St Kilda, Australia: October 12 – 14, 2018

Workshop at St Kilda Iyengar Yoga Studio

Ustrasana with wall, Chair and Bolsters. Roll outer arms in. Move outer elbows to inner elbows. Keep the navel as close to the wall as possible.

The belt which I placed at the upper back provided tremendous length through the entire spine, and a fulcrum for an upper back curve. I asked her to connect her outer/upper arms back into the backs of the shoulder sockets.

This shape is similar to Urdhva Hastasana in Dandasana.There should be an internal rotation of the arms. Locate them back into the sockets.

Holding a belt between wrists and side hips…

…helped us see the midline. Student is being instructed: in order to avoid dropping the lumbar forward, to roll the buttocks down.

The brightly painted roads are a memory of the victory in the Australian courts earlier this year for same-sex marriage.

The St Kilder theme park is the oldest theme park in the world. Visually, the inside is as wonderful as the outside!

© 2019 Bobby Clennell

Singapore: September 21 – 23, 2018

Workshop at Cocoon Studio Pte Ltd

Adho Mukha Svanasana. Practicing with the forearms on blocks provides better access to armpits, and breast and lung tissue.

Adho Mukha Svanasana with Baddangullyasana, arms behind.

Rope Bhujangasana. Here the feet are one ft. apart. Then learn to practice with the feet together. Rotate the inner thighs back, and move the tailbone forward and up. Raise the ribcage and the entire torso up. Curve up and back.

Rope Purvottasana. In this variation, the ropes are doubled over. To curve further back, open them to their full length. See page 89 of Yoga In Action. Intermediate Course -1, for the best instructions for this, and Rope Bhujangasana.

Uttitha Trikonasana on the Ropes

Virasana with upper body curved back over a chair.

Upper Body Back Bend over a chair.

Urdhva Dhanurasana. Press down through the hands, raise the heels, press the tailbone up, and extend and open the top/front groin skin.

Continue pressing the tailbone up, and maintain the extension of the front groin skin while slowly bringing the heels down (outer knees to inner knees).

© 2019 Bobby Clennell

Yoga, Kids and Play

For kids, yoga-time and play-time are sometimes indistinguishable.

Adho Mukha Svanasana – Downward Facing Dog Pose. Hey, who put this floor down here? Sonalli Kurlekar sent this photo in of her daughter.

This is Martine from Bogota, Colombia. How much fun it is push into Upward Facing Dog Pose (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) on a soft, furry rug.

Dandasana – Staff Pose. I see ten toes!

This is one of the original pencil sketches from Watch Me Do Yoga.

Now this is what I call a real Tree Pose (Adho Mukha Vriksasana)!

Madeline Cook is only two-years-old, but she has yoga in her blood: both of her grandmothers are yoga teachers.

Here is Madeline’s older sister, five-year-old Amelia. Amelia loves looking at books about yoga, and likes to learn (and pronounce) the Sanskrit names of the poses she copies from the illustrations. Recently, her grandmother Leah Bray Nichols (Evergreen Yoga, Memphis) found her “reading yoga books to Madeline. Looks like teaching yoga runs in the family!”

Neither of the girls has been to a kids class. Just reading, playing and doing. Leah says that when she cleans her studio,” I take them with me and they play on the ropes and make-up poses and make forts with the props.”

Here is Francesca, daughter of Lara Warren who teaches at the Iyengar Yoga Institutes, of New York, and Brooklyn. The exuberance of this pose says it all! The rope wall was installed by Lee Christie-Irvine.

Vicky Ewell’s five-year-old granddaughter Marley lifts her chest high and moves her dorsal spine in as she pushes up into a a backbend (Urdhva Dhanurasana) in front of her pink princess tent. Vicky’s studio, the Yoga Loft, is in Sheffield  Village, Ohio.

Fern likes to create her own poses. This one was sent in by Suzie Dodd, “I call it Fernasana!”

These knees are sure to please. Halasana – Plow Pose.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me photos of their kids who were inspired by my book, Watch Me Do Yoga; please keep sending them in. I try my best to correctly credit all the photos, but if I’ve forgotten your child’s name, or the parent or grandparent who sent in the photo, please send it to me, and I’ll update the post.

©2017 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.