Yoga Practice: Drop backs

Here's a short vid from my practice the other day. It's been about 20 years since I've done a proper drop back. Somewhere along the way I developed a fear of putting my hands over my head and dropping back. Instead had to put my hands by my sides, walk my fingers down my legs and at the last second, rotate my arms to meet the mat. I realized that it was seemingly more dangerous to do it the "incorrect" way because I was finding it hard to rotate my arms that fast and it could mess up my wrists and arms if I didn't get there in time. So, it was time to change. After a few practices with a spotter, I realized I had the physical strength to do it and the fear was just in my head. Moral of the story- face your fear and do it anyway.  

To do a drop back- first and foremost make sure you are warmed up! Never go into this cold! Then, stand tall, rooting down into all four corners of both feet and lengthening up through the crown of the head. On an inhale, raise your arms up overhead, and engage the quads. Exhale and engage the abs as you drop back with control, keeping a microbend in the knees. 

Yoga Tips: A Power Yoga Vinyasa

Here is a 12 minute power vinyasa that will work your triceps, core, hamstrings and help to release the psoas muscles. It is best to go into this warmed up, and most suitable for someone with a bit of yoga experience. Always move within a pain-free range, be gentle with yourself, and honor where you are in your practice. Have a wonderful weekend!

Yoga Tip: A 6 Minute Vinyasa

Here is a six minute vinyasa that will warm up the body. Perfect for beginners. Always move within a pain-free range, and be gentle on yourself. If there's a specific pose or vinyasa you'd like me to do in the future, I'd love to hear- tell me on twitter, facebook or leave a comment here. Have a wonderful weekend.

Yoga Tip: Yoga for the Holidays 4

One of the not-so-awesome things about YouTube is even if I choose a specific thumbnail, it seems to display whatever thumbnail it feels like. So if the thumbnail above is me in what looks like the worst plank position ever, then this is a good example of what not to do. ;) (I was in transition, I swear!) Anyway, here's a 5 minute vinyasa flow to add to the Yoga for the Holidays series that will get your heart pumping and quiet the mind. It features crow jumpbacks which are a little on the advanced side. If you've never done crow before, please either skip it, or work on crow first by following this video (instruction starts at the 45 second mark). Not to scare you, but my yoga instructor broke her nose when she face planted out of crow, so truly, be mindful of where you are in your practice. If you're relatively new to crow, use a pillow underneath your face. Other than that, get to it and let me know how it worked out for you. Have a wonderful weekend.

Abs for Handstand

I've been working on inversions for the past few months, and while I think my handstand is ok, I know there is a lot of room for growth. One of my intentions for the upcoming year is to learn to press into handstand (see this video, at the 23 second mark for an example). What I've learned is that a slow press into handstand requires a ton of core strength. Following Briohny's instructions, I tried out her ab exercise for learning to lift into handstand and let me just say it is one of the hardest ab exercises I've done (particularly most difficult as the feet come in close to the hands). If you give it a try, think less about dragging your feet and more about using your abs to lightly lift yourself up. Good luck!

Yoga Tip: Yoga for the Holidays 3

Week three here of yoga for the holidays series (see week 1 and week 2). This week I was inspired by Meghan Currie, this unreal yoga teacher, who creates time lapse videos of her practices. It's a nice way to see the entire practice and get inspired. So today I am uploading two videos. The first is the first 10 minutes of my practice in real time- a gentle ten minutes to set an intention of being present, to get the circulation going, and get the muscles and mind warm and happy. The second video is my entire practice this morning in fast forward- apologies in advance for my husky making a high five appearance at the end. He doesn't like being left out of the spotlight. Have a merry weekend!