Maybe you’ve hit a plateau in your yoga asana or the postures you’ve honed are now causing stiffness or pain.
If you’re seeking a science-backed approach to reinvigorate the poses you love, join Laurel Beversdorf—yoga and movement educator, creator of Body of Knowledge, modern movement science workshops, and co-founder of Movement Logic, online movement therapy tutorials— for a six-week online course that shows you how to incorporate resistance bands into your practice.
Get ready to make exciting discoveries as you build strength, flexibility, and precision. Thanks to the ways bands inform awareness and control, you may feel some results right away.
Resistance bands are commonly associated with physical therapy and fitness programs—not so much yoga asana settings. But if you’ve been practicing poses and sequences for years, bands can be invaluable tools that challenge your body and mind in new ways and keep them strong and agile. In this program Laurel offers you body science, band techniques, and innovative practices, so you can increase resilience, enhance body perception... and have fun while you’re at it!
Course Objectives:
- Learn how resistance bands increase strength and flexibility, may mitigate pain, and can harmonize muscular imbalances
- Dive into a few key biomechanical concepts, like adaptation and stress, which aren’t normally discussed in yoga classes and teacher trainings
- Explore how the bands increase strength and refine your body maps (representations of your body in the brain that help facilitate awareness and control movement)
- Experience the benefits of bands for yourself through innovative practices
- Increase strength and skill in your yoga practice
Course Preview
Here’s what you’ll receive each week:
“Body Science Why” discussion: Contextualize your practices with talks that span anatomy, exercise science, and biomechanics. For example, you’ll explore: external loading and how to determine the right resistance for you; the differences between tightness and tension; why alignment isn’t the whole story when it comes to poses; and more.
Band Technique: Pick up new ways of incorporating the bands in your yoga asana practice. Laurel will also reinforce why, from a science-backed perspective, you’re using them that way.
Innovative Practice: Plus, at the start and end of each session, you’ll do a pre-check and re-check, so you can get a “before and after” internal picture of how your body feels as the result of the work you’ve done.
You’ll also access:
Two live webinars in which Laurel will answer your questions and present bonus lessons—including how to create your own band practices at home or for your students.
A private Facebook group where you can connect with Laurel and fellow students.
Meet your instructor
Laurel Beversdorf, YACEP, E-RYT 500, is an international yoga educator, the creator of Yoga with Resistance Bands classes and trainings and Body of Knowledge anatomy and biomechanics workshops, and a Yoga Tune Up® and Roll Model® trainer. Laurel regularly presents trainings and workshops at locations like Kripalu, YogaWorks, and studios around the world. Her classes blend strength training, rehabilitation practices, myofascial release, and yoga. Laurel has written for Yoga Journal, Shut Up & Yoga, and the Tune Up Fitness Blog. A Wisconsin native, she lives in New York City with her husband, baby girl, and two cats.
Curriculum
Introduction
Welcome
Laurel’s story
Benefits of Bands
Safety 101: Dos and Don’ts
How to Choose, Cut, & Tie Your Bands
Program Overview
What You’ll Need & Recommended Readings
Week 1: Beginner Sun Salutes
Body Science Why: More Tension for Less Tightness in Tricky Transitions
Band Technique: Getting a Grip
Practice
Week 2: Standing Poses
Body Science Why: Varying the Loads to Your Hips for Fluidity & Balance
Band Technique: Compression Loops
Practice
Week 3: Backbends
Body Science Why: Posterior Shoulder Power & Hamstring Resilience
Band Technique: Feelback
Practice
Week 4: Arm Balances
Body Science Why: Pushing Power Through Progressive Loading & Cross-Training
Band Technique: Joint Flossing
Practice
Week 5: Inversions
Body Science Why: Core Stability to Transfer Force to the Floor Through the Arms & Legs
Band Technique: Assistance Bands for Making the Impossible Possible
Practice
Week 6: Seated Poses
Body Science Why: Exploring Active Range of Motion in Seated and Floor-Based Poses
Band Technique: Glide Bands
Practice
Resistance Bands Purchasing Guide
Get a jump start everything you’ll need for this course.
Tip: Order your bands ahead of time so they arrive in time for the course launch date. You’ll learn more about how to use and tie the bands safely when you start the course.
Take note bands at the links below may be more expensive than usual. Make sure to spend a few minutes researching to find the best price.
[A] 2 BIG LOOPS and [B] 2 STIRRUPS
You’ll need two small spools of resistance bands.
Start with a level of resistance that you’re confident you’ll be able to manage. With practice you’ll be able to move up in resistance.
Laurel recommends Theraband resistance bands (about $16 per spool), starting with a light band (Yellow or Red) and moderate band (Green or Blue).
[C] A SET OF MINI BANDS
A set of five mini bands means you can level up or down as needed.
Laurel recommends Insonder bands (about $15), which are color-coded the same as the Therabands for easy reference.
[D] 2 BLOCKS
[E] 2 BLANKETS
Note that if you don’t have blocks and blankets at home, you can use similar household items—such as crates, chair seats, soup cans—in place of blocks. Feel free to add a yoga mat and any additional props you normally use in your practice.