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That’s me done for the year! Classes start back on 4th January 2016. Thank you all for your support in coming to class this year. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I’m off to put my feet up!
ps. Take a look at Katy Bowman’s upper body advent calendar for some movement inspiration over the festival period.
A sequence for a tired and achy low back. You will need:
A wall
A strap/belt
A block/cushion
A bolster (optional)
1. Begin in legs up the wall pose. If you don’t have wall space you can place your calves on the edge of a bed or chair.
2. Then press feet to the wall and bend knees to peel the back of the body off the floor and down again.
3. Reclined pigeon with wall
4. Easeful rest pose then roll knees from side to side keeping feet hip width.
5. Supta padangusthasana- press the ball of the foot up into a belt, then turn your foot away from you and take the leg out to the side, making sure both sides of the pelvis stay level on the floor.
5. Balasana (option with bolster/cushion between legs). Place a block under the head if the forehead doesn’t reach the floor.
6. Cat and cow
7. Sphinx pose
8. Supported bridge (make sure block is placed under pelvis rather than low back).
9. Reclined twist
10. Savasana
It’s been all about the feet in class this week. We’ve been looking at foot and ankle alignment, as well as stretching the muscles around the feet (which can get surprisingly tight). Here’s a video with some great exercises for foot health:
We often neglect the poor feet, so every so often it’s nice to appreciate what they allow us to do in daily life, and in yoga- balance, strength, stability.
Look after your feet- Give yourself a weekly/daily foot massage. Put your feet up:
Let go of your toes- gripping the toes could be a sign you are holding something somewhere else in the body
so just stay…and exhale
until the message crawls to the feet
and the gripping goes away
(From: breath:the essence of yoga)
Use your feet- try to walk barefoot as much as you can to allow the foot and ankle the space to move, free from shoes. Walk on uneven surfaces- when we’re not sitting, most of our day is spent walking on flat, even ground which means we’re never really using the ankle joint and muscles in the feet to their full capabilities (for more information on this, see the amazing Katy Bowman’s work)- stray off the path, instead of steps walk uphill, walk downhill, and don’t forget to squat (see here for how to perfect your squat)!
