Four new practices added to the Resonance library this week – all a bit on the slower side as the general community felt very tired this week. Practices include a backbending exploration of transitions, a figure 4 and flying pigeon focused practice, a forward-folding introspective flow, and a journey into the shoulder opening and actions necessary for lowering the forearms to the ground from down dog to dolphin. Here are my classes from the week of January 22nd. All of my weekly classes at Resonance Yoga Collective in downtown Salem, Oregon, are recorded and available via our virtual library. You can access this library with a drop in pass that is accessed on a sliding scale of $0-$15 – you pick your own price.
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Five new practices added to the Resonance library this week – focusing on grounding in what felt like a bit of a manic week. Practices include a drishti/gaze focused practice, a balancing flow that focuses on awakening the back body, a dynamic practice that connects deeply to the breath, and then two week ending practices to open chest/pecs and then alllll around the hips. Here are my classes from the week of January 15th. All of my weekly classes at Resonance Yoga Collective are recorded and available via our virtual library. You can access this library with a drop in pass that is accessed on a sliding scale of $0-$15 – you pick your own price.
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Four new classes added to the Resonance library this week – everything from opening hips & hammies, to exploring the actions of expansion and contraction, a breeak down of vinyasa transitions and chaturanga, and a build up to heron pose. Here are my classes from the week of January 8th. All of my weekly classes at Resonance Yoga Collective are recorded and available via our virtual library. You can access this library with a drop in pass that is accessed on a sliding scale of $0-$15 – you pick your own price.
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From hoppy practices, to New Year intention setting, shoulder space creating, and hip decompression – here are the classes I added to our virtual library for the week of January 1st. All of my weekly classes at Resonance Yoga Collective are recorded and available via our virtual library. You can access this library with a drop in pass that is accessed on a sliding scale of $-0-$15 – you pick your own price.
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On my list of top requests for class is upper back release. Between our desks, our cell phones, our steering wheel, and how much we just tend to live in our brains … the upper back gets very neglected and very tight. Here is a mini sequence to help get the upper back moving and to release some of the typical tight spots. Pick one or two poses from this sequence, or do them all. Either way, your upper back will thank you.
For those days when you need a good dose of steadiness and grounding – but you don’t have time for a full practice. Take 10 or 15 minutes and move through this mini-sequence to get you back to feeling like you can take on the world and accomplish what you need to today.
I hear this all the time … “I’m not strong enough for crow pose.” And sometimes … SOMETIMES, that’s the case. But honestly, more often than a lack of arm or core strength, the limiting factor in crow pose is flexibility in the hips. Next time you want to work on crow pose – try focusing on strength a little less, and shift your prep work to your hips.
Here is some of my favorite hip prep work for crow pose. You could use this as a partial sequence, or sprinkle some of these poses into your home practice. See below for notes on each posture.
It’s the middle of your day. Maybe you’ve been sitting at a desk. Maybe you’re super stressed out. Maybe you can’t focus to save your life. And you know you should practice yoga – it will help – but you just don’t have time. Take 5 minutes to move and breathe, and you’ll feel better, I promise.
Here’s a mini sequence that you can use for a 5 to 10 minute break. Length depends on how long you hold each pose. If you don’t have a block for the final pose(s) – you could use a rolled up blanket, a stack of books or any object that will give a slight elevation to your hips.
See below for some additional notes on the sequence.
Hi, my name is Mikki and I am an Inversion Addict. And an Arm Balance Addict. And a lover of all things Vinyasa. Which means that I spend a lot of time on my hands and supporting my body weight with my arms. All good things … until your forearms and wrists start to revolt against you. Fortunately, the revolt can be prevented by spending some time during each practice giving some love to your wrists and forearms. Below are just a few of my favorite wrist and forearm release tricks! Hope these are helpful for you in promoting sustainability in your practice! Read More
Forearm Stand (Pincha Mayurasana) is definitely one of my favorite poses … but it wasn’t always. I remember when I was new to inversions, being just completely overwhelmed by this pose – what do you mean you want me to keep my elbows under my shoulders, and lift away from the floor, and get my hips over my shoulders, and go upside down without looking like a massive banana or seriously face planting?!? Yeah right. Luckily I had super knowledgeable teachers that were able to break this pose down for me and once I began practicing the pose repeatedly in my body, it eventually started to make sense in my mind and in my muscles. And now we are buddies. I put together this video and blog post combo on Forearm Stand in the hopes that you can develop a friendship with this pose as well. Read More
Nothing divides a yoga class quite like the words – “pigeon pose.” When I say these words in class – I watch students’ faces range from elated kid on Christmas morning to what I imagine is the same face your dentist’s receptionist is used to seeing. Depending on our hips and a variety of other factors, pigeon can be an amazing release and stretch or just pure torture. And if you feel like you’re being tortured in pigeon pose, then you probably aren’t releasing and relaxing into it, which means you aren’t receiving a great deal of benefit from the unfortunate experience. Read More
I love a strong Vinyasa practice. I love the flow between breath and movement. I love building heat and then letting go. I love that post class, sweaty, blissed out smile you get at Namaste. But there are days when my body says, “don’t you dare do another vinyasa.” And like any good yogi, I find ways to listen to my body. Read More
MIKKI TROWBRIDGE YOGA 