Three Yoga Moves To Do on Your Rest and Recovery Day

Having a rest and recovery day is essential for your success in Irish Dancing. Not only does it allow your body to repair and grow stronger, but it also allows your mind the chance to relax and prioritise self-compassion. 

In our MWM Gold Club we have a weekly Rest and Recovery class on a Thursday where our Coach Rachael guides dancers through a range of different stretches and meditations to help them to understand the importance of resting to succeed in Irish Dancing. 

We spoke with Coach Rachael and she gave us these three movements every Irish Dancer should be doing on their dedicated weekly rest day: 

Lying Chest Stretch

1. Lie on your belly and place your arms behind your back 
2. Clasp your hands together, as if you are holding your own hands
3. Pull back and raise your shoulders off the ground and feel the stretch across your chest

Kneeling Hamstring and Hip Stretch

1. Start on your knees and place one leg out in front of the other
2. Place your hands on either side of the leg out in front 
3. Keeping a straight back, bend forward to feel the stretch in your hamstring - make sure that your back is straight and your shoulders are pulled back, rather than rounding forwards
4. From there, push forward so that your front leg is bent in a right angle 
5. Keeping your hips tucked, lean forwards until you feel a stretch in your hip flexor

Downward Dog

1. Set yourself up in a ‘table top’ position, with your hands underneath your shoulders and your knees underneath your hips. 
2. From there, keep your hands on the floor and push your hips into the air 
3. Try to get your heels as close to the ground as you can.
4. Push your head through the gap created by your arms as much as you can 
5. Hold for a few seconds before going back to step one and repeating 8x a day

Start to include these in your rest and recovery days and you’ll begin to notice improvements in your dancing! You can join Coach Rachael in our weekly Rest and Recovery classes in our MWM Gold Club.