New Spring Yoga Term - The Bandhas, Inner Uplifters

Hello everyone,

I am writing to you enthused, rested, and restored from a glorious eight days away sailing around the Greek islands. I was pinching myself! I hoisted the mains and set sail towards Poros, swung like a pirate off the halliard and into crystal blue waters off Dokos bay, hiked to ancient temples in Aegina, and explored the cobbled and carless streets of Hydra where Leonard Cohen once roamed and wrote. Hallelujah!

Now, though, I am delighted to be cosy at home and planning a brand new yoga term at Thrive :) We will begin yoga classes again this Sunday April 19th, and run for five weeks until May 17th. At the moment, the 5pm Hatha term is nearly full (Eeep! Thank you all so much!) - but I do have a few spaces available in the later Soft Stretch class at 6:30pm, if you would like to sign up for that please just let me know :)

The Soft Stretch is a beautifully gentle movement practice where we begin with grounding breathwork and meditation, move through a soft flow to anchor the mind and improve mobility, and then finish by finding restorative stretches and shapes on the floor with our lovely bolsters, blocks, and blankets. All the props are there for you. It is accessible, all levels friendly yoga, designed for anyone looking to slow down and check in with their breath and heart while still moving and exploring their body. *You can learn more about the Sunday classes and which one might be up your alley by exploring the ‘yoga term’ link in the heading above.

As always, we will be working with a new philosophy theme this term! The theme for the next five weeks will be the bandhas - an embodied physical and energetic practice of finding lift and connection from within. Unlike many of our previous themes, which have focused more on the subtle body, philosophy, emotional body, and even the mind - the bandhas are very practical neuromuscular engagements that allow us to flow and float and align more effortlessly in practice. You may have heard myself or another yoga teacher refer to the mula bandha, or uddiyana bandha before - these are specific actions of drawing subtle muscles inward and upward to direct energy flow and find support from the inside out. 

Essentially a bandha is a connection point, a place to consciously draw energy up from. The Sanskrit word translates to mean 'lock' or 'bind' - in this sense we can understand that there is a muscular engagement happening with gentle focus, a disciplined kind of 'locking in' - if you will. I like to think of it like consciously patching up a leaky valve in a water pipe - suddenly the water flows with more vitality and strength (and in the desired direction). Strong. Capable. Alive. Well.

I think this is the perfect yoga theme for spring renewal :) You will feel aligned, powerful, light, and connected with this practice. Playing with engaging and releasing your bandhas - these muscular locks - can help to improve posture, low back stability, core support, digestion, circulation, pelvic floor health, even mental clarity. More than that, learning to support yourself from the inside out; learning to gather your energy and direct it upward in order to float and fly and move with more ease through challenge and play alike - this is a natural confidence and mood booster! You deserve to feel strong and light!

Here is a little breakdown of our theme schedule for the next five weeks :)

As always, I'm here if you have any questions or concerns. I can't wait to see you on the mat again this Sunday :) I'll sign off with a lovely poem about feet...our bandha for this week's practice. Foot to earth connection. Pada bandha. Rooting down in order to rise up.

The Feet of People Walking Home

The feet of people walking home

With gayer sandals go—

The Crocus— til she rises

The Vassal of the snow—

The lips at Hallelujah

Long years of practise bore

Til bye and bye these Bargemen

Walked singing on the shore.

Pearls are the Diver's farthings

Extorted from the Sea—

Pinions— the Seraph's wagon

Pedestrian once— as we—

Night is the morning's Canvas

Larceny— legacy—

Death, but our rapt attention

To Immortality.

My figures fail to tell me

How far the Village lies—

Whose peasants are the Angels—

Whose Cantons dot the skies—

My Classics veil their faces—

My faith that Dark adores—

Which from its solemn abbeys

Such resurrection pours.

By Emily Dickenson

Le grá,

Macha