In this follow up you will find some ideas about how to get the most out of your yoga class, and also the Low Back + Hip Release Sequence that we've practiced in the past two weeks in most of the classes.

If you have attended any type of yoga retreat or training away from home, you know that learning the curriculum is only half the battle.

In the beginning, it is difficult to feel arrived and settled into the routine of retreat - one's head is still spinning from traveling and still occupied with all the home stuff. Just as you are finally starting to feel rooted and comfortable, the whole thing is over, and now you've got to travel back.

Attending your weekly yoga class is a microcosm of that experience: arriving, settling in, rooting down, becoming present. If the mind is preoccupied and busy, it is oh-so-easy to sail through the practice without ever landing in the body. But then, of course, that's not a yoga practice...

Creating a ritual - a container - for your weekly yoga class can help you to get the most of your class. More than that - your weekly ritual can actually help you stick with the practice when the going gets tough (that's of course when most of us tend to drop our self-care - right when we need it the most).

~ Arrive few minutes early so there's a buffer zone between your day activities and yoga practice.

~ Roll out with the balls, move, stretch. Many of arrive to the yoga mat from a few hours of immobility. Often, the most exercise we did the whole day is moving our fingers. Whole body movement can help to discharge accumulated stress static; rolling out before you settle down on your mat can make the beginning of the class so much more comfortable.

~ Once you are ready, settle onto your mat. Give yourself - body and mind - a chance to be still and quiet - take a few mindful breaths before the class begins.

Here is a handy check list that can help you dial in on your ritual even further: