or finger tips on the floor beside your hips and lift the top of the sternum toward the ceiling as the top thighs descend. Inhale,
and keeping the front torso long, lean forward from the hip joints, (not the waist). Lengthen the tailbone away from the back of your pelvis. If possible take the outer edges of your feet with your hands, thumbs on the big toe mound, arms extended; if this isn't possible, loop a strap around the ball of the feet, and hold the strap firmly, arms extended. Remember to never force the forward bend, especially when seated; use the breath to guide you deeper. As you deepen the stretch always lengthen the front torso into the pose, keeping your head raised as you move to fold forward. If you are holding the feet, bend the elbows out to the sides and
lift them away from the floor; if holding the strap, lighten your grip and walk the hands forward, keeping the arms long. The lower belly should touch the thighs first, then the upper belly, then the ribs, and the head last. With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso just slightly; with each exhalation release a little more fully into the forward bend. Eventually you may be able to stretch the arms out beyond the feet on the floor. Stay in the pose anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes. To come up, first lift the torso away from the thighs and straighten the elbows again if they are bent. Then inhale and lift the torso up by pulling the tailbone down and into the pelvis. Often, because of tightness in the hamstrings and low back, a forward bend doesn't go very far forward and might look more like sitting up straight.

Benefits:
*Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression
*Stretches the spine, shoulders, hamstrings
*Stimulates the liver, kidneys, ovaries, and uterus
*Improves digestion
*Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause and menstrual discomfort
*Soothes headache and anxiety; reduces fatigue
*Therapeutic for high blood pressure, infertility, insomnia, and sinusitis

3. Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)
Sit with your legs straight out in front of you, raising your pelvis on a blanket if your hips or inner thighs are tight. Exhale, bend your knees, pull your heels toward your pelvis, then lower your knees out to the sides and press the soles of your feet together. Bring your heels as close to your pelvis as is comfortable. With the first, second finger and thumb, grasp the big toe of each foot. Always keep the outer edges of the feet firmly on the floor. If it isn't possible to hold the toes, clasp each hand around the same-side ankle or shin. Firm the sacrum and shoulder blades against the back and lengthen the front torso through the top of the sternum.
Never force your knees down. Instead release the heads of the thighbones toward the floor. When this action leads, the knees follow. Stay in this pose anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes. Then inhale, lift your knees away from the floor (use hands to guide if needed), and extend the legs straight out in front of you.
Benefits
*Stimulates abdominal organs, ovaries, prostate gland, bladder, and kidneys
*Stimulates the heart and improves general circulation
*Stretches the inner thighs, groins, and knees
*Helps relieve mild depression, anxiety, and fatigue
*Soothes menstrual discomfort and sciatica
*Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause
*Therapeutic for flat feet, high blood pressure, infertility, and asthma
*Consistent practice of this pose until late into pregnancy is said to help ease childbirth

4. Reclined Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)
Make your way into bound angle pose (see above). Then, exhale and lower your backside toward the floor, first leaning on your hands, then forearms. Bring your torso all the way to the floor, supporting your head and neck on a blanket roll or bolster as needed. With your hands grip your topmost thighs and rotate your inner thighs externally, pressing your outer thighs away from the sides of your torso. Next slide your hands along your outer thighs from the hips toward the knees and widen your outer knees away from your hips. Push your hip points together, so that while the back pelvis widens, the front pelvis narrows. Lay your arms on the floor,
angled at about 45 degrees from the sides of your torso, palms up.
The natural tendency in this pose is to push the knees toward the floor in the belief that this will increase the stretch of the inner thighs and groins. But especially if your groins are tight, pushing the knees down will have just the opposite of the intended effect. Instead, imagine that your knees are floating up toward the ceiling and continue settling your groins deep into your pelvis. As your groins drop toward the floor, so will your knees (support knees with blocks, blankets or rolled
towels as needed). To start, stay in this pose for up to one minute. Gradually extend your stay anywhere from five to 10 minutes. To come out, use your hands to press your thighs together, then roll over onto one side and push yourself away from the floor, head trailing the torso. Another way to deal with strain in the inner thighs and groins is to raise the feet slightly off the
floor(use a block or rolled blanket).
Benefits
*Stimulates abdominal organs, ovaries, prostate gland, bladder, and kidneys
*Stimulates the heart and improves general circulation
*Stretches the inner thighs, groins, and knees
*Helps relieve the symptoms of stress, mild depression, menstruation and menopause

5. Half Lord of the Fishes Pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana)
Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, glutes supported on a folded blanket. Bend your knees, place your feet on the floor, then slide your left foot under your right leg to the outside of your right hip. Lay the outside of the left leg on the floor. Step the right foot over the left leg and stand it on the floor outside your left hip. The right knee will point directly up at the ceiling. Exhale and twist toward the inside of the right thigh. Press the right hand against the floor just
behind your right glutes, and set your left upper arm on the outside of your right thigh just above the knee. Glide your front torso and inner right thigh snugly together. Press the inner right foot very actively into the floor, work to release the right groin, and lengthen the front torso. Lean the upper torso back slightly, against the shoulder blades, and continue to lengthen the tailbone into the floor. Turn your head in one of two directions: Continue the twist of the torso by turning it to the right; or counter the twist of the torso by turning it left and looking over the left shoulder at the right foot. With every inhalation lift a little more through the sternum, pushing the fingers against the floor to help. Twist a little more with every exhalation. Be sure to distribute the twist evenly throughout the entire length of the spine, not just the low back. Stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then release the
head first with an inhalation followed by the torso with an exhalation, return to the starting position, and repeat on the left side for the same length of time.
Benefits
*Stimulates the liver and kidney
*Stretches the shoulders, hips, and neck
*Energizes the spine

6. Corpse Pose (Savasana)
In Savasana it's essential that the body be placed in a neutral position. Sit on the floor with your knees bent, feet on the floor, and lean back onto your forearms. Lift your pelvis slightly off the floor and, with your hands, push the back of the pelvis toward the tailbone, then return the pelvis to the floor. Inhale and slowly extend the right leg, then the left, pushing through the heels. Release both legs, softening the groins, and see that the legs are angled evenly relative to the mid-line of the
torso, and that the feet turn out equally. Narrow the front pelvis and soften (but don't flatten) the lower back.
With your hands lift the base of the skull away from the back of the neck and release the back of the neck down toward the tailbone. If you have any difficulty doing this, support the back of the head and neck on a folded blanket. Reach your arms toward the ceiling, perpendicular to the floor. Rock slightly from side to side and broaden the back ribs and the shoulder blades away from the spine.
Then release the arms to the floor, angled evenly relative to the mid-line of torso. Rest the backs of the hands on the floor as close as you comfortably can to the index finger knuckles. Make sure the shoulder blades are resting evenly on the floor. From here, spread the collarbones.
In addition to quieting the physical body in Savasana, it's also necessary to soothe the sense organs. Soften the root of the tongue, the wings of the nose, the channels of the inner ears, and the skin of the forehead, especially around the bridge of the nose between the eyebrows. Let the eyes sink to the back of the head, then turn them downward to gaze at the heart. Release your brain to the back of the head. Move down the body imagining each muscle group relaxing from tip of your forehead to tips of your toes.
Stay in this pose for 5 minutes for every 30 minutes. To exit, first roll gently with an exhalation onto one side. Take 2 or 3 breaths. With another exhalation press your hands against the floor and lift your torso, dragging your head slowly after. The head should always come up last.
Benefits
*Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression
*Relaxes the body
*Reduces headache, fatigue, and insomnia
*Helps to lower blood pressure

Now go make some time for you girl!
Always in health,
Xo,
Jen