MELTING HEART

Melting heart, my ultimate current favourite...

BENEFITS:

Many, many benefits. It releases tension in you upper arms, shoulders, and neck. Also expands the whole front of your chest. Melting heart stretches out your abdominal muscles, and gently stimulates your back muscles in preparation for further backbends. On top of this it also opens up your hips and stretches your hamstrings.

TO GET INTO IT:

Come onto your hands and knees, and begin to walk your hands forward, melting your heart centre towards the floor. Try to keep your hips above your knees and your hands shoulder width apart. Breathe deep in this intense stretch for 10-20 full breath cycles. Notice how the neck reacts to the pose, if it is more comfortable place the forehead near the floor instead of the chin.

EPSOM

Eight hours of Vinyasa over the weekend truly broke my body! I was struggling to do down dogs in the end! I jumped straight into an Epsom salt bath on the Sunday. Using Epsom salt in your baths is an advanced detoxification strategy that has amazing health benefits. The salts are named for a bitter saline spring located at Epsom in Surrey, England, and is different than traditional salts in that it is actually a naturally occurring pure mineral compound of magnesium and sulphate.

The salts are great for lowering blood pressure, and flushes toxins and heavy metals from the cells, which eases muscle pain and helpsthe body to eliminate harmful substances. It's also great for nerve function by electrolyte regulation. Also, calcium is the main conductor for electrical current in the body, and magnesium is necessary to maintain proper calcium levels in the blood. Relieves stress, by getting rid of excess adrenaline and stress are believed to drain magnesium, a natural stress reliever, from the body. Magnesium is necessary for the body to bind adequate amounts of serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of well being and relaxation.

So there we go. Go get some Epsom salts!

REVISION

I had an anatomy exam on Saturday last weekend, and of course, in true Samantha style, I left it till the last minute to revise! I didn't get out of work till 20:00 on Friday, and I knew if I went home I would crash and fall straight into bed, so I plonked myself in a conference room at work and revised for nearly 2 hours. Home by 23:00 and out like a light. I passed the test!

TWISTING

Here's my beautiful bodies at a yoga class I held recently. As we don't have a sofa yet, I am taking opportunity of the lovely big space we have available, so am trying to hold a couple of classes each week. This was a Yin class, opening up the shoulders beautifully.

LEMON

Post yoga rituals.

LIZARD

About time for another yoga pose! Here we have lizard lunge (Utthan Pristhasana.) It's an incredible hip opener.

 

Not only does Lizard open the hips, it's great for hamstrings, groins and hip flexors, whilst strengthening the inner thigh muscles on the front leg.

It also opens and releases the chest, shoulders and neck. It is a great in preparing the body for deeper hip openers such as Pigeon Pose and Hanuman Pose! I LOVE THIS POSE. I think it's my current favourite, this and humble warrior.

How to Lizard:

1. From Downward Dog, step your right foot forwards between your hands. Manoeuvre your right foot to the outer edge of the mat, so that the foot is slightly wider than your shoulder.
2. Now sink the hips down, so they are heavy, and they settle forwards and down. Now walk your hands forwards until you are able to come down on to your forearms. You may place your forearms on the ground, or on a block.
3. Extend your heart forward, and lengthen the spine. Try to soften the chest and draw the shoulder blades together, taking the rounding out of the back.
4. Hug the right knee towards your midline to get into the inner hip and thigh area of your right leg. You can keep your left knee lifted (as pictured) with your leg active, or for a more restorative version, you can lower your left knee.

UPSIDE DOWN

Hello there! Another yoga pose! Headstand- or sirsasana. The king of all asanas, and the ultimate hangover cure- although it might be the LAST thing you want to do when hungover!

Headstand is PERFECT for strenghtening your upper body and core. Alot of the stability in headstand comes from your upper back and shoulders- contraction of these muscles helps to protect the head and neck.

Sirsasana also has a variety of other benefits including stimulating brain function- sending the blood to the head, as well as stimulating the pineal gland, which helps to calm and steady the brain. The part of the brain is also responsible for regulating our sleep patterns! More headstands- better sleep! WONDERFUL.

Headstand also stimulates the pituitary gland- responsible for releasing endorphins- the happy hormone! Headstands also reduce the production of cortisol, the STRESS hormone. Sold yet? If not this is BOUND to tip you... Some say headstand is the equivalent to a facial! (yes really) This is mainly due to the blood flow to the face, increasing circulation to the skin of the cheeks and forehead mean oxygenation and beautiful young skin.

HOWEVER, do not stay so long in handstand that you start bursting blood vessels- 1-3 mins is quite enough!!
 
How do you get into head stand?

1. Start on all fours. Place your forearms on the floor, elbows should be shoulder width apart- not sticking out to the side. Clasp your hands around the base of your head/ neck. The FLAT part of your head should be down on the mat, so the neck is nice and LONG.
2. Lift the knees to straighten the legs, sitting bones high to the sky. We want to keep the torso long and straight. Engage the triceps as you flatten the shoulder blades down the back, this will protect your head and neck from the weight of the shoulders. You now have a beautiful inverted V.
3. Walk the feet towards your face. Little steps. Imagine someone is pulling your hips up, so the weight isn't in the feet, the strength comes from the core and the upper body, it's almost as if your feet are being dragged towards your face and eventually up in to the air. I like to think of my legs and weightless and floating, rather than trying to throw the shotput up in the air!  It's more like a bird soaring! NOTE: If you're beginning the best bit of advice I can give you is stay in the upside down V for a while, listenng to your body and how it feels, you will still be inverted, so you are still enjoying many benefits! Walk the feet closer and closer until one day your feet with naturally just float up. There should be NO KICKING UP in headstand. If you need to kick, you aren't ready. WHICH IS FINE- just let it come to you naturally in time. And it will come. Many people feel they need to get from A to B very fast in this position, but I think it's important to enjoy the journey and the transition just as much as the end result. No rushing!
4. I lift one leg at a time in sirsasana, which technically is a perfect yogic world I shouldn't be doing, but I bring my knees in to just about my elbows, like an upside down squat and then straighten, which I am currently fine with! Once those legs are up in the air, floating around, rotate the inner thighs together and press the feet flat firmly towards the ceiling- like you were standing (picture is not doing this... but I was hungover!) Ideally we want the arches of the feet should align with the pelvis, which in turn should align with the crown of the head. The weight should be even between the two forearms and the fingers relaxed, and it is vital that the tailbone keeps lifitng upwards towards the heels, and not sinking- we dont want lazy snaky headstands!!

Give it a whirl and let me know how you get on! I like to add 5-10 seconds each time I do it, i'm up to about 2 minutes currently before I start swayingggg everywhere.

Questions welcome! Just drop me an email!

HAPPY HEADSTANDING!

CROW

Bakasana! Or crow pose as it's more favourably known. Crow is AMAZING for strengthening the shoulders, arms and wrists, as well as improving balance. It stretches the muscles of the forearms, wrists and fingers.

It is super beneficial for RSI, or carpal tunnel synrome, and also for people who spend alot of time at a computer!!

So what are you waiting for! Get crow-ing!!

YIN

The weekend just gone, saw the half way mark for my yoga teacher training. It was a wonderful weekend of Yin.

I was practically dragged to my first Yin practice. I did not understand the appeal. Laying around staying still? I did that 8 hours a night. At this point in my yogic journey, I was all about high energy, heat and feeling like I had “done something” or “achieved” something in my practice. I had been working at Triyoga for a while, and this Yin, and how wonderful it was, kept creeping about, and my intrigue started to grow! My first class, I just lay there feeling a little bored, and like I should be DOING SOMETHING. The idea of being passive, did not sit well with me, until something just clicked. My Yin teacher is also a Craniosacral therapist, and as she explained the benefits to different ligaments, and different parts of the spine, it all just sunk in, and I sunk with it. I was hooked. The idea of stretching these parts of the body, made me realise I had only been doing half a practice.

So what is this magical Yin?! “It’s a passive yoga for the joints.” “It balances out a high energy practice.” Whilst both statements are true, they are not really explaining it or selling it!

Yin Yoga focuses on the deep connective tissues: ligaments, joints and bone, as opposed to the superficial muscular tissues, which is more commonly exercised, but the “end goal” is the same as most other styles of yoga. In Yin, we hold the postures for long periods of time, up to twenty minutes in some cases, and this can be extremely difficult, and challenging for some people, mainly because it can feel tedious. For some it can get a little uncomfortable, for some (mine) their mind wanders. It is so important to balance out the mind and body. It is important to remember that Yin cannot exist without Yang and vice versa, true harmony and peace is achieved when the two balance perfectly. This is why Yin yoga balances us out nicely after a more high heat practice or indeed, lifestyle.

Yin has been around for thousands of years, and older texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes only sixteen asanas, of which half are seated, very Yin like. Over time, more and more asanas are mentioned in different texts, the “Yin” like postures being booted out in favour for a more Yang style practice.

“This gradual, and then sudden, evolution of asana practice moved the practice away from the original yin style of holding seated poses for a long time as a preparation for the deeper practice of meditation to the more active yang style of building strength and health.”

Bernie goes on to say, one is not right, and one is not wrong. A Yang style practice can help prepare the body for the Yin style.

Anyway, I love Yin, and would love to spread the word a little. So there you go! Go do Yin yoga!

SEQUENCE

It's been quite a full on month, so I took a couple of hours the other evening to sit down, block everything out and work on some sequencing for my yoga course. I have felt so overwhelmed recently, with lots of house related (both purchasing and selling) issues, so it's important to take the time out from it all. Although I don't do it as often as I should probably, as it's easier said than done! But I always feel so much better afterwards.

I'm at the stage now where I've started to prepare playlists for my sequences, and working out what fits and what doesn't. It's much like getting a DJ set ready. This really excites me, as I will be honest, music in most yoga classes is quite predictable, so I'm looking forward to getting yoga to Nick Cave and Massive Attack on the go.

BACK TO SCHOOL

Today saw the first day of my yoga teacher training. Kitted myself out with the wonderful Arne Jacobsen pencils and paper chase notepads.

The day was incredibly overwhelming in the most wonderful way. Pushing yourself passed your safety zones and challenging yourself to go further, is something we can all benefit from, from time to time. It's good for the brain! 

 

Pencil: Arne Jacobsen, SKANDIVIS

Note books: Paperchase

READING

Paul has been in LA for a few days, so last night, I took myself to bed early with a cup of genmaicha, to get some reading done ahead of my yoga teacher training starting this Saturday (eek!)

However, as you can see, every time I picked the book up, this furry feline kept interrupting me, and proceeded to eventually just sit right in front of the it/ on it. I gave up after about half an hour.