There was a great turn out of students for our afternoon yoga class with our multitalented Campus & Academic Manager Lisa, who is also a qualified yoga teacher and enthusiast.
Lisa has been practising yoga (mostly daily) since arriving in Australia in 2006. She took advantage of school being quiet during covid to do yoga teacher training at In Touch Yoga.
Some of the yoga techniques Lisa covered with students included square breathing, cat-cow pose and dolphin pose.
Square breathing
Lisa used square breathing to get everyone’s minds and bodies relaxed in preparation for the physical practice.
How to do square breathing
- Slowly exhale all your air out
- Gently inhale through your nose to a count of 4
- Hold at the top of the breath for a count of 4
- Gently exhale through your mouth for a count of 4
- At the bottom of the breath, pause and hold for the count of 4
The benefits of square breathing
Square breathing has been found to help reduce stress and anxiety, with responsiveness and improves sleep quality.
Cat-cow pose
The cat-cow pose was used as a warm-up exercise.
How to do a cat-cow pose (or Chakravakasana)
- Put your hands and knees in table pose, with a neutral spine
- Inhale, lift your sit bones upward, press your chest forward and allow your belly to sink (cow pose)
- Lift your head, relax your shoulders away from your ears, and stare straight ahead
- Exhale, while rounding your spine outward and tucking in your tailbone (cat pose)
- Release your head toward the floor
The benefits of the cat-cow pose
The cat-cow pose improves posture, balance and is ideal for those with back pain.
Dolphin pose
This was the peak posture – typically the most challenging yoga posture or postures in a sequence.
The posture sequence
Posture 1 – Press Down to Lift Up
Posture 2 – Engage Your Core
Posture 3 – Find Balance to Get Up
The benefits of the dolphin pose
It strengthens the arms and shoulders and opens the shoulders and upper back.
There are lots of great yoga schools in Byron, Lisa’s favourite is Creature Yoga.
As always students loved the yoga class, and it will be back in November by popular demand.
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