This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Inversions – Head and Shoulders

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Inversions – Head and Shoulders

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, we are working on inversions! Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana) and Headstand (Sirsasana), which are also referred to as the Queen and King of Asanas respectively, are considered some of the most beneficial poses to practice in yoga. The reversal in the blood flow improves circulation, energises, and increases immunity by allowing the lymph nodes to travel into the respiratory system. Not only are the physical benefits immense, inversions also give us a new perspective on life by turning our world literally upside down.

Find your new perspective this week on the mat with us!

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Splits

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Splits

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, join us as we work on splits. More specifically, we’re focusing on the action of straightening the leg in any variation of splits you’re working on. Splits, in general, require an awareness and understanding of both external and internal rotation of the hip to keep the hips square. In addition to that, to straighten the legs while keeping the hips square, we would need to tap into the strength of the glutes, core and quads to extend the energy all the way to the toes.

Join us all week as we explore the combination of these actions on the mat!

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Bent Arm Strength

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Bent Arm Strength

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, we are building bent arm strength. Strong shoulders, core and triceps meet open hips in tucked positions and shapes to find ways of awakening and activating, gaining lightness in even the most demanding poses. Find your power, rooting down to take flight. See you on the mats! 

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Scorpion Pose

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Scorpion Pose

This week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, we are exploring the theme of Scorpian Pose, a family of poses comprising of strong contraction backbends that work your back shoulders, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and the entire back of your body! 

With the combination of flexibility work that will release stiffness in the front of your body and strengthening work that will activate your back muscle chain, we develop the movement of feet towards head, and head towards feet, energising your body and opening you up to improved breathing and posture. 

See you on the mats! 

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Yogi Pretzels

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Yogi Pretzels

This is the last week of our inaugural 27 week curriculum cycle in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, and we are celebrating by turning ourselves into Yogi Pretzels! Explore the (in)famous poses of the practice that have given yogis a reputation for being contortionists, but in a safe and fun way. See you on the mats for this hip opening week! 

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Drop Backs

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Drop Backs

This week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, we put together standing backbends and wheel poses to explore one of the most dynamic movements in the practice: the drop back. This movement will condition your core and legs as it opens up your front body and mobilises your spine, but only if you overcome the psychological barrier! Definitely attend classes this week if you want to take your steps forward towards this beautiful movement. See you on the mats!

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Handstand Hangtime

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Handstand Hangtime

This week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, Straight Arm Inversions require a stable and strong shoulder girdle and an activated core. Correct alignment and placement of wrists as the foundations of the inversion also needs to be understood for safe practice without undue risk of wrist or shoulder strain. Lastly, mobile and open shoulders and hips contribute to the ease of entering and exiting. From the staple pose of downward dog, we work our way up to a full Handstand this week! See you on the mats.

This Week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Scissor Splits

This Week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Scissor Splits

This week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, when you do a front split with the front leg abducted, you form the scissor splits. This shape is found in poses that range from the flexibility based Bird of Paradise, to the strong arm balance Eka Pada Koudinyasana II. Find, awaken, and condition the muscles that allow you to hold this shape while stretching and opening your hips to refine it. See you on the mats! 

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Leverage Backbend

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Leverage Backbend

This week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, the movement to flip your grip from a backhanded to an overhead grasp of your foot in deep leveraged back bending is explored. Leveraged backbends employ grasping and pulling to result in the most intense postures in yoga. Explore them safely this week employing variations and options that give you the space and support you need to stay in the experience of heart opening. See you on the mats! 

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Funky Arms

This Week In Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Funky Arms

This week in Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga, asymmetrical arm support positions challenge your strength and balance and can be modified to add a twist to your regular arm balance or inversion. They help improve our proprioception as our bodies learn to compensate for the imbalanced foundation to restore equilibrium. See you on the mats!

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Flying Lotus

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Flying Lotus

This week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, we take flight from the humble Lotus Pose to balance and invert. That means that while this week's classes will focus on external hip rotation, we will also be working on foundational wrist, arm and shoulder alignment and strength. Your proprioception and inner focus will be tested as you seek your stability and firmness on the mat. See you!

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Locust Backbends

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Locust Backbends

This week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, downward facing backbends are also called Contraction Backbends as they work your back muscles to strongly extend the spine against gravity. The Locust shape is an engagement of largely the lower back and lower glutes, conditioning your back body and increasing spinal support and stability on and off the mat. First find the fundamentals in Basic Class before incorporating an arm balance aspect to the mix in Essential Class, then invert yourself in Intermediate Class this Week. See you on the mats!

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Twist & Bind

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Twist & Bind

This week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, adding a bind to your twist uses leverage to deepen the axial rotation of your pose as it opens your shoulders and outer hips, increasing the detoxifying potential of the deep abdominal compression achieved. It challenges your shoulder mobility and your ability to manage your breathing, but rewards you with a beautifully lengthened spine, creating space between each vertebrae. See you on the mats!

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Foot to Armpit

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Foot to Armpit

This week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, bringing your foot to your own armpit is a feat of flexibility that is testament to patience and persistent practice. This week we take our steps towards working on increasing the hip mobility required to someday achieve this pose. Many benefits gained along the way! See you on the mats.

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Camel Backbends

This Week In Nithya Priyan School Of Yoga: Camel Backbends

This week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga, we explore deepening out practice of Camel Pose, an upward facing kneeling based backbend not just by finding more spinal extension, but by creating space to breathe with steadiness and ease. This quintessential pose stays with you your entire practice and can be expressed in increasingly intermediate variations. See you on the mats!

This Week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Forearm Inversions

This Week in Nithya Priyan School of Yoga: Forearm Inversions

It's Inversions week in Nithya Priyan school of Yoga as we work on our forearms. From foundational poses in Basic class that help you develop correct core and shoulder engagement, to actual inversion practice in Essential and Intermediate classes. Develop strength and find your balance. See you on the mats!