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My Youtube Channel is here  for you to browse.  They are mainly short clips and classes,  for ideas to add to your practice and also some to practise along with.   Below are direct links to the kind of things I teach each week either online or in person:  firstly a short Yoga Nidra and love meditation, secondly  a short slide show of Hatha / Ashtanga postures in an active practice, holding each pose for around 5 breaths each,  thirdly a series of yin style postures to be practised much more slowly and held for 3-5 minutes each, and finally a gentle restorative Somatic style class where poses are moved one breath at a time.  We are all different and have yoga preferences, and at different times of the day our bodies need different practices too, some focus on muscular strength, some on joint mobility, some on fascia and deeper connective tissue release, and some on mind and emotional release.  However whatever we need or choose as our practice, we will find that all styles will help relieve stiffness, and help unblock energy channels resulting in a lightness of body and mind. 

Yoga Nidra (short)  for relaxation particularly  at night

A short active practice ( slide show ) no commentary.

A short Yin style practice, no commentary.

A gentle restorative   Somatic style practice

These are two limbs of yoga: pranayama and dyana. Sometimes we integrate them in an asana (posture) practice, but sometimes we need a separate time to check in with how we are feeling, what we are thinking, what our bodies, minds and emotions are telling us. For this reason Yoga with Barbara is now offering Breathing and Meditation as a separate practice online in a group or one to one. These hour long classes cover the essentials of pranayama (ancient yogic breathing techniques) and several meditation techniques. All of these techniques are immediately calming and are ideal for people who know it is hard for them to find time, or stay still. They can be transformational. This class can also be practised as a one to one and privately on-line.

Yin yoga has its origins in China. The language used in class is about the flow of Chi. The yin practice is a slow and deep form of yoga, where poses aim at us discovering an appropriate edge of no pain, but rather a "sweet discomfort". Poses are held for several minutes, with comfortable props if necessary to maintain the pose, and mindful commentary. This sweet discomfort is a gently applied mechanical stress, pressure or gentle pulling that release blockages and promote the Chi energy flow through the whole body along the meridians to all organs and tissues, whilst also stretching and transforming the connective tissue in a Yin manner. Muscles are not warmed up11, blood flow and cardiac activity are not stimulated - these are yang activities that belong to other necessary complementary practices. Yin completes the whole.

It has several progressive sequences which do not change from class to class. The first or Primary Series is the one I teach, occasionally adding some of the more accessible postures like backbends form the second series. The Ashtanga Primary Series comprises a sequence of postures threaded together with a continuous breath (Ujahi breath – a deep breath with sound in the throat). We practice the same sequence each week, developing awareness, progressing and deepening the practice. The practice begins with an opening chant, several sun salutations, a standing sequence, a seated sequence and a set of inversions. We link postures with breath and the two flow together smoothly (linked by vinyasa or flowing movements) to create an intense internal heat (agni) which detoxifies the muscles, purifies the nerves and relaxes the mind.

This practice begins with an opening chant, several sun salutations, a standing sequence, a floor-based sequence and a set of inversions to finish. The Primary Series is also known as Yoga Chikitsa (Yoga Therapy), healing the body from deep within the gastro-intestinal tract and the energetic system of nadis and chakras deep in the spinal cord. This focused practice combines several of the eight limbs described in hatha yoga above.

Yoga Nidra

 

Using scripts from the book entitled Yoga Nidra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School, I read a little Yoga nidra is a means of achieving a very deep state of mental and physical relaxation.  I usually use part of a script at the end of each class e.g. “rotation of consciousness” or “rapid image visualisation”, but when we have a workshop we can enjoy an hour of the deepest rest using several different visualisation approaches.