Yoga Class by Katy Wright – Part 1

Sitting & breathing

Come into an easy sitting position – whether that means crossing your legs, kneeling, or even sitting with your knees bent and your arms wrapped around the front. Just make sure you can sit up straight (like your mother used to tell you!)…

Gently close your eyes and take a few long, deep breaths – lifting up through the crown of the head as you inhale, and releasing all tension from your body as you exhale…

Again, inhale and take the breath up into your ribs, and then your chest… And exhale, breathing out through your mouth as you draw your lower abdomen in and empty your lungs.

Once more, breathe in as you lift and lengthen the torso… And breathe out as you relax your shoulders and engage the lower abdomen.

Tabletop – cat/cow

Come onto all fours, placing your hands directly beneath your shoulders and your knees directly beneath your hips – so the joints are stacked on top of each other and less prone to injury.

Spread your fingers, so you feel really grounded on the mat.

You can have your toes tucked under, or you can place the tops of your feet flat on the mat – whichever feels most comfortable for you.

Next, bring your spine into a neutral position, and make sure there’s no tension in your neck. Breathe in through your nose… And breathe out through your mouth.

Now we’re ready to do a couple of rounds of cat-cow, to warm up the spine. So as you inhale, drop your belly and lift your gaze… And as you exhale, press your hands into the mat, lift up through the mid-back and bring your chin towards your chest.

Another round… inhaling as you lift your gaze and your bottom… Exhaling as you lower your gaze, lift your back, and tuck your tailbone under.

Two more rounds, in your own time…

Be mindful of your breath – try to co-ordinate your breathing with your movements, so that each transition lasts as long as it takes for you to inhale, and exhale…

One more round, keeping your movements soft and fluid. Inhaling as you lift your gaze and lower your belly, exhaling as you lower your gaze and arch your back.

Come back to table top pose, with a neutral spine

Wide knee child’s pose

Bring your big toes together and separate your knees, so they’re as wide as the mat. Now lower your hips towards your heels – but don’t worry if they don’t touch.

Take your hands out in front of you, shoulder width apart with your fingers spread. And if it’s comfortable to do so, lower your forehead onto the mat – but again, don’t worry if that’s not possible. If you want, you can use a block or stack your fists and rest your head there.

Take a few long, deep breaths in the posture, and feel the back of your body opening and expanding with each inhale, and then, as you exhale, release any tension you might be holding in your shoulders or hips.

Child’s pose is a great posture to come into at any point during a yoga practice, when you need to rest. And don’t feel bad about ‘resting’ – it just means you’re listening to your body!

Mountain pose – swan dive – forward bend

Slowly come out of child’s pose and when you feel ready, come to a standing position at the front of your mat.

Step your feet hip-width apart then lift your toes away from the mat – now see if you can settle them back down one by one. It’s not easy, but it’ll give you a sense of being ‘rooted’ to the mat.

Now tuck your lower abdomen in and draw your tail bone down, so your lower back feels nice and long.

Lift your shoulders to your ears and then, with an exhale, let them drop back down. Feel your shoulder blades sliding down the back of your body, leaving your neck and shoulders free of tension.

One more breath – lifting and lengthening the torso as you inhale, and relaxing the shoulders as you exhale.

Inhale again and this time, bring your arms out and up overhead – taking care not to bring your shoulders up to your ears. Remember: you want to keep your neck free of tension at all times.

As you exhale, take your arms out to the sides and fold forward – folding from the hips, not the waist, so that you can keep your chest open. Bend your knees if you feel any pulling in your lower back, or if you feel your lower back rounding.

Come back up halfway so that your legs are straight and your spine is in a neutral position, and place your fingertips on your shins, on a block or on your hips.

Make sure your quads – your thigh muscles – are engaged, so your legs are strong and active. Then use the breath to bring more length into your spine. Inhale as you draw the crown of your head forward, whilst sending the hips back. And exhale as you fold forward again, placing your hands on the mat.

Plank – toes or knees

Step back into a plank position and either stay on your toes with your legs in a straight line, or come onto your knees for half-plank. It doesn’t matter if you do full or half plank – what’s important is keeping your body and thighs (or your legs, if you’re in full plank) in a straight line.

Try not to sink through your hips as this will compress your lower back. And resist the temptation to lift your hips to make the posture easier! Just focus on keeping your core strong and your breath smooth.

Inhale once more… And as you exhale, slowly lower yourself onto the mat, keeping your elbows close to your ribs as you do. When you reach the floor, un-tuck your toes and place the tops of your feet flat on the mat.

Cobra

Bring your hands beneath your shoulders and put your forehead on the floor. Slide your shoulder blades back and down, away from your ears – this is the same position we want to maintain when we come up into the posture.

Now, press into your hands as you inhale and lift your forehead, nose, chin and chest away from the mat. Remember to keep the back of your neck nice and long, and keep your elbows tucked into the sides of your body.

With an exhale, lower your chest, chin, nose and forehead, so that you’re flat on the mat again, ready to make the transition to child’s pose…

Child’s pose

Tuck your toes under and keep your knees on the ground as you lift your hips and take them back towards your heels. Inhale and get ready to move into downward facing dog…

Downward dog – low lunge – crescent moon – low lunge open twist – RIGHT SIDE

On the exhale, lift your knees and send your hips up… Your back should feel long and spacious, and you should feel a good stretch in your hamstrings – if you don’t, you can probably straighten your legs a little bit more.

From a stable downward dog pose, with your hands firmly rooted to the mat, lift your right leg as you inhale. Don’t worry about how high your leg goes, just do your best.

Now bring your shoulders forward whilst bringing your right knee towards your chest, so that when you place your foot on the mat, it’s as close to your hands as possible. If it doesn’t land in between your hands, drop your left knee to the mat and then step the right foot forward as much as necessary – pick it up and put it there if need be!

Leave your left knee on the mat and lift your torso to an upright position. You can place your hands on your right thigh or, if that’s not comfortable, on blocks, either side of your hips.

For this low lunge, we want to stretch the hip flexors (the muscles that help you walk, run and cycle) – but we don’t want to collapse the lower back. So…

Engage your lower abdominal muscles as you inhale, and think about moving your hip bones up and your tailbone – the bottom of your spine – down.

As you exhale, take your hips forward and down a little, but keep your chest high – the front of your body should remain open.

Take a couple more breaths here – using the inhales to bring your hip bones up and your tailbone down, and the exhales for increasing the stretch across the front of the left thigh and hip area.

You might be able to take this posture a little further – into crescent moon pose… Lift your arms so that your fingertips are reaching towards the ceiling and your arms are parallel. If this brings tension into your neck, drop your shoulders or put your arms in a ‘cactus’ position. If it still feels too uncomfortable, you can put your hands back on your hips.

Bring your awareness back to your breath… Make sure it’s steady and smooth. Then use the breath to deepen or soften the posture. With each inhale, lift the upper portion of your body ‘out’ of your hips, and with each exhale, allow your hips to move a little further forward and down.

Take another inhale… and an exhale… Inhale again and then, as you exhale, bring your right hand onto your right hip and stretch your left arm out in front of you.

Inhale… And now, with the exhale, turn your chest to your right and look towards your right shoulder – without bringing any tension into the neck area.

Stay in the posture… Inhale – lift and lengthen your body… Exhale, squeeze your lower abdomen and see if you can deepen the twist a little bit.

Inhale back to the centre, lifting your arms up again if possible. Then exhale, as you bring hands back to the mat and step back to downward dog.

Feel free do a leg shake here if you need one. And then we’ll get going on the other side, so you don’t spend the rest of the day feeling lop-sided!

Downward dog – low lunge – crescent moon – low lunge open twist – LEFT SIDE

Okay… let’s lift the left leg this time – remember, it doesn’t matter how high your leg goes, just do your best.

With an exhale, bring your shoulders over your hands, whilst drawing your left knee towards your chest and placing your foot on the mat.

Position your left foot between your hands if you need to and drop your right knee onto the mat.

As you lift your torso to an upright position, put your hands on your hips or on your blocks if you’re using them.

Now let’s get the pelvis set up before we go any further…

Engage your lower abdominal muscles and then as you inhale, think about moving your hip bones up and your tailbone down.

As you exhale, take your hips forward and down a little – but keep lifting your chest high!

Take a couple more breaths here…

If you went into crescent moon on the right side, prepare to do the same on the left. Lift your arms so that your fingertips are reaching towards the ceiling and your arms are parallel. Remember, if this brings tension into your neck, check in with your shoulders – are they close to your ears? If they are, you need to drop them down, or put your arms in a ‘cactus’ position.

Bring your awareness back to your breath… Feel the posture opening and expanding with each inhale… and consciously release any tightness in your body with each exhale.

Take another inhale… and an exhale… Inhale again and then, as you exhale, bring your left hand onto your left hip and stretch your right arm out in front of you.

Inhale… And now, with the exhale, turn your chest to your left and look towards your left shoulder – again, without bringing any tension into the neck area.

Stay in the posture… Inhale – lift and lengthen your body… Exhale, squeeze your lower abdomen and see if you can deepen the twist a little bit.

Inhale back to the centre, lifting your arms up again if possible. Then exhale, as you bring hands back to the mat and step back to downward dog.

Have another little leg shake here if you need one, and then, still in downward dog, come onto your tip toes – you’ll feel your quads engaging and maybe a little extra stretch down the back of your thighs.

Half forward bend

Walk your feet forward, towards your hands, bending your knees as much as you need to, to make sure you’re not overstretching your lower-back.

Check that your feet are hip-width apart and then lift your chest halfway and place your hands on your shins, your hips, or some blocks. With the next inhale, draw the top of your head forward whilst sending your hips back, so your back feels lovely and long.

Full forward bend

Then exhale as you fold forward again, bending your knees if you need to. From here, we go into our final posture in this sequence…

Mountain

Engage your abdominal muscles and as you inhale, come to an upright position, lifting your arms out and up overhead as you do. Reach as high as you can and then exhale, as you bring your arms back down to the sides of your body.