45 Mins
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 :-)
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More50 Mins
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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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.
Read More45 Mins
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.
Read More45 Mins
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 :-)
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More60 Mins
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 :-)
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More65 Mins
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!!
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More60 Mins
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!!
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More60 Mins
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!!
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More60 Mins
Lengthening and reaching out
Continuing what seems to be the theme for this series of classes this month we find length in the torso by extending and reaching out of the ribcage. Here we focus on doing this through twists and side body stretches. The benefits of lengthening our torso is improved postured, improved spine mobility, more space for abdominal organs and their optimal function. This practice also focuses on strengthening our hip joint for greater stability when it comes to wide leg postures, whist stretching out the adductors (and semitendinosus, our inner most hamstring) at the same time.
Read More65 Mins
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.
Read More60 Mins
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 ;-)
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More65 Mins
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).
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More65 Mins
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.
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More65 Mins
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 :-)
Read More65 Mins
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.
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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.
Read More65 Mins
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!!
Read More65 Mins
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.
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.
Read More70 Mins
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 :-)
Read More70 Mins
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!!
Read More70 Mins
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.
Read More75 Mins
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.
Read More70 Mins
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.
Read More70 Mins
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 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.
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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 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
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.
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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 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.
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 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 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 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 More60 Mins
In this fundamentals class we focus on Prasarita Padotanasana, a pose where the legs are wide apart and we fold forward. We also explore similar poses that require the legs to move wide apart and where there is an element of forward ‘bending’. What movement patterns and key elements make up these poses and how we can make it more accessible and/or experience it in different planes. This can be experienced intensely in the hamstrings and the inner groins and requires a fair amount of ankle stability to ensure we don’t overstretch in the outer foot. The distance we take the legs apart depends on our hips and often the shape of our pelvis and the amount we can ‘fold’ depends on the flexibility of our hamstrings and our ability to move into, stay in and move out of the pose. By striking a balance between stretching and strengthening, the placement of our feet, where we bare weight, we can have a much healthier forward extension that doesn’t comprise the integrity of the spine or make us feel like we can’t move forward.
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 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 MoreThis is my go to practice when I want to stretch and open as many parts of me as I possibly can in one practice without moving in to any advanced postures or leaning too far in one direction. Finding length in the torso, lifting from the pelvis, relief in the hips, opening the hamstrings, fullness of breath. Side bends, forwards bends, back bends: all in small doses but designed to open me up and wake me up all over. This is a wonderful all round flow and suitable for all levels. If you have a yoga belt or something that could substitute as one this would be helpful for this class.
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 MoreSometimes we just need to slow down. Do less, stay longer and take a pause between thoughts and actions. As well as approaching things from a new perspective, supporting postures and giving yourself the space to let go. This class explores classically Yin poses and ways to ‘flow’ standing with minimal effort. This is the class for you when you need to move but perhaps feel low on energy or when you feel exhausted and in need of calming down the nervous system.
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.
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