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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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 Chest Strong Back
In a lot of Yoga poses we over use our arms and shoulders to do the hard work. If we take the arms away and focus on the strength of the legs and the paraspinals muscles in our back we can develop muscles else where and share the load throughout the body. Ultimately this level of work also supports and strengthens the abdominals, all contributing to healthier movement through the whole spine and stronger backs free from discomfort.
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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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Hip Angles - Range & Movement
Some repetitive, almost meditative, prescriptive movement patterns for the hips. Creating strength and mobility in the hip joint by moving and rotating the legs in different directions in different poses. Adding in some forward folding and seeing how this mobility helps us going forward as well as moving in all directions.
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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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Open Heart Clear Head
An open heart and a clear head indicate a good practice. Mood elevation and the capacity to see clearly are the benefits of practicing yoga through all stages of life. Here we open the chest with some accessible back bends that open the chest and shoulders but also integrate with poses that lengthen the psoas and open the hip flexors and quads, cue pigeon and splits prep :-)
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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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Lotus & Binding
When playing with the poses that lead to lotus and binding we look at poses that open both the hips and the shoulders. So whether we can catch the foot in a bind or bring our foot in to lotus or not doesn’t prevent us from moving through the steps on the way. Twists, shoulder openers and strengtheners, going upside down, chest opening, and then possibly twist with lotus where the body allows, other base positions are readily available :-)
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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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Binding & Folding
Sometimes we omit things we should be practicing more often. Full range of motion and movements in all directions around the shoulder joint is crucial. Here we review the poses and practices which involve the shoulders; wrapping, binding. revolving, twisting and movements in different directions added in to our familiar standing poses. This then challenges our proprioception and balance when in space. We also explore at the end ways to approach headstand with or without the intention of fully going in to the pose.
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Psoas Lengthening - Body Lifted
The psoas muscle originates around from T12 - L4 on the spine and wraps around the inner pelvis and connects to the lesser trochanter on the leg. When short or feels tight it can contribute to lower back pain or sciatica and prevent us from feeling as though we can stand up tall. Here we look at lengthening the hip flexors, in particular the psoas muscle and all the practices that help us feel as if we can lengthen out from the very distil points of the body (hands and feet) without restriction at our core.
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Feel The Ground - Extend & Expand
When we practice and really connect our feet to the earth our powers to extend and expand in all directions increases. Lengthening the side body, arms, legs; everything feels stronger, more even and the ability to hold a deeper position in the pose is possible and more beneficial. Here we practice lots of arm movements and directions to liberate the shoulders and side waist, combined with hip openers we have a winning combination for length and space.
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Backbends - Mobilising Our Open & Lifted Ribcage
This is not a deep backbends class, it combines well with forward bends and focusing us on moving the torso in different directions. Posturally we underuse the spine’s movement in this direction and it is super important to counter the effects of dropping in the chest and rounding the shoulders. All these methods are accessible to everyone and vital to maintain healthy functional movement of the spine.
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Freeing the Ribcage - Twists & Binds
There’s a little bit of everything in here. We connect hips, twists and binds for maximum rotation and also for the biggest transformation in freeing the ribs and the ribcage. Which in turn elevates the spine and chest from the front, sides and back, frees the lungs to breath more expansively and works to chink away at the upper thorascic spine which can be less inclined to move freely. Binds are optional, there are ways and means of creating the same effects in the body with the use of our props that are fuss free and easy to include so we can practice without discomfort or let restrictions hold us back from finding openness.
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Hip Love & a Dash of Arm Balancing
The majority of hip asanas in this practice are from the wide leg family of poses that open the hips, stretching the adductors and externally rotating at the joint. Our approach is to also create mobility around the whole joint and experience different ways of moving in and out of poses and creating a feeling of mobility even in the stiffest of hips. We add in a couple of weight baring poses based around the side arm balance to play and experience essentially the same pose from many different angles.
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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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Vishuddha - Throat Chakra
The 5th Chakra, Vishuddha is located in the throat. It governs self expression, communication and ability to speak one’s truth. To speak and be heard. When imbalanced we are prone to gossiping, interupting and dominating words over others. When deficient our voice is small and weak, there is a shyness and fear of speaking. It is the pathway of communication, it’s associated element is sound and it’s energetic colour is blue. In this class we use the physical practices that open the throat, as well as the breath practices, meditation and bija mantra that helps balance and open this chakra. I mention here but it’s important to note that the meditation and mantra practices will be most profound when practiced for 15 - 20 mins daily. Most likely for 40 days!!
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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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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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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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Spiralling Arms
This is like daily flossing for your shoulders. Our shoulders are connected down to our finger tips, to our collar bones and sternum at the front and to our ribs at the back. There are so many ways in which range of movement can be limited, whilst we often over do some movements and under do others we find ease and restriction sometimes in different directions. Take this practice easy and keep coming back to it, or take certain movements from the practice, little pieces and see if you can do a different one every day to keep the shoulders moving healthily in all directions.
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Bolster love and Digestive Health
The sight of a bolster instantly made everyone in class think of relaxing. The support it offers and what it is usually used for is synonomous with letting go. In this practice we use the bolster in a more active way in our standing poses as well as in more supportive and restorative ways when it comes to certain seated and supine poses. The bolster massages our kidneys, adrenals and posterior diaphragmatic area, whilst creating length and wideness in the stomach, liver and front diaphragmatic region. It’s preferable to have a bolster but if you don’t have one you can use a rolled up yoga mat, a sofa cushion or a pillow (or two).
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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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The Quads & The Psoas - The Body-Leg Connection
Often when we practice we can identify with an area that is being ‘worked’, or we can identify an area in our body where we feel ‘something’ - whether it be from a feel of lengthening, contraction, discomfort or total ease. In each case our awareness is shifting and the more we can get inside our body the more we can look around and discover what is going on. We may notice we have ‘tight’ quads, or hip flexors and a lack of movement in our spines but when we stretch our minds inside we can see how everything is connected and we can open much more of ourselves. Here we focus on front body lengtheners that target the quads and the psoas and also incorporate chest openers, back bends and twists. This frees the chest and the lungs to lift and expand, helps free the shoulders too, something you probably wouldn’t expect when stretching the front of your thigh.
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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 practice was filmed on a hot day in the summer. This is the time when we need to temper the heat with the water element in our bodies so although we make the most of having more energy and enthusiasm during the lighter months, to avoid depletion we need to rest the body too. We focus on poses that take our legs wide in this practice, externally rotating the legs for the most part, exploring balance as well as taking supports, especially when feeling over heated. The last third of this practice restores the body with more supportive and restful ways of forward bending.
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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 this practice was recorded it was during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in the UK. So I thought it only fitting that we explored postures that reference Royalty, including the asanas named after Hindu gods and deities. We have the ‘raja’s’, King Cobra (raja - bhujangasana), King Pigeon (eka pada raja-kapotasana), King Dancer (nata - raga - asana) - or at least the working towards of these more extreme (let’s call it that rather than advanced). And of course the King and Queen of all the asanas, named so for the sheer number of healing qualities they are said to possess if practiced correctly; headstand (sirsasana) and shoulder stand (sarvangasana). In essence we are also practicing how to build up arm and leg strength with upper back flexibility in order to support these inversions and arm balances. Working towards vashitasana and ashtavakrasana. Have fun exploring :-)
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This class is juicy. We lengthen, lift, revolve and extend through our side body. Starting by opening the groins and lengthening the inner thigh we create more room for the diaphragm to move in space. In turn this allows us to lift out of our pelvis, open our chest, twist and side stretch with increased ranged of movement. This sets us up perfectly to move and balance in more challenging standing pavrittas (twists). This can all be developed from simple asanas practiced passively at first to enable us to hold for longer periods and in turn see more significant change in the body that helps us develop the more complex movements and asanas with greater ease.
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Some instructions can seem so obscure that at first you have no idea how to ask your body to respond. Something seemingly insignificant, like pressing your big and lifting your toes or wrapping your outer calves in. But when the brain and the body do connect with the action you start to feel some profound changes and make some new discoveries about your body and how no part in disconnected from another. Put simply the action of hugging the calves makes us engage the whole leg better and allows the glutes to ignite and for the hip socket to feel more compact and for us to be able to lift up out of our pelvis, lengthen the spine and to lift and open the chest with greater ease as a result.
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I love adding a belt in to my practice. It can feel experimental if you are not used to it but then you begin to see how much more accessible some postures are, especially if the belt adds the extra length to the arms to reach the toes, countering the need to round the upper back when getting to the toes is a struggle or restricted by the length of the hamstrings. Belts also help us feel and see the connection of the arms to the shoulders and the chest, that these are moving parts of a whole and not separate entities. I hope you enjoy this practice with the belt as much as I do.
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If I am going to receive a mobility test for my hips and or my shoulders there are a few poses that highlight where my restrictions are. For lotus, the hip is key and no amount of force to the knee or ankle should be necessary if the hips external rotation is good. Same for binding, long arms helps but it is more about a full circumferential rotation to get the hands to wrap behind you. Good chest rotation is key for the binds as is the ability to revolve the femur bones correctly in lotus. As always it is not the end goal that marks success but the journey and the awareness this journey gives you in to the mechanics and workings of your body. Your response and the work on your own practice towards full body awareness is the essence.
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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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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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The shoulders are a fascinating part of the body. They are responsible for lifting and moving our arms and are connected to our sides, back and front torso which then connect to our hips. So we are never uniquely just lifting our arms, we can adapt and focus on lifting and lowering lots of different connecting muscles. We will then see how the stabilisation of the shoulder and the surrounding muscles, careful engagement of the core and connection to the pelvis and legs helps us in to arm balances.
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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.
Read More70 Mins
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
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
There is no doubt our arms and legs have different functions. If we were meant to walk on our arms, they would be our legs. But there are lots of poses in Yoga where we are asking our arms to hold and carry the weight of our body or share the load with our legs. That doesn’t mean this is about handstands, we do it downward facing dog, side arms balance etc. And very often we shift our body weight from one to the other and back again. By looking at ways to use the arms to support our body weight, how our connection to the arms from our torso (front, sides and back) needs to be balanced and stabilised in the shoulder joint so we can move with confidence, without struggle and see how our arms can be as supportive as our legs.
Read More70 Mins
Each week I let the theme I am working with come to me intuitively. This week it started with a seed that started looking in to the month of September and it’s place in Chinese elemental philosophy, which lead me to reading about the element associated with Autumn, which is metal and how this relates to the lung meridian. I also wanted to work towards Urdva Danurasana as this challenging back bend hadn’t been on our menu for quite some time. As it turns out backbends and the path towards urdva danurasana trace the lung meridian perfectly and increases our connection to opening, lifting and increasing range of movement in our upper torso and also our capacity for deeper and fuller breathing. The qualities associated with a balanced metal element are being flexible and malleable. If metal is deficient you can feel very rigid and stuck and experience restrictions with your respiratory system.
Read More65 Mins
Moving the arms and legs in directions where they move away from and towards the midline of our body is called adduction and abduction. It’s an interesting way of exploring movement and the directions we can take our limbs in and the effect this has on our experience. What patterns can we discover in our bodies? it’s strengths and weaknesses? This class is both strengthening and lengthening with it’s possibilities and also requires us to balance our opposing sides when we focus on the opposite, our awareness is drawn in all directions around the body. Ultimately always coming back to the midline.
Read More75 Mins
During hot summer days we need to balance our energy before we become depleted. In times when we over heat we need to devise ways to soothe our body and nervous system and try not to over stimulate or exhaust ourselves. In this class we trace the ebb and flow of energy and try to incorporate practices that have a cooling quality. This is especially important if your body has a tendency to over heat or become hyper reactive when it is hot or when we feel over heated (when feeling angry or reactive). In Ayurveda Pita types are particularly prone to becoming over heated when it’s hot outside and need to avoid over heating and becoming over stimulated to avoid total combustion. Chill.
Read More75 Mins
For me I have spent so many years dedicated to lengthening my hamstrings I have relatively neglected to balance out the length in my front body. Here we look at a practice which requires us to lengthen and open the front side of our body. This is a significant component when back bending and using the curve through the entire spine and not just segmenting the spine or just using the most flexible parts (lower back and neck) to move in to a back bend. Most of these poses require us to lengthen the front of the thigh, strengthen the glutes and mobilise the upper back (dorsal). It also gives us some insight in to where we hold on and where we need to let go. A life long balance to seek and find.
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.
Read More75 Mins
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.
Read More75 Mins
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.
Read More75 Mins
When we cross over from right to left or from left to right it involves a twist/revolving movement through the spine. It also allows you to focus on feeling and stretching one side of the body at a time, principally the back side. We can also see how a twist or a turn can impact our ability to breath in to each lung. We also experience that there is asymmetry between our two sides. There is lots of exploration in this class, not just twists but cross body movements and accessible arm balances and transitions. Good training for the vestibular system too, learning about our sense of balance and spatial orientation. Have fun :-)
Read More75 Mins
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 :-)
Read More75 Mins
I started a little investigatory research in to the lymphatic system and it’s function and purpose for our bodies. Teaching people I always notice certain areas where people are ‘stuck’, where the body doesn’t respond to movement instructions to ‘open’, that can look confined, shortened or congested. In brief the lymphatic system maintains fluid levels in our body, it acts as a drainage system that moves fluid from body tissue in to blood circulation, it helps us fight infection and gets rid of any waste cells make. We need to maintain it’s flow for a healthy immune system and one way we can do this is through diaphragmatic breathing and through Yoga. Specifically where we incorporate postures that open and stretch across the chest, arm pits, groin and where are legs are inverted. This all helps lymphatic flow and drainage, and helps dust off feelings of lethargy and sluggishness. Hopefully this practice will energise you and get things moving. Enjoy :-)
Read More75 Mins
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 More75 Mins
In this class we explore where an action begins. When we ask are feet to turn out or take our hands out to the sides. The movements come from the hips or the shoulders, the movement is a whole limb not just the distill ends. We play with different rotations of the feet and hands and explore how what we are being asked to do and our ‘success’ depends on how the legs and the arms are able to move in the joint. Put simply I could say this is a hip focused class without the traditional poses you would associate with ‘hip opening’. I love exploring the asanas (poses) in this way, it’s intriguing and adds a new layer of enquiry to our practice and help us ‘crack the code’, as one of my teachers puts it. Understanding more about the shapes we make with our body and how they work can be illuminating and enable us to move deeper.
Read More45 Mins
In this fundamentals class we focus on sequencing together many of the standing and backbends we have covered so far in this series. Here we highlight the poses where we are twisting/revolving and stretching the front of the thigh/hip flexors. This particular family of backbends are more front body lengthening, bending in the back is a misnomer. The key to them is the strength and flexibility in the legs, particularly the hip flexors and the strength of the paraspinal muscles and glutes to give you stability and lift off.
Read More75 Mins
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 More75 Mins
Having had a pretty heavy few weeks on the hamstrings I decided it was time to loosen up and have a little bit of hip play. Less focused on long holds and forward folds but gaining movement and momentum in the full range of the hips. Sometimes we think there is a movement or a pose that we can’t do but sometimes we can if we approach it in a different way, from a different direction. Or we can access it by adding in a prop or two. Please approach this by exploring your range of movement and not with any idea that one pose fits all.
Read More75 Mins
When I practiced and planned this class before teaching I realised that most of the postures required us to make ‘V’ shapes with our bodies, either by splitting the legs (one forward, one back, parallel) or by the angle we make at the hip junction between the legs and the torso. Sometimes the ‘V’ is an ‘L’ or in our finale posture an ‘X’. In actuality when practicing this sequence, when making these shapes, feel the letters your body to making.
There is a focus on needing the hamstrings to open and lengthen, and for the hip flexors and quads to help in lifting the legs but there are progressions towards each full posture. Remember when the hamstrings challenge your movement the best course of action is to add props, or modify, they will open far more successfully this way than when they are in a fear state (“You are going to snap me aren’t you?? STOP” said the hamstrings). Amongst others, we practice Navasana and variations (boat), Krounchasana (I think they call this heron) and kurmasana (which makes me think of Kermit the frog). Have fun :-)
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 Forward Folds, poses where we hinge from the hips and extend the torso forward and over our legs. We also explore poses mostly that require the legs to be together or no wider than hip width apart. What movement patterns and key elements make up these poses and how we can make it more accessible and/or experience it in new ways. Forwards folds can be experienced intensely in the hamstrings and is often what makes people avoid them. Tight hamstrings are very uncomfortable and can be a factor in causing lower back pain. So here we approach them by emphasising the parts of the legs and hips that need to ‘hold’ you before folding, to avoid a fear reflex and the possibility of causing strain through over stretching. The amount we can ‘fold’ depends on the flexibility of our hamstrings, as well as the hip rotators and often requires patience. By striking a balance between stretching and maintaining the integrity of the spine, we can have a much healthier forward extension that doesn’t make us feel like we are stuck and can’t move forward.
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 More45 Mins
In this fundamentals class we focus on Virabhadrasana 1 and it’s related family poses. What movement patterns and key elements make up this pose and poses like it. It is different to Warrior 2 and Trikonasana with the rotational elements in the hip joint where the pelvis angles forward. The front leg is bent like warrior 2 and parsvakonasana but the back leg is straight like parvottanasana. Lots of names for you to remember :-) But once you get used to the key standing poses you will see how all yoga poses have similar elements in common and you will be able to carry with you your awareness from one pose to another. It is true though that you will experience it differently in different planes. Here we explore variations of virabhadrasana 1, standing, on our back, kneeling and balancing on one leg. You will see how the normal imbalances of the pelvis influence this particular pose, it has elements of a back bend so tends to be the problematic standing posture. Here we work to open the hamstrings, as well as the hip flexors and focus on lifting and opening the chest and upper back to elevate the arms up and over our head.
Read MoreIf you are spending long periods of time sitting, whether this is at a desk, driving or feeding a new baby the pull in the body to slump becomes harder to resist. Our focus in this class is how we can counter the effects on the upper back (the hunch) through shoulder/chest openers and twists. There are so many options to relieve discomfort and a lot of the postures can be taken individually and practiced regularly on their own for relief. Never be intimidated by the length of a class, we are not doing this particular class in order to achieve a deeper backbend or a fancy arm balance. This is like first aid and does not need to sequential if you do not have the time to follow the full class.
Read MoreSometimes you realise there are elements of your practice you are neglecting or ignoring. This can be consciously or unconsciously. It’s always nice to practice the things that come to us effortlessly and that we enjoy whilst resisting the things that make us uncomfortable or are practices that we don’t enjoy. Blockages can be physical, if we are injured or feeling poorly certain practices should be avoided, but it is deciphering if we are always avoiding the same things because of what we tell ourselves we feel about this certain movement or practice. Sometimes it’s about finding a different path, a different perspective and a new way of approaching or looking at something. Backbends are the perfect practice to explore this. When they come easy the practices are energising and fun and make you feel strong and alive. But when you you feel stuck, heavy or resistant they can leave the body and mind (ego) feeling depleted and deflated. This practice gives an accessible route in to back bending/front lengthening that can be kept very simple or advanced as your mood, body or practice decides. One thing to emphasise is that back bending shouldn’t cause you lower back pain. Once we learn to use our legs and open the upper back and chest properly the lower spine and pelvis are completely stable. Please discontinue practising any movements that cause pain or lasting discomfort.
Read MoreOne element that is hard to avoid in any style or level of Yoga class is shoulder mobility. Rarely is flexibility over strength or strength over flexility the solution, it is a happy interchange between the two. This class we focus on mobility and gaining greater range of motion in the shoulder area, which includes the connections to the chest (muscles and bones), the ribs and upper back. With repetition of certain actions and movements we see how this has a dynamic effect on the movement range of our upper torso and how our body has the potential to use this information to practice asanas that require more weight baring. Primarily because our body feels lighter, we are no longer over using and creating stress in the same and often the wrong muscles.
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 MoreBy changing the direction we place our palms we can change the experience of the arms, shoulder girdle and chest and completely transform some of our backbends. We also start to consider kumbaka as a moment, a pause at the top of our inhale that can reveal a profound stillness. Our practice culminates with an introduction to Maha Mudra.
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 MoreIt is too simplistic to say you can open the shoulders without opening the chest, and you can’t open the chest without opening the back and none of these areas are unconnected to the hips or legs. But we have isolated shoulder movements that open the chest and chest openers that open the shoulders. With forward extensions to lengthen the hamstrings to further elongate and lift the upper body.
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 MoreExploring range of movement in the shoulders for increased mobility in the whole shoulder region, including upper back (traps) and chest opening.
Read MoreMobility in the shoulders comes hand in hand with mobility in the connections to the torso. Here we explore how a wide ‘wing’ span can create width in the chest, improved balance and more freedom in the shoulders.
Read MoreOpening the armpits to free the arms from the chest and create both horizontal and vertical space in the torso. Exploring from a multitude of base leg positions.
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