Posts tagged 75 mins
Playing With a Belt - Chest Opening

65 Mins

Playing With A Belt - Chest Opening

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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HATHA FLOW, Function, Legs, Hips, Hamstrings, Adductors, Groin, Chest opening, Front body lengthening, Shoulders, Upper BodyGemma Nash75 mins
Ankles And Feet - Hugging and Wrapping

75 Mins

Ankles And Feet - Hugging and Wrapping

Many postures and movements require the joints in the ankles to be flexible, this requires good movement in the knees and the hips above. Here we play with poses where we can look at angles in these 3 joints, opening them out and closing them in like an accordion. In turn creating length and flexibility to the muscles connecting them. I have really enjoyed the creativity and experience of movement in this sequencing. Enjoy …

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HATHA FLOW, Function, Mobility, Legs, FUNDAMENTALS, Hips, Hamstrings, Adductors, Groin, PadmasanaGemma Nash75 mins
LLL - Long Lengthened Legs

75 Mins

Long and Lengthened Legs

Our legs are attached to our torso, the pelvis is the intersection between the two. Freedom of movement above and below is intertwined and as we create more length in our legs, more space in the pelvis the ability to lift the torso and feel longer and leaner is evident. In this class we look at muscles and movements that make us lengthen and extend upwards and outwards heading towards hanumanasana - leaping monkey pose :-)

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HATHA FLOW, Function, Mobility, Legs, FUNDAMENTALS, Hips, Abdominals, Hamstrings, Hip FlexorsGemma Nash75 mins
Hips, Lotus and Binding - Every Inch of You

70 Mins

Hips, Lotus and Binding - Every Inch of You

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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HATHA FLOW, Function, Chest opening, Shoulders, Mobility, Balance, Legs, Strength, Adductors, FUNDAMENTALS, Groin, Hips, Padmasana, TwistsGemma Nash75 mins
Shoulder Blade Slides

70 Mins

Shoulder Blade Slides

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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HATHA FLOW, Function, Chest opening, Shoulders, Upper Body, Abdominals, Front body lengthening, Mobility, Backbends, Balance, Hamstrings, Inversions, Legs, StrengthGemma Nash75 mins
Crossing Over

70 Mins

Crossing Over

Here we look at movements and postures where we work on opposites, crossing over, crossing behind, going over, going under. Working on opposites is deceptively tricky as our brain tries to decipher which arm and which leg is doing what. It challenges our balance and asks us to move from a point of stability and strength. See what it brings up … frustration? laughter? tears? And that’s all just from parivritta ardha chandrasana :-)

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HATHA FLOW, Function, Abdominals, Front body lengthening, Mobility, Balance, Hip Flexors, Hips, LegsGemma Nash75 mins
Quads and Hip Flexors for a Happy Dancer

70 Mins

Quads and Hip Flexors for a Happy Dancer

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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HATHA FLOW, Function, Chest opening, Shoulders, Upper Body, Abdominals, Front body lengthening, Mobility, Backbends, Balance, Hip FlexorsGemma Nash75 mins
Reaching Out

70 Mins

Reaching Out

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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HATHA FLOW, Function, Chest opening, Shoulders, Upper Body, Abdominals, Front body lengthening, MobilityGemma Nash75 mins
Shoulder Movement and Motion

70 Mins

Shoulder Movement and Motion

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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HATHA FLOW, Function, Balance, Chest opening, Hip Flexors, Shoulders, Upper Body, Strength, InversionsGemma Nash75 mins
Splitting the legs (not actual splits though)

70 Mins

Splitting the legs (not splits though)

Splitting the legs requires our legs to be out of equilibrium. For one leg to go one way and for the other to go in the opposite direction and upwards requires different muscles to work in different ways. The keys muscles that connect to the pelvis have to balance and stabilise the body, rather than just be asked to be flexible and lengthen we are asking them to get strong too. So have fun, balance on one leg, take one leg back, one leg forward, one leg up, one leg down. You will strengthen, lengthen, open and explore different planes of movement.

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HATHA FLOW, Function, Legs, Mobility, Adductors, Abdominals, Balance, Hamstrings, StrengthGemma Nash75 mins
Going backwards

75 Mins

Going Backwards

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.

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HATHA FLOW, Abdominals, Balance, Backbends, Chest opening, Front body lengthening, Hip Flexors, Mobility, Shoulders, TwistsGemma Nash75 mins
Getting It Straight

75 Mins

Getting It Straight

Not one of us has the same body structure as someone else, although Yoga requires us to make all these different shapes with our bodies, the reenactment and the process of doing them will look and feel different to each of us. We do want to be flexible, but not too flexible, we learn a lot from being stiff, lessons the very mobile body will never know or feel. In this class we practice many variations of postures where our legs are straight and we are bring the legs and the torso in closer proximity to one another. We explore different ways of moving in and out of these postures and how this can affect how deeply we are able to go and also different plains of movement which also affects how far we can go comfortably and without comprising our very precious spines. Being straight is really a misnomer, preventing blockages and keeping our pathways clear for the free flow of energy and health should be the goal, to prevent compression and improve longevity in our bodies through the practices of creating space and length.

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HATHA FLOW, Function, Hips, Abdominals, Balance, Hamstrings, LegsGemma Nash75 mins
Hips In Motion

75 Mins

Hips In Motion

Our hips move around a ball and socket joint. Muscles attach that rotate and move the pelvis, legs and torso in all directions. The pelvis is in two halves, and although it’s symmetrical in design, it’s more likely to be imbalanced and as we move in different directions we will see that are capacity to move freely from the hips is asymmetrical. In this class we explore the movements and ranges of motion in our hips, what ‘they’ like to do, the directions they don’t and the difference between the sides and the impact this has on movement and extension above and below (legs and torso).

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HATHA FLOW, Function, Mobility, Groin, Hip Flexors, Hips, AdductorsGemma Nash75 mins
Quality of movement and breath

75 Mins

Quality of Movement & Breath

Our breath has different qualities depending on the movements we are making. We can observe these changes and our awareness of how the breath changes by observing it throughout our practice. It is hard to focus and feel the quality of the breath, or take long steady breaths when our body is under strain (when we hold a particularly challenging posture). The quality changes depending on whether we are holding, maintaining or resting. It changes if we are upside down, forward folding, back bending, side stretching, twisting or lying down. Here we practice variety; in speed, in repetition, in orientation, in variation. In practice we trust.

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HATHA FLOW, Function, Abdominals, Breath, Mobility, Breathwork, Twists, Upper BodyGemma Nash75 mins
Holding / Staying / Feeling

75 Mins

Staying / Holding / Feeling

Holding a posture is often the strongest part of the practice physically. Then we practice staying, making the pose homely so that we can then experience feeling; the doing has been done, nothing has to be held. After the doing and the holding the homely state will start to come more quickly with practice. What we can create, maintain and enjoy in our practice begins to feel limitless and we find a state of peacefulness in many poses that may have started off feeling stressful or difficult. Our mission is for a state of being where feeling homely comes naturally no matter the difficulty. Here we explore breathing whilst holding in a variety of postures that lift and expand our upper rib cage and shoulders, challenging our balance as well as looking for different breathing patterns when the body isn’t straining or stressed.

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HATHA FLOW, Legs, Function, Abdominals, Upper Body, Shoulders, Breath, TwistsGemma Nash75 mins
The Space In between

75 Mins

The Space In Between

So much of what we do rolls from one thing in to the next, we don’t allow for space between one event or thought and the next. The problem is that things can then become a jumble and we can take on too much. We can use our practice to observe the space in between and how this helps us to not only calm the nervous system but move more freely and more spaciously. The space between the inhale and the exhale, the exhale and the inhale, the space between the pelvis and the ribs, the shoulders and the neck, the ankle and the knees, the eye brows even .. you get the idea. In this practice we look at creating more space in the chest and shoulders through the extension, movement and placement of the arms and legs in different plains. It’s fun and uplifting to move freely :-)

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HATHA FLOW, Legs, Function, Abdominals, Hamstrings, Inversions, Upper Body, Mobility, ShouldersGemma Nash75 mins
Arms as legs

75 Mins

Arms as legs

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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Adductors, Groin, Hips, Legs, Function, Balance, Chest opening, Shoulders, TwistsGemma Nash75 mins
Hip release and lengthening the inner thigh

70 Mins

Hip release and lengthening the inner leg

Lengthening the inner leg muscles involves increasing the range of motion in our external hip rotators and vice versa. In this class we explore both, external hip rotation and lengthening the inner thigh to provide greater range of motion and a longer in seam!! Finding space in the groins benefits our breathing as the muscles here connect us with our diaphragm and when tight can hinder the depth of our breathing and also reduce the space we are giving our internal organs.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Adductors, Groin, Hips, Legs, FunctionGemma Nash75 mins
Backbends and tracing the Lung Meridian

70 Mins

Backbends and Tracing the Lung Meridian

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.

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HATHA FLOW, Legs, Balance, Hip Flexors, Backbends, Chest opening, Front body lengthening, ShouldersGemma Nash75 mins
Cooling Flow - Taking the heat out

75 Mins

Cooling Flow - Taking the heat out

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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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Upper Body, Hip Flexors, Adductors, Breath, Restorative, Front body lengtheningGemma Nash75 mins
Elongation - Finding length in our hip flexors/quads/abdomen

75 Mins

Elongation - Finding Length in the hip flexors/quads/abdomen

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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Backbends, Chest opening, Front body lengthening, Shoulders, Upper Body, Hip FlexorsGemma Nash75 mins
Twists - Spirals and Criss Crossing

75 Mins

Twists - Spirals and Criss Crossing

When we twist in our bodies we are often spiralling a part of the body from small to big or criss crossing from one side to another. Physical twists can be used to untwist our minds but this is something you need to explore after your practice and see how inner turmoil can be lifted, softened or maybe even resolved. Twists can feel intense, you learn a lot about the ways your body can and can’t move in certain directions. They also unlock a lot of freedom and movement in our bodies and help create more balance and evenness.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Balance, Abdominals, Chest opening, Upper Body, TwistsGemma Nash75 mins
Opening and lifting - Focusing Our Attention

75 Mins

Opening and lifting - Focusing our attention

When we focus our attention on opening one place we can experience many asanas from a whole new perspective. We continue with our opening and lifting of the upper torso and see how this is not only applied to back bends but can also apply to forward folds, arm balances and inversions. All poses that require us to extend and lengthen our front body.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Balance, Abdominals, Backbends, Chest opening, Front body lengthening, Shoulders, Upper BodyGemma Nash75 mins
Cause and Effect - Arching

75 Mins

Cause and effect

What does something we do with one part of our body do to affect another part? This is the constant see saw we explore in our Yoga practice. Everything is connected and we can see this when we feel that no movement we take is singular in it’s experience. What we do with one part of our body has an effect on another. Here we explore the act of back arching, principally by opening the upper back but in such a way we feel the movement all the way through the legs so the body as a whole comes in to the arch. Then we start to notice less the extent to which our back is bending but more the capacity we have for our front body to fully open and lengthen.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Balance, Abdominals, Backbends, Chest opening, Front body lengthening, Shoulders, Upper BodyGemma Nash75 mins
Twists & Turns - The Winding Path

75 Mins

Twists & Turns - The Winding Path

I was thinking about the concept of being on the ‘straight and narrow’ whilst reading a book called The Practice Is The Path by Tias Little. The concept of trying to keep oneself on this path and those we care for on a similar ‘straight and narrow’ pathway is not only very limiting but nye on impossible. In this class we navigate our practice by looking at the movement patterns we use to come in and out of poses creatively. Sometimes it’s not the pose itself that’s difficult to experience but the path we take towards it. I would say this class focuses on hip mobility and our own agility when it comes to movement in Yoga.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Function, Legs, Balance, Adductors, Hips, Groin, TwistsGemma Nash75 mins
Crossing Over and Threading Through

75 Mins

Crossing Over and Threading Through

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 :-)

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Legs, Balance, Upper Body, Adductors, Hips, Shoulders, StrengthGemma Nash75 mins
Arranging The Structure

75 Mins

Arranging The Structure

In Yoga there many ways of exploring the asanas and here we look at how the same shape is formed in the body but practiced from different angles. We use these variations as a means of studying both our body and our mind. How are we experiencing each variation differently? What is this teaching us? Why does one way feel good and another feel so unstable for instance? We look at how to find the similarities and differences and use them to help us arrange our structure. Dandasana, Uttanasana, Prasarita padottanasana, Paschimottanasana, Urdva Paschimottanasana 1 & 2, Halasana. All these poses look very similar, the same even, but they are experienced very very differently. Learn, study, practice :-)

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Legs, Abdominals, HamstringsGemma Nash75 mins
Lymphatic Flow

75 Mins

Lymphatic Flow

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 :-)

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Legs, Balance, Front body lengthening, Upper Body, Adductors, GroinGemma Nash75 mins
Counter Balancing - Simultaneously moving in different directions

75 Mins

Counter Balancing

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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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Legs, Balance, Front body lengthening, Upper Body, Hamstrings, Abdominals, Hip Flexors, Hips, InversionsGemma Nash75 mins
Where does the action begin?

75 Mins

Where does the action begin?

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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Legs, Balance, Front body lengthening, Upper Body, Groin, Strength, HamstringsGemma Nash75 mins
Lengthen to strengthen - The Abs

75 Mins

Lengthening to Strengthen - The Abs

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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Legs, Abdominals, Balance, Front body lengthening, Shoulders, Backbends, Hip Flexors, Upper BodyGemma Nash75 mins
Hugging In

75 Mins

Hugging In

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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Legs, Hips, Abdominals, Balance, Front body lengthening, ShouldersGemma Nash75 mins
Hip-ppy hip-ppy Flow

75 Mins

Hip-py hip-py Flow

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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Legs, Twists, Hip Flexors, Hips, GroinGemma Nash75 mins
Journeying towards hanumanasana (splits)

75mins

Hatha Flow 26th March

I 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Function, Abdominals, Legs, Backbends, Chest opening, Shoulders, Front body lengthening, Groin, Hamstrings, Hip Flexors, HipsGemma Nash75 mins
The Amazing Shalabhasana

75mins

Hatha Flow 11th March 2021

This 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Function, Abdominals, Legs, Strength, Backbends, Chest opening, ShouldersGemma Nash75 mins
The Yoga Equivalent to Legs, Bums and Tums (forgive me)

75mins

Hatha Flow 4th March 2021

When 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Function, Abdominals, Hamstrings, Legs, StrengthGemma Nash75 mins
Piriformis - Release & Stabilise

75mins

Hatha Flow 26th February

The piriformis is a deep hip rotator and helps us turn our leg out. It is often tight and can cause sciatica if it presses against the sciatic nerve. It can become tight from long periods of sitting but also from certain types of exercising. I designed this class to stretch the piriformis muscle although I don’t directly reference the muscle during the class. The majority of us will feel an intense stretch in the buttocks/deep in to the pelvis but I am equally aware that some people feel very little at all. You may feel discomfort in joints further down the leg chain (knee and/or ankle and foot) so it is important to add supports (usually for the seated variations) and follow the suggested modifications to make your practice both fun and safe.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Function, HipsGemma Nash75 mins
Countering The Hunch

75mins

Hatha Flow 11th February

If 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Function, Breathwork, Chest opening, Shoulders, Twists, Upper BodyGemma Nash75 mins
Finding balance through imbalance

75mins

Hatha Flow 4th February

Through balancing we learn about our imbalances. We can see what we may perceive as ‘weaknesses’ more as explorative movements in how we can seek and find better balance. Most of this practice explores the balance of the pelvis, a two sided structure that acts as the junction between the upper and lower body. This can influence everything from balancing on one leg, to the extent we can move in different directions and how wide or narrow we can take the legs. We are generally not symmetrical, we generally are not balanced. As we take the ideas of this practice in to the world we can explore the wider implications of allowing our imbalances to highlight how we can find balance.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Function, Balance, Hips, Groin, AdductorsGemma Nash75 mins
Elevating the chest for backbends

75mins

Hatha Flow 28th January

Sometimes 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Front body lengthening, Function, Chest opening, Shoulders, Upper Body, Backbends, Hip Flexors, InversionsGemma Nash75 mins
Lightening the load - Opening the chest and shoulders

75mins

Hatha Flow 21st January

One 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Front body lengthening, Function, Backbends, Chest opening, Shoulders, Upper BodyGemma Nash75 mins
Moving From Our Centre (Core)

75mins

Hatha Flow 14th January

When 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Front body lengthening, Function, Legs, Abdominals, Balance, StrengthGemma Nash75 mins
All Rounder - Flow and Stretch

75mins

Hatha Flow 7th January

This 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Front body lengthening, Function, Legs, Adductors, Hamstrings, HipsGemma Nash75 mins
Psoas - Stretch, Release and Function

75mins

Hatha Flow 18th December

The 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Front body lengthening, Abdominals, Function, Hip Flexors, LegsGemma Nash75 mins
Like Yin - Slowing down and accepting support

75mins

Hatha Flow 11th December

Sometimes 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Breath, Breathwork, Restorative, Yin, Front body lengthening, Hips, TwistsGemma Nash75 mins
Abdominals - Moving From Our Centre

75mins

Hatha Flow 3rd December

Moving 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Abdominals, Backbends, Chest opening, Front body lengthening, Shoulders, Upper BodyGemma Nash75 mins
Hips - 360 degrees

75mins

Hatha Flow 26th November

In this class we attempt to explore the range of motion in the hips. Playing with all round hip flexibility and strength. By moving the leg at different angles in relation to the pelvis, lifting, rotating and extending to the side, back and front we can see what range of movement we have. We can then see what motion we have in the hips and how this influences how we can move in to and out of a pose and the extent to which we can improve flexibility and balance around the whole circumference of the pelvis; hip flexors, hip rotators, the hip joint, sacrum, and adductors. This is a great class to prepare your hips for padmasana (full lotus), although we practice to half lotus here.

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HATHA FLOW, Function, Adductors, Groin, Hip Flexors, Hips, Padmasana, MobilityGemma Nash75 mins
Revolving palms to free the shoulders and open the chest

75mins

Hatha Flow 19th November

By 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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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Hamstrings, Backbends, Breathwork, Front body lengthening, Shoulders, Upper BodyGemma Nash75 mins
Softening and widening the abdomen (WHAT??! I hear you cry?)!

75mins

Hatha Flow 12th November

If 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Chest opening, Function, Balance, Abdominals, HamstringsGemma Nash75 mins
Opening the chest, creating freedom in the shoulders and extending forwards

75mins

Hatha Flow 5th November

It 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Backbends, Chest opening, Function, Hamstrings, ShouldersGemma Nash75 mins
Squatting and the path to Bakasana, the ultimate balancing squat

75mins

Hatha Flow 22nd October

Squatting 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 …

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HATHA FLOW, Twists, Balance, Strength, Mobility, Hips, FunctionGemma Nash75 mins
Twists - 360 Tour of the ribcage to lengthen, stretch and release the spine

75mins

Hatha Flow 15th October

We 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.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Shoulders, Abdominals, Backbends, Chest opening, Inversions, Legs, TwistsGemma Nash75 mins
Side body lengthening - pelvis to shoulder connection

75mins

Hatha Flow 8th October

Lengthening the sides of our bodies means creating space between the pelvis and the shoulders. Helping ease possible feelings of restriction or tightness without necessarily going straight to the centre of where the tightness is felt. Clearing the pathways to the major junctions/joints in the body is crucial, looking at the space in between. The ribcage is pivotal in connecting us to all sides of ourselves.

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HATHA FLOW, Mobility, Balance, Function, Hips, ShouldersGemma Nash75 mins