Level 2

This class is about finding new ways to work with your hips, and a balance between strength and flexibility. The more we open the hips, the more we want to make sure we can support that openness.

We start by mobilising the hips, then move into a flow full of different hip drills. Level 2, no props needed.

For when you feel the onset of a cold, in times of seasonal change, or better yet, as everyday care before you even begin to feel sluggish.

Begin by slowing down with mellow hip openers, then gradually turn yourself upside down with grounding inversions, no jumps involved. Level 2, with a bolster.

How often do you think about your glutes while you practise yoga? Probably not so often, but believe me, you use them.

In this class, we bring our focus to the gluteus maximus and medius and the movements they create as they contract. You get a new understanding of how and when we use the glutes in yoga postures. Level 2, with two blocks.

Join this 45 minute ladder flow and improve your balance in Bird of Paradise and Dancer's Pose. Bird of Paradise is an advanced and challenging pose that builds balance and stability.

It stretches the hips, the hamstrings and the groin, and it makes the legs and calves stronger. Let's fly together. Join me on the mat. Level 2.

This class focuses on the spine, specifically the thoracic area, the middle back. Use the next 45 minutes to explore movement through the middle back, such as twisting, opening and closing the chest and side bending, while the lower back (lumbar spine) stays in place.

Get ready to release your spine and feel a lot lighter after class. Level 2, no props needed.

Bring the focus to your hip flexors and hamstrings. This class is about balancing strength and flexibility. Feeling tight in one part of the body does not always mean it needs more stretching. Sometimes it needs more strength to open up.

So let's strengthen to lengthen and find the sweet spot in between. Level 2, with two blocks.

In the next ten minutes, we break down the transition of jumping through. It takes a strong core, and strong hip flexors, arms and shoulders too.

Get ready to practise, and to make a few connections between your body and mind so that jumping through your arms starts to become possible. Level 2, with two blocks.

Use your whole body and break a sweat. Use the next 20 minutes to move through your upper body, core and legs in a yoga workout.

No fancy equipment. All you need is your mat and a towel, and you will feel your whole body working hard. Come and join me, and get sweaty.

The Magic Ten is a series of 10 simple asanas, put together by Sharon Gannon, that you can do in about 10 minutes.

Use it as a practice on its own when you are short on time, as a warm-up for a longer asana practice, or to prepare for seated meditation. Have a block and a wall nearby. Level 2.

This hip class brings a little more stability and strength into the hip and pelvic area.

We all spend a lot of time opening up our hips. Let's balance that with active internal and external hip rotation. Level 2, no props needed.

In this practice we move through a series of Yin postures that open up the hips.

Long holds release tension and tightness in the deep connective tissue that more active, Yang-style practices rarely reach, and give us access to the passive flexibility of the hips.

If feelings come up during the practice, notice them and let them go. Use the props as shown to let go more at times. Level 2, with a bolster and a block.

This 45 minute class focuses on Malasana, the yogi squat. Not only sitting down low, but activating the legs and feet to sit strong.

Move in and out of the posture as you transition through the flow, and feel your pulse rise as you jump back and forth between Malasana and Downward-Facing Dog. Then warm up the hips a bit more before you try Bhujapidasana, an arm balance. Level 2, no props needed.

Sofia's favourite drills to strengthen her handstands. Find your core and your balance with four different exercises, then repeat them for three rounds.

You need two blocks, a chair and some free wall space. Level 2.

In this practice we build strength in the back body and learn how to align the pelvis in backbends.

Focus on technique and move with lots of presence. Warm up first with the Rise and Shine class or a few rounds of sun salutations. The class also works the spine and the hamstrings. Level 2, with a block and a strap.

In this class Sofia goes through preparation postures and movements that help you find your way into deeper backbends, with both stretches and strength work to get your body ready.

The peak pose is Kapotasana, one of the deepest backbends in the Ashtanga Intermediate Series. In the traditional Ashtanga method, this posture is often introduced to students who have practised for years. Level 2, no props needed.

This posture is called Parivrtta Parsvakonasana in Sanskrit, and it is the sixth posture in the standing sequence of the Ashtanga Primary Series. It asks for open hips and some flexibility in the spine, which the earlier poses of the traditional sequence give you. All the standing postures in the Ashtanga series are linked together.

This video breaks the posture down and shows you how to enter it step by step.

This posture is called Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana in Sanskrit, and it is one of the first balances on one leg. For the full posture you need some flexibility in the hamstrings and hips, which the earlier postures of the Ashtanga sequence give you in time.

This tutorial also cues the correct vinyasa count, showing which movement goes with an inhale and which with an exhale.

In this class we open up the hips to make it easier to come into one of the best known postures, Padmasana, or Lotus Pose.

We talk about how to avoid hurting the knees on the way in. Never force your legs into Lotus. It should come with ease, once there is enough flexibility in the hips.

This tutorial shows you step by step how to approach Chakrasana, the backward roll that comes at the end of the Ashtanga Primary Series and in the closing sequence.

Chakrasana is often used to come out of a posture lying on the floor. It gives more flow to the sequence than rolling up to sit, jumping back to Chaturanga and doing the vinyasa.

Here are some of Sofia's favourite strength exercises to prepare for going upside down. This set of exercises strengthens your core and wrists and improves your balance.

Do the routine a few days a week and it will get your inversion practice going. Keep practising and it will come.

A class to help you open up the hips and the hamstrings to prepare for Supta Kurmasana, one of the deepest forward folds in the Ashtanga Primary Series.

Supta Kurmasana, or Sleeping Turtle Pose, is the peak pose of the series, and many forward folds come before it. Do this video on its own, or after or within your longer practice.