When I first started practicing yoga, I avoided blocks. I was determined to do everything by myself, even if that meant sacrificing integrity in a certain pose, or even risking injury (Oh hey ego how are you?). Now that I’m a few years in, I’ve gotten over that (thankfully!) and happily reach for blocks at multiple points in my yoga practice. Here are just a handful of ways to use blocks in yoga: To give support to tight hips For…
If you havenât heard of âsitting diseaseâ, it is a scientific term for the sedentary lifestyle a lot of us live nowadays. Long hours in front of computers, or jobs that require sitting for long periods can contribute to the hours you spend sitting down each day. I realised recently that I spend a lot of my time seated – sounds weird for a yoga teacher, right? But with a lot of admin / marketing work moving online, many of…
‘I’m not flexible enough to do yoga’ is something I hear all the time (mostly from my dad), and honestly? That’s like saying ‘I’m too sick to go to the doctor’! It doesn’t matter how flexible you are when you step on to your yoga mat. What matters is that yoga can help you to build flexibility over time – especially in our pesky hamstrings. Maybe you’re a runner, maybe you have a job that requires a lot of sitting,…
Hot yoga is really popular at the moment and a lot of people are trying it out as a way to work up more sweat in their yoga practice and get some heat into their day. I teach hot yoga and I really enjoy the feeling of a total workout along with tension-release. I love the satisfaction I feel when I walk out of a hot yoga class – my muscles are physically more relaxed from the heat, but theyâve…
At the core of Flow yoga classes is vinyasa – which you’ve probably heard your yoga teacher mention more than a few times. If you’ve never had the phrase explained to you, it can be a little confusing! But no worries, we’re here to clear it up for you đ But what exactly does it mean to ‘take a vinyasa’? Very literally, vinyasa means: to place in a special way. In a vinyasa based flow class, that means linking movement…
I love balancing postures in yoga. The effort of maintaining the pose makes it a great chance to practice mindfulness by focusing all attention on the present moment. Itâs not always such a picture perfect moment though… Â balancing postures can bring up frustration if weâre having an âoff dayâ or working on building strength or recovering from an injury. So here are a few simple tips to help improve your balance if you’re finding it tricky. Increase your surface area….
You don’t know how it happened. One day, you were a totally normal human who for some reason decided to try a yoga class. Maybe you wanted to finally be able to touch your toes, maybe you wanted a nice butt, maybe you wanted a calmer mind, maybe you wanted complete spiritual enlightenment. Whatever your reason for finding our way to that first class, the obsession seed was planted, and before you know it… You find yourself standing in Tree…
With the recent snow storm, you might have found yourself cooped up indoors for a lot of last week, which can affect your mood and your body in lots of different ways. If youâre surfacing back into the world today and youâre back to your regular work-week, your muscles might be a little tight. Here are a few simple yoga poses you can do anywhere to get your body moving again and refresh your mood. Shoulder rolls – this is…
Just can’t wait for your after-work yoga class, or can’t make the time to squeeze in a lunchtime flow? We feel you. Here are 5 simple yoga poses that you can easily squeeze into your working day – without getting too much attention from your co-workers. Seated side bend Easy peasy – and no-one will even notice what you’re up to. When we’re hunching over our desks and computers – as we tend to do – the side body can suffer….
If youâre new to yoga and joining mixed level classes with more experienced yogis, itâs normal to feel unsure of some of the postures when a teacher cues them to the class. Here’s a cheatsheet with 3 commonly used yoga cues and how I interpret them. Chaturanga In flow classes, youâll usually have a lot of âchaturangasâ. This is when you flow down from a plank position to slowly lower your body to the mat on the exhale. Keep your…
