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I highly recommend looking for ways to incorporate even short yoga routines into your daily life. It can greatly help with muscle aches and with your ability to focus and sleep.

My ideal is an hour each morning, but I do strive at least to do ten minutes if I can't get that in.

You can do easy simple things even at your computer. Imagine you are making a golden halo with the top of your head, in a clockwise direction. Then reverse.

Our kitchen has become a staging area for the things I'm selling on ebay so now I've run out of yoga space . Time to work on that. I miss doing the yoga!

Hurrah! I have now cleared out the kitchen area again. The old computer we were working on on the kitchen table has been donated to the local senior center, along with a large box full of old keyboards, power supplies, and so on. So that is done!

I've sold most of our old receivers / stereo equipment on ebay. The few remaining items are listed on Amazon and ebay and are going into the spare room until they get bought.

There's just a few items left in the kitchen to move to their proper homes, and then I can actually vacuum and clean the floor! And I can do yoga again. Hurrah!

I haven't gotten back into a daily routine yet, but I am getting better at least. I'd say it's probably every three days right now. My wake-sleep schedule is fairly odd so it depends what time of day I wake up, and how much is on my to-do list.

Chime in if you do any sort of yoga! I'd love to hear what poses you enjoy.

Every three days is pretty good. I've been neglecting my desire to do yoga for over a year now.

Right now I will do a stretch pose! I am in bed, but there are still stretches I can do....

okay, I just did a handful. That felt nice on my lower back.

Going to do a few Yoga in Bed stretches again, right now!

I think my biggest issue with all this is lack of accountability. NO one cares or notices if I do anything, except myself. As it turns out, that isn't enough motivation for me.

Dear Jilly -

Feel free to post in the forum, if you enjoy external motivation!

I have gotten into a nice routine where I do about an hour of yoga each morning. I definitely feel more awake and energized afterwards. Also I notice my flexibility and strength improving each day, which is nice. It's a built in motivator, since I want to see if I can stretch just a bit further each time.

Maybe try that? Set a fun goal for yourself?

I've been doing yoga for about an hour each morning and enjoy it immensely.

Here's my routine I do. If anybody knows the names to poses, please let me know! I did my best to figure out what they are.

Lisa's Daily Yoga Routine

standing side twist -
rotate with arms hanging loose so they flop like coat sleeves on body - 20 rotations

stretch up and back

hang my arms down to touch the ground. Then fold my arms to deepen the stretch. Nod five times. Shake my head five times.

standing crescent moon -
odd, this seems to have several names. The one where you stand tall and curve your body left or right. So someone standing in front of you sees a letter C (or reverse C)

Tree pose / Vrksasana -
I love this pose. I do it for a while on one foot, then relax for a moment on both, then for a while on the other foot.

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Sun Salutation Series / Surya Namaskar -

OK this is a sequence in and of itself. I do the whole set two times, once with each leg leading. My set includes:

Stretch up and back

stretch down to the ground

Raise back to diagonally point up, hands on knees

Stretch down to ground again

Put one leg back

Put other leg back to Downward Facing Dog - Adho Mukha Svanasana
- "walk the dog" - release tension in one leg while pressing into other, and switching

Shifting weight forward into plank

Dropping hips down into cobra / Bhujangasana

shifting weight back into downward facing dog

bringing foot forward between hands to what I think of as a hurdler's stretch

stand back up

hand motion 1 - interlace fingers loosely before chest pointing forward, rotate them down, towards chest, up. Bring both hands up to sky and out wide to either wide, then down and back to chest. Do twice.

hand motion 2 - my yoga teacher called this "heart opening namaste". Have both hands at chest, pointing towards teach other, thumbs towards the chest. Sweep them forward and out to the sides. Then rotate the thumbs to point up and bring the hands back in a wide swoop forward then in to the chest.

repeat.

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Warrior 2 sequence / Virabhadrasana II

Start in Warrior 2 - but up in a triangle. Settle down into warrior 2. Back up to triangle. Do this three times to really settle down into the warrior 2 pose.

Turn both hands palm-up, imagine you're holding a giant ball, and rotate back so your front hand is towards the sky and your back one is down.

Lean the forward fore-arm down on your forward leg. Rotate the back arm forward in a big circle three times. End with it pointing forward.

Look down, then right, then up

Rotate that "free arm" (the one not on your leg) up and back so it's loose. At the same time, rotate the on-leg arm so it's pointing straight up. Your legs are now a triangle.

Lace your hands behind you and stretch them down, as you lean forward.

repeat.

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Now back to simpler things .

Warrior 1 on both sides.

Next, a back stretch. Stand with feet warrior-1 width apart but both pointing towards left side of mat. For 15 seconds simply stand, then for 15 seconds fold to touch ground.

Another back stretch. Simply squat with hands around knees for 30 seconds.

cat-cow / Marjaryasana
for 10 rounds (happens to be a back stretch too but is a normal part of yoga)

extended child pose / Garbhasana
30 seconds. Also happens to be a back stretch

rolling cat-cow
for 10 rounds. Start in extended child pose, roll up to cow, arch to cat, fall back into extended child pose.

extended child pose / garbhasana
yes again

cross-legged stretch
the final back stretch. Interlace fingers and reach for sky for 30 seconds

seated spinal twist / half lord of the fishes / Ardha Matsyendrasana
both sides. I love this one.

hurdler's stretch
have one leg forward, the other bent back. First lean forward over forward knee. Then lay back flat on mat. Both sides.

laying spinal twist
lay on back. fold right knee, use left hand to press it towards the left. Stretch right arm out straight right, look right. Switch.

laying goddess pose
put feet soles together with legs laying flat on floor out to either side. Put palms together above head, on floor.

bridge pose / Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Hold the bridge, then slowly lower the spine down vertebrae by vertebrae to the mat. I love this part.

Shavasana
simply let everything go

cross-legged with hands palm-up on knees
- with crown of head make five halos clockwise, then counter-clockwise
- with nose, trace an orange first clockwise, then counter-clockwise

hands to heart

namaste

A lovely yoga session while snowflakes danced and spun outside my window. The bluebirds are stocking up on suet to prepare! I got video

Yoga is a great way to start the day. My spine feels so nice when I'm finished. Namaste.