Emma's Yoga

✈️ On vacation for a week! If you’d like to get a dose of yoga in, you can find my YouTube channel from the link in my bio!

Also here’s a little post/appreciation for my little yoga buddy/YouTube video co-star. You can often find little Tiggsy here running through my yoga videos at lightening speed or coming up for a quick cuddle!

The rain may be here now, but I know that all of this grey will soon bring in the bright sunny green days, just like the one I enjoyed here. I look forward to this same type of day with gentle yoga, followed by some meditation, and good book all while being on my favorite yoga mat.




☀️ ☀️ 🇨🇭 #🇨🇭 #🌱

Today we’re working on the 1/2 Monkey Splits! 🐒 One of my favourite hamstring and calf stretches. I’ve also released a second video this week! It’s a slow mandala flow (mandala, meaning circle in Sanskrit) where we rotate circles around the mat during the sequence. ☮️ Link in my bio!
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Sanskrit Name: Ardha Hanumanasana⠀
English Name: ½ Monkey Splits, Half Splits⠀
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Benefits⠀
* Stretches the hamstrings. 
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* Stretches the calves
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* Helps work towards the front splits
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Alignment of the Pose ⠀
* Start in Low Lunge
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* Send the hips back while extending the front leg
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* Aim to create right angle with your bent knee
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* Keep hips square and over the back knee
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* Flex the front foot and gently add the tension of pulling the heel towards you (but don’t actually move the heel)
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Tips & Common Misalignment ⠀
* As with all hamstring stretches - avoid rounding of the  lower back
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* Use blocks under the hands if maintaining a lengthened back and holding your balance is difficult in this pose (it helps to rise up and add more comfortable distance between you and the front leg)
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* Bend the front leg if the hamstring stretch is too much to fully straighten or you have no blocks to use for the stretch 
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* Keep a microbend in the knee
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#🇨🇭switzerland

Back with another pose guide! Today I have the wide-legged forward fold for you! 💪
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Sanskrit Name: Prasarita Padottanasana⠀
English Name: Wide-Legged Forward Bend, Wide Leg Forward Fold⠀
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Benefits⠀
* Stretches the inner hamstrings (adductors or medial hamstrings)
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* Stretches the lateral hamstrings 
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* Helps work towards the middle splits 
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* Overtime as you deepen into the pose, it can act as a release for the back⠀
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* This pose is a gentle inversion
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Alignment of the Pose ⠀
* Bring feet wide, check that they are lined up with one another
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* Hinge forward at the hips while maintaining a lengthened lower back
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* Knees can be slightly bent
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* Draw shoulder blades onto the back 
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* Release head down⠀
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* Many variations are possible for the hands, including: resting them on the ankles, on the ground, or hooking the index and middle fingers around the big toes 
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Tips & Common Misalignment ⠀
* Just like in a normal forward fold, trying to go too deep into the pose too early, results in a rounded lower back. To fix this, first rise out of the fold - up to around 90 degrees of hip flexion, then find the place where you feel the stretch but maintain a neutral spine. Deepen from there and slightly bend knees if needed.
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* If the pose is still too intense place your hands on blocks (fantastic for beginners) 
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* Shorten the stance to increase intensity
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* Widen the stance to reduce intensity
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* Option to pigeon the toes in slightly for a better foundation 

🇨🇭 #🇨🇭

Peaks and Valleys ⛰⠀
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We all have our ups and downs but, with the pandemic and lockdown still looming, everything can feel heavier than normal. ⠀
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If you are in need of a chance to release some of that built up stress or tension and have always wanted to give yoga a shot, I'm hosting a FREE Zoom class this Sunday from 10:00-10:45! Take some time out of your day to relax with me, so that you can feel a bit lighter!⠀
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The class will be a slow, flexibility-focused, beginner-friendly sequence that will also keep focus on posture. Grab a cup of tea, some comfy clothes and your mat (we**am optional)! DM me and I'll send you the link to join on Sunday. I look forward to seeing you all then! ⠀
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⠀📸:
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🇨🇭 #🇨🇭 #💻

Hey everyone! I’m back after a small break from Instagram after the 14 day challenge! Today I have another pose guide, but I’ll be mixing my content up and adding more video flows/tutorials. Let’s jump into today’s pose!⠀💪
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How to do Pyramid Pose & it‘s Variations
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Sanskrit Name: Parsvottanasana⠀
English Name: Pyramid Pose⠀
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Benefits⠀
- Deep stretch for the front hamstring and calf⠀
- Slight hip opener if the back heel rests on the mat⠀
- Builds leg and calf strength⠀
- Helps gently build balance if you choose to lift the back heel⠀
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Alignment of the Pose ⠀
- Come into a runner's lunge and pivot the back foot into warrior stance⠀
- Rise up to Warrior I and straighten the front leg ⠀
- Keep the back foot at a 45° angle with the heel on the mat, for a hip opener⠀
- Try to square the hips towards the top of the mat⠀
- Keep the lower back lengthened as you try and fold over the front straightened leg, eventually placing the hands on the mat⠀
- Alternatively, come into high lunge first (heel lifted off the mat) and then extend the front leg⠀
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Tips & Common Misalignment ⠀
- If your back is rounded, try to lengthen it and slightly ease out of the pose if you need to
- Make sure you keep a microbend in the front leg’s knee

⚔️Next up Warrior III⚔️
This pose can be challenging for beginners but, it’s a fun pose to practice and it helps build balance for more difficult one legged poses.
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Sanskrit Name: Virabhadrasana III
English Name: Warrior III, Warrior 3
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Benefits⠀
- Improves balance
- Improves posture
- Strengthened the legs, ankles, core, and arms
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Alignment of the Pose
- Try and ground through all corners of the foot you’re standing on
- Keep hips squared and facing the floor
- Micro-bend the knee/leg you’re standing on
- Draw stomach in an up, ribs tucked in
- Keep the body in one line from the toes to the fingertips (in the arms extended variation)
- Gaze downwards
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Tips & Common Misalignment
- Bend the knee on the grounded leg if straightening is difficult
- If you’re struggling to hold balance practice with a chair or the wall in front of you to work on balance
- Find and focus on a point on the ground to hold balance
- Arms can be in a few different variations

Three poses in one post today! The first two poses are an alternative for the full Chaturanga Dandasana and to help build strength for it.

First Pose: Knees Chest Chin
Alignment
- Hands next to the chest
- Hips raised
- Knees, toes, chest and chin all have contact on the mat
- This pose creates a slight backbend

Second Pose: Chaturanga Dandasana
Alignment
- Same as the full chaturanga just with the knees down on the mat, taking some of the pressure from the upper body

Chaturanga Dandasana: A fantastic transition pose to prepare for inversions and arm balances and build upper body strength and stability.
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Sanskrit Name: Chaturanga Dandasana
English Name: Four-Limbed Staff Pose
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Benefits⠀
- Improves upper body strength
- Builds core stability
- Good pose to prepare for arm balances and inversions
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Alignment of the Pose
- Create a straight line with your body
- Create a right angle (or shoulders slightly higher) with you bicep and forearm 📐
- Drawn the shoulder blades down the back
- After drawing them down protract the shoulder blades
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Tips & Common Misalignments
- Letting the shoulders drift forward and down too much from a 90 degree angle can put too much pressure on the bones (shoulders should be forward or up)
- Raising or lowering the glutes too much (try to keep them aligned with the body)
- Take a modification if the chaturanga hold feels too much for you! Build the upper body strength with shorter holds or knees down on the mat
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Up next we have the halfway lift! Another pose found in the sun salutations and a fantastic transitioning and lengthening position.
Sanskrit Name: Ardha Uttanasana⠀
English Name: Half Forward Fold, Halfway Lift⠀
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Benefits⠀
- Lengthens the back⠀
- Stretches the hamstrings⠀
- Great for experimenting with what a lengthened spine feels like for other back lengthening poses (downdog, forward fold) ⠀
- Improves posture⠀
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Alignment of the Pose⠀
- Length in the back ⠀
- Slight bend in the knees to allow a fully lengthened back (the full expression of the pose is done with extended legs but this requires lengthening the hamstrings) ⠀
- Neck stays aligned with the rest of the spine⠀
- Hands either on the thighs or on the mat below ⠀
- Feet hip width distance apart
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Tips & Common Misalignment ⠀
- Lower back rounds, try and lengthen the back (just like in a forward fold bend the knees if the back is rounding)⠀
- Neck not aligned with the spine and hanging or raising too much (it’s good to use a mirror to see if your neck is maintaining it’s neutral shape with the rest of the spine)