This Weekend I’ve Been An Orangutan A Crocodile And A Fish

Before you all start to think that I’ve been sniffing glue or indulging on the Vicks vapour rub let me put your minds at ease.  I was in fact at a yoga day on Sunday at Alexandra Palace.  The day was brilliant and to any one who has even the faintest interest in movement, health and happiness I would strongly urge you to go.  One of the main reasons I went was to partake in a world of different yoga classes that I may never try… ok and they were free (well I am a Northerner!)

One of my favourites was “finding your inner animal”.  To be honest if it wasn’t for one of my greatest chums Dawn dragged me to this class I may never have attended such a  great experience.  One of the key take home messages from this class was to remember that we need to move in more than just a couple of key planes (i.e. forwards back wards, side to side).  Even some of the greatest classic yoga classes fail to take you through transitional movements for want of a better phrase, the ability to glide, wiggle and slink your way from one position to the next.

We started the session lying on our tummies, chests just off the floor performing the classic “fish“ interpretation of movement. Picture 70 adults lying on mats attempting to be fish, if trying out the movement itself doesn’t suit you that visual will forever keep you smiling on a Tuesday at work! If we break down the “fish” what we are looking is dissociating the pelvis form the thoracic region (or mid back) in a smooth wriggling fashion.  Not too dissimilar a movement pattern from those who can belly dance – yep folks I tried that too! Next came the orangutan, break that down we have walking around in a deep squat therefore mobilising the ankle, knee and hip joints with our arms above head thereby introducing mid back stability and range of movement.  My favourite was angry gorilla into crocodile. Starting in the deep squat position, hands go forward on the ground as you spring forwards into the plank position where you slowly sink down in to a ¾ press up position and complete 3 x jumping press ups to finish the movement by jumping back to a deep squat!

No word of a lie I was fairly knackered after about 30mins.  From this the take homes are simple.

1. Have a look at how you move through out the day, sluggish? Tired? Springy? With ease?
2. Ask yourself what movements are you missing out on day to day ?
3. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! Movement and exercise can be found in the most unexpected fun ways.  So go for it.. find your inner chimp ( this actually involved cartwheeling!)

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