Connecting the communities of Herne Hill, SE24

Join the Dorchester Court Community in their New Years ‘Beat the January Blues’ raffle – great prizes and you get to support your fellow local residents

Introduction to Backbends – Overcoming fear and finding balance. There is a link to book this workshop here. Nina will lead this workshop to introduce and develop backbends. Not suitable for absolute beginners; you should have a reasonable level of fitness and regular asana practice. Our body’s natural response to danger is to curl in, protecting our most vulnerable part – our heart, both the physical heart and the energetic heart space (anahata). Backbends do the very opposite action opening us up to the world. We are exposing ourselves and that takes courage – but also builds more of it! Overcoming our fears on the mat can give us courage off the mat too. Anahata is the center of compassion, and a positive balance in the heart chakra cultivates sensitivity and unconditional love for self and others. Our spines are an incredible combination of strength and flexibility – of Sthira and Sukha. Practicing backbends can open up the front body, increase your hip flexibility, and improve the mobility of your lumbar and thoracic spine. Backbends are invigorating and strengthening. They stretch the quads and hip flexors and help open up the shoulders and chest, an area where lots of us hold…

Not suitable for absolute beginners; you should have a reasonable level of fitness and regular asana practice. There is a link to book here. Nina will lead this fun workshop to introduce and develop basic skills to explore accessing arm balances and make your way upside down safely. Inversions help focus the mind, develop strength and build confidence – providing a space to calm the nervous system and reconnect with a sense of play and joy. Arm balances require the same focus and development of strength, body awareness and form the foundations to access inversions. If you are looking to extend your practice and start incorporating some of the more challenging asana, this is for you. Whether you are just beginning to attempt them, or wish to deepen your current practice, you will be shown the principles and foundations to help you from the ground up. Be prepared to sweat and practice some intermediate to advanced preparatory sequences and drills. We will use props and assists to help support everyone’s different levels of strength, mobility and experience in a playful way. Covering four main postures: Bakasana/Parsva Bakasana – Crow/Side Crow Titibhasana – Firefly SIrsasana – Headstand (supported or tripod) Pincha…