A good yoga sesh will stretch you out — but a great yoga sesh will transform how you feel in your body and adjust your entire point of view.
Kyle Miller of Love Yoga is one of our favorite yoga instructors in LA. She recently made a video bundle to share the practices and techniques she believes in so much. “I wanted the videos to be powerfully alchemical, but also humorous, down to earth and practical.” (grab the full 1hr 18 min series for $55 here)
The series starts with her 45 minute “Complete Cycle” lesson, her signature class with an indulgent warmup, a peak of deep twisting and a nervous system relaxing cool down. The second video is titled “Catch the Grace,” which is a 15-minute breathwork and meditation video. The third video in the series is called “Efficiency in Movement” which is a heat building, effective 20-minute class.
Kyle offers insights on why joint health truly matters below. Do this first thing in the morning or before any workout…
In my practice, informed by Taoism, we’re on the planet and we’re also a microcosm of it, our own little mini-universe. We have our own networks of circulation, landmasses (organs and muscles), delicate ecosystems and homeostasis. I think of joints as bends in the river. They are the natural turns in our bodies where the networks of channels, both physiological and energetic, bend. Bends in the river are where the garbage collects and stagnation can be created. Stagnant water breeds infection. Part of creating and maintaining health is allowing for everything to flow: blood, lymph, energy, and emotions. Taking things in and also letting them go.
My practice gives ample time for cleaning the joints through the most feel-good spherical movements. The process is simple: To articulate a joint is to clean it. Cleaning the joints insures that everything can flow, that infection isn’t created, that negative, old emotions aren’t festering and trapping us in old ways of feeling and being. Circling a joint and expressing its entire range of motion stimulates the capsules with the synovial fluid to release their lubrication and create the conditions for health and vitality.
A Simple Flow To Clear Your Joints
To start cleaning your joints at home, start in the hands and knees. Begin with a few rounds of cat/cow and then open it up with spherical movement. Make big circles with the rib cage, the pelvis. Let your awareness travel through the body, visiting as many joins with your imagination and the movement as possible. Focus on making circles around the wrists and the knee caps, and with the neck as well. You will feel the joints becoming lubricated and flushed.
Stick on leg out, straight to its own side with the toes facing forward, and continue moving. Bending the knee, moving through the lower body, and starting to unlock the stiff sacral plate. Do both legs and work up to moving in the way for 5 whole minutes. Start with 60 seconds and remember you really can’t mess up!
