Dear friends, I’ve spent last month attempting to build a website for my yoga work, spurred by a determination to not hire help... The finished site is simple but it's been a slog and a huge learning curve. Do excuse the branding dotted around the site, it's published with basic functionality as a test to see if I could get even the site live; the fact that it now exists digitally brings a mixture of pride and modesty, like a kid who's completed his first jigsaw puzzle... 😁
I debated hard over the the name of my site too as the word ‘yogi’, I realise, may cause a reaction. I acknowledge that this word may hold purer connotations for some racial groups, but it too has grown to adopt a modernised description for someone pursuing the discipline. It’s hard to imagine but yoga wasn’t a widespread practice & was followed only by select groups of people. When the grandmasters of yoga shared it with the West, their intent was to popularise it; they clearly succeeded though along the way, some traditions were diluted & changes occurred with desired/undesirable effects. I remember my first yoga class vividly, in complete silence, we stood around a circle with the only sound being the teacher's voice. In those early years, it was the only environment I knew of to practice yoga, so to walk into a vinyasa class with electronic music blasting felt quite revolutionary!!! Playing music feels so trivial now but it was inconceivable then, so it’s acceptance was mind-blowing. Music has become an important element of my classes, used with consideration, she has therapeutic qualities and the ability to centre or settle a class quicker and more effectively. Yoga is dynamic and evolving intrinsically because it deals with humans. Our bodies and minds, and our knowledge of it, are always changing. I may not be a ‘yogi’ in the tradition sense but I've studied and practised it for the past 20 years and continue to; it's an indication of my commitment to the discipline and hopefully makes me acceptable as a ‘yogi’ in contemporary context. *Testing this website for a month so feel free to offer your feedback...🙂 *Post appears on IG & FB too. Click icons to follow me!
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I shared a story last week asking which one of the 2 poses is the most correct alignment for Paschimottanasana... A or B? Perhaps, I've been a little sly, to offer a choice suggests picking between the 2. In fact, both approach and alignments are viable options for a Forward Fold What it comes down to is your intent as the two have very different effects to the body. 'A' probably feels more active & strong whilst 'B' is likely to feel more passive & relaxing. Try to bring your awareness to the sensation across the back body; energetically - 'A' would feel like it's converging at the lower back area, in contrast to 'B' which may feel like it’s extending from feet to beyond the spine. You may want to take Pose A when you wish to work on the hamstrings without moving too much of the spine. While Pose B, akin to a yin pose, is great for releasing, across the entire back line of the body. The common problem is that we simply flop over, in such instances, the movement may end up limited to only the upper spine area. You want to involve the entire spine; throw the sit-bones back & tip your weight forwards to mobilise the entire spine, allowing it to cascade forward from base to the top. The moral of the story is that there’s no single alignment for any pose or 1 method is better than another - we take different versions to achieve different results. Try to mix it up so you’re getting the different benefits from just a single pose - I've added some instructions below for transitioning to both so you can try them yourself. Enjoy!
A shorter version of this post appears on my Instagram on 29 August 2020, click on icons below to follow me!
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Hongyi the yogiFull-time yoga teacher & trainee yoga therapist in London. Eager to share, eager to learn! Archives
July 2021
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