December Theme of the Month Classes Posted by Yoga Herts on Thursday 1 December 2022

December is often a busy time for many people with extra activities going on and people preparing to slow down for the festive break at the end of the year.

Our yoga practice is an ideal opportunity to slow down and focus on staying a bit longer in yoga poses to connect with the breath and feel tension beginning to release away from the body and even the mind. I often say in class, we don’t actually realise how tight we are in certain points of the body until it shows up when we are doing a particular pose.

The first part of the practice will be opening up the joints and muscles, moving the body in different directions to create energy and then releasing into slower floor based poses that are held for a longer time.

We will use our breathing practice nadi shodhana, alternative nostril breathing to calm the mind and promote relaxation which reduces our stress levels. Our savasana at the end of our practice is a great way to really let go and relax as we give our body and our nervous system time to assimilate the changes that we have worked through in the physical practice. Sometimes we can be tense for so long that we actually forget how being relaxed feels. Our mind and body are related, when the body relaxes so does the mind. After we move our bodies through various poses and feel more stretched and open our body is often more than happy to relax.

December

Week 1 - Balance. With yoga we work with a balance of energies between letting go and holding on in a pose. Finding a balance of energy between rooting down and rising up in a pose and finding a balance between effort and ease.

Week 2 - Focus. Yoga is wonderful for bringing in a sense of focus by being attuned to our breath, noticing how we react to certain poses and what happens to the mind when we are holding a pose. Our class is an opportunity to work with simply just being present, focusing on one thing at a time while we move our body.

Week 3 - Grounding Breath. Using the breath to ground us in poses that are more challenging and when we need to think about our feet connecting to the earth for stability. We will focus on forward folds to open up into the lower part of the body.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

This Months Music

Here's the usual selection of music that Vicky has been listening to this month.