Today we continue Tuesday’s focus on ‘Full Participation’ applying it to a more restorative practice. This class is perfect for anytime that you feel you need more of a pause to allow the body and mind to reset. We incorporate supportive poses that open the back, release the shoulders and neck, and calm the nervous system. We still add in a little bit of core and arm work and finish with our triangle flow.
This week we consider what it means to be in “full participation” — in our poses, our thoughts, and in our lives. Still focusing on strengthening the core and arms, today we start with seated poses to open and expand the chest allowing the spine to better align and the breath to become deeper and easier. Our standing flow culminates in triangle pose (Utthita Trikonasana) to strengthen the legs and back.
Today’s class wraps up our monthly theme on renewal. We do a long Sun Sal A & B flow with a short meditation and a long final relaxation. If you’re new to class, I recommend taking any of the other March classes first because I don’t give a lot of cues in this flow.
It’s week three of our renewal theme and Sun Sal A&B flow. Today is all about twists — reclined, seated, and standing — all to help us de-stress and improve digestive function. By opening up the chest, the shoulders, and back, we create space for deeper breathing signaling to our body that it can relax and let go of the tight, slumped postures that we tend to have when working on computers, phones, and driving — or anytime we start to feel anxious or stressed.
Today is our first class after the time change so we start slow with some grounding floor exercises focused on the back, legs, hips, and glutes. Through concentrated breathwork we start to activate and energize to move into our Sun Sal A&B flow and ultimately into standing balancing postures. All with gratitude that the sun has once again risen. 🙂
Today’s class starts with a kundalini-inspired warm-up and moves into an active Sun Sal A & B flow — the perfect preparation to quiet the mind in meditation. Plenty of variations are given making this practice accessible to just about everyone.
Building on the deep stretching that we did on Tuesday, we start with some of the same yin poses and then move into a taking and sending meditation, and close the practice with an active warrior flow. All the things to start your day!