Tucker's Help of Ojai Class

I assisted Tucker at Help of Ojai today. Her sequence was so cool and I am sharing from memory and might leave something out. She threaded the theme of heart opening and neck lengthening throughout the whole practice. And got a lot of balane and strength work in. (I was hesitant to "correct" anyone today and was most likely not much help.)

Opening
Supine.
Hands on Belly.
Awareness to Breath.

Windshield Wiper
Gentle Head Turning

Gentle Chin Tucking and Extending, allowing the head to stay heavy.

Transition to Forearms and Knees

She focused the group on dropping the heart between the arms and then lifting up out of the arms and rounding the back. Keeping the attention to the upper body and not using the lower body. It was kind of hard for some of the newer ladies to coordinate, particularly the ones with more dramatic kyphosis in the upper back.

Childs Pose

Repeat but involving the whole spine and belly in arching and rounding

Childs Pose

Passive Heart opener with Block behind heart and blankets under the head so that neck is long. Awareness to breath. Awareness to back and Front of heart.

Transition to side and then to standing.

Grab a Chair
Holding Chair, Legs Wide, move side to side to open up Sides of Hips and Inner Thighs.

Down Dog on Chair 2x
(Attention to knees and feet and hamstrings and tailbone)

Sit on Chair
Pelvis Tilting and Tucking with emphasis on keeping the heart lifted and long (Not Rounding the upper body -- this is from the learning around the osteoarthritis and passive rounding of the spine being dangerous)

Eye of the Needle in Chair
(Again with heart lifting awareness)
Both Sides

Practice getting up and down out of chair.
Ended up being "Chair Pose" as she had them hold the squat and lengthen the front heart for a few breaths in transition. 3 or 4 times.

Balance Play
Side Leg Lifting.
Standing with both feet pointing forward, Tucker instructed group to lift one leg straight up off floor. So cool how easy and strengthening this was for the outer hips.

Walking Balance
Tadasana

Transition back to Floor
Easy Spinal Twist

Savasana