Lydia | Yoga for Real Life

Mini practice for you all! Good for a morning wake-up, climbing warm up (running, skiing, hiking), or if you’re a teacher a perfect beginning or end to your class! Wanna see more of these? Comment if you do! L #yoga #practice #hips #climb #strong

I’d rather be influenced by… Restorative yoga with my 7 year old daughter Alpenglow at my window Guernica Art by hand with my son Yoga in community Soup People quietly making real changes Afternoon lovemaking Plants Old friends (Out of control laughter) Snow flakes on my tongue A slow dance Napping Trees Sisters Yo yo Ma’s tiny desk concert Breath The crunch of snow in the morning… Write some of the things you’d like to be influenced by in the captions! This is inspired by a poem from Patrick Ramsey called “I’d rather be influenced by” (poem in my stories) This morning in the solstice workshop we created our own poems or lists inspired by his poetry. Thanks to everyone who came ❤️ When my kids practice with me my heart basically explodes into fireworks. Happy solstice everyone!!

🙈 When play is at the forefront sometimes surprises happen in your 40s? I haven’t done this since before babies! My newsletter is UP! Once a month I have a newsletter day. It supports me to contemplate, write, share my favourite comfort food recipes and my running playlists! 🎵 I also offer a sample class and an overview of courses and offerings for the months ahead. I share how curiosity, passion, creativity, risk, surprise, unpredictability, and the right balance of challenge are properties I seek to know and share when I’m on my mat and awake in my life. Get in there! ♥️ Link in bio and all that jazz. @sonnietrotter thanks for inspiring me 😜

When I say it’s a do-it-yourself energy - no one else can really do it but you - I mean that’s also the hard part. I think we’re really meant to do this thing with others - @sonnietrotter grateful you’re my partner in this - and the more good adults and elders around the better! So grateful for my family and community. I wrote a newsletter that speaks about my favourite zen story that supports my parenting journey. Comment Read And I’ll send you the letter to read with your morning coffee! To all you parents who show up every day no matter what - You’re crushing it!! ❤️

Before improvisation… there is devotion to the practice. Join myself and @practicewithlydia for a 3-day in-person yoga intensive on the shores of Skaha Lake in the Okanagan. A nod to the old way of yoga: practice, repetition, discipline, and community. Together we’ll explore set sequences designed to become a container for your personal practice and improvisation: building strength, regulating the nervous system, and expanding your capacity to hold healthy activation in body and mind. Expect: • 16 hours of meditation, vinyasa practice & dharma talks • contemplations on yogic philosophy • nourishing meals from the heart at Frog City Cafe • lakeside Okanagan beauty • time to rest, connect, and deepen 📍 Kaleden, BC 🗓 September 28 – October 1 🏡 3 nights accommodation at Ponderosa Pines Resort 📖 Includes a copy of The Method manual A guru is one who illuminates the darkness. Let the practice be the guru. For details: [email protected]

That my kids would touch my soul with their kindness in ways no one ever has before. I sigh from a long day in the kitchen and my son says “you ok mom?” I ask him how was your day? He says “you first mom, how was yours?” I tell them both a friend has passed away and they instantly tear up with me and we group hug. I sit down after work and my daughter presses her little fingers into my shoulders and asks if I like the massage she’s giving me. I ask her what her favourite part of the day was and she says “right now mom, being with you.” She leaves me love notes all over the house and I have a hard time throwing them out. When someone makes fun of her height at school her brother instantly cracks a joke to make her smile and she forgets all about it. Of course we annoy the hell out of each other too but honestly the pure kindness that pours out of these two is the most incredible thing to be on the receiving end of. Happy late Mother’s Day and thank you to all the children for teaching us along the way. I’d love to send you a free anti-inflammation restorative class that can offer you a moment to lie down and take the invisible load off. Comment Mother And I’ll send it to you! ❤️ Fort the children by Gary Snyder: “The rising hills, the slopes, of statistics lie before us. the steep climb of everything, going up, up, as we all go down. In the next century or the one beyond that, they say, are valleys, pastures, we can meet there in peace if we make it. To climb these coming crests one word to you, to you and your children: stay together learn the flowers go light“ #mother #mothersday #love #family #yoga

Here’s why I add load to some of my practices. Beyond the obvious benefits that strength training offers us as we age - bone density, reduces muscle loss and improves metabolism - here are some other reasons why adding a load to your practice can soothe you if you’re a sensitive person who feels deeply. - reduces cortisol when done mindfully which combats overwhelm - provides a tangible outlet for sensory overload - literally anchors you ⚓️ - boots serotonin and acts as a mood stabilizer - quickly gets you out of overthinking and into your body - supports you to sleep better which is crucial for an overtaxed nervous system I wish more people knew how to supportive this is. 10 years ago I would have thought this is not yoga, but now I see it differently because the benefits are so profound for grounding me. They are similar to the benefits of a meditation for my MIND. This practice is up - and it’s the first of the hip longevity lab coming in May. Comment Anchor And I’ll send you the 10 day free trial link where you can practice this one ☝️ Here to support you in all life’s unexpected challenges ❤️ L

Social media often shows the shiny bits of home practice. But a lot of it is quieter and slower. Cluttered house, messy hair, socks, snack to the side, cup of tea, dirty floors, kids and pets, simple postures, deep breaths, tears, low to the ground and soft, and sometimes hardly any movement at all. Home practice is often like this, and it’s there to support you in all your iterations. It’s deeply adaptable and evolves alongside with you. So many people tell me they are not flexible enough to practice and I wish they saw more content that was inviting. Comment Quiet And I’ll send you a free practice that is simple yet profound - can hold you on your most inflexible or tired days - and hold space for feeling the things underneath the surface ❤️‍🩹

Happy hips! Save this one for later and get a little self care session in after work. This one is inspired by @carlingnicole (she’s amazing!) Getting into my hips is the antidote for my busy schedule and the big to-do list. I literally drop everything and can get so grounded. Moving the pelvis this way can unwind lower back tension, reduce lower back pain, and even soften strain in the upper body - the jaw in particular! Internal rotation of the hips is something many of us generally lose as we age, so it’s smart to stay ahead of it. What’s your favourite stretch out of all of these variations? Mine is the passive internal rotation with the strap! ❤️ #Yoga #mobility #aging #life #happy

More stick magic. Pulling the stick apart here widens your collarbones in this familiar stretch. When you widen your collarbones (a space cue I’m learning from @neupilates ) it acts as a “strut” to optimize shoulder mechanics - it prevents nerve impingement, creates more space for blood vessels (shoulder healing), reduces likelihood of pain, and improves posture. It’s a beautiful way to make this shoulder stretch more effective, safer, and all you need is a broomstick or mop stick. Note: I lift out of the stretch to widen the collarbones and gently pull the stick apart with my grip. Shown in video. Then I drop my chest to where it feels safe and supported. This doesn’t work as well if you drop into the stretch and then try to pull apart after you’ve collapsed. Go into the stretch slowly like you’re dropping into hot hot water 🥵 3 spots left in my in-person dowel workshop @flowstatebanff this Sunday Online live class this Friday with the stick! DM me for details or comment and I’ll send! Recording available ❤️

All you need is a stick! This is amazing! The stick (broomstick or mop handle works great) is my favourite yoga travel prop. I’m finding new and wonderful ways to use it, and this is one of them. Grabbing the stick and flipping the grip enhances the closed chain feeling in this stretch - which boosts joint health and stability. It also increases the stretch if you pull the stick apart (eccentric action) and gives you more control on where you want to feel it. I’ll be posting more stick content because I did a tonne of it on my last climbing road trip, and it was medicine for my happy and sore body. Share this with your athlete friends who constantly need to pull their shoulder blades back, or your people who like to/need to drive for long hours. I’m offering a workshop with the stick (you get to keep it!) at @flowstatebanff this weekend if you’re in the Banff/Canmore area. If you’re far from me, message me to attend my live online class with a stick this Friday April 17th!! ❤️❤️❤️

A very possible reason is that your shoulders and upper ribs are stuck in a rounded forwards position. Drive? Work on a device? Use a phone? Text? Wear a backpack? Climb? Shoulder impingement at the front of the joint from upper back rounding can compress or pinch the rotator cuff tendons. Some people, like me, have this more on one side due to scoliosis, single arm dominance or repetitive strain. Seek to find a balance by consistently opening the chest, moving the upper spine (especially the top ribs), strengthening the upper back, and mobilizing the scapula. A little bit of work every day - start with 10 minutes - will keep your neural pathways remembering how to move this way! Don’t get stuck. 🪵 👍🏼 Grab a stick (broomstick or mop will work), and try these movements. Think of the upper two ribs rotating upwards and the shoulder blades sliding downwards. Keep your abdomen slightly toned (pubic bone and front ribs magnetized towards each other) to control the lower back, and prevent it from doing all the work of the micro back bend. Boost the back bend into the collarbone and shoulder blade region. If you’re in the bow valley area, join me for an in-person workshop that will address all of this and create more breathing room and neck freedom April 19th @flowstatebanff