Warrior Addict is psyched to bring back one of our favourite yogis, and our new official brand warrior, Nico Luce.
One of Nico’s favourite things to focus on in the yoga practice is the concept of building a solid foundation in every pose we take. In yoga, our foundation is our connection to the earth, so the parts of the body that meet with the ground we practice on. Just like a building needs a strong foundation to withstand the test of time, we need to start by building a solid foundation in each asana we take in order to feel stable while practicing. That means continually pressing our feet and/or hands into the earth while we extend or lengthen through other parts of our body.
In Nico’s classes, he continually encourages students to keep part of the attention on their foundation at all times, as it is the most important aspect of the pose. Think of yourself as a tree that can grow roots into the ground through your feet and/or hands. Without those roots, you cannot grow strong and supple towards the sky. So if you always work from the ground up in a pose, you will find more stability and ease in your practice.
We can use wheel pose as an example; you often see people push up into wheel and immediately misplace their hands and feet because they are not focussing on rooting into the earth, and then the whole pose collapses. That continual rooting down through the four corners of your feet and hands is what will allow you to build a strong foundation and eventually rise even higher in the pose. As Nico says, “without going down first, there is no growing up. We root in order to rise.”
We previously introduced you to Nico Luce in April this year. If you missed this article, you can view it here
Watch a short video introducing Nico, click on the image below
