Bird of Paradise Tutorial
Video
Bird of Paradise Svarga Dvidasana
Ally HamiltonA wonderful standing balance pose that opens the hips, hamstrings, shoulders and chest, while strengthening the core and legs.
Ready to work it?
Here are some classes featuring Bird of Paradise.
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Work Hard & Relax Deeply
By Noelle Beaugureau on Aug 5, 2018
This practice is all about building heat and opening the hips! Flow through sun salutations and standing poses. Hip opening poses are integrated throughout the practice. Arm balances and inversions add an element of play! You'll come out of savasana feeling refreshed and relaxed. Enjoy!
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It Shouldn’t Hurt
By Ally Hamilton on Jul 18, 2018
If you get to a place where you cannot breathe, or you feel like you’re in a wrestling match with your body, you’ve gone too far! There’s a difference between intense sensation and pain—nothing in your practice should hurt! Maintain or develop a healthy relationship with your body—listen and respond with compassion and honesty, and you’ll have a great practice! Hips, hamstrings, shoulders and core strengthening, along with arm balances and inversions, backbends and more hip opening on the floor. Steady breath throughout it all, and a deep savasana at the end :)
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Work, Sweat, Laugh
By Ally Hamilton on Jun 4, 2018
If you want to have fun while you work your asana off, look no further! Join in for this sweaty, flowing, hip-opening, core strengthening, arm balancing, inverting good time. Savasana is earned and awesome and so are you.
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Rx for Your Monkey Mind
By Ally Hamilton on May 23, 2018
Dive into the hips, shoulders and hamstrings, ignite your core and your inner fire, play on your hands and stand on them, and take it to the floor to open your hips, heart and hamstrings a little more. Get so involved in what’s happening with your body that you forget the details of your life for a little while—the responsibilities, ideas, roles you play and things you need to get done—so you can connect with the energy underneath all of that, which is the source of your joy, authenticity, inspiration and intuition!
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Tools to Focus
By Ally Hamilton on Apr 16, 2018
Stay tuned into your breath, and find your focal points so you’re taking in less information from the world around you for a little while, and more from the one within you. That way you can figure out how to practice today, in a way that will strengthen and nurture you. It’s the same skill you use when you go to a busy restaurant with a friend, and want to focus on your friend, and not the chaos around you. It’s the same ability we need to choose one thought over another, and to decide what we’re going to focus on. Hone your focus as we open the hips, hamstrings and shoulders, play with arm balances and inversions, fire up the core, open the heart, and head into savasana feeling open!
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Stretch and Release
By Ally Hamilton on Apr 12, 2018
Get into every nook and cranny with a sweet start and head into a heat-building flow that targets the hips, shoulders and hamstrings. Take your pigeon for a ride and then fire up your core, open your heart, and turn your world upside down with straddle handstands. Chill it out with more hip opening and a delicious Savasana. A little talk about developing the strength to open to reality as it is, which is not always as we'd like it to be, and to come back with love.
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Winged Warrior
By Kate Cariati on Apr 8, 2018
Slow down and center yourself with guided breathwork, then begin to build heat gradually through spinal flexes, sphinx pose, and forearm plank variations. Surya C creates space in the hip flexors and encourages the spine into extension for more generous heart opening to come. The arms swirl, sweep, and wrap throughout the flow to find freedom through the shoulders, chest, and even give yourself a hands on assist. Maha moments include Fallen Angel, Scorpion variations, and big backbending to crack that heart wide open.
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I Give You Props!
By Ally Hamilton on Feb 17, 2018
Grab a couple of blocks and a blanket and let's have some fun! The shoulders, upper back, hips, psoas and hamstrings get the love as we shake things up and move all over the mat. Get ready for a rendition of blanket abs that takes it to the next level. Use the blocks to back off or go deeper as the case may be. Have fun!
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Bird of Paradise Energizer
By Nichol Chase on Jan 25, 2018
This no-nonsense sequence will very efficiently build to bird of paradise and twisted bird of paradise. Expect to feel strong, open and energized by the end!
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Expansion Flow
By Ally Hamilton on Jan 18, 2018
Don't play small. Whatever you're doing, whether you're showing up for yourself or for the people in your life, whether you're showing up for your dreams or your yoga practice, take up space! We target the hips, shoulders, hamstrings and core. This is a feel-good flow that asks you to stay centered, to practice non-reactivity, and to know yourself. If that sounds good, grab your mat and let's get to it!
