Fire from Within

YOGA DETOX – DEEP CLEANSING

A four-week yoga challenge with a 30-minute yoga practice every weekday. Altogether, the package contains a recording of one introductory workshop, 20 classes for warming the body, detoxification, supporting digestion and developing discipline, plus two longer classes for integrating the techniques.
When we talk about detox, our first association is usually exercises for the abdomen and abdominal cavity, but in this challenge we work on deep cleansing at a cellular level. We warm the entire body and encourage the release of deeply rooted, stuck residue. It is a path of physical, emotional and spiritual cleansing and release. We develop the virtues of perseverance, determination, consistency and discipline by setting the intention to practise regularly every day and raise the body’s temperature. With consistent discipline and regular repetition, the body slowly and systematically cleanses and resets itself. We strengthen the core, torso, oblique abdominal muscles and legs. We repeat sequences to feel the power of true, patient endurance and immerse ourselves in familiar movements to quiet the mind. Instructions for the Mindful journal accompany the programme each week, and an intention is set in every class.

Yoga therapy for:

• a daily yoga practice
• rhythm and discipline
• core strength
• strengthening the body’s muscles
• detoxification and cleansing
• improving digestion
• connecting the centre and the periphery
• letting go

INTRODUCTORY TALK AND YOGA CLASS ON THE MONTH’S THEME – 75 MIN

FIRE FROM WITHIN

The idea of the challenge is to awaken and sustain a small fire deep within the body, gradually but continuously throughout the month. In the introduction and the first practice in this class, we explore how we will do this. I have organised the principles so that they are clear and you understand what we achieve through each action. Through movement: raising the body’s temperature, pulsing movements, dynamic twists, static twists, shaking, moving stagnation, positions that integrate the body and more. Through breath: Ujjayi breathing, a full inhalation and exhalation that create a significant change in the body, while breath connected with movement amplifies the flow of energy.

We introduce the emotional and mental aspect of letting go through several principles that we will apply. We are not obliged to believe our thoughts. They seem real, as if “what I think is my truth”, but we know that we do not have to believe them. We discuss the cycle in which thoughts affect physical sensations and vice versa, and how we need to become aware of and interrupt that cycle. Thoughts originate in the body and are more chemistry than “ME”. Alongside contemplating that a particular belief is neither good nor useful for us, we also need to change and release it energetically, meaning through and with the body. This is the goal and intention of the challenge.

We replace a belief that no longer serves us with a better model: a better set of thoughts, but also a change of energy in the body.

We use the image of the body as a temple, a sacred place where we come to connect with something higher, more valuable and more meaningful than ourselves. I return to myself and care for my temple; I clean the altar. My body is the place through which I come into contact with the sacred. Returning to myself is returning to my temple.

Mindful journal: Choose one belief that no longer serves you, one in which you feel stuck and which you want to release during this challenge. Write it down and describe it as clearly as possible, as an objective observer, as if it were not yours. Dare to see it exactly as it is: how you feel with it, which thoughts it awakens, which fears lie beneath it and what image of yourself it creates. Write everything down. Also write down the intention that, knowing you no longer need to believe it, you want to open yourself to releasing this belief during the process. Write it literally in those words, replacing “this belief” with your specific issue. Do not look for a solution, or if you begin looking for one, remember that this will not be our approach this time. Our approach will be to accept that it is as it is and stop believing in it.

30 MIN

DAY 1 – THE FIRST LITTLE FIRE

A little bouncing to shake everything up inside. Several wide squats with side bends. Six Sun Salutations with a one-legged Plank. High Lunge with pulses and a standing forward bend towards the front leg on an empty abdomen. Pulsing from Low Lunge and from Kapyasana. Yogic breathing and Shavasana. 

All of that in a short, powerful 30 minutes. :)

Setting the intention: Through this practice and time for myself, may I work towards change and flow in my body, mind and emotions, moving from what has become stuck and is no longer needed towards what is healthy, fluid and healing. May I keep the temple of my body clean and spacious through the practice of movement and breath.

Mindful journal: We dedicate the first week of the cycle to letting go: look within, accept, become aware and be an objective observer of your thoughts, states and physical sensations.

30 MIN

DAY 2 – INTO THE DEPTHS

We begin by setting an intention and awakening the breath, then continue warming up with Cat-Cow movements. When, in Cat-Cow , we focus on the movement of expanding and then shortening the abdominal area, especially with a full breath, we receive a true massage deep within. This is why we amplify Cat-Cow with a pulsing leg movement. We move through several Sun Salutations and High and Low Lunge pulses, just as we did yesterday.

At the end, we rest in a one-legged Pigeon pose, stimulating the beginning and end of the large intestine. Where attention goes, Pranaflows, and we spend the class with attention in the abdomen and a breath that massages us from within. 

If it briefly feels difficult, remember: this is only a 30-minute class and it will pass quickly. Otherwise, we simply keep going, little by little. :)

30 MIN

DAY 3 – RADIANT BREATH

Today we begin with an abdominal massage to encourage the movement of energy through the intestines. We practise a gentler variation of Sun Salutations with more Cat-Cow pulses, softly awakening the abdomen and back. In Downward Dog, we lift one leg and open from the hip, intending to create space in the lower part of the intestines while inverted, and then play with shortening and lengthening that area.

We move through several Malasanas and abdominal exercises on the floor and, once again, 30 minutes pass quickly. Enjoy it and simply practise. Begin without overthinking and your body will be grateful.

During this time for myself, may I come into contact with my body’s true needs and the nature of change, with the tendency towards health that is written into the body. I trust the nature of my body to release in a healthy way and maintain a healthy flow.

30 MIN

DAY 4 – IN CONNECTION

In today’s class, we lower the fire a little and give ourselves time and space to open and stretch the lower abdomen where it connects with the hips. We practise Sun Salutations with one knee on the floor, pulsing the pelvis, lengthening the abdomen on the inhalation and shortening it on the exhalation. We then move through several poses based in Warrior II, which also bring openness to this area. At the end, we rest on the abdomen with one leg out to the side in Frog pose, allowing openness to enter the hips.

Today’s class really will not be difficult to complete, so do not worry. Simply begin and the body will do everything by itself. :)

Setting the intention: May I remember that exchange is always present in the body. May I bring a feeling of flow and change into all the thoughts and states that are heavy and rigid, that seem unchangeable, including ideas about ourselves and other people. Nothing can be unchangeable; everything is always changing and flowing. We simply believe the same thing again and again.

30 MIN

DAY 5 – A QUICK LITTLE FIRE

Today we continue with fire, and our greatest asset for this is Utkatasana! We introduce it into the Sun Salutations and then pulse from a forward bend into a backbend from an Utkatasanabase. Naturally, after six flowing Sun Salutations linked with the breath and rhythm, we are already warm and have awakened a sense of fluidity. It is then no problem to move through several more poses, including rotations. At the end of the class, we practise Bridge so that we lengthen the centre and settle down.

This little burst creates a big change. Just rest well and relax after the class.

30 MIN

DAY 6 – ACTION, ROTATION

This morning, we mobilise the body, set an intention and immerse ourselves in circular Sun Salutations with dynamic Cat-Cow movements through the spine. We continue the class in the spirit of dynamic twists. We move through several movements and poses in which we rotate around the navel, then sit on the floor for one more calm twist. Once again, we kindle our inner fire in just 30 minutes. :)

What feels difficult is what keeps repeating. During the first week, we shine a light on what is difficult, acknowledge it, accept it and remain honest with ourselves. We do this not to illuminate it or keep our focus there, but to establish a healthy relationship with it.

Difficulty falls into two categories: 
1. what can be changed: we begin changing it slowly and wisely;
2. what cannot be changed at the moment: we need to learn to accept it.

Dear body, my temple and sanctuary, take care that health may arise on the level of thoughts, emotions and actions. May I help you let go through this breath and movement.

Setting the intention: May I be unlocked and open. May I learn to accept and, through acceptance, open myself to change. May I be a little softer with these thoughts and states, and may I release the hold of the thoughts that keep repeating.

Mindful journal: What does it mean for me to accept something that is truly difficult and that I cannot change? How do you feel about it, and which emotions arise? How can you use the energy of those emotions constructively to help yourself? For example, you can hold anger as a tool for determination and consistency. Catch yourself when you fall into aversion and explore what triggers it. It is probably something you cannot change right now, which means it needs to be accepted.

30 MIN

DAY 7 – RAISING THE TEMPERATURE

As the title suggests, today we raise the temperature with several High Lunges with pulses. This challenges the body both because it engages large muscle groups and because the body must find a way to balance stability. We warm up through Sun Salutations and introduce these High Lungeswithin them. Afterwards, we rest in a forward bend, lengthen the breath and lower onto the abdomen. Here, we breathe calmly and deeply into the lower abdomen, allowing stress and tension to release through the belly into the floor.
A gentle surface layer of warmth will spread throughout the body, but do not worry. Simply do your best.

Intention: May these short 30 minutes of movement be my contact with the body and the genuine flow that exists within it, with its constant movement and transformation. May I recognise that my sense of being static or stuck cannot be real, because it does not exist in nature. May I awaken to a perspective in which I stop believing the same thing and return to flow, because every day everything is different.

30 MIN

DAY 8 – I AM HERE

Today we simply continue, making the effort again each day. We quiet the mind and surrender to the body. May we feel it and give everything a chance to pass through it, including emotions and thoughts. 

We practise a gentle warm-up with circular, flowing Sun Salutations and several twists that strengthen the legs by pulsing one knee towards the floor and lifting it again. We also strengthen the front of the abdomen by connecting several poses.

May my body shine with health and release everything it does not need. With trust, I hand over everything I no longer need. 

30 MIN

DAY 9 – IN A CIRCLE

Yes, we move the abdomen in circles. We circle the pelvis and then the waist, gently squeezing the intestines so that they shorten and lengthen. We pulse from Parsvakonasana into Reverse Warrior to strengthen the oblique abdominal muscles and stimulate the abdomen. We massage the belly a little in Balasana and stretch the chest and shoulders through several poses, simply allowing them to open.

The class is slightly longer because we also practise several rotations on the floor. These relaxing twists for the back are naturally excellent for the abdomen too, so they should feel good.

Intention: I mention a Chinese proverb: “If you don’t have a solution, you should admire the problem.” 

This reflects the idea that problems fall into two categories: those we can solve and those we currently cannot. Through this proverb, we not only learn to accept what we cannot change, but even to admire it. It is our teacher; we respect it and become humble. 

30 MIN

DAY 10 – VIBRATION

We begin with breathing and setting an intention, then raise the body’s temperature quickly and effectively. We bounce and move through five rounds of Sun Salutations with Utkatasanas followed by several rotational exercises from Warrior I and High Lunge. We hold the deep, full twist with the elbow across the opposite knee and are then warm enough to practise the same twist from an Utkatasana base.

The class is called Vibration because, after this short but dynamic session, you can clearly feel the subtle energy of the body vibrating and settling in Shavasana. You feel a space of openness and presence that is genuinely here. This is our body awareness, body consciousness. When we arrive in this way within our problem, moment and truth, we have a different possibility for experiencing it than when the brain begins dividing things into good and bad. This is accepting presence.

40 MIN – MINDFUL SLOW FLOW

ONE WITH EVERYTHING

Contact with the silence in the heart. Placing the palms together in front of the heart symbolises the meeting point where the personal, “my” inner world connects with God, with that which is connected to everything. Duality disappears there. May I open myself to this wholeness, to that which is greater than me and represents unity. This is why it is easy to say, “you think about this”: we hand over our worries so that God, nature or a higher intelligence, however you choose to understand it, may hold them for us. Through surrender, may I develop the virtue of humility, because humility is a quality, not a weakness. Humility is our strength to surrender that which contracts us and turns us back towards ourselves, the ego, to something greater than us that is always connected with everything.

The class is dedicated to mobilising the shoulders, opening the chest muscles and activating the upper back, especially between the shoulder blades. We stretch and mobilise the fibres of the trapezius to provide some contrast to everything we have done in these dynamic classes.

Take time to enjoy this class and your safe place within, together with your healthy attention. Have a block or folded blanket and a strap ready for the class.

30 MIN

DAY 11 – WARMING UP

In today’s class, we warm up gently and get “back into shape”. We practise Sun Salutations with Cat-Cow pulses to soften the back and awaken mobility, then strengthen the oblique abdominal muscles from a Trikonasanabase. On the floor, we also practise Janu Sirsasana and several gently rocking twists while lying down. 

As before, everything unfolds in the rhythm of a sweet, short yet comprehensive yoga class…

We practise Sun Salutations with Cat-Cow pulses to soften the back and awaken mobility, then strengthen the oblique abdominal muscles from a Trikonasanabase. On the floor, we also practise Janu Sirsasana and several gently rocking twists while lying down.

This week, we introduce the concept of Right Effort, one of the eight elements of the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. Through Right Effort, we invest effort and perseverance to develop wholesome states of mind and abandon unwholesome ones.

Right Effort has four steps: 
1. Prevent unwholesome states from arising.
2. Overcome unwholesome states that have already arisen.
3. Develop and make the effort to cultivate wholesome states.
4. Maintain wholesome states.

Right Effort means knowing how to say NO to what is not good for us and to our own or someone else’s inappropriate behaviour. The NO that we say and maintain comes from love and compassion, not hatred or aversion.

If you condone behaviour , whether your own or someone else’s, that is not right, it means you consent to it. Right Effort means not consenting, but responding in order to prevent the behaviour, whether it appears on the level of thought, speech or action.

Mindful journal: After asking how to accept what is difficult and what I currently cannot change, and answering that we accept it with love, humility and compassion, we ask ourselves how to say NO to our own or someone else’s inappropriate behaviour and turn towards what is wholesome. Use your initial intention, the one you set at the beginning of the cycle, as an example and ask yourself: what is the cause of this continually bothering me, returning and reappearing? Which state does it awaken in me? What would it mean to invest effort, my own Right Effort, to prevent the causes that awaken it from developing, and how can I cultivate a wholesome state?

30 MIN

DAY 12 – GUT FEELING

We arrive at the beginning, place our palms over the heart and breathe fully through the chest. Today we play with a slightly more dynamic rhythm woven into the Sun Salutations. Within these pulses, the breath is a little shorter and more dynamic, as in Kapalabhati: the exhalation is active and the inhalation passive. The breath is full, and this fullness helps it polish us more thoroughly from within. 

We also practise dynamic steps back into Plank and pulse from Warrior I into a forward bend. We keep our attention in the abdomen and feel the movement taking place across this area.

Setting the intention: May I grow in a clear understanding of YES and NO. May I know how to distinguish clearly between what is good and what is not good for me and others, where I may go and where I may not. May this clear understanding not exist only on the level of reason. It actually comes from the body, and our gut feeling will be the first to say NO. We need to know how to listen to it. 

May I become sensitive enough to recognise clearly what my abdomen is telling me and feel what is a yes and what is a no.

30 MIN

DAY 13 – WE KEEP GOING

Today we continue yesterday’s pulses, dynamic twists and steps back into Low Lunge, adding several new details. Once again, the class targets the same area with exercises that gently squeeze the abdomen while also lengthening and shortening it. 

We hold an Utkatasana twist, Downward Dog with one leg in the air and High Lunge, while everything else remains pulsing and fluid. Naturally, towards the end we slow down, breathe deeply and calmly through the abdomen and open the chest a little.

Intention: Inhale into the heart, exhale softly. May I come into contact with myself and with my body, which knows and understands what it feels. May I respect and learn the language of my body so that I can hear my truth more clearly and recognise yes and no, knowing where the body opens and where it closes.

30 MIN

DAY 14 – HAPPY GLUTES

Today we mobilise the glutes, legs and pelvic floor a little, letting these large muscles raise the body’s temperature. We move through steps from a Low Lunge base and raise the arms into the air, gradually but systematically strengthening the legs. We develop the same strength through several more poses, linking exercises for the legs and glutes. 

When it feels difficult and you think, “I cannot do any more”, remember that it is only a brief moment. Once you move beyond that limit, you will feel proud of your effort and enjoy the reward that follows a good practice.

I breathe through the heart space and set a quiet intention. May I understand and know how to listen to my body and what it tells me, sensing when it opens to something and when it closes. May I learn Right Effort through the body: knowing how to say no and yes.

At the end of class I said that, if your glutes are not sore today, we will repeat it tomorrow.

30 MIN

DAY 15 – WINDMILL

We begin by swaying, an unstructured movement in which we simply surrender to the body. Shaking awakens the lungs and all the organs. We then jog in place and bounce in a little twist..

Next, we introduce an arm movement like the turning blades of a windmill, or the circular action of the backstroke. We simply repeat these movements from several bases throughout the class. We also practise a few twists, but today they are calm, with attention sinking inwards.

We let the centre open: may permeability and flow move through me. May I surrender. May I stop striving so that the Right Effort I make is supported by mindfulness, acceptance and humility, and becomes effort made with the right intention.

To avoid becoming stuck in aversion, we need to remember to let go and surrender. This is the feeling of allowing something to pass through me. I stop fighting, accept what is and surrender.

30 MIN

DAY 16 – SLOW AND FAST

We begin the class by awakening a subtle, steady Ujjayi breath. We add a longer exhalation through the mouth and then begin connecting movement with breath. We move through Sun Salutations in which we use Cat-Cow on the knees to warm up and add High Lunges. We develop each round further and gradually increase the pace until we reach the stronger elements. 

We become aware of when we are rushing and distinguish between consciously choosing speed and feeling rushed in the body, or conversely slowing down and feeling calm in the body. It is useful to know and be aware of what I am doing, and to do it fully. May I consciously know how to alternate between these two states.

Intention: Feel this present moment in your life, together with all the things you wish were not here and all those you wish were here but are not. Let us see the wider picture. The more we look from this wider perspective, the less we sink into contraction or live in the narrow lift of our emotions.

Say to yourself: yes, my life is like this now, and this is the starting point. Agree to meet it as it is. Only from that acceptance can we hold calmly, with love and compassion, what we cannot change and lovingly change what we can. When we fight, we only harm ourselves. Ask yourself whether you can introduce a little more acceptance: yes, this is how it is, even though resistance is present. Then begin to open and accept. 

30 MIN

DAY 17 – FIRE

Setting the intention: imagine the element of fire. When we place something in fire, we need to let it go completely; it will burn and disappear. In the same way, we place all that is unnecessary into the fire and let it burn fully until it disappears. This can help us feel the scale of release and surrender.  

May I surrender so completely that the fire entirely burns away what I no longer need in my life. May I let my worries, doubts, fears and aversions that I no longer need burn away completely. Movement helps awaken the breath from deep within the body, and we warm it with Cat-Cow..

We practise many rotations, beginning in a wide squat so that the flow of breath can move through the whole body, then introduce dynamic rotations. We warm up with Sun Salutations and repeat the rotations later in the class from Warrior I and High Lunge. During these rotations, as we enter the twist, we use a dynamic exhalation like the one in Kapalabhati. In this way, the exhalation synchronises with the movement and we receive the full effect of “emptying”. We move through Malasana and a rotational movement in Malasana, then walk forwards and backwards in this low squat.

Remember: the less personally we take how we feel, and the more we see the wider picture, recognising that our feelings arise from conditions, the easier it becomes to let go. :)

30 MIN

DAY 18 – BELOW THE NAVEL

Rotations around the waist can be divided into two types: those in which the lower body stabilises while the upper body moves, and those in which the reverse happens. Rotations in which the upper body stabilises while the hips and legs rotate are less common, but equally useful. Today we play with them. We practise rotations in squats and Utkatasana, as well as in a deep twist, Pasasana.. 

We explore how the lower abdomen can remain active and drawn in while the upper abdomen stays open so that the breath remains free. This is how we separate strength from stress in the body. Naturally, the body will resist if we restrict the lungs’ room to move, but it will not if we activate only the lower abdomen. The good news is that we can separate these two areas of the body, and this is what we learn. This is the principle of a mindful relationship within this method of yoga.

We balance exercises that shorten the centre with those that lengthen it, including several movements on the abdomen.

May I trust my body’s intelligence, which naturally moves towards health, and may I give it the right conditions to thrive without effort.

30 MIN

DAY 19 – THE CIRCLE

We begin by asking which practices we can keep using every day after completing this cycle. 

My question for you is: what has been most useful and most applicable? Was there anything among the exercises we practised that suited you particularly well?

Today we practise, in order: bouncing, setting an intention, Sun Salutations with Cat-Cow waves and Low Lunge pulses, followed by pulsing in Utkatasana, High Lunge and a twist, then holding variations of these poses in the second round. We practise several movements lying on the abdomen and then abdominal exercises on the back.

Intention: May I allow the flowing fire of transformation to cleanse my body, mind and emotions. Through these practices, may I become better for myself and others and contribute the benefits of this practice to the community.

30 MIN

DAY 20 – TAKE IT EASY

We begin with the comfort of calm movement and calm breath in the body, gently waking up with a set of squats followed by Cat-Cow waves on the knees and rotations from a wide base. We take several familiar Warrior I and II poses with a few pulses, followed by pulses in Kapyasana and Low Lunge. Towards the end, we settle into Anahatasana, a small Bridge, passive hip opening and a passive twist. After the whole cycle and everything we have explored, we return to what is familiar and calm and integrate all the techniques.

Intention: Within the calm space of my body, I remember my intention from the beginning of the cycle and what I want to allow to pass through the body. We repeat: may I create the conditions for my body to become a medium through which things transform and pass with ease. May I not hold on to anger, aversion or craving. May my digestion work so well that all of it simply passes through. May the fire burn everything completely. Can I let go completely?

I surrender with this intention and affirmation. We cannot change this through reason; it is an energetic surrender.

40 MIN

SAMANA VAYU

In yogic terminology, Samana Vayu is the “wind”, or more precisely the direction of energy moving in a circular pattern within the abdomen, serving to process and assimilate food as well as experiences, emotions and ideas. This movement of energy is responsible for balancing how much we take in and how much moves out of us. It connects with the idea that health depends on good flow, because both excessive accumulation and insufficient nourishment move us out of balance and therefore away from good health. Moderation is one of the virtues we learn through the idea of always remaining within a healthy measure. 

For a healthy balance between Prana and Apana, we work with proper exchange, and the exchange of breath is naturally essential.

During the class, we move through a standard practice: Sun Salutations A and B, followed by several asanas in a repeated sequence. We practise a twist in Warrior I and Revolved Triangle. At the end, we move through a seated twist and stretch the abdomen in a small and full Bridge. 

60 MIN

INTEGRATION

We integrate the practices we have explored in one slightly more complex class. In 60 minutes, we warm up thoroughly through a number of sequences that develop the themes of pulsing around the abdomen, rotation and strength. The emphasis is on attention immersing itself in the abdomen and movement, and on the energy of Samana Vayu energy. 

We move through Warrior I with pulses, twists and forward bends. At the end, we rest in a passive rotation and Shavasana, remembering how important it is to let go. We relax and remember to surrender to something greater than ourselves, something we feel through the body, and with our whole being we integrate ourselves into it.