BodyBalance 99 Highlights
Launching on Monday 3 April, this brand-new release will run for 8 weeks until Saturday 27 May. Full track listings can be found below.
BB99 has a strong focus on postural strength, with powerful sequences that target the upper half of the posterior chain.
Our tai-chi warm up brings us into our breath and our bodies, with an easy first round creating presence and a more immersive second round taking us through a larger range of movement. A beautiful yoga sequence activates the back of the body and the bridge arm flows and bear to down dog combination feel just divine!
A simple sun salutation set to uplifting music continues to warm and mobilise, and there are options to scale intensity. We follow this with our first ever moon salutation – a dynamic flow from side to side which takes us down into a gratifying kung fu style crouching side lunge.
Two standing strength tracks then challenge the legs and upper body posture to combat the forward leaning tendency of modern life.
Serenaded by one of the most iconic tunes ever – Somebody To Love by Queen – the balance track flows through diver’s and dancer’s poses into a heart-opening star, with the desire to sing along definitely adding an extra balance challenge!
In the hip track, the combination of 90-90 pose, swan, half lotus and torso rotations really hits the spots where most of us feel restricted.
The core abdominal exercises are short and simple, promoting inner unit strength and stability, while the core back moves are a real game changer in this release! Starting with shoulder girdle elevation and retraction in waiter’s bow to enhance posture, improve shoulder mobility and alleviate shoulder pain, a variation on pointer also works the upper half of the posterior chain, and a plank to bear scorpion sequence feels strong and empowering.
The twists feature a beautiful lying flow into an expansive spiral, and there is an optional balance challenge at the end with eagle.
The workout part of the class concludes with two simple and soothing forwards bends tracks which include deep folds, side stretches and the opportunity to release tension from the spine and hips in a series of back lying poses.
We then nourish the mind with relaxation and meditation whilst listening to calming piano sounds for BodyBalance favourites Gabrielle Peake and Stanton Lanier and a captivating composition from Levi Patel.
As always, our live classes feature an extended relaxation, with one meditation track from the current release and two we are re-visiting from previous releases – BB95 from a year ago and BB72 from seven years ago.
