chronic pain, connective tissue and touch class at lulu's

today was the final day of the 3 day "spinal tap" workshop that i taught at lulu bandha's...and it was SO MUCH FUN!

we started with legs up the wall, and tuned into our "feeling sides" of our brain and on really getting inside our bodies in a more fine-tuned way, as well as finding a gentle ease with our bodies and tight spots.

we then talked about chronic pain and the connective tissue, followed by an experimental asana class which basically began with a "starting pose" and had them tune into feeling into their tight spots and twisting/moving in ways to greater access those spots. the focus was to encourage them to feel and listen to what their body was wanting, and to soften into the resistance patterns.

we did cat/cow variations 3 dimensionally and then opened it to a self-guided mini-practice, as each person was finding the next "spot" that needed some attention and adjusted their poses appropriately.

feedback revealed that perhaps the word "soften" works better than "relax" when people are in a dynamic hold/stretch, and that demonstrating the technique may be helpful, since the verbal part left some question marks in the practice.

i then demo'd a yin forward bend (i did baddha konasana) and showed how i enter the pose slowly and barrier by barrier, then twist it into whatever my body is guiding me to do next.

they all started with a yin forward bend of their choice and were left to their own feeling wisdom to perform their practice for about 20 minutes and eventually to savasana.

then we took a break and regrouped for the touch portion of the class with partners:

gentle cervical traction

traction with a gentle sternal release

bilateral leg pull

occipital release

we ended the weekend in a circle connecting with each other and sitting in silence.

i am SO GRATEFUL for the amazing group of yogis that joined me this weekend!!!