Urdhva Mukha Svanasana / Upward- Facing Dog pose

Benefits:

• Opens the heart, chest and lungs.
• Stretches your upper back and the whole front of your body.
• Strengthens your wrists, arms, shoulders, spine.
• Can relieve sciatica, mild depression and fatigue.
• Because it stretches the lungs and chest it can be very therapeutic for asthma.
• Counteracts bad posture.

Click on Upward facing dog pose to find out how to do this pose step by step.

Upward Facing Dog pose / Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

step by step

• Lie on your stomach, forehead on the floor, your hands next to the ribs, fingers lining up with the lower ribs pointing forward. The top of your feet pressing in the floor and just as in Cobra pose lift the thighs and knees and keep the tailbone pointing towards the heels.
• On an inhalation press into your hands and feet, straighten the arms and lift the chest and also legs of the floor.
• Draw the shoulder blades onto your back and lift your sternum but draw the front lower ribs slightly back, Bring your tailbone towards your pubic bone and draw the navel slightly in and up to keep the lower back long.
• You can look either straight ahead, or look up, taking care to not compress the back of your neck when you look up.
• Open your heart.
• You can hold this pose anywhere between 5-15 breaths.
• To come out you lower yourself down on the floor on an outbreath, or lift yourself into downward facing dog .

Click on Urdhva mukha svanasana to find out about the benefits of this pose.

Yoga may help those who suffer from asthma. In this sequence I explore some simple exercises that may help you to relax your breathing, open your chest and lungs. It will help you to generally feel better, more relaxed, more open and that in itself will calm everything down.

Do it for a while every day and feel the difference for yourself!

The poses I demonstrate here are:

mountain pose / tadasana

downward facing dog pose / adho mukha svanasana

plank pose

crocodile pose / makarasana

cobra pose / bhujangasana

child pose / balasana

I’m just back from the Netherlands, where I taught a short yoga workshop to support my teacher Taetske Kleijn. She was celebrating the 10th year functioning of her center “Tsuki Meditation and Insight”. Taetske teaches the Clarity process, which Jeru Kabbal founded.

It was so great to meet up with most of the people that I spend three years with doing workshops, retreats and intensives. I’m so grateful to have had the time and opportunity to do this. This 3 year course, which has brought me more that I can put into words also inspired me to start Yogatic! .

I feel like telling you something about the clarity process, because its what motivates me everyday to be as clear and present as I can be.

The Clarity Process is a five-step set of workshops, intensives and processes that you can do by yourself.

The five steps towards Clarity are: (more…)

These 3 videos together make up a 35 minute yoga class incorporating a warm up, standing poses like Warrior I and II, some sitting poses like sitting forward bend, wide legged forward bend, navasana and some lying poses like sphinx, cobra, locust variation and a hip opener, and a relaxation.

Do this sequence when you have a bit more time to improve overall health, flexibility, fitness and relaxation.

hope you all enjoy it,

Esther

Hi everyone.

Update: We’ve been shortlisted for Best Videocaster!

We are all very exited that we are nominated for the Irish Web Awards 2008. Yogatic is longlisted in the category “best videocaster”.

I would like to thank everybody for all the support and attention we have got over the the past few months. The awards will be Saturday October the 11th in Dublin. For more info visit: http://awards.ie/webawards/

Hi everyone,

I made this sequence especially to follow onto the standing en sitting sequence. So you’ve got a nice rounded practice. On itself its just a nice gentle yoga routine. Good to do in the evening if you want to unwind en calm down getting ready for a relaxing sleep, or any time during the day when you want to spoil yourself and not want to be to active.

The poses I’m demonstrating in this sequence are:

Sphinx pose

Half frog pose / Ardha bhekasana

Cobra pose / Bhujangasana

Locust pose / Salambhasana

Reclining big toe pose / Supta padangustasana

Half revolved belly pose / Ardha jathara parivarttanasana

Hi everyone,

My first week back at teaching yoga after a long break. I’m glad to be getting back in the routine of the classes, hope my students are happy too after their first class of sun salutations, locusts, leg, arm and core work. They will probably feel the work tomorrow !

It’s interesting how happy I am to go back to the routine of working, after looking forward so much to the holidays. I think that no matter how nice it is to anticipate the days of having to do nothing, once you’re there it can also make you feel lost. So is it true what they say: can you attain freedom through discipline?

I’ve noticed myself I like the discipline. It serves me well. The discipline of arriving on my mat every day, no matter how I feel and just take it from there. The discipline to listen and accept my feelings, emotions, knowing that even though the feelings are real, to not believe in them, and possibly not act from them. The discipline of reminding myself that the reasons that I have those feelings and emotions, are not real anymore. Those reasons are usually long gone. The discipline of reminding myself of that, every time again and again. That now things are ok. To just observe and say the mantra ” this too shall pass”

All these things seem to come easier to me when I’m back in my daily routine. It helps me to remind myself of all I can do, to remain aware of what is really happening. And not believe in how my mind/ego interprets what is happening.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

Hope you all too, will experience, the freedom that routine and discipline can give you.

Esther

Hi Everyone,

Here a sequence of sitting poses to do following this video of yoga standing poses or alternatively after warming up with some sun salutations. This way you can extend your practice time.

Sitting poses can be among the hardest for most people. Traditionally you do yoga to help you learn how to sit. Sitting properly, without effort, so you can be still and meditate. When you try to meditate in a sitting position and your back hurts, hips are stiff, etc, that is all that you can focus on, and its not beneficial.

Doing yoga, opening and loosening your body so that you can sit effortlessly makes a huge difference for your meditation practice. As well as from a physical perspective this little routine stretches the back of the body, opens your hips and works on your core strength. Also, if you repeat this for a week or so you will notice a difference, which is always nice for the motivation!

Keep practicing !!!

The poses I demonstrate in this sequence are:

Staff pose / Dandasana

Seated forward bend / Paschimottanasana

Reversed plank pose or inclined plane pose/ Purvottanasana

Boat pose / Navasana

Cobbler pose or butterfly pose/ baddha konasana

Seated wide angle pose / Upavishta konasana

Hi everyone,

Over the last few day I got some nice comments about the photography on this website. They were made last spring by our good friend Ruud Voerman. He is a very talented Dutch photographer and has a studio in Lelystad, 45 minutes from Amsterdam,the Netherlands.

It was my first professional photo-shoot and that was very exciting. Ruud’s professional approach and his great sense of humor made me feel  comfortable and relaxed.

Ruud picked up photography only a few years ago and his work turned out very successful  almost right from the start.

To view a smashing gallery of his work please have a look at http://www.ruudvoerman.nl/

Thanks again Ruud!

Esther

Hi Everyone,

What a day when I saw the numbers going up with thousands at a time….. There I was, still half asleep sipping my green tea, Opening the youtube page to see did anything change, and seeing myself, on the opening page, being featured!!!

I just want to say to all my viewers, from youtube or the website, THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!! for all your views, comments (positive or not so), ratings and subscriptions. I’m delighted about this, its all new to me and seeing the numbers go up that much is very exciting! Please keep supporting me, I’m very grateful!

I got a lot of questions and comments about why do the Headstand. The headstand in itself is just a trick. A trick that you can also learn to do when you are serious about your practice (leaving out those who are lucky enough that they can just do anything with their body’s.) Besides a trick its a real pose as well with lots of real benefits that you can read up about if you click on Sirsasana. This one is done in a different way.

Anyhow, Thanks again. I hope I helped all of you with my last video about getting back in shape after the holidays, I made that one mostly for myself, having done not much more than some sunbathing in France the last 2 weeks….. Ouch.., and now I have to get back in shape to teach all my students again in a weeks time! Wish me luck,

XX

Esther