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TURTLE POSE FOR MARCH

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KURMASANA

This month's featured Zamasana for March will really test your flexibility - Kurmasana, or Turtle pose (also known as Tortoise pose), because you emulate drawing back into your 'shell' as you practice this pose. 

It's a challenging pose so there are many variants and stages as you make your way into Kurmasana this March. Thoroughly warm up before you attempt the pose, to loosen up the hips, thighs and back of the body. You might like to create a sequence with poses such as Chair pose, Eagle pose, Extended Side Angle pose, lots of forward folds (especially Wide Angle Seated Forward Fold) and of course Downward Facing Dog. Malasana and Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose) can also help you on your journey to Turtle pose.

 

HOW TO

  • Begin in Dandasana (Staff pose), with the legs spread slightly wider than shoulder width. 
  • Bend your knees and draw them towards your hips, and lengthen your torso and fold forward. 
  • One arm at a time, slide the arms with palms facing down, beneath the lifted thighs and walk the palms out to the sides as far as possible. Feel the chest widen and ensure that the shoulders draw away from the ears. 
  • Gently straighten the legs over the arms, if that's available to you. Ensure that your legs are rotated so that your knees and toes point to the sky. Enjoy the stretch happening all over your body!
  • To come out of the pose, bend your knees and slowly lift the torso, drawing the arms back towards you. You might feel the body needs some twists or an inversion to release any tension build up. Do what feels right!

 

NAVASANA FOR FEBRUARY

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ZAMASANA OF THE MONTH

It's a challenge month so we've got a challenging pose lined up for you - Navasana (Paripurna Navasana, or Boat pose). Yeppers, tell that core of yours to rest up while it can because it's about to start working hard!!

Navasana works our abs and hip flexors, building strength and requiring balance in our good ol' sit bones.

HOW TO

  • Begin sitting on your mat, back up straight and legs out in front of you. Ensure that your sternum is lifting up and out as you begin to lean back slightly, keeping that beautiful spine of yours straight and strong. 
  • Transfer the weight into your sitting bones and tailbone as you exhale, bending your knees as you lift your feet off the floor. Keep your arms extended alongside your body, straight out in front of you, parallel to the floor. Feel your shoulder blades broaden across your back and feel the energy pulling out through the fingertips. 
  • You're probably already feeling those ab vibrations but if it's available to you, slooowly extend your legs out straight until your toes are about level with your eyes. If this feels too strong for your body, no worries - bend those knees again, and perhaps you can work up to straightening the knees during the course of the month!

 

 

 

GODDESS FOR JANUARY

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GODDESS POSE

This month – the first of 2018! – our zamasana is Goddess pose, and all its wonderful variations.

Utkata Konasana, the Goddess pose (also known as Fiery Angle pose), is a powerful squat pose that tones the core and works into the thighs. We thought we’d start with an invigorating asana for the fresh new year!
This pose builds the heat in the body, and is said to get you in touch with your inner (god or) goddess. It’s also a great pose for prenatal and post-natal yogis.

HOW TO

Begin standing, in mountain pose (Tadasana), then step your feet out wide. Turn your feet so that they’re pointing outwards at about 45 degrees, and on your next exhale bend the knees until they’re over the ankles, the thighs parallel with the floor, in a wide legged squat.

From here, there are a few variations for your arms and upper body. For the full, strong version of Goddess,  spread your arms wide at shoulder height. Bend the elbows to 90 degrees and face the palms away from the body, spreading the fingers wide and drawing the shoulderblades towards one another. Engage the core here and hold the pose, feeling the heat build in the body.

Alternatively, you might want to bring your hands to heart centre, or take a mudra – connect the thumbs at your bellybutton, palms on the belly, and index fingers at the pubic bone, spreading the remaining fingers wide. Keep the belly soft in this variation. This is a mudra that connects to the power of loving feminine energy, and all that the Goddess entails.

A further, deeper, variation of the pose involves lifting onto the balls of your feet, while continuing to keep your thighs parallel to the floor. From here, you can fold forward, and cross the arms while drawing fingertips to the ground.

COSMIC EGG FOR DECEMBER

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Woweeee. How on earth did the end of the year come around so quick???! If you’re anything like us, you’re looking at today’s date and reeling ever so slightly (“December? ALREADY? HOW?!” etc etc). We’ve chosen just the pose for this month – one to help us stop, press pause, and turn our attention inwards and reflect on the year that has been… or to just be. Yep, December’s zamasana is Cosmic Egg – a gentle, suspended self hug that should never, ever end. Find your little bubble of self love and inward reflection and give yourselves a big, Comic-Egg-y snuggle with us this month – you deserve it!

HOW TO 

Begin seated, with knees bent and feet flat on the floor in front of you.

Hug arms around knees and draw knees towards chest, lifting feet off the floor so you’re balancing on your buttock muscles.

Draw your face into your knees, so you’re suspended in your own little Cosmic Egg hug bubble.

Stay as long as you want! Enjoy the suspended silence.

We love you, our special and treasured Zamis. Thank you for making 2017 another brilliant year of Zama Yoga, we literally couldn’t do it without you <3 

 

WHEEL FOR NOVEMBER

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WHEEL YOGA POSE

Happy November, Zamis! The last month of Spring is upon us and that means one very important thing… Summer is coming!

Our Zamasana for this month can be a challenging backbend, but it’s important to remember what backbends really are: heart openers. So, let’s all open our hearts together to the oncoming warmth of Summer, to the gratitude towards the year that was 2017, and to the joy (not the stress!) of the nearing Christmas season.

The Wheel, or Upwards Bow Pose, is also known by its Sanskrit name as Urdhva Dhanurasana.  This energy-boosting pose is an arm-, leg-, and spine-strengthener, as well as a good little core workout in the process. Backbends can release some anxiety from the body, so if this happens to you during the Wheel, breath through it and if need be, slowly come out of the pose.

HOW TO

Lie on the floor and bend your knees, drawing soles of feet towards buttocks. Bend your arms and place palms of hands flat on the floor, fingers facing towards your shoulders.

Inhale, activate leg muscles and, while pushing soles of feet into floor, exhale as you raise hips to the sky. Keep feet and thighs parallel and buttock muscles activated. Take a full breath or two before pressing hands into floor and raising shoulders and lifting up onto crown of head.

Keeping arms parallel, take a full breath then press into feet and hands and activate legs, arms and core as you lift crown of head off the ground.

While in the pose, turn the thighs in a slightly internal rotation and keep them firm. Broaden shoulder blades and be conscious of not overly tensing neck and jaw. Breathe freely.

To come out of the pose, gently rest crown of head on your mat then curl your neck along the mat as you release the arms and reconnect your spine with the ground. Windscreen wiper your legs and hug knees to chest to release lower back.

EXTENDED SIDE PLANK FOR OCTOBER

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EXTENDED SIDE PLANKWhen in doubt, side plank it out! This month, we’re stepping our regular side-planking skills up a notch with Extended Side Plank, or One Legged Side Plank Pose – Eka Pada Vasisthasana – as our zamasana for October.

We’re not gonna lie, this pose is a challenge – it’ll test your balance and arm strength as well as your flexibility, but there’s several stages to help you make your way into the full pose.

HOW TO

Begin in your regular Plank pose, ensuring your shoulders are above wrists. Widen shoulder blades and slide them down your back.
Move into Side Plank Pose (Vasisthasana) – press weight into left arm and rotate upper body externally, spinning supporting (left) heel to the floor. Right leg stacks on top of left leg and right arm extends up to the sky.
Once stable here (pause for a few breaths), bend right knee while externally rotating right hip and catch the right big toe with your right hand.
At this point you may want to grab a strap to hold your foot, but if your flexibility allows it, begin straightening the right left, extending it high.
Once you feel secure and balanced in the pose, turn the gaze upwards. Keep the core engaged to remain strong in the pose.
To come out of the pose, inhale and on the exhale slowly return to regular Plank Pose, and then repeat on the other side.

Variations
If you can’t make your way into the full pose, you may instead like to practice lifting the top leg when in Side Plank Pose and holding for five breaths on each side. From there, practice bending the knee and catching the toe and keeping the pose strong and balanced while doing so.

 

PRIMAL PLANK FROGS FOR SEPTEMBER

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PRIMAL PLANKPrimal-what-now?? Primal Frog Planks are this month’s Zamasana; our pose of the month inspired by our brand new SESH™ class THE SESH™! Some of you will have already had the joy of powering through these at our Brisbane studio, but do not fret, we will all be having a go!

Primal Plank Frogs are a combination of strength, agility, breath, and perseverance! They will have you feeling powerful and PRIMAL!

HOW TO

Begin in a plank variation; Draw your heels together to touch with toes apart and bring your hands onto blocks (optional but allows for more space and ease)
Take a breath in to prepare and as you exhale draw your hips back toward your heels
Return to the starting position on the inhale

Repeat for 12 rounds (and perhaps make your way to 108 rounds!)

ANANDA BALASANA FOR AUGUST

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Ananda Balasana, orAnanda Balasana Happy Baby as it is more commonly known, may not be a traditional yoga pose from older Hatha Yoga texts, but it IS a modern favourite, and rightly so! The combination of hip-opening, lower-back-releasing, spine-lengthening, inner-thigh-stretching, whilst being completely supported by the ground goodness is a match made in yogi heaven!

Happy Baby is similar to Malasana (the yogi squat) but because it doesn’t weight-bear it is more accessible to those who have knee and hip issues. There are endless variations of this pose too, so there’s an option for everybody; If the hips or groins are tight then you can use a strap around the feet or rest the feet against a wall. This way you can keep the full spine relaxed and rested.

Practice Ananda Balasana

  1. Begin by lying on your back. Inhale to prepare, and as you exhale, bring the knees up into the chest
  2. Place the hands onto the shins (left hand on the left shin, right hand on the right shin) and draw the legs outward, knees toward the armpits. This might be enough of a stretch through the inner thighs and groins so you might like to stay here and take a few breaths.
  3. If you’re ready to move on, take hold of the outside edges of the feet so that the feet face the ceiling (or the sky for you happy nature babies) and the shins are perpendicular too the ground.
  4. Push the feet up into the hands whilst pulling down gently with the hands to create some resistance.
  5. Stay for a few even breaths and then release the feet and come back to lying down in savasana

YOGA FOR PREGNANCY

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yoga for pregnancyEven if you’ve never tried it before, yoga for pregnancy can support you in your physical and emotional journey toward motherhood. A gentle, mindful yoga practice can boost your mental and physical stamina by toning your muscles, strengthening your pelvic floor, and teaching you to observe and control your breath.

As added bonuses, a regular yoga practice throughout pregnancy can ease discomfort during delivery, and speed up postpartum recovery.

Yoga for pregnancy: physical benefits

A woman’s body goes through many changes over the nine-month pregnancy period. As the belly grows, the centre-of-gravity shifts, forcing the body to compensate by changing its posture. The muscles, bones and joints — including the feet — take on more weight than usual, causing aches, pains, and other uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms.

As yoga realigns the body while strengthening and stretching the muscles, pregnant women enjoy a reduction — and sometimes a complete elimination — of lower back pain, acid reflux, headaches, nausea, carpal tunnel syndrome, and shortness of breath. Importantly, yoga for pregnancy can strengthen the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor is a hammock-like muscle attached to the pelvis, which is under increased stress during pregnancy. A strong pelvic floor can help a woman carry her baby more comfortably, ease the delivery process, and speed up post-natal recovery.

Yoga for pregnancy: mental and emotional benefits

Anyone who has committed to a regular yoga practice will tell you that the benefits extend far beyond the physical. Yoga creates a sense of calmness and centredness, while teaching us to be self-aware and in control of our both our mind and body.

The mental and emotional benefits of yoga for pregnancy can help minimise any stress or anxiety you may be feeling in the lead up to delivery. What’s more, yoga gives expectant mothers time to care for, nourish, and express gratitude for their incredible bodies, while connecting more deeply to the baby within. Yoga offers the peace of mind you need to be present throughout the entire process, and to be content diving head-first into the unknown.

Lastly, practicing yoga can help improve sleep, which is vital during this very important — and often exhausting — time of life.

How yoga can help during child birth

Breath practice, known as pranayama, is at the core of all yoga. Through yoga and meditation, we learn to observe and control the breath, making it slower, deeper, and intentional. This practice helps reduce stress and anxiety, which are feelings many women experience as their pregnancy comes to an end.

When we panic, we tend to tense up. When we panic during labour, this tightening can make the experience even more difficult. Deep breathing can help women stay calm and present throughout the delivery, while releasing endorphins that reduce pain and help labour progress.

Do keep in mind, however, that breath retention is not safe during pregnancy.

Practice yoga for pregnancy at Zama Yoga

As women develop a closer connection to themselves through their yoga practice, they learn to trust and listen to their bodies. We are so accustomed to living from the neck up, and pregnancy and birth happens from the neck down. Yoga can help you tune into your intuition, and surrender to the birthing process.

Remember to always consult a doctor before starting a new exercise while pregnant.

Depending on the advice from your doctor, you can attend the following classes at Zama Yoga:

  • Yoga in Brisbane: Yin, VinYin, Warm Slow Flow, non-heated Hatha, Barre and Pilates.
  • Yoga in Toowoomba: Prenatal Yoga, Yin, VinYin, non-heated Hatha, Barre and Pilates.

Learn more about our yoga classes.

Check out our Toowong or Toowoomba timetables to find a class that suits you. Feel free to contact our studios on +61 434 787 044 if you have any questions or concerns.

GARUDASANA JULY ZAMASANA

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GarudasanaGarudasana, the mythic ‘King of the birds’ is usually translated to English as Eagle, though literally translated means Devourer! 

This asana helps to build strength, flexibility, endurance, and unwavering focus (not too much to think about then). We chose this posture for July on purpose; On the brink of the second half of the year the power of Garuda will help you soar out of the stagnation of winter and toward the sun in all your glory!

Practice Garudasana, Eagle Pose

Warm up with a few rounds of Sun Salutations A & B. Utkatasana, Chair Pose will be your best friend here. Also, focus on keeping the back body broad as you move through Chaturanga and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (upward facing dog).

Stand firmly in Tadasana paying extra attention to the sensation of the ground beneath your feet. Widen your peripheral vision.

On an inhale, raise your arms to shoulder level.

Exhale, cross your arms left arm over your right so that they are stacked with the left elbow on top.

Bend your elbows so that the backs of the forearms are parallel, with the backs of the hands facing one another. Wrap your forearms around each other until your palms touch. Keep your wrists in line with your forearms and lengthen your fingers. (If you cannot join your palms without distorting your wrists, keep your hands parallel with the backs facing each other). Press your forearms in opposite directions. Notice the stretch across your “wings” (shoulder blades).

Bend your knees, like in Utkatasana, and shift your weight to your left foot.

Cross your right leg over your left thigh above the knee, and wrap your right foot behind your left calf.

On the top half of your body, left wraps over right. On the bottom, right wraps over left. Balance. Breathe. Imagine that you’re an eagle poised in the sky, still to all outward appearances, but intensely active and present inwardly.

Lean slightly forward from your hip crease, but lift your chest, broad and open through the front and the back body. Continue to press your forearms in opposite directions, widening through your shoulder blades.

Pay attention to the qualities of softness or hardness in your breath, your body, and your eyes. Can you be soft and focused at the same time? Can you keep your muscles active and your breath soft? Experiment with breathing into the back of your lower lungs, expanding the ribs like wings on the inhalation. Breathe like a gliding bird.

Stay for 5-10 breaths.

Unhook your legs and arms and come back to Tadasana. Repeat on the second side crossing right arm over left, and left leg over right.

Soar and Fly with Garudasana this July!