5 Easy Poses To Get Your Holiday Glow On

During the holiday season we tend to drink and eat more sugary-processed foods. All of this can slowly tax our bodies (and our skin)  in a way that demands we bring a little balance into our lives to help lighten the load of all those goodies. Yoga anyone?
Whether you’re a full-fledged yogi, or have yet to turn yourself into an impressive human pretzel, a few yoga poses can work wonders to keep you looking your brightest.  According to yoga teacher and owner of Love Yoga studios, Sian Gordon, hitting the mat with a few beginner poses can give you just the glow you need: “Using these 5 simple poses will help to detoxify and cleanse your organs and send you into the new year looking radiant, alert, and feeling beautiful.”


Spinal Twist
Lie on your back with your legs extended. Draw your right knee into your chest and then over to the left side of your mat. Extend your right arm out, coming into a twist in the belly. Open the chest towards the sky and breath into your lower back as your spine unwinds.

Cat Cow
Come to all fours on your mat. Make sure that your wrists are directly under your shoulders and your knees directly under your hips. Maintain the 90-degree angle of your frame as you begin to undulate your spine from a backbend to a forward bend. Let your movements speed up as you pump your breath in and out of your nose. Moving up and down flushes the kidneys, and pumping your breath flushes your lungs.

Downward Dog
Come into a down dog and bend your knees a little to lift the sit bones. As you exhale, come forward to a plank pose, straightening the legs and arms and sucking in the belly towards the back body. Inhale back to down dog, bend the knees. Repeat ten times.

Ankle and Foot Release
Come to all fours. Bring your knees and ankles to touch and then tuck the toes underneath, sitting on your heels.  This will be painful if you wear a lot of high heels, but that just means you really need to do it. Stay for five deep breaths, allowing the backs of the feet and ankles to open up.

Supine Ankle To Knee
Come to lie on your back and cross your right ankle on top on your left knee. Loop your arms around your left thigh and draw it towards your chest while your right knee moves away from you. The hips are the biggest joint and, like the bends of a river, they collect all the garbage. Take 5 deep breaths into your right hip and then switch sides.