Not Front, Not Back, On the Side: Exploration of the Lateral Body (Short Course; Level Experienced Beginner)
Our conception of our bodies ourselves is often 2-dimensional – we are aware to an extent of our fronts, and to a lesser extent of our backs, but the awareness along the sides of the body is very hazy. Our limbs – the arms and the legs – are attached to the sides of the […]
Fixing Arms in Place for Anantasana and Vasisthasana Adaptations
Often, there is more focus on moving the arms, pushing or pulling with the arms. This session explores the hidden power in fixing the arms in place – this stabilises the shoulders and indeed, the entire upper back – in standing asanas, and works up towards bearing weight on the shoulders and arms. Level: Experienced […]
Chaturanga dandasana to Marichyasana – Connecting Through Shoulders
This session starts with strong actions on the shoulders with different arm positions, and it culminates to a quiet practice of twists. Level: Intermediate Duration: 75mins Tagwords: 75mins, shoulders, arms, wrists, chaturanga dandasana, marichyasana1, bharadvajasana, sirsasana,
Stable Shoulders and Pranayama Hybrid
Shoulder stability in inverted and weight bearing positions, shoulder mobility in dynamic actions, transitioning into supine pranayama. Level: Intermediate Duration: 60min. Props needed: yoga strap, a few firm blankets
‘Side’ Body Explorations Part1: Parighasana, Trikonasana, Vasisthasana
In the asana vocabulary, there are many positions and actions that take awareness to the side body. This starts with the simplest of actions – raising the arms overhead or sideways, and then extends to the simplest asanas taught to beginners – the lateral standing asanas. This lead towards vasistasana. There is some disturbance in […]
‘Side’ Body Explorations Part2: Parsva Konasana, Ardha Chandrasana, Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana
In the asana vocabulary, there are many positions and actions that take awareness to the side body. This starts with the simplest of actions – raising the arms overhead or sideways, and then extends to the simplest asanas taught to beginners – the lateral standing asanas. In this session we progress to ardha chandrasana, and […]
Short Burst of ‘Side’ Body Exploration
A short duration practice-along class which is a recap of the previous 2 classes involving the side body with standing and balancing asanas. may be done stand-alone as a dynamic, energising practice if one is familiar with the asanas. Level: Experienced Beginner Duration: 40 min. This recording is part of the Short Course Not Front, […]
Varied Arm Actions that Lead to Success in Forward Bends and Back Arches
This session starts with moving and positioning the arm in various ways – first done in isolation; and then incorporated in standing asanas. These actions are very important to bring back flexibility and strength to arm muscles, and is therefore relevant to everyone desk-workers, those who have minor cervical conditions, who experience stiffness in shoulders […]
Ribs, Shoulders, Quadriceps, Breath: The Front of the Body in Back Arches
Back arches are categorised as ‘purva pratana sthiti’ (expansion of the frontal plane) in Sanskrit. This session explores the involvement of the frontal plane of the body as we prepare for back arching Level: Experienced Beginners Duration: 50 mins. Props needed: yoga strap, a couple of blocks, one blanket
Arm Extensions that Lead to Success in Forward Bends
This session starts with a lot of arm-work – first done in isolation; and then incorporated in standing asanas. This gets us ready to attempt forward extending positions. Although this session can be done as a stand-alone session, we recommend that you do it along with the session Varied Arm Actions that Lead to Success […]
