I have been practicing yoga for around 15 years. Thats 15 years of down dog, chaturunga, up dog, crow, handstand and every other arm balance in between. 15 years of not thinking twice, taking my healthy joints for granted. Actually that last sentence should read a lifetime because it really is. As a kid I grew up dancing and figure skating, throwing myself around cold ice rinks or dance halls. Every time I fell I got right back up and tried again. I have never even (touch wood) broken a bone! My practice has changed over the years, Im gentler now, less handstand and more savasana to be honest!

When I became pregnant with my Daughter, Calla, I knew I had to keep practicing, keep moving my body intuitively so I attended pre natal yoga classes and oh my, cat cow with a growing belly felt so good. We were encouraged to spend time at home in a table top position and for me it created an almost weightless feeling to my body, I loved it! Once Calla arrived and I felt up to it I rolled my mat out and went to my favourite positions cat and cow but I could not stand the pain in my wrists! I realised I could not bear any weight on them at all without being in agony! Many physio appointments and X-rays later I was told that it wasn't carpal tunnel nor was it arthritis (phew) It was likely my body reacting to the hormone relaxin from pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. I didn't know what to do, I tried to move my body intuitively but every time I rolled out my mat I was faced with a few hard to shake thoughts....this is going to be painful, you will never be able to do what you used to do, your not going to be able to teach anymore! Uuuughhhh enough!

I love a flow class, the limitless sequencing, similarities in shapes appearing from pose to pose linked with familiar and grounding anchors of down dog and up dog. I needed to move and stretch and it began with just that. I started using standing poses, seated poses and the wall to help me create shapes and openings in my body that are like what you would experience in a vinyasa.

When I returned to teaching yoga 3 months after giving birth I was petrified I would have to demo a chaturunga! A good test of teaching skills is using only words, no demo's and that was what I had to do! Before my classes I always roll out a mat and move, typically through the sequence I am about to teach. Thats my time to be creative and be in my body, this time became so precious even if it was just 5 minutes, I was alone, in a beautiful studio, intended for exploring physical capabilities of your body. I gave myself that time to explore and slowly what I saw as an adapted practice became just my practice.

For me, a physical yoga practice ebbs and flows with you throughout life, even day to day we feel different, even throughout an hours class when we need can change. Creating space for adaptations to merge into a general sequence is truly creating an inclusive practice. When I can accept that this is now my practice I am pleasantly surprised when I do challenge myself, down dog doesn't feel so bad anymore!

My Hands Free Flow workshop is about including our full selves into our practice, not taking a cookie cutter sequence and painfully charging through it. Its about seeing the full spectrum of practice from yamas to samadhi and knowing sometimes the biggest obstacle is the story we are telling ourself.

We will be exploring that story and its effects on us, shifting our mindset to one of possibility, creativity and compassion and learning that adaptations are a practice too before moving through a flowing hands free practice. Leave with a fresh perspective, some new ways of practicing or some new alternatives to a traditional vinyasa to offer your students.