Are you a gardener who practices yoga? Or a yogi who wants to garden? With spring here, many of you will be spending the milder, sunny days in the outdoors tending to your garden. I love to garden too and I very well know the great lengths we go to in taking care of our gardens, but we must also take care of ourselves in the process.
Gardening is a wonderful way to fertilize the earth with plantings of flowers, vegetables, and trees. Gardening is relaxing, and brings about a meditative quality to our minds since it requires patience and concentration. We spend so many hours nurturing our garden that we sometimes forget about our own well-being, until fatigue, soreness, and lower back pain unkindly settles into our bodies. Sounds familiar? What are we as gardeners to do then? Yoga of course!
Yoga and gardening are both about balance. You want your plants to be strong, healthy, and continue to thrive, and of course produce! A lot of care and love goes into your garden. Therefore, give yourself permission to take a yoga break in between your squatting, kneeling, and hunching over in your gardening activities. Try some gentle poses that are especially helpful not only to counter stretch the muscles we use in gardening, but to also to build the strength and flexibility needed to work in our the gardens.
Some of my favorite garden poses are:
Ardha Uttanasana/half forward fold
Lateral Side Stretch
Side Lunge
Malasana or garland pose
Cat/Cow
Be creative in discovering and playing with yoga poses in your garden!