Graceful exits today 💁‍♂️✌️ There’s a point in the journey of learning “hopping back” where you’re somewhere in the “Let me just shoot my legs back FASTER” While there’s nothing wrong with that stage, it feels like a little win when we’re there, let’s break down the next progression into “floating” into 3 key components. 1️⃣ strength - it’s all for naught if the foundation crumbles, in this case the foundation is the strength in the chest, shoulders and arms. Holding the “hard part” is almost always a good way to progress fast. 2️⃣ stability - being able to hold the shoulders stable while the legs are stepping forward and back is a good way to feel the co-activations that lend to stability in the upper body. 3️⃣ coordination - most times you actually HAVE strength and stability and flexibility…all the components, but it’s just a matter of repeating the action enough to learn the coordination. It’s like rubbing your belly and tapping your head at the same time. So if that may be your case, viola! Here’s a good coordination drill. Don’t forget to have fun 💕🐒 Loving the new green from @aloyoga btw

A self reminder to move playfully has been 👌 10/10 would recommend 💁‍♂️ whatever that looks like… Even if it’s gardening… …which I did right before, hence the spine extensions & hip work 👵🏻🐒👨‍🌾

If I took quite a few months away from a physically intense practice, this is how I would prep to come back to while minimizing risk of injury 😊🤸‍♂️🥳 Rotations both internally and externally. end-range active, then isometric stretches. then slow, flowy, big range movements to retrain fascia for fluid coordinated demands. If that was a bunch of nonsense, here’s a little bit of all of it in a little morning warm up before some Sunday morning gardening… Developed a green thumb while I took time away from work, who woulda known 🤷‍♂️ yogis and plants 😂💁‍♂️🐒 Have a fun Sunday and 💕💕 for the love on the previous post 😊

First, I’m really thankful for those of you that reached out and checked to see if I’ve been ok (since I disappeared for over 6 months). Some of you even reached out to my friends to check in, so I’m incredibly grateful for the supportive community here. But second, if you got 3 minutes to spare to read, forget the flow for now and read through. To be candid, when this social media yoga business started, it happened fast...really fast. And it’s been an amazing ride! To keep this post short, the advice that I got from people who have built extraordinary things especially similar to what I’m building, was ride it and push as much as I could bear…because one day I’ll need to take a break. Many would see that as terrible, or unhealthy advice, and whether it is or not 🤷‍♂️ but I will be honest in saying I’d do everything the same if I could go back. And that includes all the MANY, MANY mistakes and burned bridges and breakdowns included. I say that because things that I don’t publicly talk about too much like depression, traumas, severe social anxiety, have always been the things that has made this journey way harder than it should be and I don’t think I would have come to a place where I can actually address it if this path went differently. It seemed like whatever skill I lacked and went to learn, optimizations, slowing down, speeding up, things still felt way harder than it should be. And to be clear, I don’t mind hard. Pushing through hard is how I was bred. But after this last teaching tour, I was listening to a podcast and something really stuck with me. The size of the foundation needed depends on the size of the building you’re trying to build. And this applies in all areas of life. The level of “work on self” has gotten me far but for some things like, healthy relationships (intimate, work, family, friends), scaling business, feeling balanced instead of just working, there always seemed to be a ceiling I couldn’t break past. So I decided when I got home, I would sit and take a hard look at my foundation, which also meant taking out the part of my life that I’ve identified myself with the most temporarily, which was work. Continued in comments. 👇

A drill for you to try 😊 (first video) as well as some moments that remind me to take pause in the moment and to allow joy. In the first video this is a very functional drill (3 levels of difficulty) that hit a couple elements that tend to be more challenging in the practice: deep hip flexion (especially in transition) and upper body strength. Jumping back from chaturanga whether it’s from seated or a crow position, this drill covers quite a bit of ground with respect to the coordination needed. And while some places make it easy to enjoy life hopefully this is a reminder that you can find presence in just looking up at the sky, or you can remember that the yoga serves a bigger physical purpose of allowing you to move freely and confidently whether it’s swinging sticks in Kali martial arts or doing a happy dance drinking out of a coconut. 🥰 Thanks for deepening my love for thailand and play @banyantreeveya 💕😊 Kuala Lumpur I’m ready for you! If you’re not really interested in deepening your knowledge of the asanas come to the first weekend of workshops (Feb 25-26) or if you want a deep dive into a functional perspective to the practice (March 3-5) both at @theflowstudio #yogapractice #yoga #yogadrills #banyantree #phuket

Before teaching a weekend of workshops and another weekend of a 20hr functional asana training in Kuala Lumpur at @theflowstudio I’m taking some time in one of my favorite places to recharge, Thailand🥰 especially for us yoga teachers, it’s easy to get caught up in the teaching aspect that we forget to not just nurture our own practice but find the playful curiosity to expand on why we practice as much as how we practice. So here’s a lil playful mobility challenge, if you’d like some drills on exactly how to work towards this lmk in the comments! 🥰 Playfully exploring in @banyantreeveya new beautiful studio

Try this one modification. You’ve probably done this from a table top in cat cow but have you tried it in chaturangas (on your knees for an easier variation)? Many arm balances and inversion balance comes from the fingers and the flexors in the forearms (flexors are the muscles that help you lift the heel of the palm as in the video). So give this modification a try every time you do a chaturanga. Shift the focus from whether or not your spine is straight into your foundation, your hands and forearms 💪💪💪🫡 give it a go. A quick stop in london before heading to Singapore. 🥳🥳🥳 #bodysmartyoga #wriststrength #yoga #yogapractice

Took the holidays to dive back into self practice in different ways than I’m used to, exploring the meditative and spiritual side of my practice over the last month. But I’m excited to start the next tour and this time back in Asia! 🥳🥳🥳 This is going to be a short tour year for me. So if you go to the last slide, here’s where I’ll be this year (so far). And also, here is a bit of 🤓🤓 drills on binding. #bodysmartyoga #yoga #yogateacher #yogapractice #yogadrills

A more efficient way to target some of the elements needed for arm balances like epk2. Coming back home has been so recharging but has also been helpful in clarity on things. A good reminder has been just because you can do it all doesn’t mean you should. So with that said, Im teaching at a couple @yogagames Stockholm and malmo “hiro” for 15% off and then @glowfestivalsg in Singapore. I am teaching weekend workshops in Kuala Lumpur and a 20hr training at @theflowstudio but I’ve decided to slow down the tours so I can focus on nurturing the online community. So if you want to join me in person come join one of these 😊 #bodysmartyoga #yoga #yogadrills #yogapractice #yogainspiration

Which one do you think fits best??? Galactic iron man? SuperHiro 😂? Kahl Drogo vibes? This is all for fun from an app that takes 20 photos of you and AI generates photos of you. But it’s what we do with each other and ourselves for that matter. Is the person that you’re showing up as in the world a reflection of your essence? Is the narrative of yourself holding you smaller than you are? This life is a gift of possibilities, I hope you remember that and maybe take a second and take a second to consider how you’re painting yourself based on what you say about yourself. And if it’s anything less than a shining freaking beam of light, maybe it’s time to shift something 💕 #selfreflection #selfworth #yogaoffthemat #yogapractice #bodysmartyoga

A few key notes not mentioned in the video: 1. Keep the middle of the knee in line with the 3rd-4th toe when doing this. Also, how far the knee goes doesn’t matter as much as how much you isometrically push down with the foot. 2. Isometric push of the top of the foot matters more than how high the block is, or how far back you lean. 3. How much you isometrically push down with the front leg matters more than how deeply you lean forward, especially if you end up compensating by flexing (rounding) the spine. 4. Send this to a friend who’s struggling with keeping the heels down in malasana/skandasana, if they actually do the drills, they’ll owe you a delicious ☕️ for their awesome new ankle mobility 😂😏💁‍♂️🫡 #bodysmartyoga #yoga #yogapractice #yogadrills #yogainspiration

Last few hrs left to use BFCM40 we’re closing the YTTs after tomorrow. We’re not doing the 40 percent discount anymore even in person. #yoga #yogapractice #yogainspiration #bodysmartyoga #yogadrills