Types of Yoga Classes

Making space in the chest, strengthening glutes and hamstrings and creating vitality are just some of the reasons we do yoga backbends. This is a 75-minute modulated backbend practice with the aim of having you feel energetic and calm by using an intelligent approach. You'll find a written version of the practice at the end of the video.

This 75 minute class is designed to wake up the muscles that make for easeful backbending poses. When the gluteus medius, minimus and hamstrings support an even arching of the spine, there is less stress and effort. You will get to enjoy more of the benefits of these valuable postures: stimulation of the nervous system, opening the lungs and correction of stooped posture.

Keeping the dorsal thoracic - the upper back - strong and flexible is such a benefit to our posture and the strength of our bones. A further advantage is that we can experience more freedom when we do backbends as we avoid pinching the lower back, hunching the shoulders and making the neck cranky. Here's a 75 minute all-round practice to create fluid movement in the shoulder blades, especially, and the whole body, as well.

It's not always convenient to get to a yoga class, but it's generally possible to do a little 'first aid yoga', even when you're travelling long distances. Here's one way to alleviate the after-effects of plane, train or car travel--basically a great stretch for neck, shoulders and back.

Supported Shoulder Stand. This version of shoulderstand gives the support that allows you to stay in the pose for a bit longer. Which means you get the benefits of being upside down for more time with less effort. Plus, there's no toll on your wrists or neck. It's a little tricky to get into in the beginning, so this video will help make the pose more accessible for you.If you would like to make a donation to my continuing to create videos and recordings, please visit https://eveyoga/donation/.

Winter cold can have a way of tamping down our enthusiasm for doing yoga practice. For one thing, our bodies are stiffer and it takes some discipline to simply to get moving. This Warm Yoga Practice starts out with a few minutes of fiery breathing called Kapalabhati. Then a warm-up series that includes the energy-mobilising apanasana, bridge variations and belly-twister pose. By the time you've done spinal movements, balancing postures and backbends, you will have left any winter doldrums behind and enjoy a warmed body and calm mind.

Backbending is part of the potential of our human anatomy. It's one of the important tools of a physical yoga practice. But for some people, even the thought of bending backwards is a fearful prospect, whether this is because of stiffness, injury or spinal misalignments. This 75-minute class offers a gentle approach through preparation and detailed instruction to open up the back body, reduce stiffness and even create more overall energy.

This is a 75 minute class that works the whole body but especially sets you up for doing gentle backbends. It's such a kind and beautiful thing to do, stretching and opening the frontal body, which comprises the heart, lungs, diaphragm and digestive organs. Approaching these exercises thoughtfully will generate a kind of balanced energy when you've been feeling dull or sluggish. EnjoY

This 75-minute class with its breathing exercises, backbends and twisting emphasis is ideal for warming the body in the chilly days of winter. It is a holistic practice that includes standing poses, too, for strength and stability, with a chair savasana to finish with ultimate relaxation and release.

Rotating the spine and extending it are potentially two of the most beneficial movements in yoga . They relieve tension in the spine as well as upper back, shoulders and hips. They also increase mobility in the spine, which keeps the body supple--with ease of movement, even as one ages.This 75 minute class couples these two important categories of poses and presents twists and backbends in a balanced and thoughtful way.

The pelvis is an amazing fulcrum of the body and has lots of potential for movement in various directions. When we experience stiffness or soreness, it might mean that we've lost some our mobility or perhaps are even too mobile.Here's a session to explore and experience some of the movements of your pelvis.If you would like to make a donation to my continuing to create videos and recordings, please visit https://eveyoga/donation/.

This yoga practice is a balanced mix of poses: seated, standing, backbending, twisting, inversion, relaxing. The variety of poses gives the best opportunity to work your body/mind, paying attention to all its parts.The poses are simple. What makes the practice challenging is how well we cultivate presence, being present to our immediate experience. This is what we are shooting for in yoga.If you would like to make a donation to my continuing to create videos and recordings, please visit https://eveyoga/donation/.

Poses that rotate the spinal column offer many benefits. Chief among these are the mobility that twists create in our bodies and the way they stimulate our internal organs and circulation. They are the postures that balance both forward and backward bending movements, in the manner that they are said to neutralise the spine. In this 70 minute class, you'll find a pleasing mixture of standing twists, seated twists and, even finishing with, a lateral pose.

In this class, you'll have the opportunity to work progressively through exercises that lead to performing the twisting postures with a degree of ease. The emphasis is on warming up the hips, side body and upper back, those areas that are often stiff and less yielding to movement. The standing, chair and supine twists presented in this program are, for most students, safe and accessible, and hopefully will create an enjoyable practice for you.

Certain families of poses seem to go together naturally. Think of forward bends and backbends, and pranayama and meditation. Backbends and twists seem to complement each other well. In both of these, we give much attention to lengthening the spinal column, using the support of the legs and breathing consciously. In this 75-minute practice, the emphasis is on the standing pose, Parvivrtta Trikonasana, the twisting version of Trikonasana, using a chair to help with balance and thoughtful rotation of the spine.

The essence of balance can probably be distilled in many ways. When we do balancing yoga poses, for instance, we can set our sights on employing equal measures of alertness and relaxation. This 75 minute practice offers enough challenge so that it encourages us to stay alert, but not so much that it takes us out of the ability to stay reflective and relaxed.

Getting just the right amount of strength and stretch into each yoga pose is the art of modulation, and perhaps the heart of yoga. The balancing poses are good for teaching us this fine-tuned calibration. This 75-minute practice includes the warrior and half moon poses to help us hone our balance.

Balancing in yoga poses takes being committed to practising. You'll be able to arrive at equilibrium by working up to it gradually, perhaps even using a wall or chair to build up time in the poses. And then, repetitions of poses will yield even better results. Mindfulness of the practice process will help you from being overly ambitious or tense. Do this 75 minute practice and it will give you some ideas of you might practice on your own.

Two qualities that make doing yoga poses a satisfying experience are action and observation. We do a movement and in the process are observing what is happening in our bodies, in our internal dialogues, even in our intentions. Nowhere is this more true than when we are attempting to balance: in headstand, in arm balancings, standing on one leg, for example. By being observant, we can learn much about the pose and, more importantly, about ourselves. Here is a 75 minute class that will give you practice in simple balancing poses.

Older individuals especially have to work to stay strong and flexible, else there's a gradual erosion of strength that can lead to loss of balance and falls. Here is a 75-minute class that gives a good workout, combining muscle strengthening with releasing, and relaxation.

Work and tone your body in this class with these strengthening yoga poses: Bridge variations, Chair Pose, Warrior I Pose, Extended Side Angle, and more, finishing with relaxation.

When we take the up the challenge of doing balancing poses, we activate the witness part of our consciousness. Rather than trying to perform a perfect pose or being critical of ourselves if this doesn't happen, we can watch the process unfold without judgment. Staying with the breath, and being easeful in the pose, may not produce perfection, but will lead to mental as well as physical balance.

For my part, I was more interested in getting 'stretchy' from the time I took up yoga as a 27-year old. Decades down the line now, I wish I had paid more attention to cultivating strength in my legs. I see the need for this in terms of building stability and groundedness.It's never too late. Here's a 75-minute practice for leg strength and stability, which is nicely balanced with stretching, too.

This 75-minute practice is designed to build up some heat in the body in this late autumn chilly climate. The three beginning floor postures--apanasana, twists and bridges--offer a great warm-up, followed by standing spinal movements for the dorsal thoracic, that is, your upper back. The early part of this session sets you up very nicely for the goal pose: half moon pose or ardha chandrasana and a fun posture called 'weeping willow'.

Winter cold can have a way of tamping down our enthusiasm for doing yoga practice. For one thing, our bodies are stiffer and it takes some discipline to simply to get moving. This Warm Yoga Practice starts out with a few minutes of fiery breathing called Kapalabhati. Then a warm-up series that includes the energy-mobilising apanasana, bridge variations and belly-twister pose. By the time you've done spinal movements, balancing postures and backbends, you will have left any winter doldrums behind and enjoy a warmed body and calm mind.

We think that yoga is very much about stretching and lengthening, which is only one small part of the amazing practice possibilities.Strengthening our muscles is another potential area of yoga practice, and it serves us especially well in doing standing poses.Here is a 75-minute program in which the 'goal pose' is Ardha Chandrasana, half moon pose. After warming up with other postures and movements, you will be well prepared for this beautiful one-leg standing pose. Enjoy!

Working with the legs is important for fostering flexibility and strength for anyone. In our younger years, we we tend to engage in exercise by participating in sports and walking. But as we age, it takes more discipline to keep up muscle strength and balance, as these tend to decline over the years without attention. Yoga is a perfect system for keeping the legs and hips toned and strong. This 75-minute practice offers a variety of accessible yoga exercises from the family of standing poses. It's a program that is worth doing a couple of times a week to reap the benefits.

Think about it. Our feet are, for the most part, our faithful servants. They take us where we want to go, whether for recreation or work. Sometimes our feet have to endure long hours of standing and are even often enclosed in uncomfortable footwear. So here's a yoga session designed for foot self-care--within the context of balancing poses, for an extra challenge. Take a little time to look after your feet so they can better look after you!

This 75-minutes session gives you an all-important anatomical focus---the breathing muscle--the diaphragm. With a combination of breathing exercises and attention to the diaphragm in classic yoga poses, you will be able to refresh the parts of your body that relate to the breath.

Such an unusual word, 'vayu'...a Sanskrit word meaning 'wind'. The root word 'va' means something like 'circulation of energy.' In this class, we will explore this movement of energy connected to breathing. And especially breathing into five main areas of the body. This is a beautiful way of practising, anchoring our awareness physically and energetically for maximum benefits.

Flow yoga has become popular and has its own established niche among all the many types of yoga. This is because it's based on movement with the breath, and breathing is the most important anchor for our attention in yoga practice. This 75-minute class emphasises having the movements through postures be enveloped in one's breath, like a beautiful picture frame that holds a piece of art.

Is it unusual to link humming breathing with back care? No, of course not! This is yoga, after all. It's all about being aware of and sensitive to the movement of energy through the body. And sound helps us do that. This 75-minute class will help you awaken and strengthen the core in through a simple and focussed practice. It incorporates postures, movement and relaxation.

We all know that breathing is integral to doing yoga. But for less experienced yoga practitioners, doing pranayama, or controlled yogic breathing exercises, may feel daunting. This 15 minute relaxation with breathing sets you up for greater awareness and control of your breath in a very gentle way. You will feel nourished and renewed at the completion of the practice.If you would like to make a donation to my continuing to create videos and recordings, please visit https://eveyoga/donation/.

A gentle feel-good practice with breathing, warm-up, classic poses and relaxation. Perfect for the end of a busy week or for a Sunday morning.Note: Near the end of the of the recording (1:05) there are some floral images added that go for 5 minutes and then Eve comes back on screen to finish the program.If you would like to make a donation to my continuing to create videos and recordings, please visit https://eveyoga/donation/.

When we work with the breath in our yoga practice, it is likely we will be working deeply and mindfully. Another advantage to emphasising the breath is that it helps us energise our core muscles. You may find that there's something profoundly calming, as well, when doing a breath-centred practice. This 75-minute practice uses a chair rather than having to kneel on all fours for poses like cat-cow pose and plank poses.

Winter cold can have a way of tamping down our enthusiasm for doing yoga practice. For one thing, our bodies are stiffer and it takes some discipline to simply to get moving. This Warm Yoga Practice starts out with a few minutes of fiery breathing called Kapalabhati. Then a warm-up series that includes the energy-mobilising apanasana, bridge variations and belly-twister pose. By the time you've done spinal movements, balancing postures and backbends, you will have left any winter doldrums behind and enjoy a warmed body and calm mind.

Here is a whole class devoted to noticing the breath so it can help you gain stability as well as grace in movement in your yoga practice.As wise colleague has said that one of the most profound ways to bring your awareness into the physical practice of yoga is to feel and trust your breath as it moves through you. (paraphrase--Donna Farhi)As an added benefit this session emphasises firm feet (grounding) and strong legs.

This is a 75 minute class that works the whole body but especially sets you up for doing gentle backbends. It's such a kind and beautiful thing to do, stretching and opening the frontal body, which comprises the heart, lungs, diaphragm and digestive organs. Approaching these exercises thoughtfully will generate a kind of balanced energy when you've been feeling dull or sluggish. EnjoY

Yoga, we know, is effective for reducing stress, especially in its emphasis on the breath. This beautifully accessible breathing exercise, the physiological sigh, is a great one to have in your tool box of practices.In this short video, long time yoga teacher, Megan Jones https://www.meganjones.life/, explains and demonstrates the breathing.

This class focuses on the breath to help you gain stability as well as ease of movement on the mat and off the mat.As a wise colleague has said: 'One of the most profound ways to bring your awareness into the physical practice of yoga is to feel and trust your breath as it moves through you.' (paraphrase--Donna Farhi)As well, this session encourages grounded feet and strong legs.

Sometimes just the addition of a prop can foster a new way of feeling the breath. In this session, we start out using a yoga strap to emphasize using more of the side ribs.What happens when we observe our breathing, we might notice that each one of our cycles changes the shape of our torso. In this class, the focus is on the often underused parts, like the lateral lungs, so we can better open up to fulness of the breath.We can then take this new receptivity and opening and integrate them into our yoga asanas practice.

This 50 minute class led by Carole Baillargeon is a gem that takes you on an inward journey towards your essential Being. In the style of Iyengar pranayama, Carole words and tone will have you relax and refresh yourself through lying down and then seated breathing practice. You can find more of Carole's pranayama and asana classes at : https://darwinyogaspace.com/

This 75-minute yoga session focuses on expanding the chest through dorsal thoracic breathing. The primary aim is to enhance flexibility in the ribcage while promoting better lung function.As we age, typically from our mid-thirties onward, there's a natural decline in breathing capacity. Sedentary lifestyles exacerbate this decline, alongside factors like decreasing bone density, which constricts the ribcage and limits lung expansion. Additionally, the diaphragm weakens over time, diminishing the volume of air we inhale.Nevertheless, we can mitigate these effects by staying physically active and incorporating yoga breathing exercises into our routine. Regular engagement with yoga postures ensures optimal functioning of both the lungs and ribcage.The beauty of breathing exercises lies in their accessibility; they can be practiced by anyone, anywhere, serving as the simplest method to fortify our respiratory health.

Here we explore a calming, relaxing practice that references 'Courage to Relax'. What does that mean for us? For the most part we are busy and full of thought activity. Stopping our busyness, being quiet, slow and considerate of our bodies and minds can feel totally unfamiliar and sometimes even threatening. In this 75 minute class, you are invited in to a safe, quiet and peaceful place to give yourself much needed regeneration. Then you can go back into the busyness with more mental and physical clarity and breathing space.

In this 75 minute class you will be doing a combination of passive, restorative poses and slightly more active ones--to create a balanced practice. The good thing about this type of practice is that you aren't sacrificing anything when you choose rest over being continuously on the go. Rather, your are saying 'no' to busyness and you are saying 'yes' to self-care.

It's such a nourishing thing to do a slow and quiet practice such as this 75 minute class. With this restorative program, at the end of it, you feel internally pacified and refreshed...more able to face the world with clarity and calm. These are the qualities we mean to cultivate as much as possible by practising yoga regularly.

Legs-Up-the-Wall has got to be everyone's favourite relaxation pose. Here's a short (12 minutes) practice that can stand alone as a method of recharging your batteries. Or, as a way to finish a longer practice and set your body/mind on an even keel.

This session offers a perfect ending to your week or the beginning of your weekend, with a gentle posture program, followed by 'yoga nidra' for complete relaxation.

Two qualities that make doing yoga poses a satisfying experience are action and observation. We do a movement and in the process are observing what is happening in our bodies, in our internal dialogues, even in our intentions. Nowhere is this more true than when we are attempting to balance: in headstand, in arm balancings, standing on one leg, for example. By being observant, we can learn much about the pose and, more importantly, about ourselves. Here is a 75 minute class that will give you practice in simple balancing poses.

Safe to say, we all deal with stress on a regular basis, but when it becomes unending, we need to take time out for ourselves. In this variation of child's pose, our bodies take the outward shape of the turtle where the shell protects the vital organs--kidneys and adrenals--and we gently nourish ourselves. A five-minute practice that can be incorporated into a restorative practice...or even held for longer in a stand-alone tool for regeneration. The inspiration for this practice of turtle breathing comes from Dr. Willow Brown, https://drwillowbrown.com

Restorative yoga has the special ability to nurture us and make us feel well rested. Isn't that just a perfect practice for the holiday season, or any time when we are feeling depleted? This program, just over an hour, starts with a gentle warmup of favourite joint movements, and then moves on to several propped up regenerative poses. The purpose of this class is to soothe us mentally and quiet us physically so we can be present and centred.

Recently I had a full-throttle several days and realised it was time to put the brakes on. Time for a reboot! There's a beautiful collection of practices called Restorative Yoga which lend themselves to anyone who wants to, need to, recharge flat batteries. This 75 minute program is designed to do just that. Amazing how a little self-care at right time can make a big difference in terms of energy, clarity and just being in a better relaitonship with oneself. Enjoy!

A gentle feel-good practice with breathing, warm-up, classic poses and relaxation. Perfect for the end of a busy week or for a Sunday morning.Note: Near the end of the of the recording (1:05) there are some floral images added that go for 5 minutes and then Eve comes back on screen to finish the program.If you would like to make a donation to my continuing to create videos and recordings, please visit https://eveyoga/donation/.

Flow yoga has become popular and has its own established niche among all the many types of yoga. This is because it's based on movement with the breath, and breathing is the most important anchor for our attention in yoga practice. This 75-minute class emphasises having the movements through postures be enveloped in one's breath, like a beautiful picture frame that holds a piece of art.