With Sam-Lee Doyle
There are over 20 muscles that cross the hips, hamstrings, psoas, adductors, biceps femoris and iliacus to name a few.
When hips are tight, they increase the load and cause overuse of the spine.
In addition to the benefits of improved range of motion and circulation and decreased back pain, opening the hips can create an energetic shift or release as well.
Yogic tradition holds the hips as a storage ground for negative feelings and pent-up emotions, especially ones related to control in our lives.
Hip-opening can also create space for the birth of new ideas and new pathways.
Opening the hips gives us access to freedom in the body and in our own unique expression, creatively, physically, sexually, and spiritually.
An exploration of Yang and Yin style of practice, building heat to create space, using this space to surrender in effortless ease.
Vimeo Video tag: Sam-Lee
Upper Body Flow – 30 mins
With Sam-Lee Doyle
The physical demands (or lack thereof) of modern life have a way of drawing the chest in on itself. Long hours at the computer or behind the wheel tend to round the shoulders forward, bring on a turtle neck and generally cause the upper body to go into a defeated slump.
Specifically, the pectoralis minor muscles that underlie the bigger pec muscles scrunch up while your upper back muscles — especially the serratus anterior — become weak. This muscle imbalance can cause chest pain and restrict your range of motion. Throw a frozen rib cage into the mix and you have a recipe for oxygen depletion, thanks to the fact that drawing a full breath can make the intercostals that connect the ribs feel a bit touchy. All that upper body tension is the gift that keeps on giving and next thing you know the pain is travelling all the way down your spine into your lower back.
The body stores emotions and chest openers are good for releasing sadness, grief, anger and frustration. The more you expand your sternum, rib cage and the rest of your upper body with chest openers, the more blood, oxygen and nerve circulation will be freed up to invigorate you mentally and physically.
This class is designed to open the upper back, the chest and the heart area. Creating space across the front of the body and working with the space in between the shoulder blades, we will actively counteract our everyday sitting posture.
