A Little, Often: Side Bend

Shift your perspective

A Little, Often is a feature on Balance Practice, offering a (practical) yoga-inspired practice to support you to come into balance off the mat, where it matters most. These notes come to you monthly, allowing for what I hope is enough time to gain traction with a concept over a few weeks. As ever, I offer some context — connecting a few dots of why and how this might be applicable now — to help fuel your knowledge and motivation to practice.

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The usual gang make their way into the local church hall I hire for my weekly community class, The Friday Reset, in the southwest London neighborhood where I live. A chatty crew, riding the adrenaline surge that accompanies the morning school run, trainers and wellies squeaking across the floor, a few brollies tossed in a pile, then mats thrown open in the same fashion you’d shake out a dusty blanket or rug.

The group settles in and, before I have a chance to ask for requests, arms are stretching overhead, the kind of gesture you might make as you yawn awake. Some are circling their shoulders, others turning and twisting as if clearing something out, making a bit of space. I’m here to guide practice but in moments like this I sit back and remember what I’m really here to do is listen and follow their lead.

Meanwhile the blossom tree in the courtyard is nearly in full feathery bloom, mirroring the openings I see in front of me, before we’ve even started to practice.

Can you feel it? A collective shift in perspective. An emergence.