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.
Read More45 Mins
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.
Read More50 Mins
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.
Read More45 Mins
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.
Read More45 Mins
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 More60 Mins
Crossing Over - Full Body Extension
Here we extend the side body with a little bit of a twist. We make our limbs travel further by crossing them over, we also add in IT band and hip rotators working this way. We stretch and open the front body and flexors in this practice too. If it’s possible to play Yoga Twister this is it :-)
Read More50 Mins
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
Revolving - Strength & Stability
When we twist our spine dictates how much we can move in either direction. As well as the lats and obliques to name just two big muscles that help. We can deepen our twists with the breath and longer holds, slowly slowly unravelling the patterns and observing them. To aid in the twist mobility we also lengthen the inner line of the legs (adductors) and hamstrings to free the pelvis and waist. There is also fun to be had exploring arm balances, weight distribution and build strength for our ability to do this but also for the longevity of our bones and building density through weight baring.
Read More60 Mins
Strong Abs - Core Centric
Good movement through the body and a healthy spine is reliant on a strong and flexible core. The beauty of many Yoga poses, practiced carefully and consciously at the appropriate time, both occur together. The beauty of this class is we include, hip stretches, arm strength, balance, backbends as well as direct abdominal work to really stabilise the core of the body so we can move our limbs in all directions and across different planes without bucking in the middle.
Read More60 Mins
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.
Read More65 Mins
Sahasrara - Thousand Petal Lotus
Our 7th Chakra, Sahasrara is located just above the crown of the head, associated with the colour violet it’s element is thought. It is considered the thousand petal lotus, the jewel in the crown, the ultimate awakening and wisdom where our connection to spirit, sense of the universal, consciousness, unity and enlightenment are manifested. When balanced we have kind thoughts, actions and faith through meditation and prayer, able to transcend our physical world. When imbalanced we feel disconnected from those around us, apathetic and depressed.
In this practice we focus on the poses, mudra and sound that allow us to bring attention to the area where the crown chakra is located. Balancing our right and left sides, elevating through the central channel of the spine to the crown of the head is a key element to this practice.
Read More65 Mins
Ajna - The All Seeing Eye
Our 6th Chakra, Ajna is located at the third eye centre, between our eye brows. It is considered the ‘seeing’ chakra, our inner sight which guides our intuition and also clear sight in to the things we want and can visualise achieving. This is when it is in balance and also enables us to recall our dreams and past memories. When imbalanced we are caught seeing things from only one perspective, can’t see or imagine the future, could have nightmares, obsessiveness and confusion. In this practice we focus on drishti, where our gaze falls when we move as well as meditation focus and viewing our practice from inside. Affirmations to consider:- I see all things in clarity, I am open to the wisdom within, I can manifest my vision.
* Please note in my post covid brain this is not Hakini mudra (we review this next week). And we should have practiced eye ball movements instead of the neck practice. We review this next week as well. But consider practicing moving your eyes around as if following the numbers on a clock face, holding for 10 - 15 seconds at each point.
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 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
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.
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
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 !!!
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.
Read More70 Mins
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.
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
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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Splitting the legs requires our legs to be out of equilibrium. For one leg to go one way and for the other to go in the opposite direction and upwards requires different muscles to work in different ways. The keys muscles that connect to the pelvis have to balance and stabilise the body, rather than just be asked to be flexible and lengthen we are asking them to get strong too. So have fun, balance on one leg, take one leg back, one leg forward, one leg up, one leg down. You will strengthen, lengthen, open and explore different planes of movement.
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 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 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 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 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 MoreWhen I was writing and practicing this plan I wondered to myself ‘is this the yoga equivalent of legs, bums and tums?’ which, I have never done but it seemed we were about to feel all these areas. I would say the dominant theme is opening the hamstrings, I say opening rather than lengthening because we focus here on widening the belly of the muscles. This tends to be more productive than feeling as though we are “stretching and lengthening” the muscles and potentially pulling them too much. Broadening the hamstrings whilst stretching them also protects the lower back, makes it easier to engage the abdominal muscles and strengthen the glutes. So legs, glutes and abs here we go.
Read MoreWhen you want to strengthen your core it is good to learn how to move from your centre. In this class we see how to stabilise our centre, our ‘core’ so that we can lift and lower our limbs without zigzagging (dropping the outer hips) or tilting the pelvis and ‘puffing’ the abdomen. By stabilising we are strengthening the deepest abdominal muscles rather than the superficial outer layers. Ultimately this protects our lower back and supports our whole posture. From our centre comes every movement. Strong, stabile and supported, SSS.
Read MoreSquatting and all roads that lead to the ultimate balancing squat - bakasana or the affectionately named Crow pose. Our focus is the path not the pose but the possibilities for movement and creating both mobility and strength along the way. Angles and bending and range of motion in the ankles, knees and hips is an interesting place to start. Let’s explore …
Read MoreEnergising, awakening and lit up practice to counter inertia and lethargy
Read MoreBalancing effort and ease, what over works and what under works or is sleepy
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