Have You Met Your Psoas Yet? 🏹
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One week from today! The Psoas Heart Connection: Finding Bliss in Backbends ♥️🔥2-5pm 11/9 at @highdesertyoga .
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“The psoas represents the deepest instinctual qualities of energy in the human being. It is from the area of the psoas that wise [people] ground themselves. With an integrated, well functioning psoas comes a quiet safe haven to move from and be within.“
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- Liz Koch
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The psoas major is the only muscle to directly connect your upper body (at the mid back) and lower body (at the inner femur). If it’s tight, your hips becomes stiff and pushed forward, your low spine can get compressed, and you tend to grip the kidney area, which stimulates a stress response in the adrenal glands.
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The psoas is part of hip flexion, but it has a deeper role in our sense of well-being because it’s intimately entwined with our nervous system. It anchors to a “deep front line” of fascia that runs from the root of the tongue, all the way down to the sole of the foot.
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When we release this front line, we cultivate groin depth, pelvic floor stability, length in the low back, and a more calm, less reactive nervous system. This lays a foundation for backbends that are healthy and blissful.
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Supple, lubricating work to release the thighs, hips, and psoas clears the way for one’s heart to comfortably open. Extending the upper chest is one of the most emotionally nourishing, spiritual expansive regions of the body we can explore. Yoga teaches us that the heart is the abode of #Purusha 🌞 the seat of the Self. .
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Saturday November 9th join me + beloved yoga community as we explore this work in delicious depth. The workshop will be adaptive and accessible to all levels of practitioner. Pre-Register for a discounted price at highdesertyoga.com ✔️
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Photo from a wonderful trip to Mexico last spring 🌴
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#iyengaryoga #505yoga #backbendbliss
Flash back to last October, when @adidaswomen flew me out to LA for this rad yoga photo shoot 🤩😎
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When I look forward, it’s all a bit daunting, there’s so much to do, I don’t know how it’s all going to come together. But looking back it’s moving to see how everything has come together so perfect, way better than if I could’ve planned it myself, even in the past year so much has come together. .
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My heart feels uplifted when I think about you @hippie_heathen @supply_yoga @sinikiwe.dhliwayo @naaya.yoga @omgirlalli @stancepodcast - after this deep adventure I feel there will always be a connection (your always welcome at my place if you’re ever in abq!) and I love seeing how you all are growing, rising, relating, shining! ✨🌟✨
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This project was cool on many levels. It’s true: big brand companies have had a real role in creating the harm of promoting a modern yoga world stereotype of affluent thin white women practicing a westernized, physical-centric fitness oriented version of yoga. It’s also true that there’s a lot of folks working to shift and change that narrative and image, and while the depth + heart of this happens at a grass roots level it was SO inspiring to see what can happen when a big cool brand like adidas gets behind it. I’m so grateful I got to experience being part of this campaign and for funding through it for the Yoga for All Healing Justice Immersion, the whole experience opened my eyes and heart.
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It’s been a big year of growth since last October. .
Among other things I finally became a CIYT, taught my 1st international retreat, studied with Geeta and Prashant, painted art and gave a tribute speech in front of 1000 people in Pune, & again at the Dallas convention, helped organize #Ahimsainaction, and #YogaforAll in Abq, raised over 1500$ for Bellur with art, taught my first solo yoga retreat, finally took my son (13) to swim in the ocean, worked through some depression, read a lot of bedtime stories to my 2 year old, helped with math homework I had to google, did some hard growing, grieving, healing...and now- this week my partner and I are signing on a house (🥰!!) moving in together.
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Whew... I’m just incredibly ✨grateful.
Final day 7️⃣ of this sweet treat 🍭🎃#BurqueYogis challenge - warm wishes to everyone involved! .
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#ustrasana day 💛🧡❤️🐪
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Here are four options, ways of working to emphasize various aspects, create accessibility or move towards #laguvajrasana ⚡️⚡️⚡️
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All four involve these key actions:
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Press full length of shins strongly down .
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deepen the hip crease
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femurs back, thighs compact hips
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deflate buttocks .
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tailbone of the tailbone WAY IN!
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centralize into the perineum .
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elongate the spine
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coil the chest
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back of the armpit chest to the front .
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lift the sternum .
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broaden the collar bones
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FLY UP
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lengthen cervical
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relax the jaw, eyes, brain. 🧠🕉
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Albuquerque friends, join me 2 weeks from today at @highdesertyoga for an afternoon workshop 2-5pm 11/9 where we will be exploring a lot of groin hip front line opening, and lots of backbends! .
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“The #Psoas Heart Connection: Finding Bliss in Backbends” 👌🥰😁
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If you love back bends - or if you want to love back bends, come!?
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🌻🍁🌞🔥
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i’d love to connect with more of you in person, I’ll do my best to show up for the meet up but it’s a very busy time. Let’s stay in touch? 😘🌶🌻 #505yoga .
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Thanks lovely hosts ✨✨✨🌼
@jjlucero8
@mialovesthis
@uplifting.mayhem .
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Sponsors!🌼
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@indi_yoga_albuquerque
@sweatyogastudio
@drishtihandmade
@three.baby.birds.baking
@abqtruyoga
@marveloussurprises
@desertlotusyogaabq
@_inbloomfloralcrowns_
@resilient_heart_designs
@spengaabq_westside
@manifestmantras
@burqandles
@wowwowlemonadealbuquerque 🌟
✨Resistance + Appropriation✨
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I’m going for some NM pride with this one, zia colors and this beautiful mural! ❤️💛 .
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Albuquerque has such great murals. It also has such strong roots of resistance, and amazing community. Is it just me, or do you feel like the suffocating affect of white supremacy culture is palpably less here than many other places in the US? .
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Colonization is everywhere and still unfolding. I appreciate the many forms of disruption to it and the healing and reclamation happening in New Mexico and Albuquerque... and happening in the yoga world !! 🔥 .
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Still, Im appreciating this as a white person with the stifling ease and privilege that whiteness affords me. This mural obviously references Indigenous art of the Southwest.
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It’s easy for me to do a cool yoga pose in front of it, but what struggle, resistance did it take to keep this artistic cultural heritage alive? What meaning is there that I miss, what generational trauma am I oblivious to, that is tied to this painting?
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As a white person it’s pretty safe for me to do a cool yoga pose just about anywhere, whereas I’m learning for South Asian folks “doing yoga” might require a process of struggle: being in danger for expressing culture, the push pull of pressure towards assimilation, of trying to reclaim something amidst appropriation and micro aggressions.... there’s so much I don’t know about. So much to learn and reflect on. We’re all in this together, this time, this place. I want to keep understanding the context we are all in. It’s rich and deep. .
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These thoughts are directly inspired by the beautiful brave badass interviews in @susannabarkataki ‘s #honordontappropriateyoga summit season 2... SO GOOD. it’s free you can still sign up, are you listening!?? .
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Day 4️⃣➕5️⃣ COMBO 🎃👻😎 ...I think I’m finally caught up here for this lovely #BurqueYogis challenge!! #trikonasana and #ardhachandrasana ... .
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The gravel is super slippery, 🤪 so I opted for the wall for take off, I should’ve posted the outtakes, kind of hilarious! #slipandslide .
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Thanks lovely hosts ✨✨✨🌼
@jjlucero8
@mialovesthis
@uplifting.mayhem .
Sponsors!🌼 in the comments. Ran out of space! 😅
Day 3️⃣ #BurqueYogis challenge ✨💯🌟
#virabhadrasana2
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A few basics of this pose:
Back leg: lift the inner leg to the outer leg. Press the outer heel. (Inner pelvis has space!) Front leg: pull the outer thigh to the inner thigh! Stamp down the inner heel. (Inner pelvis compacts, engages!)
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Pretty cool right! .
But it can be tricky to find. I LOVE this contained, stabilizing version on the yoga Tressler. Every day I’m grateful for the amazing yoga props and the vast world of internal actions #BKSIyengar invented & discovered. Much of “alignment” points taught in yoga classes all over, knowledge we easily take for granted, can be traced back to BKS Iyengar! 😍
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Having something to press into really helps the legs find their work. In this case, I feel my legs plugged in to the sockets! Incredibly grounding. Then the work of the right outer thigh buttocks can shine: I press the outer femur THROUGH the inner femur especially at the hip joint. This buttocks action is a key point we use in many different types of poses, learning it here is a great way to build somatic intelligence. .
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Another key point: go for A 90° angle in the front leg. I realize this will create LOTS more opening in your groin, 🥵 but it’s actually much safer for the #knee joint to stack the femur on top of the lower leg, rather than have all the pressure going into the knee, which happens if the thigh is at an angle. 😯To measure how wide your pose should be, stretch the arms laterally, and then separate your heels as wide as your wrists! You might be surprised how wide of a stance this is, but it will set you up for success.🌟✔️
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Keep the ankle, knee, center hip socket lined up. (Your left pelvis has to come forward some!) Don’t let the front knee go beyond the heel. Verticalize your spine!
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📸 at @highdesertyoga .
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Thanks lovely hosts ✨✨✨🌼
@jjlucero8
@mialovesthis
@uplifting.mayhem .
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Sponsors!🌼
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@indi_yoga_albuquerque
@sweatyogastudio
@drishtihandmade
@three.baby.birds.baking
@abqtruyoga
@marveloussurprises
@desertlotusyogaabq
@_inbloomfloralcrowns_
@resilient_heart_designs
@spengaabq_westside
@manifestmantras
@wowwowlemonadealbuquerque .
. #iyengaryoga
