Yoga and Movement with Ainhoa in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Tutor/teacher

Yoga and Movement with Ainhoa

Locality: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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25.01.2022 Working with diagonal lines -and some other bits in between- Can you see them? This may look harder than it actually is. The key is to find a strong connection with the ground: from a hand, all the way down and across the body, to the opposite foot.

24.01.2022 Yoga has been an ever-changing, ever-evolving practice. Also... does "traditional" always mean "good"?

23.01.2022 Moving the shoulders in downward facing dog -trying out all the different positions they can do, adding reps, exploring, etc- is how we are going to get stronger and more resilient in this pose, not just practicing the same alignment over and over again ad infinitum. If this feels like too much we can always come down to all fours or a seated position, and practice there, slowly building awareness of how the shoulders can move. . (Video speed x2)

23.01.2022 A wonderful gift before the New Year! . "The Hahbhysapaddhati is a Sanskrit text on the practice of Hahayoga that was most probably composed in the eighteenth century. It contains descriptions of more techniques than the fifteenth-century Hahapradpik and imparts many details on the practice of Hahayoga that are not found in other texts. In particular, its section on sana (yogic posture) outlines the most extensive and sophisticated practice of complex postures of all the premodern works on yoga available to us" . https://journalofyogastudies.org//2019.v2.Birch.Singleton.

23.01.2022 Hellooooo Join me today for one or two classes live-streamed from my living room. It would be such a pleasure to see some familiar and new faces! (Book via the 'Tickets' link in the event - $10 per class) . For the Yoga Explore class (6:00pm ADELAIDE time) - expect mindful explorations of extension of the spine, wrists and hips. If you don't know exactly what those mean, they are the positions you need your body to be able to do for the pose 'upward-facing dog'. No need to... get into that pose in this class if you don't feel like it! It's just an exploration of elements that will serve you regardless. Props required: a blanket for knees is a good idea! . For the Yin class (7:15pm ADELAIDE time) - expect a mix of full body experience with a Lovingkindness meditation towards the end. Props required: Have a few blankets handy A Bolster or cushions/pillows if you don't own one. Blocks. If you don't have blocks, anything that might serve as a replacement for support, such as a thick book, a wooden box, etc. . If you have a Spotify account and you'd like to have some music playing in the background, I have a couple of playlists you could stream whilst you do your class: Yin Vibes: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4gzQ1NeMwzs5raQnmq8RSN . Slow Vibes (for Yoga Explore): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MOXNd8MQMxq1cUUlRdk4F See more

22.01.2022 Got 30 mins to listen to a podcast? Learn a little bit about the roots of modern yoga practice, explained by scholars and researches. If you practice yoga, listening to this is a MUST! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07flbst

22.01.2022 The time is approaching for me to leave Adelaide and with that departure might also come another one: the potential withdrawal from teaching sana and mindful movement. . I think a break from teaching public classes might do my own exploration good. I feel the need to divert towards other movement modalities/avenues and I reckon stepping away from the public sana practice/teaching world could be beneficial. . I do not want to distance myself from the history books and yoga t...exts that are waiting for me, though. Them I wish to keep close and study vigorously. . I honestly dont know where Ill end up in a few weeks. Perhaps Ill be in front of a new group of people with another one of my weird classes or I might just be sharing content online from time to time. Who knows. Maybe Ill just make it up as I go, like in this video... literally going with the flow. Whatever comes up, go with that, ride the wave, be in the moment... you know what Im talking about See more

21.01.2022 Even though its ages away, I am SO happy this is happening! TRINA ALTMAN, one of the teachers who Ive been following for a while and from whom I constantly draw inspiration for my classes, is coming to Adelaide! If you are a teacher or a student of yoga, consider taking a few minutes to check out Trinas content online and have a look at this event... it is an AWESOME opportunity to learn from someone who will make you think! Trinas Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/trinaaltmanyogaandpilates/

21.01.2022 Veeeeeeeery excited to soon(ish) learn from this teacher She's coming to Adelaide in September and if you are a movement enthusiast, you should most definitely come to her workshops! Link to event: https://www.facebook.com/events/250608419143759/

19.01.2022 Veeeeeeeery excited to soon(ish) learn from this teacher Shes coming to Adelaide in September and if you are a movement enthusiast, you should most definitely come to her workshops! Link to event: https://www.facebook.com/events/250608419143759/

19.01.2022 Reminder: Yoga traditions and practices are vast and how each one of us experiences yoga -in any of its interpretations- will be completely individual.

19.01.2022 Via Yogic Studies In honor of Mahivartri, I offer a short excerpt of my ongoing translation and study of the ivayogapradpik, Lamp on ivas Yoga. Agayoga as the Ritual Offering to iva Within ivayogapradpik 2.4-9 (trans. Seth Powell)... ivayoga is to be cultivated among practitioners; Haha is the means for accomplishing it. Therefore, first listen to this Hahayoga, which is to be practiced. (YP 2.4) The eight auxiliaries of Hahayoga are external and internal. Thus, one should perform ritual worship (pj) of the deity [i.e., iva] through the eight auxiliaries beginning with Yama, etc. (YP 2.5) Having performed the purification of ones self, through the power of the restraints [Yama] and observances [Niyama], and having become steadfast through various seated postures [sana], which one has mastered, [the yogin] should bath the divine [inner] Ligam with the water of breath-restraint [Pryma]this is the prescription of the four auxilaries proclaimed as exterior. (YP 2.6) Now, the sandalwood paste is indeed the turning back of the senses toward iva [Pratyhra], the heaps of flowers [i.e., the cakras] are meditation [Dhyna], the incense is that fixed concentration [Dhra], while Samdhi is the pure, great offeringthis is the prescription of the four auxiliaries known as interior. (YP 2.7) Through the path of Agayoga, [remaining] always in the abode of the inner-lotus, [the yogin] should worship the supreme deity. Whats the point in worshipping the deity through external [means]? (YP 2.8) One who worships iva, the imperishable, within his very own Self, through the constant [practice of] the eight auxiliaries [of yoga], he indeed is a aiva and is a wise person; and he is the best among the knowers of yoga. (YP 2.9) ....................................................................................... [the photo is mine!]

19.01.2022 What happens when you do the same poses over and over and over again? Do you get enlightened?

18.01.2022 Looking after our feet is so important. I loooooove being barefoot. Yoga is a great opportunity to forget about shoes and give our feet some freedom to move. We dont do enough for them and they do so much for us. Thats why I always include some footwork in my yoga classes and Im always trying to remind everyone to pay attention to what their feet are doing... it makes such a difference! . . Reposting from @thefootcollective: This is how your feet look in most footwear avai...lable today To function optimally, the human foot is designed to splay wide at the forefoot to distribute the load of our body and be widest at the tips of the toes . The vast majority of footwear gets narrower and tapers to a point at the very place our foot should be widest . .....and we wonder why our feet cave inwards, why they hurt, why we get bunions. Its really quite obvious - most shoes arent made in the shape of feet and its deforming our foundation . Great image posted by @joenimble See more

18.01.2022 I may not actively participate in Bhakti rituals, but every time Im in the presence of someone elses devotion I feel connected to something. There are so many different ways of finding connection... to others, to one self, to something bigger perhaps. I think we need to keep an open mind to allow things to happen, to be ready for those moments of connection. These experiences wont find their way to us if we continue to build barriers around us. Lets look at the world with open eyes and open hearts and see what unfolds. #bhakti #puja #varanasi

17.01.2022 Five intense days of moving, observing and feeling the body with @yogadetour came to an end yesterday . Gratitude for having shared this time/space/experience with a fantastic group of inquisitive movers. . Thank you, Cecily and all the group See you next time!

16.01.2022 HAHA! I had to share this . If youve ever been to my classes you know my flows are a bit different I subscribe to everything Colin says. . Repost from @colinyogin:... . I like flow, but I'm not sure I need another 3 legged dog lunge chaturanga. I mean do your thing. For real. If it makes you happy keep chaturanga-up-dogging into the sunset of your biceps tendons. But there are so many more options. It reminds me a lot of eating. Like putting together a tasty, healthy supper is not that hard. It's harder than going to Burger King , but you can do so much better than rainforest-killing burgers and greasy ass fries. You can do so much better than cookie-cutter sequences dressed with with flowery language. There is literally an entire world of movement out there. Go for it. Integrate some dance, calisthenics, martial arts, pandiculation, random wiggles, intuitive fidgeting, shaking, walking, rolling, or experimenting with new shapes and playful twists on more traditional yoga asana. Handstands and chaturangas are alright. But they are starting to become the fast food of yoga classes. Cheap calories. Teachers get the "ooh and awe" factor and students get the "keep working and one day you will get it" thing. But there is so much more. Eat your veggies and, even better, start looking up some recipes to make those veggies into tasty, nourishing movement meals. See more

16.01.2022 I wrote a thing a while back ago and Ive made it public now. Have a read, its just three minutes :)

16.01.2022 Yoga different meanings and interpretations

15.01.2022 You cant tell, but Im actually hanging here. . Hanging is something that we dont practice in yoga -even though there is rope climbing in the Hahbhysapaddhati, late 18th C.- so those of us who only -or mostly- practice yoga are pretty weak when it comes to hanging and pulling our own body weight up. . Here Im just warming up with some nice and slow shoulder-blade depression and elevation moves. This way, whenever I want to actually try to pull myself all the way up I wi...ll be ready to initiate the movement from my shoulders. . Hanging is awesome and shoulders feel great! See more

15.01.2022 I wrote a thing a while back ago and I've made it public now. Have a read, it's just three minutes :)

14.01.2022 Incredibly grateful for the experience of hosting Trina Altman in Australia for the very first time. Wow, what an amazing four days of exploring, thinking, sensing and learning with a bunch of curious movers . Massive thanks to my dear friend and colleague Monique for bringing all your experience into making this happen. Thank you Trina for accepting our invitation and thanks to all the 30 peeps that showed up! Lets be a force of change in our yoga communities

14.01.2022 Many of us practice what we call vinyasa style of yoga. This style derives from the teachings of Krishnamacharya and his students. But why do we use this word? And where does it come from? This is a short and easy to read paper on the meaning of the commonly used Sanskrit word VINYSA: https://drive.google.com//0B73VIBxH2amsNEplM3IzWDZ0Slk/view

13.01.2022 Via Colin Hall ( @colinyogin ) One of the most "traditional" practices in yoga is experimentation and adaptation. For hundreds of years yogis have been learning from their teachers and then tweaking it, synthesizing it with other techniques and philosophies, and finding ways to make it appropriate for their lives. ......... Yogis using props is traditional. Adaptation is traditional. Yogis doing weird shit and experimenting with new postures and new forms of practice is traditional. You may not like it. It might just be a fad that dies out. But it also might become a new tradition. One of the images above is a painting of the sage Visvamitra from the 14th century. The other is dated to around the same period but depicts Hanuman as a yogi. Both are using a strap to support their seated posture. Those early adaptations (ie. using a prop) have become traditional. Today we see these adaptations all around us. But rather than celebrate the wild diversity and creativity of practice around us, the "traditionalists" insist that things should not change. That we should stick with what worked for the ancients. But even the ancients changed yoga. Yoga is big enough to handle it. Yoga is broad and expansive enough for all the adaptations to fit within it. Yogis have always used adaptation as a tool for evolution. It keeps yoga relevant for it's time. #dealwithit #modernyoga #hathayoga #yogaphilosophy #props #straps #yoga #yogahistory #yogaforall #accessibleyoga #ancient #classical #yogaprops #tradition

13.01.2022 Consent. Adjustments. Authority. Choice. Words by Matthew Remski: "It would be hard to conceive of a more iconic expression of the contradictions that have complicated the cognition, affect communication, attachment patterns, and understandings of consent and agency in the Iyengar Yoga community.... This post from IYNAUS features a photo from the main room at RIMYI, circa early 2000s (it seems). It's meant to be meant to be sublime. It shimmers with what looks like late afternoon light, and is captioned by BKSI's vague yet poetic appeals to interoception. Meanwhile, he casually acts out physical dominance by gratuitously standing on a student's thighs. The action has absolutely no physiotherapeutic purpose, and is likely dangerous, especially when he mounts and dismounts, as his full body weight will be loaded onto a single foot. The action demonstrates little, if anything, except authority over the student's body, even as the caption suggests that the student is in charge of their own exploration. There's even a hint that the physical domination of the teacher is the means by which the student can "feel the inner mind". In other words, the master's body and aphorisms *become* the inner mind of the student. This merging can make it difficult for some devotees to look clearly at what is being done to them. Other devotees can develop sophisticated spiritualizations for this paradox. I remember a senior Iyengar teacher stepping down on my thigh in a similar pose while giving an instruction I couldn't understand (nor could follow because he was standing on me). He finished the instruction by suggesting that we wanted to move into a state of "choiceless choice". At the time it sounded beautiful to me, promising a nondual space where I could feel agency and inevitability merge. There was only one thing to choose, and I would choose it. But what was really going on is that I was being controlled, while also being taught to believe that the control wasn't coming from a person, but from something larger than life itself" See more

12.01.2022 Do you even know where you flying hip is in space when you practice Warrior III? Can you feel the difference between hips level vs the flying hip lifting higher? I assure you, it feels quite different... for the standing, supporting hip! A lot more work to lift the back leg if your hips are square as well. One pretty effective way to experience hips level in this pose without struggling with your balance too much is to do it with the back foot on a wall. You can also use a c...hair to place your hands on and keep your upper body lifted. It takes time to get familiar with what our bodies feel like in different shapes and we tend to keep coming back to the positions that feel more comfortable, many times forgetting to search for new and interesting variations. In Warrior III, most of us tend to lift that flying hip higher than the standing one because its easier. So, maybe give the wall a try? Its not cheating... Its a way of accessing the work See more

12.01.2022 My teacher Julie

12.01.2022 Most times when I ask people in class to wiggle their toes or try and move them independently Im met with disconcerted looks What is she talking about? Is that a thing? Why would I want to do that? . Your feet are your foundation, they should be strong and able to move. The shoes we wear are detrimental to the natural shape of our feet and they inhibit the feets natural behavior. We end up with underused, weak feet and ankles, which are of course connected to our knees and hips. The whole chain is affected. . This is a simple sequence that I practice often to show my feet and ankles some love

12.01.2022 Happy Christmas

11.01.2022 the problem lies in people repeatedly pushing their bodies into "prescribed" positions, when their physiology prevents it . They might be doing yoga six days a week and think that's enough, without doing any other kind of exercise, like cardio or cross training . But practice and all is coming, right?

09.01.2022 Many of us practice what we call 'vinyasa' style of yoga. This style derives from the teachings of Krishnamacharya and his students. But why do we use this word? And where does it come from? This is a short and easy to read paper on the meaning of the commonly used Sanskrit word VINYSA: https://drive.google.com//0B73VIBxH2amsNEplM3IzWDZ0Slk/view

09.01.2022 If you come to my classes you know I often ask the question... wherever you are, whatever pose you're doing... can you MOVE in the pose? Very often I ask you about your pelvis specifically... this is one of the reasons why

08.01.2022 One of the reasons I am obsessed with FEET and strengthening rather than stretching the HAMSTRINGS

07.01.2022 A snippet about SANA from the ROOTS OF YOGA book, which I am reading at the moment: "Until the composition of the earliest hahayoga texts in the first few centuries of the second millennium CE, there were two primary reasons for ascetics and yogis to practice physical postures: as a stable base for breath-control, mantra repetition and meditation or as a means for stopping karma and acquiring tapas, ascetic power, which both purifies one's old karma and grants super-natura...l abilities. With the advent of the haha corpus therapeutic benefits were added (...) For traditional yogis it is usually enough to adopt a single position and hold it for a long period (as suggested by the word sana itself, whose root s means both 'sit' and 'remain [as one is]'), rather than practice several different sanas in succession. Hemacandra, is his Yogastra, says that the yogi should use for meditation whichever sana makes the mind steady. Similar instructions for the yogi to use just one sana are found in a wide variety of texts on yoga, from first millennium tantric works such as the Parkhyatantra to the sixteenth century ivayogapradrpik (...) Complex sequences of sanas are not taught in any pre-modern Indian texts, but by the eighteen century Indian yoga texts did start to teach repeated physical movements. The ninth chapter of Sundaradeva's Hahatattvakaumud (Moonlight of the Principles of Yoga) includes various repeated movements among purifications to be performed prior to the practice of pryma (breath control) (...) In two closely related texts from the latter part of the eighteen century or early nineteenth, however, sana does come to include a wide variety of physical exercises, from squat thrusts to rope-climbing. These texts are the Hahbhysapaddhati (Manual of Haha Practice) (...) and the yoga section of the rtattvanidhi (Glorious Abode of Truth) (...) In these two texts firmness of the body becomes the sole purpose of sana, as the prerequisite for the practice of akarmas, the six cleansing practices. The physical benefits of sana practice are occasionally mentioned, in passing, in early works on hahayoga and several say that sana practice in general gets rid of disease. The Hahapradpik adds that it brings about firmness and nimbleness of the body, and includes specific physical benefits and its descriptions of individual sanas (...) These therapeutic effects are an innovation of the hahayoga texts. Earlier yoga texts mention its physical benefits but not in the context of sana (...) Even in pre-modern India there was no consensus as to which physical practices could be accepted as part of yoga"

07.01.2022 Untitled flow moving with freedom (Super time lapsed)

07.01.2022 "In its earliest formulations, hata was used to raise and conserve the physical essence of life, identified in men as bindu (semen), which is otherwise constantly dripping downward from a store in the head and being expended. (The female equivalent, mentioned only occasionally in our sources, is rajas, menstrual fluid.) The preservation and sublimation of semen was associated with tapas (asceticism) from at least the time of the epics, and some of the techniques of early Hata Yoga are likely to have developed as part of ascetic practice." . Mallinson, J. Brill Encyclopedia of Hinduism, 2011 Photo of an ascetic practising Vipartikarai by: Dolf Hartsuiker, The Hartsuiker Archive, British Museum.

06.01.2022 If you come to my classes you know I often ask the question... wherever you are, whatever pose youre doing... can you MOVE in the pose? Very often I ask you about your pelvis specifically... this is one of the reasons why

04.01.2022 Can we please stop pretending that Lululemon are here to promote yoga and wellbeing?

03.01.2022 Even though it's ages away, I am SO happy this is happening! TRINA ALTMAN, one of the teachers who I've been following for a while and from whom I constantly draw inspiration for my classes, is coming to Adelaide! If you are a teacher or a student of yoga, consider taking a few minutes to check out Trina's content online and have a look at this event... it is an AWESOME opportunity to learn from someone who will make you think! Trina's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/trinaaltmanyogaandpilates/

02.01.2022 NO SHOES!! Went for a hike on Sunday and after a while I had the urge to take my shoes off and feel the earth underneath my feet. Being barefoot is an incredible sensory experience. Also, we know that wearing shoes all the time is not good for our feet -therefore, for the entire body-. So I took my shoes off, chucked them in the backpack and off I went. ... I had sore calfs on Monday... definitely used a few muscles I hadnt used that way in a long time. It was great! #barefootisbest See more

01.01.2022 Transitions Downward-facing dog <-> Plank When we move between these two poses (potentially many times in a flow class) do we pay attention to how we do it? Or does it just kind of happen? From what I observe in my classes, most people use their hips and shoulders to facilitate the transition, its like a hinge from those joints without much involvement of the spine, which is fine! But there is another way I really like to practice and teach that brings more bits into pl...ay and requires more effort. This second way of transitioning between the poses requires us to find flexion and extension of the spine, creating a wave-like movement. In the video I try to show you both ways: first the hip+shoulder hinge with a sort of neutral spine. Second the wavy action through the spine, like a ripple that recruits the vertebrae to bring the body forward to plank and back to down dog. For the wave forward its really important to use the feet against the floor, finding a sense of pushing from the balls of the feet and getting a ripple of energy that travels through the back of the legs, into the pelvis, through the spine and to the crown of the head. I love to wave! Hope you try it too See more