Yoga Class by Katy Wright – Part 8

Seated position

We’re going to start today’s yoga session by taking a few breaths in a seated position… So make yourself comfortable – whether that means sitting cross-legged, on a block, or with your knees propped up. Whichever way you’re positioned, just make sure you’re able to sit up straight – so you’re not slumping through your lower back.

When you’re comfortable, close your eyes and start to draw your focus inward by taking notice of the feeling of the mat beneath you… Bring your awareness to all the parts of your body that are making contact with the mat. And then each time you breathe out, imagine roots growing from those contact points.

Now begin to extend your inhales… And as you breathe in, feel the air expanding your rib cage, and then, as you continue to inhale, lifting your chest. And as you exhale, feel those roots burrowing down into the earth again… And now, on the inhale, grow upward from the crown of your head, so your body feels long… And exhale…

One more inhale here, and an open mouth exhale – ahhhhh…. Okay, open your eyes and let’s bring a bit of movement into the spine.

Table top – cat/cow

Come onto all fours, placing your hands directly beneath your shoulders and your knees directly beneath your hips – stacking the joints on top of each other.

Spread your fingers, so you feel a good connection with the mat. Tuck your toes under, or leave the tops of your feet flat on the mat.

As you inhale, drop your belly and lift your gaze, in to cow. And as you exhale, press your hands into the mat, lift up through the mid-back and bring your chin towards your chest, into cat.

Another round of cat-cow… 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

Opposite leg and arm lift – open leg and arm lift – RIGHT

You need to stay on your hands and knees for our next move – a spinal balance posture. It requires some pretty fierce core strength to maintain your balance, so let’s get those muscles fired up first by drawing the lower abdomen towards the spine. Press into your hands too, so you feel your back muscles engaging.

Now, slowly take your left leg behind you, keeping it parallel with the floor. Try to avoid lifting your left hip – keep it level with the right hip, like you do in Warrior 3 pose. Feeling steady? Okay, then begin to extend your right arm in front of you, so you’re balancing on your left hand and your right knee. If it gets too wobbly, you can always put your toes or fingertips on the mat for a moment.

Keep your breath smooth and even, and focus your gaze on something – not too high up, as this will only compress the back of the neck. Check your core muscles are switched on… And then start to take your arm and your leg out to the sides.

When you do this, you might get a bit wobbly. Don’t worry! Just go with it, wobble about until you find your balance again. That’s the whole point – we’re training our bodies to do this. And when you find some stability in the posture, you can increase that stability by actively pushing out through your toes, your fingertips, and the top of your head…

Keep breathing! One more inhale… and an exhale as you lower your hand and knee back to the mat. Good work!

Opposite leg and arm lift – open leg and arm lift – LEFT

Okay, time for the second side. So again, let’s set the foundations by engaging the core muscles while we’re still on all fours… Push into your hands too and take your shoulders back, so that you feel your shoulder blades moving down the back of your body.

And now for the wobbly bit! Bring your right leg out behind you – without lifting the hip – and then, when you’re feeling steady, extend your left arm in front, palm of the hand facing inward. Remember to keep the back of your neck long, so your breath can flow freely…

Ready to go further? Then take your arm and leg out to the sides, taking care to keep everything straight. And while you find some stability in the pose, notice which muscles you’re using.  Again, push into the hand on the mat for some extra support, if you need it. Or, if your chest is collapsing, come onto your fingertips so you can lift up.

Take another inhale here… and then exhale and release.

Kneeling shake-out – child’s pose

Sit back on your heels in a kneeling position and shake out your wrists, as they’ve had a lot of pressure on them. Move your hands in circles, clench and release your fists… And then come down to child’s pose to catch your breath and release any tension in the body.

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, notice how your entire body softens – let yourself melt down to the mat.

Downward dog – lunge – forward fold – ragdoll – RIGHT

Coming out of child’s pose, make your way into downward facing dog… Hands and feet shoulder and hip-width apart… Fingers spread… Shoulders open – so rotate your upper arms outward to draw the shoulders back, whilst pressing down through the thumbs and forefingers. Bend your knees and lift your sit bones high as you inhale, and then use your exhale to begin straightening the legs.

Inhale and lift your right leg… Exhale and walk the foot into a lunge, between your hands. The back leg stays strong and you’re lifting through the inner thigh. Inhale length into the sides of the body, and with an exhale, step your left foot beside your right foot and come into a forward fold.

And from forward fold, bring your hands onto your elbows for ragdoll pose. Have a play around here – turn your body left to right, nod your head, turn it side to side…

Forward fold – halfway lift – forward fold – mountain arms up – forward fold – halfway lift – forward fold

Now put your hands back on the mat and come into your forward fold… Inhale, halfway lift, lengthen the spine… Exhale and fold… Engage the core and inhale up to mountain, taking your arms over head…. And exhale as you swan dive forward… Inhale halfway… Exhale fold…

Lunge – low lunge – crescent moon – downward dog – RIGHT

We’re going into a low lunge next, so take your left foot back and then drop your knee.

Inhale as you rise up into crescent moon, arms over head, shoulders back and down. Press into your front foot to keep the right hip in line with the left hip. Bring your pelvis into a neutral position, and lift the upper body away from the pelvis.

See if you can bring a bit more flexibility into the left hip flexor by easing your hips forward on the exhales and then lifting back out slightly on the inhales, to create a slow and controlled bouncing movement. Inhale here one more time… and exhale as you bring your hands back to the mat and step back to downward facing dog.

Lunge – forward fold – halfway lift – forward fold – mountain arms up – forward fold – halfway lift – forward fold – LEFT

Inhale through the nostrils… And open your mouth as you exhale…

Another inhale as you sweep your left leg up and back, and an exhale as you step the foot through to lunge.

Keep your back leg strong and push into the heel to bring the hip forward, as you draw your left hip back.

Inhale… And exhale as you walk the foot forward and come into a fold. Inhale halfway… Exhale fold forward… Inhale up to mountain, fingertips reaching towards the sky… Exhale fold forward… Inhale halfway – head forward, hips back… And exhale fold forward.

Lunge – low lunge – crescent moon – downward dog LEFT SIDE

Plant your hands firmly on the mat, keep your left foot forward, and step your right foot back, so you can drop onto the knee, ready for crescent moon.

Inhale as you lift your body and arms, and see if you can find both stability and ease in the posture. If you’re wobbling, bring your awareness to your left foot and press down through the inner edge of the foot. At the same time, draw the knee out to the side. Remember to use your core muscles, too.

Plank – cobra – plank – downward dog

Another inhale in crescent moon, and an exhale as you bring your hands down and step back to plank. Shoulders above your wrists, heels pushing back, body in a straight line.

Make sure your elbows are close to your ribs and with an exhale, slowly bring yourself down to the mat. Untuck your toes, so you can come onto the tops of your feet, then inhale as you lift your upper body away from the mat in cobra.

Exhale as your release back down and either press up to plank from here and straight back into downward dog, or come onto hands and knees first and then send your hips up and back, into downward facing dog.

Kneeling (and explanation of chaturanga to upward dog + demo)

I want you to drop down to your mat for a moment now, so I can show you two postures that people often get wrong – chaturanga and upward facing dog. They feature in a lot of yoga sequences though, so it’s definitely worth getting it right!

We’ll start with chaturanga, and first, I’m going to show you how to do it with your knees on your mat, as in half plank. The full posture is done without the knees on the mat.

So starting in half plank, you’re going to keep your elbows tucked in, and your shoulders back, as you lower yourself down – only instead of going all the way down, you’re just going as far as you need to, to create a 90 degree angle in your arms.

As you do this, it’s likely that your shoulders will try to come forward, and your hips will either lift up or slump down – but just like plank, we want to maintain a strong straight line in the body.

Have a go…

So have a go, first time around, starting in half plank… And if you manage that, try again starting in full plank.

As you do this, remember to breathe!! Don’t hold your breath – let your breath help you!

Kneeling (and explanation of chaturanga to upward dog to down dog + demo)

Okay, come back to a sitting position again, so you can see the next posture I’m going to demonstrate – upward facing dog….which we often come into from chaturanga. So let’s get that transition right.

First things first, upward dog isn’t just cobra with straight arms – even though many people think it is. Notice how in cobra, you have your hips on the mat and your elbows bent – you’re using your back and shoulder muscles to lift the front of the body. If you straighten your arms here, you just risk compressing your lower back.

In upward facing dog, you DO have your arms straight – but your hips are off the ground and you’re resting on the tops of your feet – your body is suspended between your hands and feet. At first, your thighs might not come off the mat completely, but eventually, they will.

So the transition from chaturanga to upward facing dog looks like this: You start in plank – full or half.

You lower yourself until your elbows are bent at a 90 degree angle, and then you flip onto the tops of your feet (some people are comfortable rolling over their toes, whereas others have to actively flip the feet over) and press into your hands to lift into upward facing dog. From there, you’ll then lift your hips up and back, to come into downward facing dog.

Have a go…

Start in plank or half plank, lower yourself halfway on the exhale, then come onto the tops of your feet and push up into upward facing dog on the inhale. Exhale as you tuck your toes under, lift your hips and ease back into downward facing dog.

And from there, you can come down to child’s pose or into corpse pose to rest your body, and give your muscles and your brain time to make a memory of the work you’ve just done – so that next time you come to your mat, it’s that little bit easier.