Darcie Clark Yoga

09/26/2024

Since my first lumpectomy in April and my second one two months later, I had to put strength training aside. I’m now a third of my way through chemotherapy and have felt well enough to have three strength training sessions since treatment began.

Yesterday I did three sets each of weighted deadlifts, bicep curls, overhead presses, and squats, but the most challenging movement for me remains the push-up (hence the incline).

Today my body could feel yesterday’s efforts in a good way. Still, I took a little time to tend to the tight spots with some gentle yoga.

I know I have a long way to go still in my cancer treatments and while I have had some minor side effects and days with less energy, I’m simply thankful for the days I feel good enough to tend to myself in these big and small ways.

Yoga clips are sped up 2x. Push-ups in real time.

02/15/2024

Two new practices up on my YouTube Channel. Check them out here:
https://youtube.com/?si=auIEK-so3Ktupo_d

02/12/2024

I thought I’d share this movement that I taught in my online Gentle Yoga class this morning. It’s a movement you can do every day to keep the shoulders mobile along with the spine and neck.

Let me know how it feels for you!

Join me for online yoga classes here:
https://www.darcieclark.com/

02/04/2024

While it doesn’t quite feel like February when the temps are above freezing and there’s no snow on the ground and kids are playing basketball outside in shorts and t-shirt, the blue sky and sunshine this weekend was a much needed change from this wet and dreary winter.

I had a little blue therapy watching the trumpeter swans, pintail ducks, golden-eyed’s, red-headed ducks, mergansers, and more along the inland waters of Lake Ontario with a friend yesterday. Thanks for taking my pic !

Today I walked along the river and into the patch of woods beside it where I laid on the forest floor to watch a male hairy woodpecker clear a hole from the inside of a stubby dead branch high up a tree.

I exited the woods and looked behind me to scan the treetops aglow in the late afternoon sun and saw a red-tailed hawk soar above them, its tail lit up auburn as it changed course and flew out of sight.

The cats, too, felt the suns’s transformation, choosing to soak in its warm glow through the window.

February can be tough, but weekends like this sure help.

01/30/2024

This is my private yoga student Linda on her birthday in 2022. She passed away a month ago today.

I first started working with her 10 years ago, when her doctors had recommended she try yoga because she had fallen several times. I saw her weekly until the pandemic, at which point we met twice a week for online sessions, and then twice weekly in person again once it was safe.

Linda experienced many health challenges that zapped her energy and stamina, but there was always something she could work on during our sessions. Sometimes we practiced Chair Yoga, other times we’d go for a walk (she loved pointing out the neighbour’s flowers).

She’d been in the hospital for over 8 months when she died. During that time she insisted on keeping up with her “Darcie Yoga” sessions. I visited her at least twice a week to encourage her to move her feet, her legs, her arms. On days when she was too tired I massaged her feet, rubbed cream on her legs, or gave her a head massage as she told me stories of when she figure-skated as a kid, or shared memories of swimming at her family’s cottage.

Linda taught me that it is always worth trying. She never gave up despite all the health challenges she faced. Together we figured out what was possible for her to do in that moment. Some days towards the end that meant just being together.

There is no doubt that Linda made me a better yoga teacher. I miss her friendship and am forever grateful for everything she taught me during our decade together.

If you scroll through the photos you’ll see the quilts made by Linda’s friend and the arrangement of plants and flowers that always filled her window. Linda loved colour and her friends and family made sure to bring her some to brighten her days in the hospital. She was loved by many.

Here is her extraordinary obituary: https://www.cardinalfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/ms-linda-jewett/

01/26/2024

Hello! It's been a while!

I've been busy teaching private yoga clients (online and in person), teaching my online yoga classes through my website (https://www.darcieclark.com/), and haven't spent as much time on social media the past year.

I'll try to post more often, but if you'd like to keep in touch with me please subscribe to my newsletter.

Thanks!

https://www.darcieclark.com/pages/subscribe

01/26/2024

Have you simply accepted the fact that your back is stiff because you’re “of a certain age?”

What if I told you that practicing three simple movements most days could diminish your back pain, improve your trunk mobility, increase your ability to balance, and greatly improve your overall spinal health?

When we move the spine through side-bends, twists, flexion and extension those activities activate the muscles that support the spinal column. Those muscles play an important role in trunk stability, mobility, and your overall sense of and ability to balance.

Practice this 15 minute sequence of movements to keep your spine limber and your back feeling great! You'll move your spine through side bends, twists, and flexion and extension. These simple movements can be practiced daily or many times throughout your day!

Have you simply accepted the fact that your back is stiff because you’re “of a certain age?” What if I told you that practicing three simple movements most d...

01/10/2023

If you're looking for a gentler way to practice Sun Salutations check out the most recent class on my YouTube Channel.

We start with a seated warm-up for the wrists, shoulders, spine, and hips before practicing a couple variations of Sun Salutations using the chair. This method means less strain on the wrists, shoulders, and lower back while your joints and muscles still benefit from the flowing movements.
Video link in comments below.

12/09/2022

Movement Moments.

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I got home late, played with the cats, and when I went to tidy up my studio in preparation for my online class the next morning, I found myself moving. Tending to myself in these small ways helps me through this busy period.

My cat Griffin gave me about ten minutes before calling me back to playing. You can hear his cute meows at the beginning of the video, which captures the last part of my impromptu movement practice.

Subscribe to my newsletter that goes out tomorrow morning to get some free practices to help you through the holiday season.

https://www.darcieclark.com/pages/freeclasses

10/20/2022

In my Chair Yoga Teacher Training course last weekend we explored ways to find neutral spine through specific movements such as pelvic tilts, head and neck movements, and the six movements of the spine.

Neutral spine is when the curves of your spine are balanced atop a stable pelvis and affords the maximal space between the vertebrae, greater core and structural support, and an easier breath. It’s often the position we hold when we do other yoga poses and movements.

However, finding neutral spine is like chasing a unicorn! Its ideal form doesn’t exist, is a moving target, and is different for everyone.

It’s important as yoga teachers not to strive for perfection or absolutes, but rather look for the areas of potential and possibility in our students.

We all have habits, or surgeries, or disabilities that affect how we move and how we hold ourselves. In every one of us, though, there are ways to explore how to find more ease, or more effort to feel greater support, strength, stability, relaxation, etc. (whatever the person may need in that moment).

This means that someone with hyperkyphosis, forward head posture, degrees of paralysis, dystonia (muscle contractions), or scoliosis can still explore how to bring themselves closer to neutral. We all have degrees of posture that a balance of individual effort and ease can change.

So, let’s see the areas of potential in our students and let them explore the possibilities for movement within themselves.