Yoga Retreat 29 Sept-2 Oct 2016

Join me for my 4-day yoga retreat in Sri Lanka this Sept 29th - Oct 2nd!

This retreat is for people who want to explore movement and yoga with fun and friends.

I will be teaching ways to use your internal power and energy to move gracefully and with ease, to move away from pain and towards free movement.

You will learn the importance of using active movements and how the key to better stability, mobility, and freedom is to learn how to firm parts that need to be firm and, significantly, relax what needs to be relaxed.  

In this retreat I hope to help you move closer to understanding and experiencing how this movement of energy will help every cell in your body to sing!

I have a lot of experience working with people with various injuries and I encourage you to contact me beforehand if you do have some sort of condition so that we can figure out if the retreat is appropriate for you at this time and how I might be able to help you.  

Because I am interested in you learning how to be your own best teacher, I will be offering sessions between the classes for questions and answers and for us to think deeply about particular issues or postures, so come along with some of your own ideas and questions and I can help make the retreat more personal for you. 

Check-in Thursday 29th Sept 1 pm- Depart Sunday 2nd Oct after breakfast by Noon

Venue: TalallaRetreat  http://www.talallaretreat.com/

Classes: Six 2 hour classes. First yoga class starts on Thursday afternoon at 4.30pm.  From then we will have 2 classes on Friday, 2 on Saturday, and 1 on Sunday.  

Aside from the usual yoga there is the opportunity to relax by the pool or at the beach, surf, get a massage, or just hang out.

Because there are limited rooms I am encouraging people to please consider sharing so that as many people can participate as possible.    Rooms need to be confirmed with full payment received by 29th August 2016.

The rate includes:

•   All yoga classes

•   Full board (tea/fruit before yoga; buffet style breakfast served at table; a la carte lunch (there is a menu to choose an item from), buffet style dinner)

•   Accommodation

You need to pay for any extra drinks or snacks you might have if the mega breakfast and dinner and light lunch still leaves you hungry!  

Normal timetable is as follows

6.30am                     tea/fruit (if desired)

7.00-9.00am         yoga

9.00                     breakfast

RELAX                  (have massage, swim, surf, read, have lunch around 1 or 2ish depending on how full you are after brekkie)

4.30-6.30pm         yoga

7pm                     dinner

The prices quoted below are based on 3 nights per person.   You need to find a person to share with if you opt for double or triple and Tilak can put you in touch with other people who may also want to share.  

Payment

Full payment is required by 29th  August.  You can make your booking directly with Tilak (tilak@antsglobal.lk +94-773-912-100) and pay Tilak directly or he can provide a Sri Lankan or Australian bank account details for you to transfer to if that is easier.

Retreat Rates are as follows:

Sri Lankan citizens or with those with a Sri Lanka Resident visa:

Single 3 nights                   Rs. 51,000/-

Double (share) 3 nights     Rs. 41,000/- per person

Triple (share) 3 nights       Rs. 38,000/- per person

Non-Sri Lankan citizens without a Sri Lanka Resident visa

Single 3 nights                   USD 670

Double (share) 3 nights     USD 570- per person

Triple (share) 3 nights       USD 540- per person

Look forward to seeing you!

Much metta,

Samantha

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com

www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com

October Yoga Retreat in Sri Lanka

I won't be teaching in Bali this year and have shifted my retreats to Sri Lanka!  The next one is 1-4 October at the beautiful Kahandamodara, also known as Back of Beyond (www.backofbeyond.lk).  

Learn active movement in the Yoga Synergy style in a safe, fun and beautiful environment from an experienced teacher.  

My talent is in deconstructing posture and movement to help you find freedom, stability, and joy in your yoga practice—on and off the mat.   I will combine clear instruction with hands-on-adjustment so that you can find yourself in challenging postures with less effort and greater ease. 

You will get expert instruction with two active classes a day, meditation, delicious food, and great company in the beautiful surrounds of Kahandamodara, about 2 hours from Colombo in Sri Lanka's deep south. 

Rates are $690 single, $570 double, or $525 triple per person, including yoga, food and accommodation.  (SL resident rates: Rs45k single, Rs35k double, Rs32k triple).

Contact Tilak for more details: tilak@antsglobal.lk or +94 773 912 100.  

Free 5 Minute Standing Balance Spinal Movement

Before I practice suriya namaskar I 'warm up' my spine, legs and wrists with an active spinal movement sequence that incorporates dynamic balance.

When people start my classes, this opening sequence appears, by far, to present the biggest challenges.  It includes heel raises, one legged balancing, and active spinal movement--often all at once!

I took this 5 minute video at my last retreat in Talalla, Sri Lanka.  You can hear the beautiful birds in the background and see the luscious coconut grove in which we have our twice daily practice!

The video is mainly intended for my students who want a visual refresher of what to do or for interested students who might come to class.  I don't recommend learning from the internet.

After watching the video take a look at some of my practice tips.

Below I have jotted down a few thoughts for some of the movements/actions throughout the sequence.  I say these commonly in class. They are not all of the instructions.  I have tried to clarify a few points were I see students sometimes struggle.

Arms forward and up

When taking the arms overhead, push the armpits forward and up.

When practicing all of the heel raises, lean forward until the toes start to grip naturally, look at the floor to help with balance, then raise the heels.  Keep gripping with the toes.

Knee bends

When bending the knees, I push my knees forward and hips forward.  My hips don't really go anywhere and what you will see is that they lower straight down.

When knees are bending I try to keep firm behind my knees--as though you were trying to perhaps squeeze something behind them.  But don't squeeze too hard!  Remember, feel active but not tense. 

I keep the toes gripping.

Shoulders roll in

When you roll the shoulders in, press armpits lightly down.  I try to press wrists forwards and elbows back.

When you roll shoulders in it is easy to droop the top of the spine.  Be careful it does not sag.   Keep upper back lifted so you do not shorten the front of your body.

Shoulders roll out

When shoulders roll out there can be a tendency to press the ribs forward.  Look carefully in the video and you see I try to lift but not push out in the upper back.

Side bending

When you bend sideways, try to lengthen the one side without squashing the opposite side.  In the video you will see I initiate this movement by raising one elbow without dropping the other.

Twist

When you twist there is a tendency for the hip/pelvis you are turning towards to move backwards.  Try to press that hip forward so the pelvis remains pointing to the front.

Standing balance leg forward

The raised thigh rolls out.  That means your knee seems to roll away from the centre line of your body.  Be careful not to hike your raise leg pelvis up, which commonly happens when people focus on getting their leg high.  It is not how high it is that counts.

Leg to side

Again, thigh rolls out.  It is difficult to get the leg this high so keep it closer to the floor if necessary.  The leg is to the side and slightly to the front.  People who focus on getting their leg too high often have the leg too far to the front but it needs to be more to the side than the front.

Leg behind fold forward

In this posture I push my shin into my hand and pull with my hand.  The raised thigh is rolling in.  That means the knee feels like it is looking more down to the floor.

Leg straight forward fold

Here I am careful not to be too archy in my lower back.  I don't want to feel tension in my lower back.  My raised thigh is rolling in.

Balancing twist

The raised thigh is rolling out.


Additional thoughts
As always, stretch less, tense less, think less, and breathe less.  Try your best without being attached to an outcome.  The outcome people often become attached to in these postures (from my observations) is taking their legs too high.

Better the legs are straight rather than high.  This might mean that you keep toe tip on the floor.  That is an important modification I did not show in this video.  That is, you do not need to raise the toe off the floor at all.  You can keep toe tip down, do the arm and spinal movements, and then just straighten the leg when that time comes.

Relax your tongue and breathe naturally.  This will help you feel calm in these challenging movements.

This is the opening sequence in my current outdoor Canberra yoga classes.  Join us and have some fun if you like!

Much metta,
Samantha

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com

Don't Squash Your Back!

I have never had a problem with urdhva dhanurasana.

But I have had lots of students who have or do have difficulty with it.  

One thing I always emphasise is the spine should not feel squashed at any part or at any point from ground to lift and down again.  

People can tend to squash in their lower backs. 

I have even had people tell me they thought it was supposed to squash their lower back.

I tell people they are practicing something else but not the pose I am trying to teach if they feel squashing.  

If you are in my class I want you to remember a few things when it comes to this part of the sequence.

Practice without squashing.

Don't be attached to the outcome.

Move slowly.

With this in mind, a part of not being attached to the outcome is realising you don't need to do anything at all if it does not feel right.  

You certainly don't need to come all the way up.

With this in mind, I made a  poster that shows what you could pay attention to if you decide not to push your hands into the floor.  There is still plenty you can do and, in fact, I do these things each time I come up into a fuller posture, as you can see in the video at the end (it's just that I only need to spend about a second getting there whereas some people will need more time).

Please bear in mind this post is intended primarily for my students who can experience what I am teaching in a class situation.  Learning this type of thing from the internet is not suitable. 

Read the poster from the right starting with what to do with the knees.

If you lie on your back and just press your feet into the floor you will feel your pelvis get light without necessarily lifting.  Then press your knees over your toes.  

The pelvis will lift and be carried towards the heels.  I am not trying to push my pelvis up here.  There are many styles that teach this and it is possible and there are benefits to that as well but it is not what I am doing here.  

I then reach my arms as far away from my pelvis as possible.  I try to basically get as long as I can through my body--pelvis moving one way and armpits the other.

Then I try to billow up my chest as though a gust of wind has blown through my feet and hits me in the middle of my upper back causing it to lift.  

This is where I like to get people to stop and think for a while.  Moving this part of the spine is really tough.  It is the stiff part of most people's spines.  

Many people cannot get movement in this part of their spine at all unless I provide a tactile cue (touching the area).  Often people shove their pelvis up and down and their chest moves as a consequence but there is little to no independent movement in the upper spine.  

What I am trying to do for myself when I practice this way is get some independent movement of the chest so that my spine does not move as one chunk.  

It is delightful just to try to raise and lower the chest here without moving the pelvis and just continue reaching the arms in one direction while moving the knees in the other.  

But you decide.  

Don't do anything that hurts or strains.  

Most people will need to do a lot of 'warming up' before they can do the full version of the pose but you can do this modified variation any time.  

Having said that, my teacher Paddy always taught me that they should feel so free you can do the full posture first thing in the morning when you get out of bed.  I do that myself every now and then.  I am not saying I don't feel a bit stiff in the morning but in my experience she is right, when you are able to move freely then this is possible.  Being able to move freely takes a lot of practice though and I still have stiff mornings!

Also, when you practice this way there should have been no squashing so no need to do something to unsquash your back afterwards.  

Below is a video of the full thing, taken on location in Sri Lanka at my last yoga retreat.  I will be heading there, by the way, for my next yoga retreat from 1-4 October 2015.  Get in touch if you'd like to join us!

This post is not intended to cover all of the aspects of back bending.  I wanted to emphasise a pose you can try on the floor without raising to the full posture that helps you lengthen.  There is, of course, much more you can do within that even (did I mention doing a sit up in your tummy?), but that is for class!

Happy and safe practicing.

Much metta,
Samantha
www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com

Free 5 Minute Practice

Before I practice suriya namaskar I 'warm up' my spine, legs and wrists with an active spinal movement sequence that incorporates dynamic balance.

When people start my classes, this opening sequence appears, by far, to present the biggest challenges.  It includes heel raises, one legged balancing, and active spinal movement--often all at once!

I took this 5 minute video at my last retreat in Talalla, Sri Lanka.  You can hear the beautiful birds in the background and see the luscious coconut grove in which we have our twice daily practice!

The video is mainly intended for my students who want a visual refresher of what to do or for interested students who might come to class.  I don't recommend learning from the internet.

After watching the video take a look at some of my practice tips.

Below I have jotted down a few thoughts for some of the movements/actions throughout the sequence.  I say these commonly in class. They are not all of the instructions.  I have tried to clarify a few points were I see students sometimes struggle.

Arms forward and up

When taking the arms overhead, push the armpits forward and up.

When practicing all of the heel raises, lean forward until the toes start to grip naturally, look at the floor to help with balance, then raise the heels.  Keep gripping with the toes.

Knee bends

When bending the knees, I push my knees forward and hips forward.  My hips don't really go anywhere and what you will see is that they lower straight down.

When knees are bending I try to keep firm behind my knees--as though you were trying to perhaps squeeze something behind them.  But don't squeeze too hard!  Remember, feel active but not tense. 

I keep the toes gripping.

Shoulders roll in

When you roll the shoulders in, press armpits lightly down.  I try to press wrists forwards and elbows back.

When you roll shoulders in it is easy to droop the top of the spine.  Be careful it does not sag.   Keep upper back lifted so you do not shorten the front of your body.

Shoulders roll out

When shoulders roll out there can be a tendency to press the ribs forward.  Look carefully in the video and you see I try to lift but not push out in the upper back.

Side bending

When you bend sideways, try to lengthen the one side without squashing the opposite side.  In the video you will see I initiate this movement by raising one elbow without dropping the other.

Twist

When you twist there is a tendency for the hip/pelvis you are turning towards to move backwards.  Try to press that hip forward so the pelvis remains pointing to the front.

Standing balance leg forward

The raised thigh rolls out.  That means your knee seems to roll away from the centre line of your body.  Be careful not to hike your raise leg pelvis up, which commonly happens when people focus on getting their leg high.  It is not how high it is that counts.

Leg to side

Again, thigh rolls out.  It is difficult to get the leg this high so keep it closer to the floor if necessary.  The leg is to the side and slightly to the front.  People who focus on getting their leg too high often have the leg too far to the front but it needs to be more to the side than the front.

Leg behind fold forward

In this posture I push my shin into my hand and pull with my hand.  The raised thigh is rolling in.  That means the knee feels like it is looking more down to the floor.

Leg straight forward fold

Here I am careful not to be too archy in my lower back.  I don't want to feel tension in my lower back.  My raised thigh is rolling in.

Balancing twist

The raised thigh is rolling out.


Additional thoughts
As always, stretch less, tense less, think less, and breathe less.  Try your best without being attached to an outcome.  The outcome people often become attached to in these postures (from my observations) is taking their legs too high.

Better the legs are straight rather than high.  This might mean that you keep toe tip on the floor.  That is an important modification I did not show in this video.  That is, you do not need to raise the toe off the floor at all.  You can keep toe tip down, do the arm and spinal movements, and then just straighten the leg when that time comes.

Relax your tongue and breathe naturally.  This will help you feel calm in these challenging movements.

This is the opening sequence in my current outdoor Canberra yoga classes.  Join us and have some fun if you like!

Much metta,
Samantha

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com

Strengthen Your Butt With Trikonasana!

Trikonasana is one of the basic standing postures in yoga.

Cultivating good activation in the muscles around the hip of the front thigh will help you move gracefully into some other fun poses that have their foundations in the triangle posture.

In this post I show a fun transition out of trikonasana that will help develop some balance and focus skills.

Watch the video then take a look at the individual positions in the photographs below.

Lifting not sinking
It is hard to tell from watching (which is why I do a lot of demonstration and adjustment in class) but I work strongly in these transitions to cultivate a 'lifting' not sinking feeling out of the standing (front) hip/leg.

There is a strong action of external rotation of the thigh in the front leg.

External rotation of the front thigh in trikonasana is when you sense the inner thigh rolling up towards the sky/ceiling so the kneecap looks more like it is pointing more straight up or even slightly more towards the outer front foot (rather than dropping in over the inner foot).

You should feel a corresponding activation around your side/outer hip/butt area.

This can be easier to sense for many people if you bend the knee slightly, generate the action, then slowly start to straighten the knee.

If you can make sure you cultivate this external rotation in trikonasana then the transition to the balance will be easier.

If you move slowly you will notice there is a slight tendency for the standing leg thigh to want to roll in and the side of your hip move out slightly.  This leads to a feeling of 'dip' in the hip.

As you transition, counter this by bringing your awareness to the outer/side hip and try to either:

• roll the front thigh out
• move the front hip more to the centreline of the body
• push down strongly through the heel of the standing foot (while lengthening and gripping the toes)

The back thigh, throughout, is rolling in.

Trikonasana

Start in trikonasana.

Ardha Badha Trikonasana
Go for an arm bind if comfortable.  Mine easily wraps around my back to catch my thigh but yours might just be behind your back.  Don't worry where it goes, it is more important there is no discomfort.

Niralamba Ardha Chandrasana (with arm bind)
Niralamba means unsupported.  In this case it means you do not have hands on ground.

I try to maintain the external rotation in the standing hip as I lean forward.  I press strongly through my heel.  I keep leaning forward until my toes naturally start to grip--a good sign that the balance is coming!  My back leg comes up easily due to the shift of balance.  To get it higher I have to use active movement.

Raise elbow
I bring fingertips to shoulder.  Stay steady!

Raise body
Ok, starting to get tough here!  Raise the body!  This is the trickiest transition in my opinion.  You have to keep absolutely stable in that standing hip.

Release bind and straighten arm
Once you are here it is now relatively easy just to release the arm from the bind and extend it out.

You did it!
As Dora (the explorer) would say: You did it!

Of course, you can always keep that back toe tip down as lightly as possible and do the spinal/arm actions with toe tip just touching.  You still need to maintain that lift out of the hip though.

Have fun practicing.  Try your best but without an attachment to the outcome.  Without strain.  Without stress.

Oh, probably you will feel something deep in your butt after this sequence.  Yeah!  It's working.

I don't recommend learning from the internet.  Come to class if you can!

This is a mini-sequence we will be working with in our current 9 week sequence.  It is such a good training tool I will likely be teaching it in our retreat in Sri Lanka and in Bali as well (www.artofliferetreats.com).

This sequence is part of a Yoga Synergy style sequence taught by Simon Borg Olivier and Bianca Machliss.

Much metta,
Samantha

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com
www.artofliferetreats.com

Active Kurmasana

Kurmasana is an intense spinal forward bend and I recommend should only be practiced with a teacher and not by learning from the internet.

This post is mainly to show how long my spine is when I practice this posture rather than as a 'how to'.  I have pictures and a video at the end.

Many people can do a version of this where they straighten their legs but their spine remains very humped up--like a tortoise shell I suppose.

It will indeed remain a little 'humpy' but my effort here is in trying to lengthen.

I do active variations first to firm the tummy (in a way I can breathe and move the spine).  A more active variation would be to lie down and do what I show here.

First, a sort of navasana where knees bend and I make efforts to draw them into my chest.

Then, I try to keep my legs as close to my chest as possible and straighten them.  This will be beyond a lot of people.  Don't let your legs come out too far from your chest.

Next I take my heels and help myself into the posture assisting with the hands.  I try to push my heels into my hands and make efforts to bend my elbows.  I keep chest and thighs close.  I try to keep shoulders and knees together with firm tummy.  The danger when you use your hands here is that your tummy goes soft so make sure tummy stays firm.

Lengthen the legs as much as possible while maintaining previous actions.  In the video you can see me wriggling to lengthen my spine further--while trying to keep my balance. It's a bit tricky.

I keep tummy firm and legs come down.  Knees are bent, spine is long. I recommend you keep spine long and legs bent rather than go for straight legs.  Far better to stay here than strain or force.

Tummy firm, spine long and shoulders go under knees.

Arms straighten out beside me, shoulders under knees, tummy firm, spine long.  I can breathe comfortably.

Slowly I go, keeping tummy firm and spine long.

The video below shows the posture in action. I make particular efforts to also ensure my neck is in a comfortable position and you can see me moving it around. 

Following an intense forward bend like this I do a less intense forward bend like paschimottansasana and then a strong tummy firming posture like bakasana or a high plank.  If you do postures well counterpose is not necessary but I have just made it a practice.

Using active movements and doing the posture 'mid-air' without hands as much as possible ensures I combine strength and flexibility.

I teach something like the 'wowee active hip opening' sequence I just posted prior to this before I do a posture like kurmasana.

This is the approach I take in my classes, workshops and retreats.  Join me if you like--in Canberra, Bali (for our yoga and raw food retreat September 2015) or in Sri Lanka (yoga retreat).  Details of my class and retreat schedule are on the home page of my blog.

Happy and safe practicing.

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.artofliferetreats.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com