How to // The best yoga poses for winter

Hi everyone! As you may remember, a couple of weeks ago I wrote my new year's good resolution list (you can download yours here). One of my constant goals every year is to take up yoga. Or at least try to do something similar. 

I am a total beginner, but since I know all the benefits it can bring to our surf practice and everyday life, I wanted some advice about the "yoga poses for dummies" even I can do!

For that I asked my friend Denise Dellagiacoma to share here some poses (with detailed explanation!) to boost up our energy during the colder months.
Denise is a yoga, sup, pilates and sup-yoga instructor, a lifestyle blogger and ambassador for brands such as Nikita and Nike (!!), as well as an ex cross-country skiing pro athlete. I think we can trust her... I mean, what else??!

Are you ready to dust off your yoga mat and get the job done?
Now I hand it over to Denise :)
Here we go!


It’s time for going deeper into your yoga practice, or, if you're a newbie, to start with it!
Cold months? No problem :) Here five nourishing and energizing yoga poses for winter time - and for training and improving your surf practice too!
They're good for stabilizing, opening your chest and your hearth and improving your balance and strength.

What do you need?
- Yoga Mat
- Comfortable outfit
- Good and positive attitude

Downward-Facing Dog  -  Adho Mukha Shvanasana 

Benefits:
It builds bone density
It eliminates stiffness and back pain
It boosts circulation
Strengthens and opens the chest
Opens the backs of the legs
Elongates the spine
Strengthens the arms

Tree pose  - Vrikshasana

Benefits:
Improves balance and stability in the legs
On a metaphysical level, helps to achieve balance in other aspects of life
Strengthens the ligaments and tendon of the feet
Strengthens and tones the entire standing leg, up to the buttocks
Assists the body in establishing pelvic stability
Strengthen the bones of the hips and legs due to the weight-bearing nature of the pose
Builds self-confidence and esteem

Upward facing dog -  Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

Benefits:
Opens the chest and shoulders and upperback
Strengthens arms and legs
Opens the shoulders and upper back
Tones the legs
(if you have back pain put the arms further from the shoulders)

Child Pose – Balasana

Benefits:
It calms your mind and turns it off
It’s great for your digestion
It elongates the lower back
It opens up the hips

Warrior I -  Virabhadrasana 

Benefits:
Strengthens and stretches your legs, ankles and feet
Stretches your hips, groins and shoulders
Opens your chest and lungs
Builds stamina and concentration
Energizes tired limbs
Stimulates your abdominal organs
Helps relieve backaches
Develops balance and stability
Improves circulation and respiration
Therapeutic for flat fleet, sciatica, osteoporosis, carpal tunnel and infertility

Thank you so much Denise for sharing your expertise with us! I can't wait to try some of these poses :)
If you guys want to learn more, follow her on HER BLOG (it's in Italian but has plenty of yoga videos you can take inspiration from) on facebook and instagram (you'll find a lot of amazing pictures).

xo