Introduction
Breathing For Power
The power of conscious breath will dramatically improve all functions of your body.
Conscious breath recruits the correct muscles synchronistically in a sustainable way that will enhance your progression in the Yogabellz program.
The purpose of engagement of Bandhas in Hatha Yoga is to use the union of Pranayama(breath work) and Asana(Yoga poses and structural alignment) to move and utilize Energy during Meditation and Krias(cleansing techniques) to improve your life!
Initially in Yogabellz we will be using the Physical action of lifting and toning your visceral body(literally your guts!) against gravity to engage your Pelvic floor and Core. In future courses we will explore the energetic component to deepen our practice.
The first two Bandhas are Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha
Mula Bandha is the conscious engagement of the pelvic floor from the inner and outer hip area and your connection to the floor.
Uddiyana Bandha is the conscious engagement of the visceral body by "flying up" the isabdomen engaged while spinal extension is performed, but the navel is pulled back to the spine and slight up and under the ribs.
The Yogabellz Foundations Course will ask you to explore this concept both in the Kettlebell exercises and Yoga poses.
Then to use this concept to discover the symbiotic nature of the two modalities from the inside outward!
Jalandhara Bandha is chin lock, we will use this concept sparingly, and usually when the kettlebell is above our head, or in a few yoga poses such as Triangle pose when you are locking in your gaze toward the ceiling.
Breathing Exercises to optimize your connection of breath and body
Inhale is 3 quick sniffs with through the nose
1 long exhale through the mouth(like blowing a balloon)
We will explore this breath work from 3 different positions:
1. Seated
2 On your back
3. Standing - Mountain Pose moving into Ukatasana
- Standing feet slightly wider than hip width, fingers and palms spread, arms engaged, 3 quick sniffs through the nostrils.
- Turn the palms to face the wall behind you at the top of the inhale
- Pause
- Exhale through the mouth while lifting the heels to a hover
- Simultaneously hinge at the hips, pressing the palms back and up
- Lower the heels with full engagement of spinal extension, upper arm connection, and hollow belly.
- You are in a Hip hinge-Ukatasana stance
Important points
- Inhale with elongate the spine
- Exhale will engage the core(Bandhas)
- Breath will naturally move to inhaling and exhaling through the nose
- Using the arms in conjunction with the breath will start to “button down your shoulder blades) important for Kettlebell exercises.
- Chair Pose teaches the Kettlebell concept of Hip Hinge
- Learning and becoming comfortable with this breath work will protect your back, neck, and shoulders during Kettlebell drills
- Bonus benefits of this specific breath work, strengthening stabilizing core muscles and pelvic floor muscles
Mountain pose and introducing the Still Point
Mountain pose is simply standing, right?
Hardly, we can teach an entire yoga class on the complexities of mountain pose. For our purposes, let’s simply decide that, if we are going to bring a heavy metal object above our heads, perhaps it is a great idea to develop a stable and sturdy foundation.
Starting at the ground level;
- Placement of feet
- Where are the limbs in relationship to the torso and head?
- Are shoulders directly above the head?
- Is the head directly above the tailbone?
- Natural curves of the spine
- What is a plumb line and why should I care?
After establishing an aligned, strong, and stable base, we will introduce Kettlebell Circles.
Circles - Move the weight of the kettlebell from hand to hand as you bring the kettlebell in a circular trajectory around the core…and then switch the trajectory.
Important points of the kettlebell Circle;
- Firm the legs and glutes as you start the motion
- Try to keep the hips stationary
- Avoid gripping the handle of the Kettlebell
- Feel the tailbone length towards the floor as the Kettlebell Circle gathers momentum around the body
- Engage your core as you switch the trajectory of the Kettlebell the opposite direction
- Keep the chest lifted and open during the exercise
- Arms are simply an extension of the spinal extension and core, legs and glutes
Finding “Still point” in Mountain Pose
Cultivating a “still point” there will be many times we will work to bring the body and kettlebell to a still point. There is a power to the "still point" moment:
- A place of curiosity.
- A place of origin.
- A place of reflection.
- It is a place of POWER!
This will help to understand where the power is originating?
are your Bandhas engaged?
where is your body in space?
works with calming the mind?
Adding intensity to the Kettlebell exercises.
The first place we explore the Still Point is the top of the Dead Lift.
The second place is at the bottom of the Pop-up.
The third place is at the top of the long swing.
Our exploration of Yoga and Breathwork leads our mind innately with the concept of moving inward to what I like to refer as "Your inner landscape".
Yogabellz will give you the opportunity develop your inner landscape as well as the muscles, tendons, core and limbs of your body. This is the opportunity to understand and feel the TRUE power of Yogabellz.
Getting Comfortable With The Kettlebell
The Kettlebell Deadlift, Kettlebell Pop-up, and Kettlebell Row are the foundational exercises yogabellz uses to teach you to become comfortable with the “Bell”.
The Kettlebell consists of the handle and the belly, the belly is the cannon ball shaped bottom.
Because of the complexities and versatility of Kettlebell training, we want to become comfortable right away with moving from the bottom of the Kettlebell to the handle, and moving the Kettlebell from hand to hand..
I have found that introducing these specific exercises right away in our program allows for an understanding of how to effectively and efficiently rotate the Kettlebell in different positions and to not over grip the Kettlebell.
Let’s start with how the Kettlebell FEELS in it’s original position by using the basic Deadlift.
Deadlift - The Deadlift starts with the Hip Hinge. The hip hinge transfers the attention to spinal extension, THEN bend into the knees and ankles lowering the body to be able to reach the handle of the Kettlebell.
Lifting the body up to full extension allow the weight of the Kettlebell guide you internally, to zip the rib cage, press the navel to the spine, and keep an open and expansive feeling in the collarbones and upper chest.
Once at a full standing position, find your Still Point. You can refer back to Mountain Pose and structural alignment section for the importance of the bones in optimal alignment, which allows the correct synchronization and recruitment of muscles being used, which then allows you use Breath/Bandha work to support your Kettlebell exercises!
- Start in Mountain Pose
- Kettlebell centered directly between both feet
- Palms are facing forward, rotate thumbs away and back from your centerline
- Feel the expansive openness of the collarbones and upper chest, zip the lower rib cage together and down towards the hips
- Turn the thumbs inward almost touching each other, place them at the hip crease, upper thigh region
- Move into hip hinge/Ukatasana position, feel the extension of the spine, allow the navel to press to the back body and feel the hollowing out of the lower abdomen.
- Side the hands down the legs to the knees, then start to bend the knees and ankles as needed to grab the handle of the Kettlebell
- Start to press from the floor through the feet, legs, and glutes to feel the weight of the Kettlebell throughout the motion
- The body returns to Mountain Pose, holding the weight of the Kettlebell to a Still Point
- Do a quick body scan
- Allow your self to focus on tailbone softening towards the ground, feel the hollowing of the belly, where is your head in relationship to your tailbone, are collarbones open and expansive?
- What muscles are overly engaged? What can you let go of? What happens when you do
- Find a Still point in your plumb line, then lower the Kettlebell in the same trajectory that you lifted it. Place special attention to lower the Kettlebell back down with the first action hinging solely at the hips, keeping spinal extension until the Kettlebell releases the floor.
- Leave the Kettlebell on the ground, stand up in Mountain Pose
- Repeat again, and again, and again until body, mind alignment are second nature!
Pop-ups - becoming comfortable with the “BELL” and then moving quickly back to the handle.
We will approach Pop-ups with the concept of explosiveness from the floor, along with Spinal extension and bandha engagement on the deceleration during the squat. Understanding body proprioception is the FOUNDATION by which we move into ALL of our Kettlebell exercises.
As we spend time and effort to allow Pop-ups to become second nature, you will naturally flow into the 2 basic exercises The kettlebell Swing and The Kettlebell Clean.
It is learning the concept of explosive power originating from the floor and transferring to consciously exploring the muscular engagement of the deceleration of weight of the kettlebell is time well spent.
Because preparation is everything!
Pop-ups will teach you to take your Mountain pose and deadlift and add on explosive power to perform the Kettlebell pop-up!
- Start in Mountain Pose
- Follow ALL of the directions learned in the Kettlebell Deadlift to come down and grab the handle of the Kettlebell
- Change your hand position to press both heels of the hands down into the handle of the Kettlebell Isometrically
- focus on the shoulder blades, Sitbones, Shin bones, and feet
- Explode out of the feet into your Mountain Pose, popping the Kettlebell to a hover position slip the hands under the bottom of the kettlebell, anchor into the strength of the alignment of the body
- Slide the hands from the bottom of the kettlebell to the handle
- Internally zip the rib cage together, press the navel back to the spine and slightly upwards underneath the rib cage-Uddiyana Bandha!
- Find your Sill Point in mountain Pose
- Return the kettlebell to the ground in the same trajectory which you started from. Place special attention to lowering the Kettlebell back down with the first action hinging solely at the hips, keeping spinal extension until the Kettlebell releases the floor.
Kettlebell Row
There will be a verbal cue that you will hear over and over again in Kettlebell training.
Pack your shoulder blades down, open the chest and button down the shoulder blades
The Kettlebell Row will help you understand what muscles are used, how they are synchronized and recruited in a safe and efficient way.
We live in a culture that requires us to sit way too much, and pretty much everything we do from driving, reading, working on a computer, use our smart phone brings our arms and head into a forward position!
Simply being told to throw our shoulders back and lift our head is less than helpful. Our body is a system and must be approached to change from the unit, not the single part.
The kettlebell row will introduce the opportunity to use asymmetrical upper body exercise to engage the front of the body to the backside of the body, while using your Bandhas(core). This will transfer to every Kettlebell exercise that you will learn in this course.
Kneeling Kettlebell row
- Right leg forward kneeling position, bend the upper body 45 degrees from the crease of the hips.
- Using the left hand move the Kettlebell forward at arms length, set the Kettlebell on it's side handle moves towards you. Slide your pointer finger to touch where the belly of the Kettlebell and the handle meet.
- Place the heel of your right hand on the sacral bone in the back of your body and press down and forward. This will square the shoulders and engage the core , lengthen the spine and bring your attention to your power center.
- Origin of motion start at the base right foot and left knee. Using the right hand on your back, press into the pelvic bone, floor, and bend at the elbow. Initial bend will engage your Bicep, tricep, and Lat muscle.
- The trajectory of the motion is 45 degrees to your lowest rib.
- Pause
- Keeping the body stationary, pull the elbow past the side-body while imagining the body moving forward against this motion. Hollow out the belly, lengthen the spine. Notice that the action feels like there is movement forward and backward with the torso, but this is simply isometric power. Tension created inside the body, it is a very powerful technique we will introduce and foster in the Yogabellz program.
- Pause and hold for a second then release the isometric pressure and set the kettlebell forward into it's original position.
- Repeat the motion, focus attention on setting your base each time, following the direct 45 degree angle to the side body, then using the front and back body against each other(isometric) with a slightly ballistic action on second pull of the elbow past the body. hug the elbow to the side ribs and synchronize the pull of the navel to the side with the exhale of the breath and elbow motion.
- Switch legs and repeat with left leg forward, Kettlebell in right hand and left hand on the sacral bone in the center of the lower back pelvic region.
