Guangzhou: November 16, 17 and 19–22

Workshops in Guangzhou, China.

A menstrual chart showing how estrogen and progesterone levels fluctuate throughout the month.

Supta Konasana with toes braced against a wall, holding the ankles. The spine arches away from the floor.

When you can’t lift the upper back any other way, practice Sirsasana with block support. Eventually, when the imprint of this support is remembered, you will dispense with the blocks.

Sarvangasana with Chair. Pull the shoulder-blades up away from the floor, press them forward toward the chest, and roll onto the top ridge of the shoulders. Align the breast bone so that it stands parallel to the chin and perpendicular to the floor.

I stay with Evelyn Lee, operations director of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of China…

….and her sister, Yucca Lee.

© 2017 Bobby Clennell.

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Panama: September 22 – 25. 2016

Workshop at Fusión Panamá.

Upavista Konasana at the wall with ropes. Those with tight hamstrings and a sacrum that tips back ward will benefit from this support.

Parivritta Janusirsasana. Move your right-back ribs down away from your spine and revolve your entire right-side body forward. Make a diamond shape with your elbows: press your front elbow down, raise your top elbow up and back.

Chatoosh Padasana. In order to get your tail-bone to lift – first press your heels down! Roll onto the tops of your shoulders and press your back ribs forward toward your head.

A container ship passing very slowly through the Panama Canal. This was the view from the yoga studio window.

© 2017 Bobby Clennell.

Hangzhou: November 10 – 13

Workshop in Hangzhou, China.

At the tailors with Lily, Ming and Cerise.

During menopause, face the wall.

After menopause – “I’m back!”

Virabhadrasana three. Extend from the navel forward to the little finger, and back through the lifted leg big-toe mound.

Post menopause, it maybe time for you to work with support (back leg could be supported too). As we age, balance becomes more difficult, so through a variety of poses, find a way to keep it a strong part of your practice.

Chair Sarvangasana. Align the breast plate: To bring it parallel with your chin and perpendicular to the floor, raise your back ribs away from the floor and press them forward toward your chest.

© 2017 Bobby Clennell.

Uramuqui: November 3 – 6

Workshop in bargaining, China.

Lift your side ribs.

Lift your side ribs!

Side ribs long!!

In Sirsasana, to avoid flopping forward, pull up through your outer hips and thighs and navel back.

Supported Halasana – side ribs up!

My host, my translator Ming, and my minder Cerise, bargaining in the market place. I came home with a large hand carved wooden spoon.

The miniature horses of Uramuqui, China.

© 2017 Bobby Clennell.

Colombia: September 16 – 18

Workshop at Natural Yoga, Bogotá.

When the ankles are a problem in Virasana and Supta Virasana, kneel on a blanket stack, with the toes trailing off the back edge.

It’s a wonderful thing when you get up into Full Arm Balance (Adho Mukha Vriksasana) for the first time. The next thing she has to learn: lift the inner ankles, the inner edges of the feet and the big toe mounds.

Prasarita Padottanasana (shown here with the head up). Working with a belt will help you to roll and then press the outer edges of the feet down, hit the inner knees away from each other and pull the inner thighs up into the inner groins, and back. Once learned, dispense with the belt.

© 2017 Bobby Clennell.

Nova Petrópolis, Brazil: September 2016

A five day retreat in scenic Nova Petrópolis, Brazil.

Mulabandasana (Root Lock Pose). Mula means the root, the base, the beginning, or the foundation.

Bandha means a fetter, bond, or posture. A posture where the body from the pelvic floor to the navel is contracted and lifted up and towards the spine.

Benefits: Exercises Muladhara Chakra. For men, it exercises the prostate gland and gonads. It helps correct hydrocele – fluid swelling of the scrotum, impotency, spermatorroea and sterility. It controls excessive sexual desire and helps to save energy. It therefore helps control and still the mind.

For women (as well as men) it stretches the pelvic floor. When practiced with perfect alignment, it aligns the internal pelvic organs (uterus, fallopian tubes). It also elongates the inner thigh muscles and inner groins, mobilizes the hip joints, knees and ankles, and helps correct flat feet.

Sit on one or more blocks, at the wall, in Dandasana. Then come to Baddhakonasana. Clear some space from inside the folded knees: with your thumbs, slide the flesh and muscles between the inner knees from inside to outside. Roll the upper calf muscles out. Insert your hands between your thighs and calves and clasp your outer feet.

Raise your heels (move them away from you), keep your toes on the ground and pull your feet toward your perineum.

Join your soles and heels.

To maintain the upward position of the feet…

…and the upward lift of the pelvis, and to bring the pubic bone level with the sacral bone,

wedge a block or thickly folded blanket between your feet and pubic bone.

Press your hands down on blocks at your side and lift the anterior spine. Contraindicated: knee or ankle injury.

My little candy colored cabin.

The hanging bridge that took me every morning from my cabin to the asana room.

© 2017 Bobby Clennell.

Ljubljana, Slovenia: May 20 – 22

Workshop at City Joga Center.

Pincha Myorasana: press the index finger knuckles, the base of the thumbs, and the inner forearms  down. Lift the shoulders, shoulder-blades, and  outer hips. Roll inner thighs back.

Some partner work in Ardha Chandrasana: Supporting the upper thigh, lift the belt more from the front of the thigh than the back of the thigh.

Getting into Padmasana. Allow the weight  of the left foot to open up the right hip socket.

Another way to get into Padmasana: lay down first.

Matsyasana with knees belted. Slide your tailbone away from you. If you have any kind of knee stiffness, it’s best to keep the knees wide.

Don’t force yourself into Padmasana. In Half Padmasana, be sure to “catch” the foot that is underneath, into the belt.

Supta Virasana combined with Supta Padangustasana I. The student is being helped with a very light touch, helping her to extend her bent knee thigh away from her. To help lengthen the right sacral area, the instructor uses a belt to move the student’s right hip away from the waist.

Move the extended leg toward an upright position.

Anyone doing Supta Virasana supported up on blocks and one or more bolsters has limited mobility. Great care is taken not to over stretch his raised leg hamstring.

The cat was very kind – he allowed me to stay in his room. He very much liked my water.

© 2016 Bobby Clennell.

Budapest: May 14 – 15, 2016.

Workshop at Amrita Jógaközpont

 

The invocation with Kevin Gardiner.

Forrai Reka translated my English instructions into Hungarian for the workshop. She also translated Yoga for Breast Care into Hungarian.

Vasithasana. Move the tailbone in. Keep the inner edges of the feet and big toes together.

To maintain the length of your biceps: rotate your arms out, and pull the arm-pit chest up.

My hosts, Erika Repassy and Kevin Gardiner in strong Salabhasanas.

With Kevin: roll the shoulders back and down. Turn the inner elbow up.

Parsva Dhanurasana. Turn the chest away from the shoulder that is wedged against the floor.

Urdhva Dhanurasana with hands on blocks. Press the heels of the hands into the blocks, turn the upper arms in toward each other, and move the chest toward the wall. Stamp your feet down open the backs of the knees: press calves down and raise the thighs up.

This combination, Baddha Konasana/Upavistha Konasana helps keep the hip sockets healthy and mobile.

Photographs: Jaya Chakravarty.

© 2016 Bobby Clennell.

London: May 2

Workshop at The Iyengar Yoga Studio, East Finchley.

Uttitha Hasta Padangustasana 1 on The Ropes. We help her roll her outer thigh down while moving her standing leg thigh back to the wall. She presses her standing leg foot down, and raises her spine and chest.

Uttitha Trikonasana on the ropes. Anchoring your back foot to the wall, and holding the rope will help give you the momentum needed to extend your torso away from the wall.

Ardha Chandrasana on the ropes. Turn your head back, move your dorsal spine and tailbone forward.

Rope Sirsasana. Secure the upper arm bones into the sockets — overlap the triceps onto the deltoids, and the deltoids onto the shoulder-blades.

Rope Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. Similarly, maintain the connection of your upper arms and shoulders.

Viparita Dandasana. Firm your shoulder-blades onto your upper back ribs. Walk your hands along the belt toward the wall.

I always enjoy teaching for Patsy Sparksman at her studio in East Finchley, London,

© 2016 Bobby Clennell.

Denmark: April 29 – May 1

Workshop at Studie Yoga.

Press your sit-bones down. Curving back over the chair seat, pull your back ribs up then forward toward your chest. Rotate your upper arms in, straighten your elbows and extend through the tips of your fingers.

If you are ever in Copenhagen, I recommend you drop into Bob for a delicious bio organic meal.

© 2016 Bobby Clennell.