CIRCLEWORK
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This course is inclusive, accessible and sustainable, and focused on generating long term health benefits. This course will teach you a strategy for setting up the body for training slow yoga vinyasa. We will develop stability and strength in our asana and vinyasa and investigate the intersection between proprioception and interoception.
This training is both mental and physical, they go together. The practice is inherently safe and will generate long term benefits over the course of your life practice.
We can build nervous system and body resilience by connecting to your centre. We can enhance the process by cultivating proprioception and interoception using slow intentional mindful yoga movements and further enhance our experience by intentionally linking our breath to movement.
This training is based on the premise that a langhana or a yin body state is good for your health and that a yin or langhana body state can be cultivated during yoga vinyasa practice. Between the yin/langhana and yang/brahmana is the balance point, the neutral point.
Neutral is a concept that implies balance and being centred. In these classes we will practice to find neutral points and then use them as reference points. For example we move away from our centre rather than move toward a limit. It’s a subtle but significant difference in perspective. And taken in the context of safe practice it makes excellent sense because you learn to become self regulating based on how you feel.
One object of training is to unify our mental and physical bodies and practice safely. We want to manage that change without generating trauma injury or repetitive strain injury.
The learning process involves organizing and activating the physical structure and alignment, first developing stability, then strength and then safe movement habits. You will get stronger and improve your balance while practicing relaxation and cultivating a sense of calm.
Nervous system training is an integral part of Somatic Yoga training, establishing a habit of calm homeostasis helps to make the neuroplastic changes that accompany the physical improvements from training. First the nervous system changes, then your muscles, then the connective tissue. These changes can take time.
My focus is safe and inclusive practice, please take time to read my Safety Blog.
Week 1
What is your objective? Health and a balanced mind.
Safe long term practice over the course of your life.
Nervous system self-regulation and physical vitality = Balance
Vinyasa is a series of poses and breath in a logical sequence
What is your reference point for moving? What is your reference point for stillness?
There are 6 directions. Focus on vertical and gravity, earth energy, feet and ankles, feel the support of the earth
Find your centre, abdominal breathing
Small amounts of practice are cumulative and can have a potent effect on our health
ORGANISE AND ACTIVATE DRILLS
Finding neutral, up the back line and rocking
Superficial back line
Short set, axial extension, squat and circle arms, shift to Warrior 2 and vashistasana and then yin and yang balls rounded extension, then squat to padottanasana to squat, to open tadasana.
Then axial extension with lateral bends and forward fold
SOMATIC YOGA RW 12/3/23
Open, vertical alignment and the superficial back line
Organize and activate the myo fascial body lines
Tadasana,
rock, lean, quad dominant squats
Uttanasana and uktatasana
Forward fold, and easy chair, half way lift
Tadasana,
hands behind head and sagittal and lateral bends
½ sun salutations
Down dog
Arm lines
Standing half moon and eka padkasana
Triangle
Plank Phalakasana and bhujanasana
Supine roll and savasana
WEEK 2
ABSORB AND PROJECT
FIND THE BREATH, C/E, sama vrtti even breath
Finding neutral
CORE ACTIVATION
Hip shifting, finding the lateral plane
Fascial lines – legs, lateral lines
Short set, step into Warrior 1, plus circular arms
Somatic yoga review, Focus, attention and interest and breath = motivation and understanding, contemplate the internal sensations
Open tadasana – activation,
Utthita hastasana - axial extension
Utkatasana – chair
Uttanasana – forward fold
Ardha chandrasana – half moon
Toe stands, use pole, progress through to single leg balance
Vinyasa defn, stillness and movement, moving meditation
Virabhadrasana 1 – warrior 1, offering hands hasta mudra
Ashta chandrasana – high lunge
Anjaneyasana – crescent moon, hands and knees?
Week 2 Variation
Make a commitment to practice and try for an easy routine. Keep it short but full.
Start with a full body axial extension followed by back and side extensions and forward folds.
Step out to squat and W2 L&R.
Repeat, go slow and connect to your breath.
WEEK 3
ABSORB AND PROJECT
FIND THE BREATH, C/E, samavrtti/kumbaka (hold the breath)
Fascial lines – foot to core,
STILLNESS AND MOVEMENT
Moving meditation, this practice is a bridge between classic formal sitting and our daily life
What is your reference point for movement? What is your reference point for stillness? They are the same default point within the body, your centre.
Slow movement, the pause is as important as the pose
Yoga/Qi Gong is about feeling and imagination
Proprioception and interoception, sensing and feeling, nervous system resilience
Organising and activation the fascial lines, internal vs external.
Defn of vinyasa---“to place with precision”, tai chi no stillness, Iyengar no vinyasa,
Movement (from stillness) = [initiation of movement] + [maintenance of movement] + [completion/cessation of movement], go to definition
If you are still, how do you initiate movement? Soften.
Absorb to initiate movement.
Review activations, review asana
Toe stands to single leg
Superficial Front Line Attunement
Chair, front line
Tadasana, rock, vertical extension, back extension
FF, chair to DD on chair
Phalakasana hollow body drills
Toe stands to single leg
TT and activate arm lines and rev
Cat/Cow Chakravakasana (inhale and expand, exhale and condense)
WEEK 4
ADD A CHAIR
Balance, toe stands, the superficial back line
Fascial lines – legs, deep front line
Short set. Warrior 3, tree,
WEEK 5
On the back, table, front line activation,
Deep front line
Short set. Supine,
WEEK 6
Twists, spiral lines, lateral, lines rebound functional lines
Short set.