Developing Functional Strength – Anzac Weekend Workshop
with Tessa

Developing Functional Strength – Anzac Weekend Workshop

Friday 24–Sunday 26 April

Friday 5.30–7.30pm
Saturday & Sunday 9.30am–12.30pm
(leaving Monday free)

Cost: $198

This is an important workshop topic that Tessa has been wanting to teach for some time. With the workshop just two weeks away, it would be lovely to fill the group and have a full room working together on this theme. If you can make it, please do.

By working to develop stability, support and functional balance (alignment) from the base of the pose, we create dynamic, integrated structures (asanas). This builds functional strength and, as we work with repetition and practice over time, we improve coordination, posture, mobility, strength, balance and flexibility.

In our practice we work with energetic alignment and use our own body weight and repetition to develop integrated, functional strength. This is quite a different approach to many modern forms of strength building (for example, gym routines), which often focus on isolating particular muscle groups to improve muscle definition. Using weights to build muscles in isolation can lead to shortening, and shorter muscles tend to draw away from the bones. This can increase the risk of injury, as tight muscles are more prone to tearing. Additionally, when building strength, optimal alignment in relation to the whole body is often not given emphasis or fully understood. Alignment, in relation to developing strength and tone, is so important.

Long, strong muscles (what many might term flexibility), developed in an integrated way so the whole body is functionally balanced, are, in yoga terms, optimal. By developing an understanding of functional strength, we learn how to move the body efficiently, bringing a sense of ease, creating healthier movement patterns, reducing stress on joints, lowering the risk of injury and increasing overall mobility in our day-to-day lives.

In this workshop we will practise a broad range of asana groups (inversions, standing poses, simple arm balances, abdominals) and investigate how to develop functional strength.

This workshop is suitable for regularly attending students at Level 1, 2 and 3, and would also be ideal for our yogis who are also athletes. It is not suitable for new beginners. If you are unsure about suitability, or if you are not currently attending classes regularly but are interested in joining, please email Tessa to check. For those not yet practising the inversions, alternative asanas will be given.