So we’re still in Burma, a little further east in Inle Lake to be more precise, one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever seen. Not only does the lake provide homes for thousands of Burmese residents in the form of delicately crafted bamboo huts on stilts, it also supplies the means to grow food on these spectacular things called floating gardens. Then what I found the most fascinating, fishermen who row with their legs! Only found in this region of Inle lake the local fishermen balance on one leg at the edge of their small boats, twisting the oar around the other leg, this way having both hands free to cast out and draw in the nets. Watching the graceful movements, which must require so much strength, balance and flexibility, inspired me that eveing to focus my practice around my legs!

“Splits” or hanumanasana requires a significant amount of flexibility from both the hamstrings and the groin. Always make sure you warm your body up before practicing this asana, reputations of sun salutions as well as lizard pose is great for this.

A lot of teachers practise coming into hanumanasana from standing, usually using blocs or something similar to assist you coming closer to the ground. This will work for most of you I’m sure however when I’m working this asana I like to start from sitting. You need to have fairly flexible legs to work this asana, so if you’re unsure, go back to lizard pose.

Start sitting with your legs as open as feels comfortable on your mat or a soft floor, legthen your spine (I like to imagine invisible string pulling me up from the crown of my head). If you’re opening the left leg, turn the body so it’s looking over the left leg. Take the left hand behind your left thigh, pressing down firmly on the floor, until your sitting bones start to come off the ground. With the right hand imagine someone is pulling you over until it reaches the ground infront. You may find that either your legs start to bend, you can’t get up at all, or that you have more flexibility than you think and are comfortable sitting with straight legs. Keep both hands firmly grounded either side of you to offer support. Whichever one of these may apply to you try to hold for at least five breaths. Always repeat on the opposite side, keeping your body nice and balanced.

Once you’re comfortable in this asana you can try raising your hands off the ground. It will make the posture slightly more powerful, but gives you the option of putting some interesting variations to hanumanasana.

It feels a little strange having only practised on my own for a while now – would be great to hear how everyone’s practice is going at home!? Also, are there any postures you’ve seen and are unsure about? Will do my best to offer some guidance, but keep in mind I’m still a student myself! Love gemyoga x

Sunset at the top of Mandalay Hill in Burma I decided to do some hip opening practice. Personally I don’t think you can beat lizards pose or Utthan Pristhasana. Perfect if your job means sitting or driving a lot, or like me at the moment, travelling on trains, buses and aeroplanes. All of which give you very tight hips, amongst other areas that will need working on, but the hips are a good place to start.

Come onto all fours on your mat, hands underneath shoulders and knees under hips. Bring your left foot to the outside of your left hand and allow the hips to relax, becoming heavy. Depending on how you feel, you can start to bring the left foot further forward, keeping both hands to the right hand side of it. Keep the hips relaxed, sinking down. If the knee on the floor is uncomfortable try a cushion or blanket underneath. If you feel you can take the posture further, change from your palms being on the floor to your forearms. Keep the left knee tucked in tight to the body, gaze looking down avoiding any tension in the neck. Keeping the chest nice and open and the spine lengthened, feel the chest drawing down to the ground rather than your head. Hold for at least five breaths then change legs. It is worth noting that one leg is often tighter than the other. My right leg feels like it’s from a different person sometimes! Hold the leg that feels tighter for a couple more breaths.

Always here for any advice or questions yogis. Grace x

Our last stop for India for the moment was Bombay or Mumbai, I found the locals still refer to their home as Bombay. So I chose to dance in Bombay not Mumbai.

We actually spent the majority of the day in one of Bombay’s biggest working slums. Surreal experience feeling yourself getting increasingly upset over the conditions in which these beautiful people are living. Yet at the same time smiling all the way through, because they are. They’re happy with so little and seem so much more fulfilled than westerners do (myself I included). No offence!

Feeling a mixture of emotions we decided to make our way to the highest point in Bombay and do yoga of course. Dancer pose or Natarajasana is a balance posture, try to see it more as a way to balance your mind and body rather than increase flexibility. Don’t concentrate too much on how high your back leg is going, this will come over time.

Stand on one leg at the front of your mat. Take for example your right leg, (allways remember to repeat the opposite side after) with your right hand and pull the heel close to your sitting bones. Try to keep your pelvis tucked under, left hand can come on to your waist. Find a point a meter in front of you to focus on, keeping your breath calm and steady.

To take yourself further in this asana, start to plunge your chest slightly forward, still keeping it nice and open. At the same time push the right foot into the right hand, and pull your foot with your hand. Slowly bringing the right leg higher, the left hand can eventually start to point straight forward, bringing your gaze across this arm. The higher you start to bring the back leg up, try to ensure you keep the chest as open as you can. With the left leg that’s rooted into your mat, keep the knee locked back if it feels comfortable, if not a little bend should do it.  Happy dancing my little yogis. Grace x

Apologies for the lack of updates. Towards the end of our Hampi trip Delhi belly got me good and proper. Unfortunately I didn’t have much time to practise, the majority of time was used climbing the dreamy boulders of Hampi and seeking shade once temperatures soared over 35 degrees. Climbing does still provide the opportunity to stretch out on occasion…

Hours of travelling to get to Goa whilst sill recovering from illness left me feeling weak, stiff, achey and to be honest very negative about doing any sort of practise. My mat stayed rolled away for maybe a week! But what was the point in forcing my body to do something my mind couldn’t? Where would the fun in that be? After all it’s not an endurance contest.

When I felt ready I started gentle asanas. For example, tree pose or vriksasana. Perfect for bringing your mind and body together. Stand on one leg, root the foot that is on the ground firmly, even squeezing your toes to help with this. Lock your knee back if this feels comfortable, if not allow a little bend. Try not to stick your sitting bones out as you place the sole of the other foot onto the inside of your grounded legs calf. With the leg that is off the ground, really try to push the knee out to the side. Eventually, start to move the sole of the raised foot further up the inside of your grounded leg, whilst avoiding the knee joint. If you feel comfortable with the sole of the foot being all the way to the very top, innermost part of the thigh, you can take it further by easing the raised leg out, upwards and into lotus pose, as I am doing below. Be careful with this if you have bad knees. Once you have found your balance, brings palms together at heart centre. Remember balance postures don’t come easy, so don’t beat yourself up if you struggle at first. Breathe… Namaste.

 

  

After a little over a week travelling, James unfortunately contracted salmonella poisoning from bad chicken. He was bound to our little tree house in Thekkady for a few days. Thankfully I felt fine, veggie you see! In my practise I needed to feel strong to keep James’s mood up. Warrior 2 pose does just this. 

Come to the front of your mat, stepping the right leg back and turning the foot out. Keep the left foot facing forward. Check both heels are in line with one and other, the space between your feet should be around ten of your own feet. As you inhale bring the hands up to the side, palms parallel with the floor. On your exhale, bend the left knee to a ninety degree angle. Any less and you won’t benefit from the posture, any more and you may damage your shin. Try not to allow the left knee to collapse in, keep pushing it out. If you look down you should just be able to see your big toe and maybe one more. Keep the upper body central, lengthening through the spine. Stay in warrior for as long as you need to, the gaze should be straight across the left arm. Relax the shoulders and be a warrior. Triangle pose is a great posture to follow from warrior 2.  Namaste. Grace X 

  
We are currently exploring the back waters of Kerala on our own private house boat. Which is pretty cool. Yoga was challenging as the boat was slightly rocky, however it made me focus much harder on my practice. 

This is trikonasna or triangle pose, a good all rounder to open your legs, hips, waist, spine and shoulders. 

Come to the front of your mat, hands at heart centre. Step the right leg back to a distance that feels comfortable for you, usually around ten of your own feet. Have a glance and make sure both heels are inline with one and other. The back foot should face the side of your mat, front foot forwards. As you inhale bring yours hands up to your sides, palms parallel to the floor, exhale and turn to look across your left arm. Inhale through the belly then as you exhale imagine someone is pulling your left arm. Try to keep the lower part of the body still, isolating the ribs as you move. Once you’ve leaned as far as feels comfortable, drop your left hand dow, resting it anywhere except the knee joint. If this feels too strong through the back of the leg gently bend the knee. If you can keep the leg straight, start by resting your palm on the shin, then ankle, then floor until eventually hooking your two first fingers around the big toe. Very important in triangle pose is to keep the sitting bones underneath your body, try not to stick them out. Finally draw the right hand straight up to the sky, spreading the finger tips. Peel the right shoulder away from the ear then turn the head to gaze straight up to the right hand. If this is too strong on the neck, take gaze down to the left foot. To come out of the posture lean forward with the left hand, the same way you came down. Allways repeat on the other leg. Take it gently and listen your body, it knows you very well. Grace X 

Meditation. If it’s for 3 minutes, half an hour or half a day, don’t be fooled into thinking you need to be sat crossed legged with your eyes closed chanting on a beach (a-hem)! Meditation is attempting to get the mind to concentrate on one thing without interruption. So this could be cooking, playing an instrument, yoga etc.  If you want to try just sitting, try to picture one thing in your mind – a mantra. I picture flowing water or a flame. Every time something wanders into your mantra, try to remove it and stay focused. If you just don’t feel like you have time to sit and “do nothing”, double your meditation time. You need it more! Namaste. Grace x

Supported headstand or sirsasana. Any inversion is wonderful for releasing stress and worries from the body. By gravity releasing the blood from your legs it reduces the stress on your heart. You don’t need to be in an amazing jaw dropping inversion to reap the benefits. Basically any asana (posture) that allows the blood to flow to the head is all you need.

For a supported head stand start knelt  down at the bottom of your mat. Grab each bicep and place the elbows and forearms down. Pivot forearms out on the elbows, interlocking the fingers, keeping thumbs in the air. Place the top of your head (draw a line up from the top of your ears) securely into the little cup you have created with your hands, thumbs supporting the back of your head. By now your sitting bones should be nicely pointing up to the sky. Come up onto the balls of your feet. This is dolphin pose, a great inversion if you’re just starting out. To take things further, start to walk your feet towards your body. Use your core to hold the body still – squeeze! Push your elbows down into the ground and when you can’t walk your feet anymore, pull one knee into your chest. Alternate this, until you eventually feel both knees can float up to your chest. NEVER KICK! Not only is it dangerous for your spine but it’s allowing your body to be out of control. Slowly start to straighten the legs up to the sky. Hold for as long as you feel comfortable. Your breath should be flowing steadily and easily. If you ever feel light headed, gently come out of the posture. All ways finish a head stand, whichever variation, in child’s pose for at least ten breaths. Video to follow once WiFi improves. Let me know how you all get on. Namaste. Grace x