In the back of ‘Light on Yoga’ is a 300 week yoga programme. I though it would be interesting to practice week one. Guruji said “My body is my first prop”. Today this is all I had too, so this is a practice without any other props, not even a mat 🙂 and I kept slipping in the sand which made it slightly more challenging.
For more info about the poses check out the Light on Yoga book, it is amazing.
Next week I will put up the second version I made, with props and shoulder stand too.
Love and light,
Lucy
Using a chair (I was using a bench) is a beautifully gentle way to introduce Surya Namaskar (salutations to the sun) into a daily practice and a wonderful way to easy into the day.
Open your heart with this practice and let the sun shine in.
Enjoy 🙂
Lucy
A ‘Yoga chair’ (a metal framed on like in my video) is helpful but not necessary for this practice. Learn how to use the chair to support yoga poses, whether that is because you are dealing with fatigue or you want to explore poses a little longer to improve your technique.
I used to think that props got in the way of a ‘real’ Yogasana practice but, as my practice has deepened, they have become essential tools. Allowing each posture to become (in the words of BKS Iyengar) “Meditation in action”.
I hope by the end of this half hour yoga practice you may feel the same way.
Enjoy!
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
Right… at the beginning I say this will be a 10 minute practice… my timing this time was not so good, it is more like 15.
The legs hold us up, keep us grounded, mobilize us and motivate us. They need to be a stable and flexible.
Let’s give a great big cheer for our legs and celebrate the amazing work they do every day.
Here’s a practice to help you get to know them a little better.
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
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