I just found this little re-visit to last summer.
A quick practice to give you a bit of ooomph for a wintery duvet day.
Enjoy!
If I could only explain the joy a few good standing poses brings to my body, the captured image would be it.
With a strong and well balanced action in the legs we have support for our spine and the rest of the yoga practice.
Standing poses are key within the Iyengar yoga system and yet soooo easily forgotten when we become obsessed with more complicated asana.
The late summer sun, the sound of the sea and the standing poses brought a great sense of grounding with upliftment, the play of opposites!
As always listen to your body and work to your own capacity.
Love and light,
Lucy
Trees are the lungs of the earth. Trees help our planet breathe. Vrksasana (tree pose) enables our chest and lungs to open more, enabling us to find a deeper fuller breath too.
Forests around the world are also our planet’s air conditioning system and help keep the planet cool. In Vrksasana try to breathe through the nose to filter and prepare the air before it enters the lungs. Breathe out through the nose to gently cleanse the nasal passage of any dust or debris.
Practice makes better.
Root your feet into the ground, prepare your base, trunk and mind for a short practice that will help you breathe more easily.
Work to your own capacity and capability.
Breathe and enjoy,
Love and light,
Lucy
At the end of this morning’s session, Sam said “that was lovely! Just lying there at the end of the session with the sun on my face and the sound of the sea. So relaxing”. Sam then went off with a few others, for a quick swim in the sea.
Savasana is such a special pose. It is the one that give us so much when we give it the time it requires.
Learning to relax is not “being lazy”, it is learning to let go of tensions that no longer serve us, things that we can do nothing about and acceptance of where we are in every moment.
Give yourself some time to breathe, release and let go.
This pose is always time well spent. Take a look in BKS Iyengar’s “Path to holistic health” to see how to set yourself up for a comfortable savasana. Alternatively take yourself off to bed..
Enjoy.
Love and light,
Lucy
Simply working towards some inversions, I do give other options if you don’t fancy or cannot go upside down.
I find going upside down really quietening for my busy brain. Always a good thing for me to do when my mental chatter becomes all encompassing (plus I love the feeling too 🙂
If you have never been upside down, get a teacher to guide you up the first few times, with extra eyes on the puzzle you will get to know the correct actions required.
As always, regard your body and the feed back from your body with utmost reverence.
Practice to your own capacity.
Enjoy,
Lucy
If you have ever tried to surf, you will know how tight the shoulders can become, even after just a few hours of paddling.
Or, if you have spent the day driving or even sitting at your computer for a long time. This practice is for you.
It’s short and sweet, introducing mobility around the neck, shoulders and upper back.
Please remember body proportion plays a role in how easy certain poses are, e.g. The entwined arm posture; I have very long arms and narrow shoulders, so, I did not have to work so hard to achieve this pose for myself.
After a regular shoulder releasing practice, you will enjoy a greater range of motion and sense of ease around the upper body.
Pay attention to your body’s needs/requirements. Enjoy looser shoulders.
Love and light,
Lucy
If you have any shoulder injuries, get the guidance of a qualified yoga therapist or physio before practicing this sequence, as some of the moves may not be appropriate.
Utthita trikonasana, Ardha Chandrasana and Anantasana, aka; Triangle, Half moon and the Blissful pose are the asanas that take centre stage in this practice.
Although I am using ropes you do not need to, but a wall is super handy for balance and proprioception (your sense of where you are in space).
As you get more used to inhabiting your body during your practice you will start to feel the subtleties of each posture and the links that connect them together too.
This practice gets better with repetition, a good memory and a firm idea that you are approaching it, once more, with a beginners mind.
You will need a mat, wall, some blankets, a brick, a belt (ropes are ace but not necessary) and the all important peaceful heart.
Gently move from one pose into the next, paying careful attention to the body and the support that it needs.
Enjoy your practice.
Love and light,
x Lucy
A few nights ago I was on Facebook chatting on the ‘Women with camper-vans’ forum about the idea that a yoga holiday for women with camper-vans might be a nice idea. A lady asked if she do the yoga from a chair. She thought once down on the floor getting up might be difficult. I promised a little video that could be done using a chair (I used a bench in my garden, the weather was just too nice)
There is a lot of ‘Chair pose’.
It’s just a 20 minute practice, but I waffle a bit about G7 summit to begin with. I start teaching the yoga at about a minute in.
Work to your own capacity, be kind to yourself and Enjoy being in your body.
Love and light,
Lucy
Spending a little bit of time observing the body pays dividends.
When the knees are tight, often they need a little more time to allow the tissues to release. Practice and repetition also helps.
Imagine you are giving your knees a treat, listen to them carefully, explore gentle movement, find out what works for each knee individually. Who knows you might even find that the hamstrings will release a little too 🙂
I have been practicing this sequence for a little while now and I find it super relaxing.
Stay with soft attentive movement, if something does not feel quite right just accept it, release and maybe try again.
I usually find that if I gently try a second time, movement comes a little easier.
Listen to your and body practice with care.
Love and light,
Lucy
Here it is… just another Yoga practice, with a boat.
Yes you guessed it, Navasana is there, just at the end. Maxine Lunn does this pose beautifully, I always have a picture of her in my head, just in front of st Micheal’s mount.
A boat is firm, well balanced and floats. Just a thought for when you attempt the pose.
Enjoy your practice, pay attention to your body and be sensitive to your needs.
Love and light,
Lucy