10 minute challenge – last 2 days!!

Hello all!

Well? Nearly there! Are you ready for a big finish? Just today and tomorrow left to go! I feel like we should have a party…

Maybe we should…what about Wednesday night? Click here.

I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have and continue doing a daily 10 minutes as often as possible. I feel all fired up about my personal practice: I hope you feel the same

If you can make it to the Western tomorrow night: I look forward to seeing you there.

Cheers all,

Keith

Halfway through!! Congratulations! (and keep going)

Well done guys! I don’t know about you, but this 10 minutes is really getting me enthused about doing some personal practice. Yoga is a real multiplier: the more often you do it, the more beneficial it becomes. Keep up the good work.

10 Minute Plan No 7 – Audio-ish

Ok. The stick men are in the post below. I have promised a friend an audio version of the 10 minute plans and I finally did one…kinda.

The usual disclaimer: this just an aide-mémoire to what you know already. I’ve tried to do it in real time (interestingly for me: the 10 minute session was originally 20 long…I’ve choped it down to 14).

Halfway there! Keep up the good work…let your disappointments fall away and get back on your yoga mat tomorrow.

Namaste

Keith

10 minute plan #7

Based on post on Day 2, I’ve had the time to put some more stick figures together. The usual disclaimers apply: I’m certainly no artist. But hopefully the stick figures will be enough to remind you of the detail from class:

I mixed up and repeated the first 4 for about half the time them spent a bit of time on the other asanas. I was enjoying it, so I let it take more than 10 minutes…up to you.

Tadasana
Big toes together…you know the drill. Let your body take up the shape, let it evolve. Don’t follow an internal list, or lead with your head…

Tadasana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Urdhva hastasana – front ribs to back ribs. Everything stays in Tadasana – only the arms move

Urdhva hastasana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uttanasana – or half Uttanasana to a worktop (this is underused by students: novices want to push thru to the final pose – the half is excellent for development)

Adho mukha svanasana

Half uttanasana to worktop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adho Mukha Svanasana

Adho mukha svanasana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chataranga Dandasana - remember your hips stay low in the full pose. In the modified one, if you hips are to high or too low, it’s easier – you’ll feel it. Find the tough bit in the middle.

Chataranga dandasana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

or modified version with straight arms:

Modified chataranga dandasana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trikonasana

Trikonasana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supta padangustasana – straight legs: no compromise

Supta padangustasana with belt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Savasana – on the floor (in case you’re wondering about the drawing)

Savasana

Y10MC – Day 3

Evening all!

How’s the challenge going?

Yesterday, I went to a class and the spirit of keeping it simple, decided that would cover my 10 minutes. Today, I’ve just done my 10 minutes and it was tough to fit it in. If it wasn’t for the challenge, I would likely have left it…

Don’t be afraid to keep it simple – don’t feel that you have to do something new every time you get on your mat. Give yourself permission to do something you’re familiar with: put your attention into moment by moment awareness in any asana and observe. If, for example, you have tight hamstrings and want to lengthen them, do uttanasana every day for several minutes (or several times every day) – every time stretching slightly less that your maximum.

If you have questions, ask them here, or ask your teacher after your next class (tell them you’re practicing every day and they’ll be very happy!).

Tonight I spent 10 minutes on some balancing work – vrksasana and utthita hasta padangustasana; the uttanasana and prasarita padottanasana; and finished with a forward bend – janu sirsasana. I could have done less – it was a busy 10 (maybe 12 minutes).

If you’re having difficulty, don’t let your set backs but you off – just pick up your awareness and put it on your mat tomorrow (at your earliest possible convenience!!).

Good luck out there people. Keep it simple and savour your next 10 minutes

Yoga 10 min challenge (Y10MC)

Well? Day 1 success?

If so, good news: build on that.

If not, no problem – like in Savasana when you discover you’ve got distracted: just pick your attention up, and without telling yourself off, get on your mat tomorrow (show yourself kindness and patience and choose the actions you want tomorrow).

My lunchtime yoga session disappeared under a pile of paperwork, then home and straight out to Welsh class. So I only got to my mat about 850. That was a typical night where I would think ‘Nah – too late – I’ll do some tomorrow…’. But not tonight: my 10 minutes turned into a welcome 15 minutes.
I did (running thru them – mixing up the first 4 and spending about 3min each exploring the last 3):
Tadasana
Urdhva hastasana
Uttanasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Chataranga Dandasana
Trikonasana
Supta padangustasana
Savasana

Keep it light.

Happy Days! Good luck tomorrow – let me know how you get on. Kara – thanks for your comment yesterday.

Namaste pawb,

h

10 Minute Challenge – Day 1

Morning all!

Here we are: day 1 and everything to play for. I had hoped to do my 10 minutes this morning (knowing full well that it wouldn’t happen!). But I have a plan for lunchtime – I know the evening is too busy.

Think about your day and plan where you can fit in your 10. Visualise it happening. And do it – it’s important to start well…

Best of luck out there. And please remember to share your experiences and ask any questions (your sharing has the potential to inspire others – don’t underestimate it

Slan,

h

10 Minute Yoga Challenge

One day more….

Yoga challenge starts tomorrow. The plan is easy: do 10 minutes of your own practice every day for 28 days and observe the difference.

Yoga gets better for you the more you do it. Flexibility improves with lots of repetition: 10 minutes a day is better for your development than a 2 hour class once a week. BKS Iyengar says ‘…you…are in a position to build up a good practice in only 2 or 3 years, provided your stick with it for as little as 10 minutes a day and have a good teacher.’ ( p70, Light on Life, 2005). I’m not prepared to speak for the quality of the teaching, but 10 minutes a day will get you off to a great start.

Check out the yoga categories here: 10 minute plan for some sequences or feel free to make your own (based on things you’ve done in class). The plans I’ve prepared are really just an aide memoire for things you’ve done in class, the descriptions are far from exhaustive – check them out in a book, but don’t get hung up on the detail: get the habit and develop awareness of what your body is communicating back to you…the detail will follow in good time.

Your practice will vary depending on what you do, or what time you do it at, and what type of person you are. I’ve read, heard and been told that when practicing in the evening, your body is more flexible, but your mind might be a bit dull and tired. In morning your body is reputedly less flexible, but your brain is brighter. These people have obviously not met me in the mornings…Again, awareness is the key: you can’t just run through the motions – you will benefit more from getting the habit of observing the information coming back from your body.

The ideal would be to spend 10 minutes on your mat. No need to change: just kick off your shoes. But it’s vital not to introduce barriers: make it easy to get the 10 minutes done every day. If you’re struggling, do it in front of the telly; you could do a forward bend sitting on the edge of yourt seat at work; you could do Uttanasana with your hands to the worktop in the kitchen while waiting on the kettle boiling. Be creative: 10 minutes is easy. It really is!

Good luck out there people! Please post your comments and ideas for success on the blog and lets encourage each other to stick at it thru February.

Day 1 tomorrow. More 10 min plans to follow. You can do it!!!!

New workshops – first date of 2011 imminent

Our first workshop on 2011 is set for Sunday 6th Feb in Western LC (more details on the website). Usual 3 months Iyengar experience required (or 6 months of any other style) – but that’s it. And let me know if you need a lift from town.

Dates to follow imminently for the workshops thru the rest of the year.

People often delay their first workshop – I’m not sure if its because they feel they aren’t good enough yet; or that everybody’s going to be some serious yoga-head; or they think they won’t last the pace;or they should wait until they start their own practice firstI don’t think its because I’m particularly scary. If this strikes any resonance with you, please be brave and come while the chance is there: these workshops are for you. I’ve been to workshops which have been proper scary: with serious teachers and elitist students. We’ve made every provision to make sure these are friendly, positive, inviting spaces for normal (well, sort of normal people of a wide range of abilities and commitment. Its a time and space for you to explore your own practice: remember you don’t have to be good enough to go, you go to get good enough in time.

On a more pragmatic note, if you are postponing coming to your first workshop, you may miss the boat. Although we have 4 planned for this year, we need to ensure the events well supported to guarantee that they run – so please don’t delay (and tell all your yoga-pals too!).

Throughout February, there’s a 10 minute yoga challenge – 10 min practice every day for a month. Starts tuesday – join us. More to follow on this tomorrow.

Thank you to all who supported our workshops in 2010. We had 5 in the end and I thoroughly enjoyed assisting at all of them: as a teacher you never get the perspective of watching a more experienced teacher run a class and (more importantly) observe and adjustment a roomful of students – you’re either teaching the class or in it. So a real privilege there – my teaching ability has been enhanced by the experience: thank you and thanks to Chris Robins.

Peace out all

h

Blwyddyn Newydd dda, pawb!!

I hope you had a great festive season and new year!

Can’t wait to see you all back at yoga classes. The plan is to get back into the yoga swing of things throughout January and then…February…the 10 minute challenge….

Sign up to the ’10 Minute Challenge’: put your name down to do 10 minutes of yoga every day for the whole of Feb. It’s easy: all it takes is a decision, and you will be amazed at your practice at the end of the month. Check out the 10 min plan section here for suggested sequences (I’ve added 5 over the last year of two) and I’ll be adding mor over the next 10 days. Give me a shout at your next class if you’re interested.

The second big plan of the year is to get the whole allotment cultivated this year and to keep the blog up to date. At the minute, I’m turning over beds, and aiming to put in permanent paths and slightly raised beds in time for the spring planting…there’s more in the planning, but I shouldn’t talk about it until there are some signs of progress in the ground, its all a lot of hot air

Right. That’s all for now. Website will be updated as soon as I find my log in details for Wix. By the way: I’d love to hear your thoughts on the website – presentation, use of flash, lack of non-flash alternative.

Nos da

Betterway2be website

Betterway2 improved mental health

Some good news from the bbc website on the benefits of exercise outdoors (accentuated benefits if you’re young or have mental health issues already and bonus points for doing your exercise near a water feature).

Even more reason to join our yoga breakfast club and tick all those boxes. The breakfast club will kick off again in the next few weeks. Keep an eye here or follow us on facebook – betterway2be page.

Click here to check the article on the BBC wesite.