Online access
You can watch the series on any device from anywhere in the world, as long as you have internet access
Class handouts
Every practice is accompanied with a printable sequence with images and instructions in pdf format
Summary notes
Each chapter includes a brief summary of the most important ideas about each yogic strategy for harnessing the mind
Online support
You can ask your questions about the course any time – your teacher is always ready to help
THIS YOGA SERIES IS FOR YOU IF YOU:
– Want to strengthen your hips, back, shoulders, and core
– Are interested in improving the mobility and stability of your spine
– Ready to feel more vital and resilient
– Want to challenge yourself a bit with stronger poses
– Feel stuck and not fully present in your life
ABOUT THE SERIES
This yoga series is expansive in its scope and blends together the biomechanical understanding of the physical structure of the body with traditional yogic ideas about the essence of health and vitality. This yoga series is centered around your spine and is meant to increase its mobility and stability. We also view the spine as a primary conduit for energy flow within the body.
Throughout the series, you will increase your physical strength and movement capacity and try progressively more challenging poses that are meant to strengthen, stretch, and stabilize every part of your body. You will also work on building your vitality and resilience from within by ensuring smooth energy flow in every major direction so that every cell in your body gets nourishment to do its job without hindrance.
PLEASE NOTE
THIS IS NOT A THERAPEUTIC YOGA SERIES. This series is NOT appropriate if you have any kind of injury or degeneration in your spine. In cases like that, bending the spine too much is not advisable. Please seek a qualified professional who can develop an individualized program for your specific situation.
HOW SUPPLE IS YOUR SPINE?
In the yoga tradition, the spine is the structural and energetic center of the body, so our strategies for developing strength and vitality revolve around the spine. In a balanced yoga practice, we usually take the spine through the full range of motion with forward bends, back bends, lateral bends, twists, and axial extension postures, with each directional movement serving a specific purpose and having its own benefits.
In this series, we will explore each of those directional movements and we will take your spine through its full range of motion. We will use progressively more challenging postures to improve your ability to bend forward, backward, and sideways, to rotate and elongate your spine.
Energy movement throughout the body
Your spine is also the primary conduit for energy flow in your body.
To be alive and healthy, we need to take in fuel for both the body and the mind. Food and water come in through the mouth, air comes in through the nose, and experiences come in through our sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin). The body has a system for processing each of those intakes, extracting nourishment that it needs to thrive, releasing the waste it doesn’t need, and growing and learning as a result.
According to the yoga tradition, each step of that process (intake – processing – assimilation – elimination – growth) is governed by a particular energy current called Vayu. Each Vayu has a specific location in the body and consistently moves in a particular direction to guide and regulate every physiological function in the body.
When the flow of energy through the body is smooth and consistent, it ensures that the body remains healthy and disease-free. In this yoga series, we will work on building strength and cultivating vitality by mobilizing the spine and restoring smooth energy flow throughout the body.
WHAT DO WE DO IN THIS YOGA SERIES?
Take your spine through its full range of motion
Your spine is capable of moving in five different directions: forward (flexion), backward (extension), sideways (lateral flexion), twist (rotation), and slightly upwards (axial extension). It is essential to move your spine in all five directions regularly to maintain spinal mobility and suppleness. It is also important for strengthening the supporting structures of the spine and overall balanced development of the body.
Strengthen your body by challenging it responsibly
Challenging ourselves physically can be incredibly rewarding. When we push ourselves past our habitual limits, we often discover inner strength and resilience that we didn’t know we had. Stronger yoga poses can help us overcome fear, work on physical self-development, and give us a sense of strength and accomplishment. In this series, we will challenge ourselves responsibly by properly preparing the body for more difficult poses, compensating adequately, and staying mindful of the risk vs benefit ratio.
Support the movement of nourishment through the body
We will explore the location and direction of movement of each of the five primary energy currents (Vayus), discuss the main health and wellness qualities that each Vayu is responsible for, analyze the Vayu flow in our bodies and potential issues we might encounter if the Vayu does not flow smoothly, and work with each Vayu individually in our yoga practice.
Assess patterns of behavior that don't serve you well
Not everything we consume is nourishing or even useful. The body will attempt to transform what it receives and get rid of the resulting waste, but the system might still get clogged with unnecessary garbage. This garbage might impede our growth and development. Throughout the series, we will attempt to become more reflectively self-conscious about each stage of the intake – processing – assimilation – elimination – growth process so that we can make more mindful choices to stay healthy and fortify our sense of well-being.
WHAT YOU GET
This series consists of ten chapters. Each chapter introduces a specific strategy you can use to develop strength and cultivate vitality. Each chapter includes an introductory video and two or three yoga practices of various intensities that illustrate our discussed points. Each chapter also features a couple of in-depth articles on the topic. We’ve combined all ten chapters into a handy 70-page PDF file that you can revisit whenever you wish.
HOW IT WORKS
You can do the practices included in this series in order or pick and choose the ones you need most. In each yoga practice, we will use movement, breath, and awareness to help you become more attuned to different layers of your body. Be sure to follow instructions on what to do with your breath and where to place your attention– those subtle details help you get better access to the subtleties of your energy flow.
WHAT TO FOCUS ON
Keep in mind that your energy is affected by EVERYTHING you experience externally and internally in the course of your day. Be mindful of what you allow to enter into your system, how you process the intake, and what you allow to stick around in your body and your mind. Your yoga practice is one small part of your life, but it can help you become more mindful of other choices you make off the mat.
Try to approach this series as an opportunity to connect to your body, to be patient with it, and to care for it. It’s the only one you have, so it’s wise to treat it with respect and appreciation.
ABOUT OLGA KABEL
Hi there! My name is Olga Kabel. I’ve been practicing and teaching yoga for over two decades. Over this period of time, as yoga had carried me over life’s peaks and valleys, I came to realize that yoga to me is not about achieving a particular physique, but more about how I handle life’s challenges, big and small, that get thrown my way. It is also about finding joy and contentment in everyday moments. To me, yoga is not just a thing to do, but a place to be—it’s a state of feeling more centered, more awake, and more aware of my experiences. This is why I practice yoga, and this is how I teach it. This is why I’ve made yoga both my profession and a way of life.
I don’t want you to miss out on the full potential of what yoga has to offer. Regular yoga practice has the power to transform any area of your life for the better. One thing that’s always fascinated me about yoga is its ability to affect change. We all know change is inevitable—our bodies and our lives go through it every single day. We cannot stop change (no matter how hard we try), but through our yoga practice, we can affect the direction of change. This redirection doesn’t need to be dramatic—even the slightest one will set you on an entirely new course. And this can show up in any area of your life, whether it’s your health, your work, your relationships, or your experiences of joy and contentment.
Thank you for a beautiful lesson. I was able to enjoy this whole lesson even though I avoid rounding my spine too much. Your cues are wonderful. Loved closing meditation.
This class is amazing for relieving hip tension through active engagement. Thanks so much as always Olga!
Another fantastic class starting off with some nice gentle moves and building up nicely to a stronger poses.
F-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c!
