Dear friends,
I was staggered and delighted to see so many of you to join in with the yoga class on Friday! I loved having the Zoom as well as the live-streaming - interaction is my thang! So great to see my fellow Europeans being able to join in too with the new time. If you missed the class and you’d like to get a core work out done (and I talk about the 4 F’s, tenderness and Netflix quite a bit) - check it out on Practice Yoga Austin’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The video is also on my website - lillierinyoga.com.
The lovely Barbie will be voicing-over me in Friday’s yoga class every week so if you don’t know sign language - that’s totally ok you can still follow along - you just need to email/DM me for the Zoom number.
If you have any feedback or requests for a type of yoga class you would love me to do - please email me or DM me anytime before next Friday. And yes this is a FREE class! You can donate if you’d like to keep Practice Yoga and its staff going in what are difficult times but if you’re facing a similar situation yourself, please take this as an offering from me to you.
Big Love and Om and Namaste!
Lilli x
Yogic Philosophy of the Week
Yoga is an eight-fold path and the sixth of the eight limbs is Dharana. Dharana translates as concentration or steady focus. To quieten the mind with total concentration. In asana, in Savasana - it could be visualising a mountain, a lake or a moon to help with the relaxation process. And in Vinyasa (flow) - it could be really concentrating on how your body, mind and spirit feels. Noticing all the sensations that arise while you’re flowing through a Sun Salutation for instance. I find japa (a mantra meditation) to be very soothing and it definitely helps me with concentration - just repeating the same sound, word or phrase over and over again. You could use a mala necklace to help you stay on track - you say the sound, word or phrase every time you feel a bead along with an exhalation with your eyes closed. There are 108 beads altogether and when you feel the tassel again - you know you’ve completed a whole round of japa.
Off the mat - dharana could look like not checking your emails while on a Zoom phone call (who - me?), it could look like really thinking about the food you’re eating - the flavours, where it’s from and not having any distractions during mealtimes, it could be going for a walk without your phone and just really taking in the trees, the flowers and the fresh air. It could be challenging yourself to a whole day where you don’t multitask whatsoever. Practicing Dharana is a good way to train the mind for meditation.
Happy Dharana-ing!
Pose of the Week
This week I have been teaching the Dancer pose - and oh my gosh, I just love this pose. It’s such a gorgeous marriage of strength, flexibility, balance and grace! Warm up with a few Sun Salutations, One-Handed Tiger, Camel, Locust and a Bow. You could put one hand on the wall to help with balance and don’t let your hips turn out to the side and really press your back foot into your hand while activating your back muscles. Stick your thumbs out like a hitchhiker towards the wall to make sure your shoulder is rotated. Go forward, find your balance, and then push your foot outwards and then repeat. I’ll be teaching the Dancer pose on Monday too - sign up for the workshop below and join me :o)
ASL Yoga workshops
Every Monday at 9am CST and every Wednesday at 7.15pm CST I teach a 90 minute yoga workshop. We do breath-work, a meditation technique and a juicy yoga flow in every workshop. Yoga homework is sent to you too to continue your practice for the rest of the week! This is great as we can pause and you can ask questions anytime throughout so you can really deepen your own practice.
To join the workshop, buy the ticket below and you’ll get a Zoom number via email. I’m so looking forward to connecting with you on the mat!
— April workshops —
Monday 9am-10.30am (Central Time)
Wednesday 7.15pm-8.45pm (Central Time)
BSL Yoga Workshops
I’m so happy to have finally started the weekly British Sign Language yoga workshops - every Monday and Wednesday evening at 7pm BST. Let me know if you’d like to sign up for either workshop. This is a 90 minute interactive workshop via Zoom. This is great as it means I can see you and answer any questions you might have. We do breath-work, a meditation technique and a juicy yoga flow in every workshop. Yoga homework is sent to you too to continue your practice for the rest of the week! The cost of the workshop - £15.
To join the workshop, get in touch with me via replying to this email or DM me via Instagram for the payment details and you’ll get a Zoom number via email. I’m so looking forward to connecting with you on the mat!
EMAIL ME TO BOOK YOUR BSL WORKSHOP
Some Zoomin’ tips!
It's best to download the Zoom app to your phone, tablet or laptop.
For the technical whizzes out there, you can screen mirror/cast your phone to your TV or connect your computer with an HDMI cable so it feels more immersive.
You can also have a screen behind you locked upside down so you can see me while upside down!
You can also dim the lights and light some candles before the workshop to set the ambience just like as if you were going to a yoga studio!