Pardon my French

Yoga has some produced some real characters over the years, Osho being one of the greatest. Enjoy the video and see you Tuesday.

Cancellation for Tuesday, October 28

My apologies, but I've got to cancel this week -- I'm in the middle of moving into my new place.

Downward Facing Dog

We must do 50 of these every class. Mentally, this is an opportunity to rest and reconnect with your breath. But physically, downward facing dog can be a real challenge. How to do it is easy:

1. From all fours, exhale and lift your knees from the floor, lengthen your spine, and point your butt toward the ceiling.
2. Strengthen your thighs and inner groin and with strong legs reach your heels to the floor.
3. Rotate your upper arms outward, firm your shoulder blades against your back, and pull them down your spine. Push your fingers into the floor.
   
4. Keep your head between your arms and breath.
   

In downward facing, watch that you don’t put too much pressure on your wrists. Move around to find what’s comfortable. Try moving your hands to minimize the angle in your wrists. Push your fingers into the floor. Use the strength in your legs to reduce the work in your arms. Sink into your shoulder blades. If you are having trouble, try practicing with your hands against a wall or on the seat of a chair.

Still doesn’t make sense? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words. Click the link to see how you should rotate your upper arms, pull your shoulder blades in toward the spine and down toward the hips, push your fingers into the floor, lengthen your spine, and point your butt up toward the ceiling. Bring it all together and it really is a resting pose.

Cheers!

Jumping Forward

During sun salutations you’ll hear me say, “Step or jump forward.” Stepping forward is fine. It increases your flexibility, allows you time to work on your alignment, and gives you a chance to catch your breath. But jumping forward is a lot more fun. And it isn’t all that hard. Here’s how:

1. From downward dog, inhale and look forward, stand on your tip toes, and bend your knees.
2. Exhale and jump forward.
   

A good way to practice is to do downward dog about a foot from the wall. Do step one, but rather than jumping forward, jump your butt as high up the wall as you can. Pretend you're going to do a handstand. Float for a second. Then let your feet fall where they will, hopefully close to your hands. Doing this forces you to engage your abdominals (so that you don't crash into the wall), which builds strength and stamina. And it prepares you for bigger and better things, like floating forward.