 Namaste. My name is Kelly. I've been practicing yoga daily for 13 years now. And some of you may be wondering, how do you practice yoga? Isn't that something you eat with cereal or fruit? Well, yoga is not a dairy product. Yoga is actually an ancient form of exercise that combines breath work and meditation to help increase your balance, increase your strength, improve your flexibility, and it can also reduce stress, lower blood pressure. There are many benefits. Now, at first glance, you might think that yoga is easy because when you create a pose, then you hold that pose for a while without moving. But anyone who's practiced yoga knows that it takes muscle coordination and mental concentration in order to be a true yogini. So let's do some yoga. Our first pose is called mountain pose. You want to stand with your feet about hip-width apart, toes pointing straight ahead. Press your feet down into the floor as though you were grounding deeply into the earth. And from there, imagine a string attached to your tailbone lengthening through the center of your body all the way through the crown of your head, helping to lift you up and create lightness. Let your belly draw in and your chest be high. Your palms may turn slightly outward. Once here, you want to inhale and exhale through your nose, breathing deeply and smoothly. You can hold this pose for 30 to 60 seconds, and this is also a good pose to do in between other poses. Our next pose is called downward dog pose. To do downward dog, you start on your hands and knees. Let your hands be forward of your shoulders, fingers pointing straight ahead, and they should be about shoulder distance apart. Your knees and your feet will be shoulder distance apart as well. Inhale and curl your toes under. Now exhale and straighten your legs. Push your hips upward so that you end up looking like an upside down letter V. Your weight should be evenly distributed between your hands and your feet. And try to keep your legs straight and remember to breathe. Hold this pose for at least 30 seconds. Exhale as you bring your knees back to the ground and repeat the downward dog pose several times. Our next pose is called triangle pose. Spread your feet well apart, at least 3 feet distance. Left toes angle inward, right leg will open all the way to the right. Reach your arms up shoulder height and as you inhale, lengthen your whole body up toward the sky. As you exhale, reach out to the right. Let your right hand slide all the way down as far down your leg as it will go. Your upper arm will point up to the sky and look up toward your fingertips. Hold this pose for 30 seconds or so. Breathing evenly. And to come up, reach up. Your hands can rest on your hips and we'll turn our feet. Your right toes will angle inward, your left leg will open all the way out to the side. Reach your arms up and extend them outward. Lengthen all the way up to the sky. Draw a breath in. And as you exhale, we want to bend to the left. Let your hand slide all the way down toward your ankle. Your upper arm reaches up to the sky once again and look up toward your fingertips. On this side as well, breathe smoothly and deeply. And to come out, reach up with that upper hand. Back to standing. Our next pose is actually two poses. Cat pose and cow pose. They work together. Start on your hands and knees. Draw a breath in with your spine and neutral. And as you exhale, round your spine up toward the sky. Imagine a cat when it wakes up from a nap, how it stretches way upward and your head will rest in between your upper arms. As you inhale, take your spine in the other direction. Your belly button will come toward your mat and your shoulders and your head will lift, forming a cup with your spine. Stretch gently. Now move back into cat pose as you exhale and as you inhale, move down into cow pose once again. You can move back and forth between these two with your breath. Do each several times and then bring your spine back to neutral. So there are five simple poses to get you started practicing yoga. Namaste. If you have more time, here are some optional poses that you can try. The first one is called frog pose. Squat down with your feet about hip width apart. Let your hands rest on the floor until you find your balance and try to keep your heels on the floor. When you feel centered, bring your hands to your heart in namaste position. Stay still as if you are a frog trying not to let anyone see you. To come out of the pose, reach your hands forward and gently roll back until you're sitting on your hips once again. Our next pose is actually a family of poses called the snake poses. For baby snake pose, lie on your stomach, place your forehead face down, inhale and exhale here. As you inhale again, lift your head and chest up off the ground. Lower back to the starting position and repeat a few times. For mother snake pose, begin just like in baby snake. Lie flat with your forehead down and your hands by your chest. But as you inhale, press your palms down to straighten your arms and lift your head and chest even higher than in baby snake. Take a few breaths here and then gently lower back down to the starting position. You can repeat mother snake a few times as well. And the third of the family of snake poses is father snake. This is the most challenging snake pose of all. Begin as you would in baby snake. Lie flat, your forehead is down and your hands are at chest level. Press your palms down into the earth and lift your upper body as high as it will go. Bend your knees and lift your feet toward the sky. Gently bring your head back toward your feet and look up in the air. And then straighten your legs. Lower your upper body back to the ground. You can repeat this pose a few times also. Next is the mouse pose. Bring your knees and feet together and sit back on your heels with your arms by your sides as if you're kneeling. Make sure your feet are flat with your toenails pressed down toward the ground. Slowly bend forward and let your forehead rest on the floor. If this is uncomfortable, you can fold your arms and let your forehead rest on your forearms. Hold this resting pose for up to a minute. Now it is a resting pose, so enjoy your break. And those are the optional poses. Enjoy your yoga practice.