A 15 minute sequence to warm up, strengthen and stretch the hips from the ground. A stand alone experience for healthy hips or a wonderful way to prepare for more dynamic activity or to practice after movement like walking/biking or swimming if the hip area is aggravated.
Whether you desire a sense of "balance" due to extreme weather, workload, worry or fatigue, the elements of this 60 minute practice are intended to help you feel more centered, grounded and present. Expect a breath technique and rhythmic, mellow movement to help "balance" energy, mind and body.
Those of us with a more dominant fiery nature who have a hard time relaxing, or have a tendency not to stop until the point of exhaustion can become vulnerable to burnout as the weather heats up. Interestingly, many of us need stronger movement before we can truly relax. This is an example of a practice to help a busy mind and body finally take a break, cool down and replenish.
In the summer season, hot weather can aggravate our bodies and minds exposing us to challenges like burnout, irritation and rigidity. This moderate class invites you to move with fluidity, encouraging a mindful, moving meditation to cool and calm.
The underpinnings of yoga include the philosophy of the Yoga Sutras, an old text that continues to inspire modern yogis. One of the suggestions for creating inner contentment is the cultivation of "dharana" the Sanskrit word for concentration. Explore techniques to support this skill within a complete, full body hatha practice.
A complete hatha class with focus on therapeutics for the neck to strengthen the muscles that support our heads and retain optimal alignment, helping to avoid upper back and neck pain. Includes a calming skill utilizing sound felt in the throat and neck.
In this bonus workshop, Holistic Nutritionist Lisa Kilgour joined me to share some of her wisdom about learning what is truly nourishing for each of us as unique individuals. This class begins in a chair with practices to relax and prepare your body for nourishment. Then, Lisa K. peeled back some of the food industry deceptions and taught us how to reconnect to our bodies as our best friends and allies in our health. I closed the class with a deeply restoring guided meditation intended to offer another level of nourishment for your mind, heart and soul. Find out more about working with Lisa KIlgour and getting her wonderful book, Undieting.
When was the last time you allowed yourself to just be? There are so many benefits to letting ourselves do nothing every once in a while, and be with what is. Here's a practice that guides you to presence through your senses throughout a rhythmic, engaging and strengthening flow. Learn to discern how to feel a balance of effort and ease and experience 75 minutes of mindfulness in motion.
Sometimes our lives (and our yoga practices) can be hard on our wrists. Enjoy this sequence that shows you how you can strengthen the muscles of your arms without load, and how to care for your wrists and hands so they stay functional.
A 15 minute set of therapeutics for tending to tight external hip rotators (piriformis, gluteals) which often occur and can cause pain around the sacrum or in the deep buttocks. Try this program to keep the area mobilized, strong and flexible!
One reason we may feel depleted is having to continue to take action to fulfill our responsibilities even when we may need rest. This necessary tendency can desensitize us to our energy levels and lead to burn out. The intention of this hatha flow is to re-sensitize yourself to how much energy you are expending by committing to work at 70-75 percent of your ability during the dynamic portion of this practice. The last third of this class is a series of restorative poses to further help us rebuild the energy we scatter through our lives every day.
A rebuilding gentle and abdominals- focused flow that invites you to receive restoration through awareness of your "center"- drawing breath, attention and physical strength to our "core" area that is symbolic of our personal power, boundaries and self-worth. Nourishing depletion of energy and motivation through movement, breath and present-centred focus.
In May's workshop, I offered you a bounty of ideas for helping you to start your day vibrant and tranquil.
We explored an exercise where we examine what we already do each morning, and where we could add in small new habits that can add up to big changes over time.
Workshop notes:
-New habit ideas from bed: Breathe into right side nostril/right side body to encourage a new day of energized activity, eye exercises, joint freeing. Cultivate a thought as your feet hit the floor, like: "May something wonderful happen today".
-Let the light in, a ritual while opening blinds, windows, standing joint freeing and shake off the night's sleep.
-5 essential yoga postures: Plank, Cobra (or Locust), Leg Lifts, Bridge Pose, Bow Pose (with modifications and options. Body Brushing
-Turning aspirations into reality through habit change (written exercise)
-Prana Nidra: a supine guided meditation intended to encourage presence, (the wellspring of vitality) and balance our energy.
We begin with three brief breath techniques intended to calm a distracted mind, invigorate and increase focus. The breath leads a rhythmic flow through a full body strengthen and stretch. Closes with more gentle concentration and overall ease for mind, body and heart
A 30 minute movement and breath practice that focuses on creating mobility and strength for the hips while inviting an intention to increase the ability to experience pleasure through movement and go with the flow of life.
Strengthen your wrists, arms and upper body in a sustainable way by learning to mobilize joints and strengthen muscles without load, preparing the arms for appropriate challenge. In this 75 min invigorating therapeutic class, you'll warm up before weight-bearing movement and explore how focus on arms and chest can enhance breath and the connection with qualities of the heart.
While this 60 minute hatha class is conditioning for the whole body, there is enhanced focus placed on therapeutics for the feet and knees. To keep the feet and knees healthy and happy, we need to keep them mobile and free while strengthening and stretching the big muscle groups around them like the glutes, quads and hamstrings. Throughout the experience, there is also an invitation to offer focused appreciation for these hard working parts of our anatomy! Low body love!
For those who wish to include meditation and movement in the morning routine but aren’t able to create a habit, here’s an efficient way to add short and simple practices that can make a big impact over time.
A practice that begins with a breath technique intended to restore depleted energy, followed by a fluid sequence of asana meant to be approached with effort and ease. The experience closes with guided imagery to continue to rebuild and nourish.
Here are three more ideas for tiny, easy habits that you could connect to activities you already do each day. This week, I offer inspirations for shower time, the moments we spend waiting and a quick pre-meal ritual that can turn eating into a sacred moment of gratitude.