“Innovate, don’t hibernate!”

The cold weather just keeps hanging on.  Welcome to DOWNdog this week for some warmth and feeling good inside kind of heat.  This week’s yoga practice will be soothing and centering like a cozy warm blanket.

We will start our practice with breath of fire: Kapalabahti.  Kapalabahti pranayama stimulates the solar plexus which lights up your internal flame and releases natural energy from your head to your toes.  It might feel weird at first but with practice it feels amazing!

We will then move into the repetition of forward fold flows (as we did last week).  Forward fold flows are introspective, calming, soothing, and grounding, all of these, while opening and warming your body from the toes right up to the finger tips. (Resting the upper body on the thighs for the warm up rounds will be used to create a wonderful release.)

The practice will also include planks, rainbows, many different dogs (up dogs, down dogs, three-legged dogs) chairs, and warriors to stoke that inner fire.

Eagle pose, Garudasana, (a focusing, strengthening, centering pose) will be the peak of our warming sequence.  We will end with a twist to detoxify, warm and soothe the entire body, and a restorative legs up the wall to create stillness and  prepare us for savasana.  

Savasana will be followed by alternate nostril breathing and meditation.

Staying warm and cozy on the inside is an innovative way of dealing with winter. And who knows… maybe when life throws us those curve balls we will be able to draw from this warm centering energy and deal with those curve balls in a positive, innovative way.  More on this theme at this week’s practice where it’s all about feeling good on the inside!

Have a great day!   

Namaste!

Jocelyne and Dr. Jake