Three yoga poses to practice self-love this Valentine’s Day

Regardless of whether you have a hot date, a long-time partner, or happen to be single this Valentine’s Day, the romantic holiday is a nice reminder to give yourself a little extra attention and some good old-fashioned self-love.

Spend 10 minutes alone, checking in and softening your heart.

Simple Seated Meditative

Start by sitting in a cross-legged posture with your legs crossed and the back of your sitting bones on a cushion or blanket. Let your inner groin release toward the floor, and lift your sternum as you extend your tailbone.

Close your eyes gently and focus your attention on the outer edges of both your sitting and standing bones. Deepen your breath.

Take ten deep breaths into the space beneath your hands. Expand on your inhale and soften on your exhale. Take ten deep breaths in the space under your hands, expanding on the breath-in and letting go of the exhale.

Shoelace Pose

An intense hip opener, the Shoelace pose allows you to practice self-compassion while you fold inward and deepen your breathing. It’s like getting a fuIt’sody hug.

Cross one leg over the other as you move forward (or backward if your hips are tight). Your feet should be outside the hip of the opposing side. Make sure both your sitting bones are equally grounded.

Exhale, fold your arms over your knees and allow them to rest on either side. Take 8-10 deep breaths while relaxing your outer hips and releasing your back.

Supported Reclined Hero Pose

Reclined Hero is a delicious pose that opens the front body and lengthens it while relieving deep-seated tension in the hips. The pose can be made more refreshing by adding a blanket or bolster to it. Supporting it with a blanket or bolster passively opens the chest.

Start in Virasana (Hero Pose) and lie down over a bolster. Allow your arms to spread out to the side. If the pose is too difficult, you can sit on a blanket/block and raise the end of the bolster with a pillow or a block to create an incline.

Relax into the bolster as much as you can. Close your eyes gently and breathe for as long as is comfortable. You can use a mantra to calm your mind. Say “let” while you inhale”int” your heart and “go” when you exhale.