What kind of lake is your low back?

I am back! 

Theme: be calm and clear like a still lake. 

Universal principles of emphasis: foundation, muscle energy, thigh loop, pelvic loop, organic energy

Apex: Dancer 

Heart quality: calm 

Anecdote: I just had my second baby 2 months ago and life with two children under three can be a little chaotic to say the least. One technique I have been using to stay calm in the chaos is by visualizing a lake. A clear, calm, still lake. When I do this I feel those same qualities in my own body, mind and spirit. This is one thing I gain from a consistent practice whether it be yoga, meditation, breath work, mantra repetition , or journaling... I am able to tap into this crystal lake experience easier and during challenges. Now if I visualize a lake that has choppy and dirty water I instantly feel chaos and anxiety. 

I like to think about the joints in the body as being like a lake. And the way we hold the joint determines if the lake/ joint will be calm, clear, steady, peaceful and grounded of if the lake/ joint will be turbulent, chaotic, stressful, and  un grounding. In this class we are going to focus on the low back. The low back tends to either have to much curve or not enough curve and be rounded. In both these situation the joint would be like the dirty lake. The alignment we want to apply is listed below and should create the feeling of having that peaceful lake in your back;)

Open to grace: get connected to the foundation. 

Muscle energy: create stability. One way to do this is squeeze the foundation toward the midline. 

Thigh loop (TL): Move the thighs back and create a curve in low back

Pelvic loop (PL): Tone pelvic floor anchor and tailbone down. 

Organic energy (OE): Extend from hips down toward earth and from hips up to crown of head and create space in low back. 

Sequence: 

Warm up:

Sun A 3x

Tadasana half moon leg lift 

Utkatasana prep cat/cow variation 

"" hands on knees TL PL OE

Tadasana half moon stretch 

Uttanasana- high runners lunge

Basic 

AMS 

Lunge 

Anjaneyasana

Anjaneyasana quad - upright twist with quad 

Lunge- eagle- standing splits - handstand hops 

Lunge - Dancer- lunge  

Harder

Eprk forearms- off to side twist- off to side quad 

Eprk quad 

Dolphin 

Hero toes tucked 

Virasana - supta virasana 

Half hanuman 

Apex 

dancer 

Cool down 

Baddha konasana 

Janusirsasana 2x 

Twist 

Symmetrical  root femurs 

Shavasana