Hot Power Yoga

 (Urdhva Dhanurasana)  

Wheel Pose

After having a delicious 3 egg omelette at the hotel restaurant for breakfast, I searched my yoga show manual to plan my day ahead. I was in need of an energizing vinyasa style class so I began to hunt one down. I stumbled across Hot Power Yoga with Dylan Ayaloo.

He describes his class as; “Brief but powerful vinyasa flow style suitable for all levels. You will be encouraged to tune into your body to discover what is right for you rather than seeking the perfect posture.”

He had me at “powerful vinyasa flow!” This is exactly what my body needed at that moment in time and as I read on, I felt recognition in the rest of his description. I always encourage students to tune into their mind and body and advise them to ease into postures and do what feels right for them.

What feels right for one student may not feel right to another student. Yoga is non-competitive and you should work within your comfortable limits rather than striving for a posture your body may not be able to achieve.

Instinct and intuition assured me this was the class for me to start my final day at the yoga show.

We began with a short meditation then quickly moved through a vinyasa flow that gradually got faster. My heart rate was elevated within the first few minutes and energy was soaring through my body. 

In between each vinyasa flow, Dylan instructed us to add arm balances such as side plank and crow, twists and leg balances. He structured the 30 minute class very well to incorporate a lot of postures. Dylan wanted us to leave his class full of energy so we ended the practice with bridge pose and then 4 consecutive wheel poses. 

After breaking my back I really struggled with backbends and to this day have to be careful with them and make sure I am fully warmed up first. For many years I thought I would never be able to do upward facing dog again let alone wheel and camel poses. Poses like this petrified me as it brought on a hell of a lot of pain. 

I practice wheel and camel poses very rarely but today I was feeling strong and in tune with my mind and body so I decided to look fear in the face and go for it!

I stayed up for the full duration of 8 breaths and then we took a very brief savasana. To my surprise as I released from wheel pose, I felt the posture most in my wrists. Listening to my body, I gave my wrists a little rest and chose to do bridge instead. I managed to lift much higher in my second wheel pose as one of the lovely yoga assistants lifted me higher opening my heart even higher to the heavens. 

I lay in savasana to bask in the achievements of overcoming one of my fears. It felt so good knowing that after all these years of not being strong enough to practice backbends, I can now practice poses that I always thought were out of my reach and unattainable.

Anything is possible if you put your mind to it! :)

xXx Namaste xXx