First of all, I'd like to say: Yay to everyone coming and trying out new variations, inversions, and arm balances! It's been really cool to see people step out of their comfort zone and try new things. As a teacher, I can't explain how rewarding it is to help you through the experience of doing something for the first time. People have been getting upside down, using arm strength for balancing, and progressing through more challenging mobility movements. You are doing fantastic and I hope you are noticing a positive change!
This week we are going to focus on twists and binds to help cleanse the organs of the body.
"Twisting creates a 'wringing' effect on the abdominal organs. This helps to flush the liver and other organs, directing blood and lymphatic fluid into the larger vessels of the cardiovascular system, eliminating toxins."
Binds are not new to class, but this gives an opportunity to dive deeper and show a greater variety to asanas.
Looking forward to seeing you on your mat!
-Amanda
The weather has been so amazing! This means... more running... yayyyyy! Opportunities to get out, breathe in some fresh air, and feel the promise of spring. As the body gets readjusted to running, yogaRX will focus on some IT Band stretches that will help recover legs. The iliotibial band is the ligament that runs along the outer edge of the leg from top of the thigh to just below the knee. To learn more about IT Band and its close relationship to running, click here. We will be working on baby grasshopper pose this week. Video tutorial to come.
Here is a preview of our intention work in class woven in throughout the week and hint of our sanskrit WOTW. Have a great week!
We are officially through the first month of yogaRX! Thank you so much for trying out the class and being patient as we sort through the early kinks. I have really enjoyed seeing repetitive faces in class and love meeting the new people who come to try it out.
This week we are revisiting our shoulder/trap mobility. Early on in the week at CF we have been working our shoulders intensely. This week to recover the shoulders will get some extra attention. We are focusing on Anahata (the heart) which means a lot of "heart openers" or back bending to undo the hunching our bodies form throughout the day.
Shout Outs!
-New mirror
-People leaving feedback using the survey
-First video tutorial
-Alex's first class at CF Stapleton
If you think yoga is hard, just imagine how a trex must feel...
If you've come to class before, you know that we have been working on a variety of skills. The asanas we've learned have been testing our balance, allowing us to access them with straps and blocks, and helping to mobilize the shoulders and upper arms (traps, triceps, and biceps), hips (psoas, inner hip flexors; and glutes), and now we are working on hammies and quad stretches. Keep in mind that even though we are working on hamstrings and quadriceps, we will still be building on what we've been working on in previous classes. The idea is that you can learn new ways to mobilize in class and then continue to practice them at home so we can go even further in the work we are doing now. If you haven't had a chance to try out yogaRX, please come to a class :) I give a lot of options for different variations to be successful at any level.
Weekly Shout-outs!
-Aaron's first yoga class!
-Katia's first yoga class!
-First week of arm balances- bakasaana/crow (look for video tutorial to give step by step instructions to try from home tomorrow on outdooryogaflow.blogspot.com)
-Record breaking class on Wednesday night with 10 yogis
-Sanskrit word of the week last week was "ananda" meaning bliss
Please fill out the survey on:
outdooryogaflow.blogspot.com
(it's anonymous)
or I will have a paper version in class.
We've worked on sun salutations, we've worked on heart openers to recover our traps, triceps, and biceps, next up... HIPS HIPS HIPS. We are going to give our hips a lot of much needed attention this week. The lunges and squats of our past will definitely appreciate it! Your balance will be tested on hands and feet this week as we push our boundaries even more. We'll continue to work on what we've been practicing with some more concentrated hip variations. I'll have print-outs this week of the survey I have on this blog. Feel free to leave feedback on paper or through the site of things you love from the class and also things you'd like to see more of/change. Feedback is how we develop the program to best fit your needs. It's optional and anonymous, so please give your unfiltered input!
We had a lot of "firsts" this week in class that I want to incorporate in the blog posts at the end of the week. Please enjoy the initiation of our first of many weekly shout-outs:
A photo posted by Amanda•YT200 (@outdooryogaflow) on
-Coach Matt's first yoga class!
-Doug's wife, Ann, trying out her first class at CF Stapleton in 5am yogaRX
-Charity's first yoga class!
-Our first max capacity class Wednesday night with 9 yogis
-Paula completing her first tripod headstand
-First week of 5am classes
-First SNAFU on Spotify (Sat AM peeps know what I'm talking about... Oops!)
I look forward to meeting more of you and introducing you to yogaRX if you haven't had a chance to come to class yet.
This week will be the first +vinyasa series. Every week we will be targeting areas of the body. What you learn in my class can be transferred to home practice or post-workout recovery so you can continue to mobilize. We will build on these skills in the following weeks.
The focus for the week will be shoulders. CrossFit is very shoulder intensive. Lack of mobility in the shoulders can hold you back from even the most basic CrossFit functions. If you can't make class this week, here are some poses to try at home.
I'll leave you with this quote from Sage Rountree with the Yoga Journal:
Weightlifting and CrossFit can be a great way to develop full-body strength. While CrossFit pays attention to mobility, it’s still easy to incur imbalances in the body—especially when you head to a desk and sit for eight hours or more right afterward. A strong but tight front body puts you at risk for both overuse injuries that come from chronic imbalance between muscle groups and acute injuries, especially to the back, as you lift or go through other daily movements.
Crossfit Stapleton has given me a gift. I get to do what I love in a place that I love with a community I love. Doesn't get much better than this. Week one of yogaRX has officially ended!
Often times in CrossFit we push ourselves to the max, exploring the potential of our bodies in ways we haven't seen. We set goals because, let's face it, CrossFit is hard- there's always a next level. Sometimes we focus so much on these goals that we don't realize that we need to prepare our bodies to reach them. That's where mobility comes in!
yogaRX is offered at Crossfit Stapleton to set our bodies up for success. We need to safely execute movements, but sometimes the muscles we're building don't allow us to. Yoga gives us the opportunity to explore changes in our bodies and also develop healthy habits to recover and help our bodies prepare for what's to come.
We need a little yin with our yang- balance is key.
