Review of the workshop presented by Carla Wilson on 28th April 2024 via Zoom, attended by 34 participants. Carla is a qualified yoga teacher and member of Slubbing Billy’s North West Morris from Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Julie Mabbett of Rockhopper Morris in Buckinghamshire writes:
“Following a brief introduction, Carla opened our session with a gentle warm up of our head and neck followed by some side and back stretches. These exercises could easily be incorporated into a pre-practice warm up.
“Carla then expertly led us through some core strength asanas: chair pose, plank, pyramid pose and downface dog, all stretching our leg muscles and working our core (a stronger core takes pressure off the knees) which would help with our balance and agility, always offering some less strenuous variations for those of us that may have injuries. Finally coming down to the floor for leg raises and seated twists and cobra.
“All in all a very thorough workout for a Sunday afternoon ending in ten minutes of the most delicious full body relaxation where the 34 participants were guided to focus on each part of our bodies as we let all our tensions go.
“Thank you Carla and Namaste.
Video Recording
The video recording is now publicly available on the MF YouTube channel (1hr) and can also be found on this page: https://www.morrisfed.org.uk/resources/videos/yoga-for-morris-dancers/
About your host
I am a North West Morris dancer and qualified yoga instructor. I have been dancing for about 6 years and practising yoga for about 18 years, completing a yoga teacher training course in India in 2006.
This yoga session for Morris dancers includes: a warm-up that can be used as a warm-up before dancing; practices for strengthening the core (a stronger core takes pressure off the knees) and improving balance (always good for dancing); stretches for the backs of legs (to help get higher kicks and as a counterbalance to using leg muscles for dancing which can result in tight hamstrings); and finally a relaxation with mindfulness (good for everybody – Morris dancer or not!).
Other Resources
For basic warm-ups at the start of practice, and cool down afterwards, see the short video: https://www.morrisfed.org.uk/2020/04/14/warming-up/ (7 mins) with an associated publication at: https://www.morrisfed.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/MF-warmup-cooldown-factsheet-1808.pdf
