Images of dancers at Black Mountain Collage by Hazel Larsen Archer via mondo-blogo

Laura Dockrill

Something i've been reading recently. It's great! Bursting with poetry, stories, illustrations and scribbles, and even a wrapping paper and sticker set....all books should comes with a sticker set.

Here is Laura Dockrill in action...

Stretch!

New class uniform perhaps?
Image via quitecontinental

I ♥ Candles

I'm using this one from Sparrow & Co in class at the moment and it's proving a hit. The scent is a subtle blend of Sandalwood, Patchouli and Leather and its not at all overbearing, is burning slowly and cleanly and contains no chemicals or paraffin...ticks all my boxes!

I bought mine at Roost Living and they have 30% of at the moment, bonus!

Jennifer Sanchez

Paintings by Jennifer Sanchez

Boonchu Tanti

Sweet Ashtanga illustrations from Boonchu Tanti via dailycupofyoga

Pose of the week.

Upavistha Konasana
 

Upavistha Konasana requires a level of flexibility in the hip joints and thigh muscles, such as the adductors, that can be challenging. It is a good one to practice a few times a week, but please practice within your ability and with an attitude of exploration and curiosity about what is possible for you right now.

Practice: Once sitting, separate your legs as wide apart as you can without causing discomfort in your inner knees. If you find that, as you sit on the floor, your pelvis rolls backward, then use props to help you...as many blankets/blocks as you need! Keep your legs nice and straight throughout the pose, knees pointing up to the ceiling, activating the feet and extending through the inner seams of the legs (through to your inner heel and big toe). 

Remember, in all forward bends the 'bending' motion does not come from rounding the spine. it comes from tilting your pelvis forward and moving it over the thighbones, therefore leaving your spine relatively undisturbed. Rounding your back is a flexion movement that can put to much pressure on the disks between the lumbar vertebrae.

If you can easily lift your spine and maintain its normal curves, then come forward slowly, breathing with ease and using your arms and hands to support you. I like to use my inhalations to keep my spine long and my exhalations to initiate the forward movement from the hip joints and pelvis.  ENJOY!
 

Sequencing: As part of a seated series, it usually follows Janu Sirsasana and is practices before or after Baddha Konasana.

Benefits: Stretches the insides and backs of the legs (adductors and hamstrings), increases mobility in the hip joints,  strengthens the spine, can be a nice pose for period pain, releases groins

Cautions: Avoid this pose if you have any strain in your inner thigh muscles or problems in your lower back.

Sunday Poem

Sunday Tune

Here and Now: Meditation

1. Remind yourself that you exist here and now.

Be aware of your body as it exists in this present moment, here and now.

Accept your life as it exists in this present moment, here and now. No matter how boring, banal, stressful, sad, happy; at any given moment it is all we have with us.

2. Just be aware of the acivities going on all around you in this present moment.

At any given moment. there are many things that are happening in and around you. Even if you are just sitting and not doing anything, many things are going on. Your breathing process, your heart is pumping, your hair and nails are growing  at a small speed, in short - hundred of activities are going on inside your body at this very moment. 

In the outer world also numerous things are happening around you at the present moment. You are surrounded by a very active atmosphere, whose properties such as temperature and pressure etc are  changing every moment. There are numerous sounds and smells echoing around you at this very moment - also constantly changing.

Just be aware of the present moment. Just be aware of all those activities which are going on in and around you at this present moment. Do not concentrate upon them .Thing are happening on their own. Just be aware of them.

3. From now on do everything with this same awareness.  

Just keep doing whatever you are doing at this moment but ---- do it with awareness that you are doing it. 

Sincerely Hana

This project 'Switcheroo' is strangely mesmerising...only click here if you have a spare 5 minutes...

Dark chocolate...is very good for you....

So I read this and thought I should make this to test the theory....yum.

Naho Kubota

The colours!!
//www.nahokubota.com//

via apieceapart

via apieceapart

Restorative Teacher Training with Anna Ashby

I completed this Teacher Training with Anna Ashby and Chris Swain last year and it was FANTASTIC! If you are a yoga teacher looking to explore the restorative practice then I would highly recommend this course.

Heres the blurb:
This unique 36 hour teacher training programme focuses on the practice, art and teaching of restorative yoga. Each intensive weekend offers a retreat-like atmosphere which includes practice, study and learning of restorative asana, the anatomy and physiology of restorative yoga, as well as how to sequence and teach a restorative yoga class. Particular emphasis is given to assisting and adjusting the postures to suit individual needs.

This training is designed for teachers and includes ample time for exploring, understanding and practicing adjusting the postures. To participate in this training, you should have successfully completed, or currently be attending a Level 1 Yoga Teacher Training programme.
The weekends will include includes:
- restorative yoga practice, journaling and discussion
- the art of teaching restorative yoga, including environment, intention, breath, sequencing and assisting
- anatomy and physiology of restorative yoga

The restorative yoga practice sessions and art of teaching sessions will be lead by Anna Ashby, a leading triyoga teacher and senior faculty member of the triyoga teacher training programme, while Chris Swain, the anatomy and physiology teacher for the triyoga’s teacher training programme, will teach the physiology of the nervous system, breathing, and the anatomy of the six key restorative postures.

And you can find out more about Anna here, Chris here and the course dates and venue here.
 

Murmuration from Islands & Rivers on Vimeo.
images via apieceapart and gaia-photos

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

--Mary Oliver

I Believe I can Fly

I Believe I can Fly ( flight of the frenchies). Trailer from sebastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.
INSANE!!!

A book for you: Tantra Song

In the 17th century, long before Malevich, Arp and Rothko Tantric devotees in Rajasthan, India, used tempera, gouache and watercolor to create beautiful, highly concise drawings to mediate on… 

I have to admit i haven't been bowled over by the poems and writings in the book, but the images are exquisitely printed and well worth a look.

Tantra Song -Tantric Painting from Rajasthan

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

--Mary Oliver, Dream Work

via everyeskimo

Pose of the week.

Bharadvajasana I

Following description borrowed from Brad Piddy;

Bharadvajasana is a seated twist that is asymmetrical in the legs, pelvis, and spine causing your rear buttock to tend to come off the floor (or support).   Though the nature of the pose is asymmetrical, you should still try to minimize the asymmetry in your practice of it.   It is helpful to practice this asana while sitting on the end of a bolster, both when first learning the pose, and even when you are mature in it as the added height helps to minimize the asymmetrical tilt in your pelvis.   An alternative support is to use a blanket under the buttock on the side that you are twisting toward (under the right buttock if twisting to the right).

As in all twists, the twisting action of Bharadvajasana begins in your pelvis, from your pubic bone, and moves upward and a long spine is crucial to a good twist.   If you are twisting to the right, press your right shin into floor to help you lift your torso.   You can extend your right hand back and place it on the bolster or floor, using it to lift your spine straight up perpendicular to the floor.   When you no longer feel you need this assistance, you will reach around your back with your right hand and grasp your left arm.   This action will also aid in expanding your chest and lifting your torso with a different kind of leverage than that of pressing down on the bolster or floor. Use your left hand on your thigh to pull your torso to aid in the twisting action.   On each inhalation, lift your spine with your right hand on the bolster or floor.   Be as tall as you can be in every twist you perform.   On each exhalation, twist your spine slightly more to the right with your left hand.As you twist to the right, try to keep your left sitting bone as close to floor (or as close to resting on the bolster) as possible.   Try to drop both your sitting bones to the floor or support as equally as you can.

This asana creates a slight backbend in your upper torso.   Pull your shoulders back and downward.   Draw your inner shoulder blades deep into your back to help you lift your chest upward.   Avoid the natural tendency in all twists to raise the shoulder that is twisting back.Allow your head to follow along in the direction your torso is twisting.   Do not lead the twist with your head since this can place too much tension in your neck.   Turn your head as a natural action of spiraling your spine, not as its own independent action.

A wall is a useful tool when practicing twists.   For Bharadvajasana, sit at the wall with your legs on your left side, the wall on your right, and both of your hands on the wall helping you achieve lift in your torso and "assisting the twisting" toward the right.

Repeat all of these actions in the pose on the left side.

Benefits

• Stretches the spine, shoulders, and hips
• Can relieve lower backache, neck pain, and sciatica
• Improves digestion
• Especially good in the second trimester of pregnancy for strengthening the lower back

Maddie the Coonhound

Possibly one of the best blogs i've ever seen...very good use of dog!
Maddie the Coonhound

Sunday Tune

Sunday Tune

via apieceapart

Odette

lovely things from Odette.