45 Mins
Moving Across Space - Mobilising Joints
Mobilising our muscles and connective joints and tissues with repetitive fluid movements that help us move through the whole body. Feeling space and extension open up as fascia gets juiced and movements become freer.
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The Power of the Legs
Strong legs are integral to a strong core, they make function and movement so much more efficient when combined with flexibility. This will make your abdominals stronger and is a lot of fun to practice this sequence regularly.
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Simplicity, Synchronicity and Usability
This class was created to be part of a daily practice sequence. A coverage of movement and mobility through the entire body with a balance of all the elements to open everywhere; abdominals, vinyasa, shoulders, balance, hips, and a long constructive rest sequence at the end.
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Hippy Dippy
This will get you deep in to your hips joints, hip flexors and hip rotaors. We explore a way of practising standing poses on the floor that opens you up in a way you could never do whilst standing. Allowing for much greater freedom of movement and even the possibility of moving in to half lotus (maybe even full lotus).
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Lift & Elevation - Structure
Like any good structure, our bodies rely on a good foundation and good mechanics to function well. There is a lot of pubic bone action in this practice, calling attention to the LIFT safeguards our lower back, stabilises our pelvis, works our ‘core’ and allows us to connect to the legs below and the chest above for satisfying back ‘bends’ AND incredible forward ‘bends’. A note to say it’s not really bending, it’s extending.
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Transitions - Variations In Movement
It’s good to mix things up and feel playful in your practice. What keeps our brain functioning well is doing new things or the same things in a different way. There is nothing unfamiliar in the posses we do in this class but the way we move in to them and the transitions are all different. This can mean that we take ourselves by surprise and find accessibility in the seemingly inaccessible. Have fun :-)
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Twists & Turns
Working on keeping the spine’s ability to move in all directions is key to long term spinal health. Rotation of the torso is dependant on the super highway of muscles that connect from and to the pelvis and shoulders and all that passes in between. They help keep us upright, help move, rotate and extend the torso. Here we explore twist and rotations aimed at freeing the ribcage.
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Tree Posing
Everything moves around the humble tree pose in this practice, combining hip opening, inner leg lengthening with side stretches is the perfect marriage. If we can work with the hip rotators and lengthen the inner thigh we can then begin to increase the distance between the pelvis and the ribcage, preventing ‘shrinkage’ and helping us to remain lifted and giving all our vital organs the space to function well.
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A Touch of Yin - Nice Poses to Stay In
Sometimes it feels good just to stay a little longer. Staying longer can happen when the conditions of feeling comfortable are met and we can give our body the time it needs to let go and become more passive. In order to stay longer the poses should be more accessible for all, comfortable enough that you can stay in them, as opposed to strenuous poses that you wish to rush through. The Yin element is connecting you to the body and breath that allows to a more peaceful state of being.
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Shoulder Strength & Mobility
We mainly focus on shoulder mobility with some added strength work for the shoulders here. Our arms are designed to move with far more range than our legs and with this there are 4 Fascial arm lines, which shows you how versatile and useful they are intended to be. With this comes the tendancy to wear them out. Our arms and shoulders connect to the side, front and back muscles so we neglect them at our peril. This is also a useful class for post operative shoulder work.
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Open Palms Open Arms Pits Open Chest
Every action we make is connected to the next and in movement every body part we connect to and work with, links us to another along the chain. Whether this be kinaesthetic, muscular or skeletal. We can practice with total focus and mindfulness on how we can open the body this way. Here as the title suggests we look at the role of opening the palms and arm pits to open the chest and shoulders.
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Shoulder Rotations & Freeing the Upper Back
This is an exploration on how we can free the shoulders and open the upper back. Working through the different rotations in the arms and direction of the fingers in a way we can’t with other parts of our body. After all our feet cannot rotate all the way around to face behind us and yet are fingers can. This is accessible and an interesting way to practice that creates big change in the freedom we feel in our upper body.
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Moving Through the Spine
Opening the chest and moving through the spine whilst connecting to our heals is a great way to explore back extensions. By lifting through the entire leg chain to pelvis we can see how we can focus on one area of our body to open whilst drawing strength from our foundations.
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Big Toe Goodness - Stability & Stackability
The big toe holds major importance to the way we move and for the efficient functioning of walking and running. There is a kinetic chain of muscles that connects our big toe to the arch of the foot, which acts as our shock absorber, and a force of motion that goes up the kinetic chain to the hamstrings and the glutes. So training our big toes to be strong and flexible will not only help us move well in everyday life it will be an effective way to switch on our glutes and effective stretch the hamstrings without strain. Your feet will thank you too!!
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Piriformis - Outer Leg Stretch
The piriformis is a muscle that runs from your lower spine through your butt to the top of your outer thigh. It aids in almost every movement of your lower body and the sciatic nerve runs underneath it. It is a muscle I have become more and more aware of the more I ride on a spin bike. Often our injuries or niggles are our biggest learning tool and it highlights where we may be loading or over using certain parts of our body and where we need to seek balance or healing. This is an indulgent class for me because all of these stretches target the piriformis and outer leg/IT band, easing tension in the hip rotators and lower back.
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Compression to Expansion
In this sequencing we explore hugging in and stretching out the legs. It is helpful to explore poses that require long extension of our limbs by first feeling how it feels to shorten the leg first, going from small to big. Still stretching but in a different way, we notice and feel different sensations in the body.
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Free and Open Upper Back
This is fun class and recorded in the first week of the new year so great for when you have some energy to expend and you also want a jump start. Energetic standing poses and transitions with a focus on opening the upper back and the back of our body is our focus. We also explore lifting the chest and not always moving immediately with our heads in and out of postures.
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Leg Extenders
Sometimes are legs are shortened by tight leg muscles, whether this be the hamstrings, quads, hips flexors, adductors or the IT band. We can create a greater feeling of ease and length in the legs by the asanas we focus on. The title picture is misleading because although we do crow pose our focus is on elongating the legs, which in turn frees congestion in the abdomen, making the whole body feels as though it can expand.
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Hip Compactness
Being held together is kind of how this feels. Moving with stability is key to increasing mobility safely and effectively. For this we need to learn how to feel our different muscles and how to engage them. Our focus here is mainly on the hips and how we can connect to them by how we position and use our feet. Lots of movement flow, hip openers and a delicious unwinding to close.
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Backbending - What’s behind us?
When we start to open the chest and front body we often do this with movements that place our attention behind us, where we cannot see what is going on. Whether this is with practices that open the shoulders, arch our spines or contract our glutes to effectively and safely master back bends, big and/or small. The primary focus here is actually the legs and the glutes, leading to ustrasana (camel), but the fun is on the journey, not the destination as we bring awareness to the unseen parts of our bodies.
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Palms - Connecting the Palm to the Shoulders
We often take for granted how much what we do with our hands has to do with the movements in our shoulders. Here we practice (with the the bricks as a learning tool) how to open the palms and access a route in to opening the armpits, shoulders and upper back. An open chest helps our posture, elevates our mood and can tip toe us towards fun back bends and arm balance play. As well as helping us strengthen our arms and shoulder joint.
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The Front Body - Quads & Shoulders
A Yoga practice should allow you to move your attention around your body and direct this attention so the mind can attune itself rather than being scattered everywhere and outside of ourselves. A lot of the time when it comes to our movements, we fall in to habits and finding routes that are easy. I personally find my front body much harder to open than my back body. Posture shows us that this is true for a lot of people. So here we focus on poses that stretch our hip flexors and quads but also open our shoulders so our arms can sit where they are supposed to, well ideally where they are supposed, to the side of our body rather than at the front with palms turning back in to our body. It’s fun to explore and there are some easy daily practices we can all do to open up and be playful.
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Crossing Over - Outer Leg Stretching
This practice for me gets in to all the hard to reach places. The outer leg can be really tight and a lot of yoga poses we practice most often work more on the inner line of the leg and the hip in external rotation. We also experience in this class how much stability we require to attain the most flexibility and this attention can be a reason we always head to practice the things we are most familiar with instead. Crossing over and stretching out, good for the body and proprioception too :-)
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Twist, Lift & Extend
Twisting is a great prelude to opening the hamstrings, I’m not sure when I first learnt/experienced this but I have found it to hold true in my practice. It’s tricky to do standing twists, they require mastery over the hip joint to stabilise yourself, being centred in your core and also relatively free in your rib cage and upper back to rotate. It’s the ultimate meditative, mindfulness in action practice. Here we twist, open the shoulders and upper back alongside opening the hips and hamstrings. It’s a wonderful practice for sports people and anyone who needs to provide relief for the legs.
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Waist Extenders
Here we combine opening the hips and adductors with finding more length in the waist and side body. Freeing the ribcage and in turn creating more movement in the diaphragm and space for the lungs to breathe, to expand and open creating more space in the back and upper chest too. Strong legs, firm support in the hip joints and balancing the four ‘sides’ of the body to have support, stability, flexibility and strength.
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360 Leg Movements
The legs move from the pelvis; forwards, backwards, to the side and across. Not always with the same ease of movement on both sides but with the same possibility unless or until there are restrictions in the hip joint. I wanted to look at the different muscles involved in poses when we lifted the leg in different planes from differing base positions. By the end I think we would have explored movement in the hip joint and legs from a 360 degree perspective.
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Revolving - Strength & Stability
When we twist our spine dictates how much we can move in either direction. As well as the lats and obliques to name just two big muscles that help. We can deepen our twists with the breath and longer holds, slowly slowly unravelling the patterns and observing them. To aid in the twist mobility we also lengthen the inner line of the legs (adductors) and hamstrings to free the pelvis and waist. There is also fun to be had exploring arm balances, weight distribution and build strength for our ability to do this but also for the longevity of our bones and building density through weight baring.
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Strong Abs - Core Centric
Good movement through the body and a healthy spine is reliant on a strong and flexible core. The beauty of many Yoga poses, practiced carefully and consciously at the appropriate time, both occur together. The beauty of this class is we include, hip stretches, arm strength, balance, backbends as well as direct abdominal work to really stabilise the core of the body so we can move our limbs in all directions and across different planes without bucking in the middle.
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Twisting - Global Rotation
I think when we twist it’s a good idea to view our body from a 360 degree perspective. Turning to the side or revolving our pelvis, waist, ribs, upper thoracic, collar bones, neck and head? Then there’s the response; how does it feel when we are twisting in the front of the body compared to the back, from the right side to the left depending on the direction we are going. In this practice we are not simply twisting or turning around, we are navigating the full circumference of the body.
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Lifting the Ribs - Lengthening the Waist
This practice really highlights how much space we lose when we drop our ribs. The abdominal cavity needs length for all the organs to function optimally and for spinal health and mobility too especially if we are also dropping in to our lower back without the awareness of how to lift out of the pelvis. This practice shows you ways to lift, lengthen and strengthen so the ribs stay lifted when we are off the mat, as well as highlighting the connection to open the hamstrings and inner leg (groin and adductors) to facilitate the ability to lift more without the legs pulling you down. Enjoy, I love this practice.
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Sahasrara - Thousand Petal Lotus
Our 7th Chakra, Sahasrara is located just above the crown of the head, associated with the colour violet it’s element is thought. It is considered the thousand petal lotus, the jewel in the crown, the ultimate awakening and wisdom where our connection to spirit, sense of the universal, consciousness, unity and enlightenment are manifested. When balanced we have kind thoughts, actions and faith through meditation and prayer, able to transcend our physical world. When imbalanced we feel disconnected from those around us, apathetic and depressed.
In this practice we focus on the poses, mudra and sound that allow us to bring attention to the area where the crown chakra is located. Balancing our right and left sides, elevating through the central channel of the spine to the crown of the head is a key element to this practice.
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Anahata The Heart Chakra - Reaching In All Directions
The 4th Chakra is our heart chakra, considered the intersection between the upper and lower chakras. The element associated with this energy centre is air, like air, love is all around us and can disperse. We need to keep this area open to keep love flowing, it keeps us open to experience and helps us connect to our true selves, our loved ones and the natural world. When blocked on a physical level can cause issues with circulation, blood pressure and lung conditions and on an emotional level issues with unworthiness, loneliness and an inability to trust :( The colour associated with Anahata chakra is Green. Here we explore movement, mudra and mantra that lifts and opens the chest with arms reaching in all directions.
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City of Jewels the Naval Chakra - Manipura
The 3rd Chakra is located at our naval centre/solar plexus and is considered the city of jewels, the energy centre that governs our sense of self; power, individuality and identification, our self worth and self esteem. ‘I am enough’ countering ‘I am not enough’ … knowing our inherent value. It’s clear passageway is also key to a healthy digestion and a balanced metabolism. In this practice we explore ways to open the space, connect to it with movement, mudra and mantra. The element associated with this chakra is Fire and it’s colour is yellow. Light it up!!
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Igniting The Sacral Chakra
For the next 6 sessions we are going to approach our practice with an eye (or two) towards our chakras. We will look at the way mudra, seed mantra and physical postures can help us tune in to this center, awaken our understanding of energy and movement and how it may improve our daily lives if awakened. The sacral chakra (Svadhistana) is located at the lower belly/inner pelvis area. The associated element is water and it asks us to observe the fluid circumstances of life. It’s our creative hub, is pivotal to our emotional stability and overall enjoyment of life.
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Vertical Spine
I would say this was Part 2 to last week’s class entitled Up Up and Away but of course can be practiced alone. From teaching this in person I learnt that the vertical spine and being able to lift up out of the armpits is fundamental to balancing safely upside down. It’s also key to ease, I never felt as though it was strength alone that kept me balancing in inversions, it’s about strong fundamentals, foundations and a lightness that comes with practice and letting go of fear and knowing where and when to prop. This is preparatory, you absolutely do not have to do the full inversions, but can enjoy the process and the preparation along the way. Shoulder and upper back opening and side body lengthening in all it’s glory.
*Please note we had problems with WiFi when we recorded this so my phone had to do the Zooming and the recording.
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Up Up and Away
Elevating the chest lifts the rib cage, expands the lungs and is key to a backbend practice that utilises the whole length of the spine. Here we start moving towards deeper backbends by practicing poses and sequences that open the chest and expand the heart but through the connection with the legs and pelvis like navasana (boat pose), . I love this practice!!
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Overlapping Hands - Effective Side Chest & Armpit Opening
I love experimenting and new ways to move and open up the body. Opening the arm pits frees the chest, sides and back of the chest and lungs. It also makes you taller! We open the palms, get super long through the arms and extend out, we also play with balance, tipping and extension, stabilising and strengthening the hip, knee and ankles joints.
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Pulsing, moving and lengthening
This class was taught as the first class in January, after Christmas and in the UK a time when it’s pretty dark outside. Often Christmas is spent more sedentarily and possibly with more food and alcohol than usual (this is by no means a blanket assumption!!) But I like to start the month focusing on waking up the body with pulsing movements rather than long holds, abdominal lengthening to elongate the whole torso and get to work on posture. I lifted spine is a mood enhancer as well as being necessary for a healthy spine. I love these practices; core centric, innovative, interesting, challenging and fun.
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Balancing on our Hands
Don’t be perturbed by the idea of taking more weight in to your hands and practicing arm balances. There are many stages along the way and ways to balance with support so the hands and wrists do not take too much weight or any at all. Strong legs, as well as strong arms and shoulders are key but to balance and create postures where we balance on our hands rather than our feet requires good hip and shoulder mobility so there’s lots of this preparatory work here as well as twists and forward folds. It is also key to maintain length in our abdomen, and protect the integrity of spine so we don’t get overly compressed in our endeavours.
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Heart Leading the Brain
We don’t often think of our yoga practice in terms of it’s coherence and integration. Or maybe you do, sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. What is key as we start to switch on to the fact that everything is connected, is that we do not move in isolation and we do not exist in isolation. Most of the movements in this practice focus on us leading with the heart, opening and lifting the chest whilst remaining stable and strong in the legs and lower back/abdomen. One action doesn’t over take everything else, even if it is a focal point, the whole body needs to integrate to make the asanas feel coherent and so we don’t injure ourselves in the process too ;-)
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Up and Over - Backbends
I neglect my backbend practice and it shows up when you go to do shoulder opening work or inversions. This is a varied practice, we have inversions, going upside down which may or may not be possible. BUT it’s the journey that matters most and attempting to embody each and every asana no matter it’s accessibility. Some of the simplest poses can be the most complex and be build towards some persons so there is always a place to be in the practice. With backbends the secret is not to focus on the parts that don’t move much but in stabilising the ones that do. You will always feel taller after back ‘bending"‘, they focus on really opening our front body that shortens up over the course of daily life.
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Uplifted - Lifting Up and Staying Lifted
There are many ways to feel more lifted, at every junction in our bodies, the pelvis, knees, ankles, shoulders, neck etc there is the propensity to shrink, shorten the muscles and impact the joint. Which leads us to feel pulled in and restricted. Here we look at creating length in the abdominal region, lifting the lower ribs out of the waist via twists, legs lifts, hamstring lengthening and extension of the arms. It’s a full body experince.
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Cross Overs - IT Band LoVe
Crossing over with our Yoga posing targets new muscles groups to feel and focus on. It also adds a new dimension to our twists practice. I would say we cover a little bit of everything here; alongside IT band (outer thigh), we twist, focusing on rotation of the trunk, challenging the spinal rotation meanwhile challenging the abdominal muscles to steady us from falling over, balancing and with this strengthening of the legs, lengthening of the hip rotators and finding stability and support from our hip joints too. And remember it’s good for our brain to do new things and/or to do the same things in a new way :-)
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Expression - Expanscious and Luminous
This practice is expansive, we are moving both our arms and our legs outwards. The arms from the chest and the legs from the pelvis. This is the perfect anecdote to closing in, feeling confined or shrinking. We identify the base; the foundation from which we move and then we find a way to illuminate from this point outwards, all the way to the tips of our fingers and toes. Being able to express ourselves, feel awake in this world and know where we are coming from are corner stones to our yoga practice; source, clarity and luminosity.
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Ascend and Suspend - Core Lengthening
When we lift up we often localise the movement. When we start to lift from our base, our points of contact with the earth, it is then the feeling of ascent is much more significant. The lift doesn’t start at our chest it starts from our pelvic bones, a lengthened core (the space between our pelvic crest and floating ribs) and translates to a feeling of floating suspension, not rigidity. Here we look at the ways in which different postures and shapes alter the abdomenal space, aiming for feelings of length and depth, not shortening and compression. Core lengthening at it’s finest.
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Lifting your spirits - An antidote to lethargy
When our energy levels are low and we are feeling lethargic, motivation, positivity and joy can feel as though they are missing from our lives. Here we focus on lifting the chest and opening the armpits. BKS Iyengar once said no one can be depressed if their chest (and hearts) are open. So let’s give it a whirl, we will lengthen the side body primarily, extend all the way to the finger tips, twist and go upside down (if appropriate for you). Happy armpits = Happy Life !!!
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Lifting the Pelvic Abdomen
Focusing on the lowest part of the abdominal muscles and where they connect to the pubic bone can at first feel illusive. But through clever sequencing and use of props we soon learn how to connect to this part of our body and in doing so we create more space for the abdominal organs, more lift in the chest and a stronger lower back. We test are balance, how much mobility we have in our rib cage to tip back, forward and side to side as well as developing length and strength in our arms. Enjoy this sequence, it’s super engaging, fun and most importantly, enlightening :-)
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Organising Ourselves - Moving Directions
A lot of poses that make up our yoga practice involve us moving in different directions. Not only up and down or left and right, but sending different parts of ourselves in different directions. We are often asking the legs to move in one direction whilst our arms move in another. With backbends this is especially true and especially complex. For me one of the biggest illuminators was the direction I move my pelvis and how I work my legs. There are also lots of surprise ways to move in to a backbend or experience one in many different ways … from many different directions.
Read More70 Mins
Twists with a Twist
Twists with a twist refers to the way in which we take parts of our body from one side and cross them over to the other. If some families of twists feel confined this sequencing is more about elongation and rotation of the ribs. Like a combination of side lengthening, twists and forward extensions. To gain the greatest ease, mobility and length we make repetitive movements that feel like pulsing in and out. Less holds, more movement.
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Here we explore traction and how a directional pull on the trunk or an extremity enables soft tissue to elongate. I always find it fascinating how easy it is for tissue to shrink and in turn how quickly we lose space in the body that can be lengthened with relative ease. In this practice there’s lot’s of arm lengthening, chest lifting and tractioning the limbs in different directions for maximum elongation.
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This is one of my favourite practices. It feels like medicinal healing stretching for the body, without stress, strain or difficulty (well mostly) with maximum length gains. We mainly focus on creating more space between the pelvis and the floating ribs through the extension of the arms (mainly) and the legs. By creating this length we create more space to the front sides and back of our torso, countering shrinking and compression of the spine. Alongside strengthening the legs these practices prime the body for an embodied backbend and inversion practice but here we keep it simple and touch on shatooshpadasana to close which wonderfully combines the actions of chest opening, leg and glute strength, extension of the spine and a lift up towards the top of our shoulders. Get long, get lifted!!
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When I was thinking how to describe this class and our focus, the main word in my head was ‘pulsing’. That we are very rarely in this practice still or not repeating the movements less than 3 times. Movement and momentum, coming in and then going out, towards our centre and then away. There is an abdominal emphasis and need for integral support from the centre of our body in order to move the legs in and out, as well as up and down, parallel legs and single leg movements. We also combine an element of wrapping the legs. All in all a stimulating practice to the digestive organs and stimulus to blood flow.
Read More75 Mins
Our legs are attached to our torso, the pelvis is the intersection between the two. Freedom of movement above and below is intertwined and as we create more length in our legs, more space in the pelvis the ability to lift the torso and feel longer and leaner is evident. In this class we look at muscles and movements that make us lengthen and extend upwards and outwards heading towards hanumanasana - leaping monkey pose :-)
Read More70 Mins
Creating stability in the shoulder blades and the ability to allow them to move up and down so our arms can move over our heads or support us should we go upside down is pivotal to a healthy joint and movement practice. Here we look at a range of shoulder ‘opening’ practices, both isolating movements and exploring ranges of motion in different poses such as binds, spinx, reverse namaskar, gormuktasana (eagle), forearm balance and handstand. Of course there are many stages along the way to build towards the weight baring poses, all practices that stand alone without the need to progress necessarily today, but building blocks along the way.
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Here we look at movements and postures where we work on opposites, crossing over, crossing behind, going over, going under. Working on opposites is deceptively tricky as our brain tries to decipher which arm and which leg is doing what. It challenges our balance and asks us to move from a point of stability and strength. See what it brings up … frustration? laughter? tears? And that’s all just from parivritta ardha chandrasana :-)
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It is really easy to over look certain aspects of your practice, lots of opening of the back body for instance and neglecting the front body. Lots of active, not enough rest, lots of yin style practices, not enough active for example. I’m guilty of this when it comes to my quads and hip flexors, in comparison to my hamstrings their movement and flexibility is more limited. Which in turn influences how much we can lift and arch in backbends. Here we look at practices which help us lengthen our quads, hip flexors, psoas and also shoulders so we can work towards the “dancer poses”. For which I have an image of the dancer touching her toes to the back of her head when in reality mine only reach my lower ribs even on a good day!!
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I think of this sequence as a story of poses where we asked our arms to reach out. A gesture of moving forward but often there is something holding us back. In this case some tight shoulders or a need for length in our side bodies. Reaching out, reaching forward, reaching up, reaching over, reaching back. Learning how we can make our limbs longer often comes from decongesting the connecting muscles in to our torso. We find we have more freedom and range of motion to move the limbs more freely, with greater extension and connection to our core.
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Splitting the legs requires our legs to be out of equilibrium. For one leg to go one way and for the other to go in the opposite direction and upwards requires different muscles to work in different ways. The keys muscles that connect to the pelvis have to balance and stabilise the body, rather than just be asked to be flexible and lengthen we are asking them to get strong too. So have fun, balance on one leg, take one leg back, one leg forward, one leg up, one leg down. You will strengthen, lengthen, open and explore different planes of movement.
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Essentially all the variations on taking your leg out to the side, straight or bent, standing, supine, prone, kneeling. We can explore this rotation with static poses but also with movements and momentum.
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When we practice ‘live’ we often move with the season. This class is the first class back after Christmas and I always focus on lengthening the abdomen (just in case there’s been more time sat on the sofa/eating/drinking etc). This is not the case for everyone and there are many times through the year where we feel we need to fully stretch out the body and this class is perfect for those moments. There are the key elements to lengthen, strengthen and tone the abdomen with a literal twist thrown in here and there. We primarily focus on igniting the lower abdomen through strengthening the legs (inner line/pelvis connection). This is all the things I love to do in one class, weaving in creative changes to familiar poses brings a feeling of newness and regeneration to our practice.
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When we look at shape and motion we can start to see that there is a reciprocal effect of one part moving on another. Spreading your palm for instance doesn’t just open your hand, it brings life to a pose, opens the chest and lengthens the side waist. This can change the whole landscape of your practice, once you start to experience the wholeness of an action rather than seeing it as separate from everything else. Here we look at the backbend family of poses that rely on strength in our backs and length in our hip flexors. Not my personal favourites but interesting in that the body as a whole really does come together to create the shape and the motion.
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I have mentioned before that what we have with a back bend is that we are moving in a direction where we can’t see where we are going. Not only do the poses and movements require almost every part of the body to be involved we also have to have awareness and the proprioception to feel where we are going. For Instance in Camel (ustrasana) we go back and then try and find our feet, without knowing for sure where they are. This class integrates lots of movements that not only increase flexibility in the back but strengthen it too, not forgetting how important the glutes and the legs are in the whole process of integrating backbends for their healthiest benefits.
Read More60 Mins
Akunchan means to contract and in this practice we explore different postures where we hug in and contract both or single leg movements in to the abdomen. Rather than compressing the abdomen the contractions have a “wringing” action and create more space deep inside the abdominal area. We are in a sense exploring ways in which we can tone the core of the trunk from outside in through poses and movements that are more compact in nature (rather than expanding and lengthening outwards with our limbs).
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To lift the spine and improve posture I usually cue you to lift your chest/breast bone or to press down in to your sitting bones to lift up. But what happens when we start to lift and twist by lifting from the sacrum (the middle/back of the pelvis)? How is our movement up and round improved? What new knowledge do we feel in our bodies? This way of approaching lifting the spine and twisting broadens the abdomen and organic body much more profoundly than we feel when focusing on the upper body initiating the movement and yet the upper torso still lifts and turns, maybe even more so. What do you think? Practice and see :-)
Read More75 Mins
When we go backwards we are heading in a direction where we cannot see where we are going. We reach back in to the unknown but we take with us what we do know. We also trust. We know how to extend, arch, lift and lengthen. We know where the earth is or where our toes are even if we can’t see them. We know how our body feels moving in space, so as we go backwards we trust our body to take us there. Backbends also require us to open our chests and shoulders, lengthen our abdomen, hip flexors and quads. Opening each part of the spine evenly, not over using our flexible parts or under using our stiffer parts. It’s really a work of art, moving, breathing and backbending.
Read More75 Mins
Not one of us has the same body structure as someone else, although Yoga requires us to make all these different shapes with our bodies, the reenactment and the process of doing them will look and feel different to each of us. We do want to be flexible, but not too flexible, we learn a lot from being stiff, lessons the very mobile body will never know or feel. In this class we practice many variations of postures where our legs are straight and we are bring the legs and the torso in closer proximity to one another. We explore different ways of moving in and out of these postures and how this can affect how deeply we are able to go and also different plains of movement which also affects how far we can go comfortably and without comprising our very precious spines. Being straight is really a misnomer, preventing blockages and keeping our pathways clear for the free flow of energy and health should be the goal, to prevent compression and improve longevity in our bodies through the practices of creating space and length.
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Our breath has different qualities depending on the movements we are making. We can observe these changes and our awareness of how the breath changes by observing it throughout our practice. It is hard to focus and feel the quality of the breath, or take long steady breaths when our body is under strain (when we hold a particularly challenging posture). The quality changes depending on whether we are holding, maintaining or resting. It changes if we are upside down, forward folding, back bending, side stretching, twisting or lying down. Here we practice variety; in speed, in repetition, in orientation, in variation. In practice we trust.
Read More65 Mins
When we engage in postures that are forward folding we often associate these with lengthening our hamstrings and if we experience these as feeling tight we might groan when thinking about any posture where we forward fold/bend. But what if we think of forward bends as a whole body experience and that the hamstrings are just one part of the circuit. By stabilising the legs and engaging the arms we support the spine in such a way that forward folds are beneficial for our backs. This is less about going in to the full expression of a forward fold initially but preparatory movements and asanas that pave the way to effortless forward folding that are both strong and stable before being flexible.
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Holding a posture is often the strongest part of the practice physically. Then we practice staying, making the pose homely so that we can then experience feeling; the doing has been done, nothing has to be held. After the doing and the holding the homely state will start to come more quickly with practice. What we can create, maintain and enjoy in our practice begins to feel limitless and we find a state of peacefulness in many poses that may have started off feeling stressful or difficult. Our mission is for a state of being where feeling homely comes naturally no matter the difficulty. Here we explore breathing whilst holding in a variety of postures that lift and expand our upper rib cage and shoulders, challenging our balance as well as looking for different breathing patterns when the body isn’t straining or stressed.
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So much of what we do rolls from one thing in to the next, we don’t allow for space between one event or thought and the next. The problem is that things can then become a jumble and we can take on too much. We can use our practice to observe the space in between and how this helps us to not only calm the nervous system but move more freely and more spaciously. The space between the inhale and the exhale, the exhale and the inhale, the space between the pelvis and the ribs, the shoulders and the neck, the ankle and the knees, the eye brows even .. you get the idea. In this practice we look at creating more space in the chest and shoulders through the extension, movement and placement of the arms and legs in different plains. It’s fun and uplifting to move freely :-)
Read More70 Mins
One of the things I like to practice most is all the different shapes and poses I can do with straight legs. Sometimes both together, sometimes wide apart, sometimes going off in different directions, sometimes balancing on one and lifting the other, sometimes folding, sometimes revolving. There are in fact endless possibilities and ways in which we can explore our range of movement in these different plains. It does require us to develop both length and strength in the hamstrings but this doesn’t mean we have to experience discomfort if our hamstrings are not overly flexible. We learn our range and movement potential as it applies to ourselves, with adjustments and supports in place the same practice is possible for everyone with this sequencing.
Read More75 Mins
When we twist in our bodies we are often spiralling a part of the body from small to big or criss crossing from one side to another. Physical twists can be used to untwist our minds but this is something you need to explore after your practice and see how inner turmoil can be lifted, softened or maybe even resolved. Twists can feel intense, you learn a lot about the ways your body can and can’t move in certain directions. They also unlock a lot of freedom and movement in our bodies and help create more balance and evenness.
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When we focus our attention on opening one place we can experience many asanas from a whole new perspective. We continue with our opening and lifting of the upper torso and see how this is not only applied to back bends but can also apply to forward folds, arm balances and inversions. All poses that require us to extend and lengthen our front body.
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What does something we do with one part of our body do to affect another part? This is the constant see saw we explore in our Yoga practice. Everything is connected and we can see this when we feel that no movement we take is singular in it’s experience. What we do with one part of our body has an effect on another. Here we explore the act of back arching, principally by opening the upper back but in such a way we feel the movement all the way through the legs so the body as a whole comes in to the arch. Then we start to notice less the extent to which our back is bending but more the capacity we have for our front body to fully open and lengthen.
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In Yoga there many ways of exploring the asanas and here we look at how the same shape is formed in the body but practiced from different angles. We use these variations as a means of studying both our body and our mind. How are we experiencing each variation differently? What is this teaching us? Why does one way feel good and another feel so unstable for instance? We look at how to find the similarities and differences and use them to help us arrange our structure. Dandasana, Uttanasana, Prasarita padottanasana, Paschimottanasana, Urdva Paschimottanasana 1 & 2, Halasana. All these poses look very similar, the same even, but they are experienced very very differently. Learn, study, practice :-)
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In this class we will explore the idea of counter balancing our movements and creating a sense of equilibrium. We move through a sequence of poses where we notice how we are asking parts of our body to move in opposite directions from one another, simultaneously moving apart. If we over use one part and under use the other it creates instability, so we work to try and balance ourselves evenly, as one part goes up, another goes down, as one extends forwards the other goes backwards. This thought process can be applied to almost every movement, an exploration of physics. We focus mainly on forward facing asanas where we split our legs and build towards lifting in to forearm balance and headstand without necessarily lifting both our feet off the ground.
Read More45 Mins
In this fundamentals class we focus on sequencing together many of the standing and seated poses we have covered so far in this series. In order to fit these in to a 45 minute session we highlight here the poses where our legs are split, one forward, one back and the chest and pelvis is forward facing; warrior 1, warrior 3, parsvotanasana. The key movement patterns and elements that make up these poses are the rotational elements in the pelvis forwards. But there are some variations to this rule as we include poses where we bring the chest to the legs or the legs to the chest and explore wrapping.
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The abdominals muscles are made up of the rectus abdominis, transversus abdominis and the internal and external obliques. In brief they provide support for the spine, support and protect our internal organs and help to regulate breathing. Muscles get stronger in the lengthening process (eccentric muscle contraction). Put simply it is when a muscle lengthens when it contracts rather than when it shortens and contracts. In this class we explore a huge variety of ways in which we lengthen and strengthen our abdominal muscles without a single sit up in sight. There’s lots of variety, movements in all directions and an exploration of all the abdominals muscles.
Read More45 Mins
In this fundamentals class we focus on sequencing together many of the standing and seated poses we have covered so far in this series. In order to fit these in to a 45 minute session we highlight here the poses where our legs are wide; warrior 2, trikonasana, parsvakonasana, ardha chandrasana, badha konasna, upavista konasana to name but a few. The key movement patterns and elements that make up these poses are the rotational elements in the pelvis, in the majority of the standing poses one thigh internally rotates whilst the other externally rotates. But there are some variations to this rule as we include poses that give an all round perspective to the different rotations in the pelvis/hip joint and we move the legs together, individually and separately.
Read More75 Mins
There’s a sense that we have to hug in to lift up. If we gather ourselves towards our centre in order to extend our limbs in all directions it helps us to balance, move more symmetrically, strengthens our core and supports the spine. Stabilising the hip joint feels like we are hugging them in, same at the shoulder joint. This allows our arms and legs to move more freely but also helps us to find more length through the movement of these limbs. Essentially feeling longer and taller. If you have a Yoga brick this would be perfect for this class. We use it to connect our outer to inner legs and to balance on, really challenging the strength and stability of the joints in the leg chain (ankles, knees and hips). The sequencing leads us to Shoulder stand (supported) and here we can really appreciate how the preparatory work of the legs helps us to lift up and lengthen, taking the weight and pressure off our shoulders, so we feel lighter and able to elongate upwards.
Read More45 Mins
In this fundamentals class we focus on poses where we can move the arms in different directions; forwards, to the side, up and over and backwards. Opening, lifting and lengthening the sides of the body . The family of poses that require us to be very still and strong in the core of our body so we do not use either extension or flexion of the spine. We explore how our arms are connected to our whole torso rather than just being a movement that comes from our shoulders. We stabilise our centre (core) and pelvis so we don’t zig zag the body in order to balance when we are moving our limbs, principally our arms in different directions.
All these poses help us look at ways we can find more length in the side body in order to more effectively find freedom of movement in our shoulders.
Read More45 Mins
In this fundamentals class we focus on poses that open, lift and lengthen the upper chest and back. The family of poses that require us to lengthen and lift the front of the chest and ‘curve’ the upper portion of the spine. We include looking at up dog and cobra, warrior 1 and parivritta trikonasana as well as tabletop and bridge pose. Combining what we know about the specific standing poses and the connection to the legs we will progress through the warming up of the chest for table top and bridge. In your own practice you could progress or add in camel and full wheel.
All these poses help us look at ways we can find more length in the front of body in order to more effectively backbend safely. Using the correct action in the glutes to gain lift off, and how the use of props can give us the momentum to get going, be more supportive and give greater depth and ease to our backbends. I would also have to argue a little with the term backward bends because it implies going backwards, which technically you are. BUT it is the extension, the lift and lengthening of the front body that is key to a smooth and fulfilling backbend practice and this takes you forwards so to speak.
Read MoreI haven’t taught a splits prep class in a while, so this is a first for the library. I have had dreams whereby I slide in to them effortlessly, sadly this is not my reality right now, but each year I do get closer to the ground. What is glorious about splits is actually the preparation, you have to open both the front of the body, mainly the hip flexors to allow the chest to lift and for the back leg to be able to extend away, and the back body, principally the hamstrings to extend the front leg forwards.
The pose, Hanumanasana is named after Hanuman, the monkey god, son of the wind (Vayu) who was known for his giant leaps, whereby he could stretch his legs incredible distances. The power of his back leg propelled him skywards whilst his front leg would reach and stretch towards his destination. Feel the powerfulness of this pose, be brave and experiment (safely) with what is possible. Most importantly, enjoy the journey.
Read More45 Mins
In this fundamentals class we focus on poses that open and lengthen the front of the thigh. Cosmic dancer is one of these poses but I would describe this as an accessible Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (King Pigeon). The family of poses that require us to lengthen the front of the thigh and hip flexors also have the backbend element, including virasana (kneeling), ustrasana (camel), danurasana (bow) and virabadrasana 1.
All these poses help us look at ways we can find more length in the front of body in order to more effectively backbend safely. Using the correct action in the glutes to gain lift off, also seeing how the clever use of props can get us going, be more supportive and give greater depth and ease to our backbends. I would describe this as a fun and uplifting classes, accessible to all.
Read MoreThis class focuses on opening the chest and shoulders through a full range of different movements and actions. There is also an emphasis on core stability and strength to allow the arms as well as the legs to lengthen in all directions. With preparation we move towards Shalabhasana (locust pose) which resembles more sky divers pose in the beginning. It is a prone backbend that builds strength in the paraspinal muscles (3 muscle groups that support your back) and the legs. We finish off with right angled handstand and/or the preparation for weight baring on the arms before concluding in Setu Banda Sarvangasana. This can all be done without props but if you have a yoga belt and a bolster this would be super beneficial.
Read More45 Mins
In this fundamentals class we focus on Utkatasana and it’s related family poses. What movement patterns and key elements make up this pose and poses like it. It is one pose, alongside downward facing dog practiced regularly in every class that causes varying scales of discomfort. This is until you learn to love it, and you learn to love it the minute you experience it without discomfort and then the body and the brain celebrate as you practice it with ease. It’s deceptively hard because it requires flexibility in the shoulders, stability from your core and strength in your legs. In this class we look at creating flexibility in the ankles and lower leg, strength in the glutes and thighs, flexibility in the upper back and shoulders and an element of core strength to manage the correct alignment of the pelvis.
This is a pose, that when your crack it will increase your lung capacity (because of the stretch in the ribs when you take your arms over your head) and improve your posture. It will help support and strengthen the knees and strengthen the core to protect the back, which can tend to excessively arch in this pose if not practiced correctly. In this class there are tons of preparatory poses and variations of the pose to play with. The introduction of the actual full pose is from the wall so it gives you a feedback loop to know how it should feel. Then when practiced in space the angle of the pelvis, lift in the chest and extension of the arms will feel natural. Enjoy ;-)
Read MoreWhen I was writing and practicing this plan I wondered to myself ‘is this the yoga equivalent of legs, bums and tums?’ which, I have never done but it seemed we were about to feel all these areas. I would say the dominant theme is opening the hamstrings, I say opening rather than lengthening because we focus here on widening the belly of the muscles. This tends to be more productive than feeling as though we are “stretching and lengthening” the muscles and potentially pulling them too much. Broadening the hamstrings whilst stretching them also protects the lower back, makes it easier to engage the abdominal muscles and strengthen the glutes. So legs, glutes and abs here we go.
Read MoreWhen you want to strengthen your core it is good to learn how to move from your centre. In this class we see how to stabilise our centre, our ‘core’ so that we can lift and lower our limbs without zigzagging (dropping the outer hips) or tilting the pelvis and ‘puffing’ the abdomen. By stabilising we are strengthening the deepest abdominal muscles rather than the superficial outer layers. Ultimately this protects our lower back and supports our whole posture. From our centre comes every movement. Strong, stabile and supported, SSS.
Read MoreThe psoas muscle wraps around our body, connecting our torso to our legs, traversing through the pelvis along the way. It is a major stabilizer for the spine as well as being a hip flexor and can cause major asymmetry in the body. It effects our posture, and when imbalanced (too tight or too stretched) can cause lower back pain, contribute towards tight hamstrings and play a part in your stress responses and good digestion.
Here we look at trying to balance the psoas, view it from a right and left perspective as well as looking at ways to stretch it, strengthen it and flex it. Then observe, is their greater ease of movement? How? Where? “With a healthy psoas our weight is naturally borne through the bones, and walking is initiated at the solar plexus instead of the knee or hip joint.” Sandra Anderson. This is by far one of my favourite practices to do and feel in my body afterwards. Sweet release.
Read MoreMoving from our centre helps us to balance, stops us from falling and enables us to move with increased awareness in all directions. In this class we investigate how a balanced “core” that is both strong and flexible can help us twist, open and lift our chest, backbend, forward fold, roll, invert, and of course do ab-centric asanas too. You can do just about anything and find healthy, pain free movement patterns that will strengthen your practice and help you prevent and/or observe imbalances in your body.
Read MoreIf you are asked to soften and widen your abdomen you may feel as though this is contrary to everything you are told to do when you think exercising the abs is about the muscles in this area being firm and hard. But this leads to shortening and compression and can lead to digestive problems and potential back problems if not balanced correctly. Creating space and opening gives better tone, greater range of movement for the spine and more length for the torso as a whole. We look at revolving, balancing and lengthening poses to create more stability and space from our centre.
Read MoreWe twist, we open, we lengthen, we release. Like a 360degree tour around the ribcage to lengthen, stretch and release the chest, upper back and side body for optimal lift and preparation for shoulder stand. Strengthening the legs and twists prepare the body perfectly for all lifts, backbends and inversions.
Read MoreDirectional Flow - pressing down to lift up, stretching back to stretch forward
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