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Anyone up for Jedi training? It's amazing the difference it makes when you use your imagination to motivate a daily yoga practice. Here's a sequence that focuses on strength, balance, endurance, and flexibility.

On the days where I'm dragging myself to my yoga mat, it helps to crank up the tunes and make up a mission to accomplish.

No surprise, lately my motivation has been the Mandalorian.

I imagine I'm a warrior in training, and suddenly, I can hold poses longer and my push-ups are easier!

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Mandalorian Yoga Workout

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Please Note: As always, listen to your body and only do what's safe and reasonable for you. The amazing thing about yoga is you can always start somewhere. Scale it back or step it up to match your level.

First things first. Take a moment to let go of everything on your mind, put the past and future to the side for now, and center in. If you meditate, it's nice to do a mini-meditation before a yoga practice. It's also a great time to meditate after you've done your movement.

Second, you might like some music to get you going. Here's a loop of a Mandalorian remix I've been enjoying. I'd love it if this DJ would do up a set that isn't so repetitive, including this track in a longer mix.

Obviously, choose the music that gets YOU pumped. This is just a suggestion.

Third, engage your imagination. What inspires you?

For me, I've set a goal to be strong enough that if I magically got some beskar armor and Din Djarin needed some help protecting Grogu, I'd be able to have his back. 😉

Now, it's time to get your groove on, breathe deep, and give your body some good lovin' in the form of movement, strength training, and stretching.

PRO TIP: I've been playing with how long I can hold each pose, working up to longer holds in each. You might start with three breaths and work up to five. I started with five breaths in each, and am working up to ten.

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The sequence:

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• Core strength. I always start with some physio exercises that target my core stabilizing muscles. Alternating opposite arms and legs while focusing on ab and back strength is a great start.

• Downward dog. Stretch out your calves and hamstrings in a gentle warm-up.

• Low lunge > split-leg forward stretch. Warm up thigh muscles, hip flexors, hamstrings and calves. (The > symbol means I do the poses on one side, then switch to the other leg.)

• High lunge > Warrior III. Cultivate strength and balance.

• Warrior II > Triangle. Strength. Balance. Endurance.

Warrior II is one where I really push for endurance. These days I'm holding it for ten breaths, with my arms straight up instead of out to the sides. The music helps!

• Before moving on, you could add any strength training or cardio you like in here. Push-ups, chin-ups, squats, burpees, or any other fitness you want to include is great!

Cool down:

• Pigeon thigh stretch. You can modify this with any stretch you like to do for quads and hip flexors. Repeating the low lunge at the start of this sequence is a great option, too.

• Pigeon or Thread the Needle (choose one). Stretch the outer hip muscles. Thread the Needle is the same pose as Pigeon, but is easier on the knees as it's not weight bearing.

or

• Camel pose. This is my favorite pose to stretch out the muscles of my chest, arms, shoulders, and hip flexors, while also strengthening my back.

You can modify this pose with a gentler chest opener by sitting on the floor with your legs out, and reaching your arms behind you, fingertips on the floor (not shown), or do a restorative chest opener as pictured below.

or

• Forward bend and/or child's pose.

• Twist. I tend to do a few other poses to close my practice, but you can finish with a gentle twist.

• Savasana. Relax on your back for at least a few minutes to give your body a chance to process the practice, receiving the benefits of increased circulation. Even warriors need to rest.

• Meditation is a wonderful practice to add on to your session, bringing a ton of benefits such as focus, calm, and overall well-being, while getting you one step closer to training with Jedi.

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Thanks for reading!

It's been a while since I've posted a yoga practice. I hope this inspires you!

Do you follow me as @leiatalon? Leia Talon is my pen name and my new author Hive account is just a baby right now. Will you be my friend?

Check out my latest @leiatalon Hive post about Star Wars, Perspective, and Celebrating Every Win.

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Whatever happens, keep singing your song!
Peace @katrina-ariel / @LeiaTalon

^{Photo credit: Yoga photos by Nat Anfield | Model: Katrina Ariel}

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If you liked that yoga practice and pairing imagination with movement, check out my yoga manual: Yoga for Dragon Riders.

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Author bio: Katrina Ariel, a.k.a. Leia Talon, is an old-soul rebel, musician, mama bear to twins, and author of Shelta's Songbook: a collection of poetry with love notes from an immortal. Falling Through the Weaving the first novel in her fantasy series, is coming 3/3/21. She’s also written two books as Katrina Ariel: Yoga for Dragon Riders (non-fiction) and Wild Horse Heart (romance). Visit her website at www.LeiaTalon.com

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