New Balls Please!
/Dear Yogis,
New Balls Please! Wimbledon season… and I want to suggest to online yogis that you buy a couple of tennis balls for our stretchy and restorative yoga sessions. Friday’s class will be a combination of myofascial release (hence the need for pressure-point balls) and pure restorative postures. A perfect wind-down to the week. In stretchy classes (Mon, Tues and Weds) we can look at the typically tighter areas with the pressure-point release approach.
Why balls? By lying strategically on the ball, we become our own massage therapist. Yin-types of yoga encourage a gentle, passive, patient stretch, cultivating an attitude of stillness. Accupressure improves blood circulation, hydrates tissues, breaks up adhesions and stretches out the rigidity and stiffness that accumulates on a daily basis. We target the nervous system and lead the body towards rest & digest and away from the fight or flight of daily existence.
Yang types of yoga like Ashtanga (which I also adore) want us to put in effort. Inevitably, the ego is involved and the practice becomes goal-orientated. In the slower Yin style, we can cultivate non-attachment to the results of the postures. Yin asks you to let go of expectation, ambition, and wanting something more from your body. This attitude is freeing. We can be kind and accepting to ourselves.
Hopefully you relaxed just by reading that!
Classes
The weekend got busy with classes! Restorative Friday, Ashtanga tomorrow and Ashtanga Plus on Sunday. One of these classes will suit you!
Mon, Tues & Wed evenings = Stretchy yoga at 7.00-8.00pm – this is the popular one.
Friday morning = Ashtanga at 8.30-9.30am – this is the one that pushes you.
Friday evening = Long Restorative Yoga – 6.30-8.00pm – A proper unwind – fortnightly
Saturday morning = Ashtanga at 8.30 – 10.00am – this is the longer one that pushes you.
Sunday morning = Yoga-For-Strength at 8.30 – 10.00am – this is Ashtanga with extra.
And, by the way, you can post a google review of my classes here.
Yoga in the News
The Telegraph has: Prisoners offered ‘trauma-informed’ yoga classes. Sir Iain Duncan Smith says yoga has no place in prisons. He added: “Money should not be being spent on this sort of stuff. Prisoners go to prison because they have committed a crime and they pay their penalty while there. “Then, they should come out, learn their lesson and not offend again. It’s not a place for yoga.”
The Independent has: San Diego and a yoga instructor go the mat over a ban on public classes. ‘Hubbard, who's been teaching yoga by the Pacific Ocean shoreline for 17 years, contends the local law violates his right to free speech because he doesn't charge his students and instead accepts voluntary donations.’
El Mundo America has: Ramiro Calle, the first yogi in Spain still active at 82. ‘For Calle, the only hope in this era is to become more aware and compassionate. "We are like vacuum cleaners. The only difference from machines is that we can realize and change. Either we remove greed and confusion to bring forth clarity and generosity, or there is nothing to be done with this egocentric society," he says.’ (Lovely article but he’s quite judgmental!)
Come to class!
Stay Hydrated!
