Yoga for Inner Strength
Melissa begins with core activation, helping you understand and engage the pelvic floor, then teaches you how to incorporate it into a hatha yoga class. It's crucial for stabilizing, protecting and strengthening your lower back and ensuring that you are using your body in a safe, efficient and optimal way.
Comments
Once again, your class is exactly what I need.
You have been with me nearly daily for almost a year of practice. You have given me the gift of yoga. The kindness and clarity of your instruction serves me over and over again.
I used to hate my body. I used to believe my body wasn't here to support me - even that it was against me.
Every day on the mat, I get to heal from these crazy beliefs.
With deep gratitude,
Namaste,
Andrea
I really appreciate this practice. Melissa, your descriptions of these inner connections is so helpful and shows a true skill. I practice all the time (intermediate/advanced), and your words allowed me to connect many sensations together - that is, to truly understand better what is going on in these different postures and how to interpret the subtle signals inside my own body, how to engage my muscles and when to expect it to feel different or more challenging. When I used to think of engaging the pelvic floor, I would just clench, but now I feel I have a broader understanding of the larger system and how the muscles support each other. It was like you gave me a map and suddenly many things made sense. I will carry this practice with me into my future practices and I thank you for it.
I would love it if you made a class that did the same thing for shoulders and especially shoulder blade awareness and alignment in different postures. Chaturanga leaps to mind of course, but alignment and support from the shoulder blades in something like warrior two has many aspects that I have long ignored. I have been working with subtle alignments of the shoulder blades lately (with many of the great classes on this site - thanks to everyone involved!), and having your talent for description guiding me would be really helpful!
Just what my low back needed. Thank you so much. :)
I learn from every practice, but I feel the some of the best connections through Melissa Krieger's! She has a way of inspiring focus and deliberateness, and it is easier to carry her instructions into other practices. I came to yoga because of inflexibility and fearfulness of injuring my lower back; this practice further helps me strengthen those core muscles that keep my back safer. The added benefit of learning to come back to the breath is terrific, too. Many Thanks!