. yoga

I am in Barcelona for this week and next. I was actually recovering from being really quite ill, but this workshop made me feel considerably better for teaching (and of course practicing) it... 'Our inner spaces are where we experience from '

There is too much content to properly describe this workshop - it deals with how we react when in difficulty, how the core and ribs are to do with support, an understanding of the diaphragm... but mostly it is intense practice so you can experience it.

This was an unusual workshop that seemed to strike a chord of recognition. It involves directly occupying different parts of yourself, to see how each part 'likes to be'. All parts add up & simplify into confluent relationships between things. And an unexpected consequence is that movement/postures etc become almost unrecognisably simple & free...

'Core strength' is something that we need - but it can't be usefully developed through 'exercising to strengthen the core'. What I mean by 'the core' is the inner space occupied by organs, fluid, and the space that we call lungs & heart... Core responsiveness is the ability to use the structure around inner space to interact with support and movement - So we can breathe what we do... Explore!

On this workshop, after some deep rebalancing of my own hips following a structural shift in my spine, I thought I would share some of my evolving clarity around how hips can be free of the habitual holding and bracing that causes many people to experience hip and lower back issues,.

I began with an explanation of my baseline 'rules of thumb', and why I base my practice on these intentions, then guided some practice with specifics for the neck shoulders and hips.

This was after my yoga retreat in Turkey - I realised that the biggest interference to experiencing the freedoms and easy strength that are available to anyone that breathes, is the simple habit of 'holding yourself up with the spine', or 'hanging your weight off the spine'.
In normal life this is the normal experience - to access the true 'yoga state' we have to find other ways of supporting ourselves. Sourced in our interactions with the earth and the space we occupy through the breath and its release. Enjoy!

People had a good outcome from the previous week's workshop (follow it if you haven't seen it yet), and there were a few questions to zero in on some of the details... Then I took everyone through something to understand and release neck and shoulder tightness.

This latest workshop was inspired by a moment of simplicity, when I realised that all the principles and understanding about the body that I share can be experienced directly and somatically by everyone, if you follow these 3 things to do in approach to ANY posture or movement.