Videos

Meditation is a key practice that is mostly skipped over, simply because of how difficult it is to both still the mind and remain upright. Here I offer a practical way of introducing a daily chakra meditation to your life, together with practices that will not only cause the mind to centre and become still, but it will also set you up physically for a new way of being in the world...

If the hips or lower back feel stiff, tight or painful in postures, the chances are that you habitually support yourself with a holding pattern of the psoas and/or illiopsoas muscles, and if you do that in an unbalanced way (if you are right- or left-footed), it leads to scoliotic holding patterns to compensate. Knowing this does nothing to help you, because trying to 'open' or 'stretch' these muscles will simply cause them to resist your efforts. The problem is that they are

There are two very unusual vertebrae in the neck that are related to expression and thought - and moreover whether you are free in these vertebrae or not is dependent on how you are interacting with the world! On this short Yoga solutions podcast, I explain what I mean by this as well as give you a direct physical exploration of how you can liberate natural movement between head and neck, and awaken the thoracic spine so that neck and shoulders no longer need to suffer fro

Hips are quite a tricky thing to understand because what people understand as 'hips' depends on where they 'feel' them. Articulations of the hips involve how the thigh bones, pelvic bones, and the sacrum all move relative to each other. Tightness/difficulty in the hips is a result of holding patterns between these things (all permutations), which is always because of how you hold yourself up. Freedom in the hips relies on each component part of this intricate set of joi

Many teachers recognise the importance of the breath in posture work, yet breathing practices (aka pranayama), are mostly practiced 'separately' because it is considered as 'advanced' compared to posture work. However, if we are free to explore how the breath is naturally involved in active support whilst preparing for a posture, it makes complete sense of the pranayamas. And understanding the nature of the pranayamas make sense of the posture! If you really allow yourself

A regular question i get is about how to be free in the shoulders... but whenever I run workshops in new places with large groups of people, one of the things not asked is 'how to reach up with the arms during sun salute'... Yet absolutely everyone in the room is lifting their arms with their shoulders and neck when they come up... which is exactly what gives them the tight shoulders in the first place. Here is a 5 minute short class that will get you to understand how should

Sitting upright is really quite tricky for many people - and if so seated forward bends are even harder. Here I show you why and what you need to do differently if you want to 'get' seated postures. Enjoy! Click the like button for me and share it anywhere you like. If you want to work with me, there is currently a more-than-50% discount on my memberships (varying for different levels of engagement). This ends in September 2023, but what ever price you sign up for is loc

Triangle (all versions from all traditions) is quite a difficult posture in terms of 'finding the yoga of it'. The bigger wider versions of it can only really be enjoyed and understood whist using a plethora of blocks and other supports - without which the practitioner is likely to strain and pull on their spines (wide angle triangle is notorious for 'causing' sacro-illiac distortions which can become devastating injuries). The clue that you're not doing a particularly use

THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF 'YOGA SOLUTIONS' ... Developing a true somatic experience and practical understanding of what they actually are, together with relevance to your life, health and state of being... 'Chakras' are spoken of as if they are a universal experience that some people feel 'in tune with', and others see as a belief system rather than anything of practical use. During this morning's pranayama I gained some insight that I wanted to share with you, because it m

'Inner space' is a description of a purely somatic experience that most people only have when resting and happy.... Here I give you a way of providing that for yourself directly, simply by using your hands for support. 'Inner support' is similarly a description of a somatic experience that will mean very different things to different people depending on what efforts and tensions they are accustomed to... So I also offer an approach to the same thing as above (as your s

Here I explain the reason for any difficulty you might have in 'balance postures' or the even more misleading instruction of 'holding balances'. And i show you exactly the small shift in perspective and understanding that should make things much simpler... A full half hour guided practice will be available later on today for my premium members ( www.acquaviva.yoga/membership ). For ~ £1/week (Silver membership) you can get a weekly class on my 'Yoga Solutions' subjects, as w

Yoga Solutions: There is a familiar principle in Scaravelli inspired yoga of 'gathering together ' before 'opening out'. It is an idea that makes zero sense to the 'stretch' camp of yoga, and is often misinterpreted by those familiar with it as a kind of 'contraction' so they enjoy 'opening out' after... Here I try and make practical sense of the thing... what you are actually trying to do AND why it works. . A full half hour guided practice on this topic will be available la

I found myself explaining things in the simplest and most common-sense way, that taps into the most fundamental reasons that any of us are drawn to practice in the first place.....

This is a recording of my teaching on a CPD workshop for the British Wheel, taking practitioners into a different mindset and intention in practice. Appropriate for all dedicated explorers of the mind-body relationship.

I don't usually talk anatomy because, as interesting as it might be, as a model for movement it can become thoroughly misleading. But If you want to understand why you might be 'stiff' or have tight hamstrings/hips/shoulders/back, here's an anatomy lesson for you that makes sense of it all as well as what you actually need to do to change things (and its nothing to do with manipulating connective tissue) #connectivetissue #fascia #yogaanatomy #cuttingoutthenonsense #yogasolu

1. Surrender the mind to your heart, & your weight through your touch, From within allow space from the ground. 2. If you find you need space, then meet the space behind you, to either side, and when you meet above, let go from up to down... 3. With your hands and feet, gather your bones to the centre. The spine, the spaces within & your touch, must all come close together. 4. Give the spine & breath to your base, from hands & feet - thread through space, Then this rhythm c

'The innate wisdom of the body' recorded for the World Yoga Festival online August 2020 and it involved a gentle guided practice and Q&A (always with practical answers)

Within 1 minute watch on fast forward a pulsing rhythmic flow class with regular moments of rest & a deep relaxation/chant to finish.