Our amazing Estelle will be offering 3 workshops that can’t be missed!
You haven’t met Estelle yet??! Here is some info about her and the workshops:
“My family and I moved to Australia from South Africa in 2002. In 2012 we relocated to Newcastle from Brisbane. I was introduced my first 90-minute hot yoga class during that year and felt absolutely exhilarated. The Saturday morning yin class saved my sanity during a period of grief, teaching me the value of stillness and breath. I completed my yoga teacher training at YBW in 2016.
I am passionate about movement and have participated in a multitude of sports, some with more success than others. For me, learning new motor patterns and challenging my body is one way that I keep my mental sanity. I love to bring my background knowledge of anatomy and physiology into the studio. Understanding the unique demands that different sports and movements place on the body help me formulate my yoga teaching. I am obsessed with anatomy and how our bodies move and what is the best way to recover from injury. There is always a pose/ position/ adjustment for everybody and your age or injury is not a limitation to participate in yoga. Strength has to be coupled with mobility in order to prevent injuries. Keeping our joints mobile is key to ageing well.
My interest in breathing started in 2008 after being introduced to the Buteyko method. And soon after changed to nasal breathing during training. Breathing better during exercise can have flow on benefits on other aspects like sleeping and stress management. Dysfunctional breathing is both a driver and a consequence in many health conditions including anxiety, hypertension and asthma. Learning to breathe more efficiently can improve your stress tolerance. The effect can be felt immediately and are long lasting. A breath practice is easier to learn than other methods of stress management like meditation. “
Qualifications: 200hr Yoga Teacher Training, Bachelors of Biomedical Science , Art of Breath , Performance Breathing, XPT Performance Breathing.
WORKSHOP 1: INTRODUCTION TO BREATH
Up until 2020 most people did not think about the way they breathe. We take it for granted until something happens to interrupt our rhythm: exercise, getting submerged in the ocean or respiratory conditions. Breathing impacts not only exercise performance ability, but also your sleep, nervous system and focus. Many people find meditation difficult and breathwork to be a powerful alternative.
The average person breathes a staggering 12,000 to 20,000 breaths per day. Breathing rates and efficiency are influenced by many factors, including stress, exercise, heat, illness, hormones and psychological.
Improving breath mechanics is one way to address dysfunction and improve performance. But it is more than mechanics, learning different functional breathing techniques to apply in appropriate settings can augment physical performance and physical. Learning how to change your mental state using breathing techniques have flow on effects beyond exercise. Breathing influences every system and function within the body and to master your breath is to complete the full spectrum of human performance.
The two-hour workshop will start with a short practical experience discovering how your breath can change the way you feel. This will be followed by a presentation on the biomechanics and biochemistry of breathing. Another practical exercise will help cement these foundations. The final presentation will focus on the bidirectional impact between breathing and psychological presentations. A final breath experience will conclude the workshop.
At the end of the workshop you will be equipped with the know-how to improve your breathing mechanics and be ready to implement short practices to reduce stress, improve sleep and increase performance.
December 5th, Sunday
1-3pm
$45
WORKSHOP 2: EXTENDED SPORTS & JOINTS RELEASE AND FLOW
For many yogis their chosen performance sport is outside the yoga studio and range from running, swimming, cycling to weightlifting. This class is perfect if you need to supplement your sport specific training with targeted strength and mobility. Couched in the traditional hatha yoga setting, this workshop is designed to augment tissue adaptation. This workshop is not about reaching ballet dancer flexibility. Different sports require different adaptations to support the movement patterns. For example, a sprinter needs to have ‘tight’ hips and glutes to support the power demands.
Estelle uses her science background and love of sport to inform her teaching. Drawing on principles from wide-ranging modalities that include traditional strength and conditioning (S&C), functional range condition (FRC), controlled articular rotation (CARs) the class is designed to increase functional movement and specific strength. Preserving balance and maintaining joint range are the long-term goals for a long health-span and ageing gracefully.
Regular students report that this class has many benefits similar to physiotherapy. By incorporating a range of tools like straps, tennis balls and even pencils (!) the deeper muscles underneath the superficial layer can be reached.
This two-hour workshop will focus on releasing tension and improving joint ranges that will enhance your performance experience of your chosen sport.
December 12th, Sunday
1-3pm
$45
WORKSHOP 3: YIN EXTENDED & BREATH
Yin practice is not only about flexibility. A yin practice complements the yang aspect of your movement practice both in the studio and outside.
"For me a yin practice should be a whole-body experience. The body is after all connected through connective tissue sheaths also called fascia. Holding poses for longer allows the extracellular matrix to change, fluid moves, molecules move, tensile and structural fibres rearrange in subtle ways. Doing regular yin practice can help joints to increase range of motion."
Estelle’s yin teaching focus on achieving results not Asana aesthetics. Your pose might not look like the other students around you, your body might need a different version to get to the intended target.
Incorporating deliberate breathing techniques can help you to relax in difficult poses. This in turn teaches your nervous system to tolerate stress in a controlled and deliberate way which increase your stress tolerance in everyday life. The stillness in yin poses can be a meditation practice.
This two-hour workshop allows enough time to get to all the major areas of your body leaving your tension free. The workshop will conclude with a 20-minute breath practice that will leave you energised but calm.
December 19th, Sunday
1-3pm
$45.00