. yoga

This was the last workshop of the year, and we did a pretty well rounded class exploring things from a first principle basis (being able to let go of weight from the spine/developing a breath that joins in with whatever you are intending to do/groundedness from above & and lightness from below, etc etc)

A quite intense workshop involving working with squats and other things in order to understand how powerfully your 'breathing gear' needs to be involved directly in your support for you to discover freedom during intense physical activity.

I began with an explanation of why people 'lose energy' and a detailed explanation of how the breath can be 'anti-gravity'. With this current (long-term!) group, I am finding each workshop gets closer to offering the self-empowerment of understanding your practice.

I started this workshop with a reminder that my work, and therefore your practice, is ALWAYS based on first principles (eg. learning to do things without holding your weight up with the spine). And then, because it was a small workshop, I was able to guide the participants into an exploratory practice that would reveal the meaning and deliver the result of this first principle (for the neck)

A very small but powerful workshop - a masterclass in using sitting to activate deep freedoms and support.

This was a deep exploration of how gravity-based released balance can invite the breathing to support you in movement towards uprightness with only release in the lower back and neck (I only have the group recording for this one)

A very small workshop which led to some bespoke 'yoga solutions' - but because it was such a small class I could really go deep into the depth of attention and pace that can allow real changes in the body-mind-breath relationship.

This was a very inspiring workshop, spurred on by questions and experiences of participants....

A deep dive into the subject... its the stuff i usually teach, but this was a direct exploration of how we create the best relationships - which in turn instigates all the other things I share in my teaching

.'Letting go' is a simple idea, but surprisingly difficult to actually do. The issue is support - but when the movements of the breath become strong enough to become that support , there is a radical shift in how you and your body operate together.

'Moving from the core' is something that I am always inviting people to explore - however, the way you use your limbs goes with how your core and breathing operate. If you can find the best 'relationships' to your outward actions through the limbs, 'moving from the core' becomes an emergent quality....

This workshop started with a deep learning - it was pretty much a ted talk about how joints get to a state of continuous complaint, and how sublimely simple it is to redress, no matter how long-term, if we can understand these 'things' as relationships....

I had no agenda for this workshop, then a simple question about 'wrists', launched us into a deep-dive into wrists and ankles (being different from hands and feet) and how the pairings can give you bi-directional support all the way through to the spine.

This was another deep dive workshop to develop all the mutually supportive relationships between hands, wings, ribs and face, that make for free movement from the upper spine.

Because I am posting this late, I needed to watch some of it to remind myself what it is about. Found myself attending the workshop because my body enjoyed engaging with it almost by osmosis.

.... The title explains it

This workshop focussed on getting accurate about the most supportive and comfortable relationships between the Head, face, use of the hands (and wings), and the ribcage/thoracic spine.... When they all have a mutually supportive relationship to each other in space, then the release/surrender of the breath will, by itself, cause the elongation of the spine as you let go of your weight,... (I tried it out in headstand)

This workshop started with 'finding the appropriate attitude of the head' - to discover the actual physical orientation of the head on the first vertebra that allow the head and neck to relax in movement, and morphed into paying attention to where the space behind the navel sits in relation to support, and how the heart can also be at this centre (which allows all 3 to remain quiet and supported during movement.

This was in response to requests from a participant that noticed her hips complained a bit after walking. So we did some practices to open the hips and then took that awareness into standing and walking. Something at the end for neck and shouilders.

The title explains it, The practice is very intense, but if you find it directly, you'll never want to do things any other way,

This was a small workshop (because of website error on my part), but the few that tried the link anyway got a rather deep class. I talked a little about how the body is always letting you know what you need, and the best mental framework for 'listening' to what it's saying. And of course a guided practice to show how it works. So follow it to be calmed, but absorb the baseline instructions, and it will serve you in your practice for life.

This workshop was about looking after the main joints of the limbs ... When employed this way, the breathing actions of the core & ribs become the centre of your support, and hands and feet become the support for your breathing actions. Outcome is freedom and strength...

I began the workshop talking about how my intention behind practice has shifted over time, and then guided everyone in 'Mahapranayamasana' - a powerful practice that is done lying down. The guidance on this one shows how much work can be done (and benefits can be gained from doing so) in a single 15 minute practice. The rest of it was just exploring different things employing the benefits we discovered.

I am posting this a while after, so I have forgotten the specifics, but we tried reclining leg extension and twists, and took the same feeling into standing postures.... I do remember that we explored a relationships between the ribs and the outer edges of the hands and feet on the same side.... and then the opposite side of the ribs can put the inner edges of the feet and and hands down.

A couple of new positions to properly open out the psoas and free up the contents of the pelvis and waist, together with an exploration of side-bends vs turning or twisting, to help understand how to be free, long and supported in the neck and waist....

.... I also did something to help explore turning from the upper body without pulling on the neck - Which is an activity of mobile ribs with support from the core. All of these things can (and should be) be supported by the breath, so I incorporated pranayama practices (easy for those familiar with 'The Sacred Breath' course). And when the free-hip walking was revisited, the mobility of the upper body and ribcage made more natural sense of things for everyone....

This workshop I set the scene for the upcoming course by taking the small group through 3 kriya-type pranayamas that help you develop the core responsiveness needed for 'your breath to become your support'... I will add this to the 'Sacred Breath' course so that all premium members can run through this.

After experiencing a week of needing deep and strong pranayama work to support the changes around the base of my spine after freeing up the thoracic spine, I was further encouraged to put on the course on chakras I have in my sights.... today was a bit of an explanation of how it works, together of course with a direct experience of why we need to pay attention to these things (and the breathing choices that invite them) in terms of physical practice....

I uploaded this the following week, so I don't remember the content ... people enjoyed as usual so follow to find out.

On this workshop, a large proportion of the group were experiencing recovery from illness and other debilitating situations, so I built a workshop that addressed the discomfort at source, and participants could either apply the same principles to postures directly, or to the imagined intention of engaging with the posture - leading to outcomes that were almost the same.

If you haven't done this workshop, you need to.

The evening before I discovered something that seemed to cause the inner body to naturally organise itself into the thing I am always talking about....

A guided experience that teaches the body to find the support it needs so you can let go.

My teaching these days is consolidating into a united picture of things , so really, I could use any description for any video. Today we applied the thing to reclining leg extensions, approach to king pigeon, and seated wide stride forward bend.

Too much to say - watch the video :-)

I was inspired by a 1:1 that got me thinking about why its so difficult to even know when we are holding our weight up with the spine ... what followed on this workshop was a clear explanation and practice of one of my base-line first principles.

This was quite a strong workshop, in that I guided us through applying the principles set out in the previous couple of weeks in standing postures, whilst comparing it to what happens with the usual instructions you get to 'perform' a posture. Not an easy one, but rewarding if you are in the mood for some hard work.

This was really a follow on from last week's workshop. This happens quite regularly for me - I come up with a theme because of some practical realisation in practice, then a week later I am discovering more and more value from it, and deeper ramifications from its practice...

The answer is the same as everything else - bring yourself back together with the heart to activate and centre from the spine behind it... Enjoy!

This whole workshop was about exploring all aspects of yoga from a first-principle basis... We started with some simple rolling around to remind ourselves of first principles, then took that into some strong postures (chair pose, warrior, triangle etc), building up each from the same principles. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and felt great after :-)

The title says it all really.. The workshop goes into practices that first create the space, then invites support to travel back into the spine behind the heart, so that we can understand how to move from there to experience the freedom at both ends. The naturalisation of this way of doing things relies on the breath.

I started the workshop with an anecdote about my experience of my body when i am feeling less than happy, compared to when i'm feeling great. The somatic difference is to do with engagement from within (which happens more naturally when you're feeling happy or enthused or something). Its important to go WITH what the body is saying to you, but if you want to change how you feel, it can happen naturally by awakening the stuff I always talk about - because that is the inner support that allows your periphery to both relax and fly into expression of what you are doing, simply because you are breathing it.

It was a small group on this one, and the workshop became a deeper exploration of my yoga solutions class on 'happy hips - releasing the Psoas and Illio-Psoas'. The workshop ended with something for the shoulders and neck (which goes with and allows integration of the thing that releases the hips)

I started this workshop with no agenda, and as is often the way, it led to a pivotal workshop that brought a solution to the ubiquitous problem of 'thinking' your way into yoga. Shambhavi mudra is a 'yoga trick' with the eyes that can bypass binary thinking and bring you directly into the body. And 'the bhandas' can be developed naturally through an understanding of the movements and natural engagement of your core, ribs and diaphragm through grounded breathing.

A deep and comprehensive workshop for anyone wanting to open the upper spine, whilst freeing up the neck & shoulders and resoliving lower back/sacrum issues as you go

It is useful to understand how the hips & lower back best work together, and how the head neck & shoulders can do that at the other end of the body, but the only way they can both settle naturally into these improved relationships is when movement and support is sourced in the space between them - the middle - the core & ribcage. This would lead to an 'exercise' for them UNLESS, they get involved in using the ground that supports you and the space you are moving into. And the way they naturally do that is when you can let go of holding your weight up with the spine.....

I remember this being a pivotal workshop that invites clarity about what it means to 'move from the spine & heart'

Anyone with neck & shoulder issues, with any degree of scoliosis (most of us have somewhere in the spine that is off to one side), or just 'heaviness' in the body - the solution for you is to awaken the ribgage in movement and support. It goes with non-sedentary breathing, and also with a whole-hearted engagement with life. This workshop explores these things in practice.

There was a confluence of requests about the area at the top of the shoulders... the solution is movement from the nearby spine, which we explored in whole body movements and some postures. Towards the end of the session we explored moving directly from the bit of spine that was previously stuck - leading to an experience of all the movements and relationships that we had practiced in order to release the spine in the first place.

A gentle and deep exploration of natural breathing and how it can lead to ease and support in posture work... together with a section specifically on looking after the knees. I ended with guided relaxation that turned out to be a rather comprehensive exploration of each and every chakra