Dear reader,
On Thursday mornings the local community centre hall fills with women, welcoming them to a Women Only space to explore the profound knowledge yoga offers.
They roll out their mats, use the blankets and bolsters provided, and take a restful moment to just Be.
What a joy. What a relief. What a necessity.
It is a pleasure for me to offer the time for one’s head to rest, lungs to breathe, belly to stretch, pelvis to feel and feet to enliven.
We roll, reach, explore, feel, rest, stretch, strength and discuss what is happening. We study the mind and the body in direct and open conversation.
To my knowledge, this is unusual for a yoga class. Many yoga studios feel compelled to get student moving so the teacher simply demonstrates a sequence of poses followed by a relaxation.
These Women Only classes provide the students and I the freedom to move, rest and workshop as we need. We can do all this in one session.
I love this freedom because it means I am actually looking at the person on the mat and providing a yogic moment: responding to what is actually there - so it feels authentic and relevant.
Today’s session we studies the pelvic floor through sensing movements of the pelvis, experiencing open/closed, wide/narrow, and supported/braced. We explored how the feet, legs, hips all affect the pelvis so we can walk away with an integrated view of the body.
Alignment of the pelvis can help with incontineence when there is a sudden pressure on the ‘core unit’. I showed images from my favourite pelvic floor book on the elements that make up the core: diaphragm, pelvic floor, transverse abdomens and multifidus. Then we sat on chairs to really feet what supports the core: good posture!
It was a fabulous class and I so blessed to have engaged and inquiring students who I know will weave there yogic knowledge into their lives.
Heyum Dukkham Anagatam
The suffering to come can and should be avoided.
For more Womanly Yoga you can attend my annual retreat.
Visit the retreats page for details of this precious and delightful event.
www.bodycentred.com/workshops
Katie