In the fifth class of our rebuilding series we are looking at the relationship between our centre and our edges.  You will be invited to explore the communication between the centre of your body, out towards the edges to support finding strength, stability and more space.  The centre of the body is a complicated place and therefore to work there requires taking time, exploring a variety of movements and remaining curious. What to expect: a hatha-inspired yoga class with optional flowing sequences, mindful strength and somatic movement practices.  Plenty of variations offered. Suggested equipment:

• Yoga mat
• Two yoga bricks (or two hard copy books)
• A blanket

In the fourth class in our series on building resilience we explore what bringing resistance into the body lends us.  When we move without resistance things might feel easy-breezy, that go with the flow sort of movement.  When we add resistance things get tougher, a bit grittier and perhaps make us face discomfort.  As we continue to consider how to make choices in our practice to find ways of moving that serve us where we are, this practice may add a little clarity.  When things get too tough, we are forced to stop – but can we find that place just before it is too much and then stay with it?  Perhaps . . . or perhaps we move away from a pattern/sequence altogether, finding a different pathway through the resistance. Suggested equipment:

• Yoga Mat
• Blanket
• Medium resistance band

It’s a brand new year and all around us are messages that we need to change and become ‘more’ ‘better’ ‘fitter’ etc.  What if that weren’t the case?  What if you were pretty alright already?  What if the difference between the new year and the old year were just a few moments. Our practice is about welcoming what we meet each time we come to the mat.  Trying, as best we can, to find ways of moving that fit us right where we are; whether we are trying to feel flexibility or strength, relaxation or energised . . . it starts from knowing where we are now. Perhaps there is the possibility that there are plenty of times throughout the year (week, day, moment) to step through a doorway – to set intentions based on where we are right now. What to expect: a hatha-inspired yoga class with optional flowing sequences, with mindful strength and somatic movement practices interwoven. Suggested equipment:

• Yoga mat
• Blanket
• Two yoga bricks (or some hardcopy books)

In this practice we explore the possibility of leading our practice with intentionality.  What happens when we create a sense of our practice in our mind before we begin to move.  What comes alive for us in our imaginations that almost ‘make it so’ in the body?  This layer of the kosha model is one that draws away from the embodied layers, but we stay anchored here in the nervous system – bringing focus to what we want to feel, sense and notice in our practice. Suggested equipment

• yoga mat
• blanket

In our third class in the Pathways to Centre series we are ‘warming up’ a bit.  Identifying heat from the centre of our bodies is part of many rituals and practices throughout history.  Yoga is no different in this regard – the area of centre was often described as the ‘source of heat’ within the body in ancient practices.  And actually there is a LOT of heat involved in the processes of digesting.  As we transition to the cooler months, locating the areas of the body that provide a connection to warmth may be a place of comfort.  The ‘power’ of heat in the body doesn’t need to be ‘stoked’ as such, it is there for you, readily available to notice and connect with.  How does noticing your ‘heat’ and ‘power’ support act as a pathway to your centre?

In this Yoga Gently class we continue our exploration of finding new ways to connect to centre.

In this class we explore boundaries and edges.  You will be invited to consider how much you want to move towards your edges, noticing the feelings of expanding through breath and movement.  You will also consider what it’s like to move away from the edge, to gather closer to centre, drawing in and expanding outwards. Suggested equipment

• Yoga mat
• Two bricks
• Yoga strap (or a resistance band or scarf)
• Blanket

In this class we explore the possibility of staying present when things slow down a bit. If we take a moment in our practice to check-in and see how we’re feeling will be make choices that better support how we are or how we want to practice?  We’ll be considering the idea that the work we do in practice; the movement, the discipline, the ‘heat,’ can all be coupled with comfort – what can you do in each moment in your practice to find a bit more comfort, a little more ease.  Working towards creating a balanced practice; that that is both ‘work’ (or effort) and ‘comfortable’ (or ease).  We will finish this practice with a restorative posture. Suggested equipment

• Yoga Mat
• Several blankets
• Yoga brick (or a large hardback book)

 

This Open Yoga class is part one of a series on Finding Presence in our Practice.  In this practice we will explore what it means to ‘flow’.  How can we find a sense of flow in the simplest way.  As we shift from shape to shape or sequence to sequence, can we stay present to what is happening ‘between the postures’ as we transition? What pace or rhythms are coming forward in your practice?  Can you notice if there are ways of moving that allow you to feel more connected, more even/steady, more ‘in the flow?’  Is it possible to invite more of these experiences into your practice?  Making choices to move in ways that support ‘your flow?’  Today’s practice will invite curiosity and exploration in finding your own style/sense of flow. Suggested equipment

• Yoga mat
• Blanket
• Two yoga bricks (if you don’t have these, do not worry you will be fine without them)

This week’s Open Yoga class is class 2 in the series of bringing presence to practice.  Noticing or tracking how the body feels during a yoga session is tricky, throughout this series Ashley will offer you ways to begin to build more awareness, finding simple practices that slow things down and allow more time to be present. This class asks you to draw your attention to two ‘simple’ sensations, heaviness and lightness.  Can you stay present to where you feel or notice sensations of heaviness?  Can you notice where it is lighter?  How can locating heaviness lend itself to feeling stable or strong?  How can drawing your attention to areas that feel light support creating more space or stretch?  Is it possible to just stay with these sensations and that by staying with them find different ways to negotiate moving? Suggested equipment: Yoga mat Blanket Two yoga bricks

For the next few weeks we will be bringing nature onto the mat by exploring elemental practices.  You know that feeling of walking outside, a breath of fresh air filling your lungs, sunshine meeting your skin, feet connecting to the ground below?  How might we embody these experiences on the mat?  In our practice?  What systems of our body or areas of our body feel the most grounded (connected to earth) or most fluid (connected to water) or most spacious (connected to air) . . . over the next few weeks we will be using our embodied senses to capture a bit of nature within! This week’s class we will integrate all of the elements.  Just like in nature around us, the body has ‘a lot going on’ at once – we ground and then find space, we flow from the warmth at centre, it’s all happening at once.  Through this practice we will connect to more than one sensation at once, the possibility of shifting from a fluid experience to one that feels more grounded, keeping the thread of the fluid still connected.  Expect a practice that is grounded and invigorating, stable and fluid, spacious and contained. Suggested equipment:

• Mat
• Blanket
• Two yoga bricks

For the next few weeks we will be bringing nature onto the mat by exploring elemental practices.  You know that feeling of walking outside, a breath of fresh air filling your lungs, sunshine meeting your skin, feet connecting to the ground below?  How might we embody these experiences on the mat?  In our practice?  What systems of our body or areas of our body feel the most grounded (connected to earth) or most fluid (connected to water) or most spacious (connected to air) . . . over the next few weeks we will be using our embodied senses to capture a bit of nature within! This week’s class is all about connecting to the element of air.  How might we capture the essence of the light uplift of the breeze, the freshness of the wind or the spaciousness of the air around us – all within us?  This practice will explore the breath (if it is comfortable for you to do so) and how we might use the breath to be more supportive in finding space and lightness within. Suggested equipment:

• Mat
• Blanket
• Two yoga bricks (or books)

A new term, nearly a new season means a new series of Open Yoga classes.  For the next few weeks we will be bringing nature onto the mat by exploring elemental practices.  You know that feeling of walking outside, a breath of fresh air filling your lungs, sunshine meeting your skin, feet connecting to the ground below?  How might we embody these experiences on the mat?  In our practice?  What systems of our body or areas of our body feel the most grounded (connected to earth) or most fluid (connected to water) or most spacious (connected to air) . . . over the next few weeks we will be using our embodied senses to capture a bit of nature within! This week’s class is all about meeting the ground, finding stability, space and mobility by anchoring to the earth below. Suggested equipment:

• Mat
• Two yoga bricks
• Blanket
• Yoga strap or resistance band or scarf

This week’s Open Yoga class is our final in our postural exploration: beginning to find ways of better supporting our functional posture.  In this class we explore the movement of spinal rotation.  This movement in the spine is a movement that is common to experience when doing ‘twisting’ yoga postures.  Twisting sounds wrong – it’s doesn’t exactly get at what’s happening in the body when we make these shapes.  We’ll explore how rotations can follow along the pathway of other spirallic actions in the body, from feet to head.  Moving in a way to feels less about ‘twisting it out’ and more about easing into more rotational space.

This class is a chance to ‘go with the flow’ – your flow, a chance to connect to the fluid system that supports movement in your body.  Flow does not have to be moving a ‘specific’ way, it can be connecting to the fluid rhythms (beat of heart, pulse of blood, breath), being present to areas of the body that feel fluid (slide, glide) or expressing fluidly through movements. Expect a class with invitational, gentle flowing sequences and attention to breath (if comfortable) Suggested equipment

• A blanket
• Two yoga bricks

This week’s class follows on from last week’s exploration of what it might be like to lead with the question, “is it comfortable here.”  If we are led by a curiosity to find comfort how does that support us in finding stability, containment, stretch and strength? This practice aims to support those parts of us that might be sitting for long periods of time at a screen at the moment.  How can we find more space and comfort in and around our hips.  How does feeling more spaciousness in the hips feel?  How does feeling more support/containment in the hips feel?  Which do you prefer right now?  Which do you feel you might need more of? Possible equipment

• Two yoga bricks (or sturdy books)
• blankets (two if possible)
• Resistance band if you have it
• Anything else you like to have to support your practice

Open Yoga’s latest live online class is the start of a new 3-part series called the 3-Rs.  December is a stressful month at the best of times, but this year even more so.  This series is going to help support us is finding space and ease leading up to the holiday season.  We’re kicking the series off with a session on working through resistance.  Sometimes in order to better know ease we have to explore tension, we have to feel our muscles working against something – resisting.  This class will involve bringing some pushing/pulling actions into our yoga postures.  Working through resistance to see what’s on the other side. Equipment needed

• Yoga mat
• blanket
• Resistance band (ideally a medium (red) theraband or something similar)

This class is the 5th class in our series on Embodying Resilience.  In this practice we explore locating, expanding and meeting the edges of our self.  When we are feeling uncertain about a movement – maybe it’s too fast or a shape feels uncomfortable, locating our edges – the distinct lines of our body that meet the ground or the space around us, can help us feel more stable and more at ease.  This practice brings us into an embodied sense of our bones as scaffolding to support us internally when moving or creating postures.  As we define a clearer sense of our boundaries the uncertainty around us may not feel so overwhelming. Equipment suggested

• Two yoga bricks (or hardback books)
• A blanket
• A yoga strap or scarf

In the second class in our series exploring building resilience we are exploring the developmental movement pattern of rebound.  Rebounding is that ‘bounce’ we feel when we meet the ground, that little bit of give back that we receive when we yield our weight.  We will explore bounce, uplift and reach in the places where rebound resides – giving us an easier way into our movements.  We can all use a bit of rebound these days!