Category: Hot Yoga Classes

Fall head over heels in love with inversions…

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Turn your practice upside down!

Or: what’s all this about standing on your head then?

Yogis do some odd things. From chanting OM to getting up at getting up at silly-o-clock to practice, we can be an odd bunch. No more so than when we start standing on our heads in yoga inversions – and it turns out that there are a surprising number of different ways to do that!

But there’s method in our madness. There are serious benefits to Yoga inversions where the head is held below the heart. And there’s also quite a bit of misinformation out there about what they are! Check out our list of benefits and myth-busters.

Yoga Inversions

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Yogafurie – A Family Story

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The Yogafurie Family Story

(p.s. it wasn’t overnight!)

family business

 

Can you remember what you were doing in 2004? I was busy implementing business intelligence systems for HP, and in my spare time I enjoyed practicing Tai Chi. And at the weekend, I would take Sinead and her two oldest brothers – all three of them were teenagers back then – to the climbing centre in St Werburghs. We spent a lot of time there, and all learned to lead climb.

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What Are The Benefits of Hot Yoga?

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What are the benefits of Hot Yoga? Are there any?

A recent newspaper article declared that Hot Yoga is no better for your heart than regular Yoga. The article is flawed however: it focuses on just measures around heart function and in Yoga or Hot Yoga, we always try to breathe full, calm breaths. This breath style activates our parasympathetic (relaxation) response. Instead of getting stressed by the effort, we learn to ease into it – and that’s a useful skill, fully transferable to many other life situations. Naturally, here isn’t a big change in heart measures! We’re calming the heart down all the
time. Looking at heart measures is an ill-informed approach to quantifying the effects of Hot Yoga.

benefits

If no one is claiming that Hot Yoga is a cardio workout, then what are the benefits? I recently blogged about a natural substance called heat shock protein. The interaction between Hot Yoga and heat shock protein hasn’t been explored in a clinical or research setting, so my blog really just discusses what I found out from a literature search. Still, it makes interesting reading! So, is there anything really quantifiable?

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Leadership and Manipura Chakra

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In the lead up to Ed’s Manipura Chakra workshop, Ed discusses this energetic centre

manipura chakra

Evolution began with independent organisms – creatures that saw to their own needs, often reproducing asexually. And life can only go so far like that. Eventually, creatures have to work in groups – then it’s possible to build a better life for all.

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Us Bristolians See it Enough in the City – Flying Pigeon Pose!

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Eka Pada Galavasana or Flying Pigeon Pose is a challenging arm balance!

Read further for preparatory poses and how to practice safely

Flying Pigeon Pose Eka Pada Galavasana

Sometimes Yoga just seems like no laughing matter, and usually that’s when things get tough, or if you land flat on your face. This pose is tough, with a big risk of greeting the floor at a high speed with your dish and a load of body weight behind it. That being said, it’s great to face one’s difficulties and learn that it’s not all that bad after all. Flying Pigeon Pose gives us the chance to get strong, both physically and mentally, to find balance in a strange position, and to become brave in the face of a little uncertainty.

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A close look at Parsva Bakasana – Side Crow

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Take flight and enjoy a twist with the arm balance Parsva Bakasana – Side Crow

As a challenging arm balance, and a step further than Bakasana variation and full Bakasana, Parsva Bakasana or Side Crow helps to further one’s confidence with balance. This helps to strengthen muscles in the belly, the spine and the arms. As great as this pose is, it’s important to prepare the body for such work with some targeted asanas beforehand.

It’s best to avoid this pose if you are currently dealing with wrist or lower back injuries.

Side Crow

Read on for instructions how to safely practice this pose at home!

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New set for Intermediate Hot Yoga

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We’re going to work on the following in our intermediate Hot Yoga classes (Weds 7:45PM)

 

  • Bhujipidasana – shoulder pressing pose
  • Tittibhasana – insect pose
  • Hanumansana – front splits
  • Mayurasana – peacock pose
  • Pincha mayurasana – feathered peacock pose

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