Animal Flow: Do believe the hype

Chancing are, you've been hearing about the incredible benefits of Animal Flow and Primal Locomotion.  Athletes are adding it to their HIIT days, yogis are weaving it into their flows and more and more movers are joining in! Through Animal Flow, discover next level strength and unbelievable agility. Forge the absolute best mobility you've ever have in your life.

Why the hype?

Animal Flow is an incredibly efficient movement methodology for full-body transformation. Animal Flow is so effective because all of the postures and techniques specifically train and target our body’s fascia.

Fascia is the organ of structure. It is the overall fabric that makes up our whole body. There are 12 fascial lines in our body. These lines wrap around muscles, separate muscle fibers, and muscles from bones, as well as connect them. They are involved in all movements the human body is capable of performing. Your immune system, athletic performance, and pain management success all stem from having healthy functioning fascia. It helps with stress and pain reduction by evenly spreading forces among muscle, joints, and bones while helping to conserve energy by harnessing momentum through its elastic properties.

Animal Flow is essentially about reconnecting with how our bodies were actually designed to move. By exploring the different planes of movement, crawling, rolling, jumping and crouching, we unlock the complexity and diversity of how our bodies can move. And the best thing about it is that it is entirely functional. 

​Primal Movement and animal locomotion will improve strength, mobility, posture and fitness – but also your capacity to move with balance and coordination. To move with less effort and tension…it literally develops your central nervous system to 'move better'. Primal Movement returns us to the way our bodies are meant to move — the way we each moved as children, and the ways humans have been moving for all of time.

The Seven Components of Animal Flow

There are seven main components of Animal Flow that we practice in each session. These components weave together to create a balanced and sustainable system of movement that is accessible to movers and athletes of any level.
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1. Wrist Mobilizations: Since we spend so much time on our hands, we always warm up with a series of wrist stretches, movements and strength exercises.
2. Activations: Activations are almost like "core work", They are two specific poses that we practice on repeat to create the strength and stability need for all of our other forms.
3. Form Specific Stretches: These are our poses, just like in yoga. They have specific alignment and engagement to create strength and mobility in our bodies.
4. Transitions and Switches: This makes up the bulk of our Animal Flow practice and is how we weave our Form Specific Stretches together.
5. Traveling Forms: One of the aspects of Animal Flow that is so unique is that our movements take us all around a space. We are no longer confined to a single yoga mat. Traveling forms allow us to explore new territories in really fun ways.
6. Flows: All of the previous five components thread together to create flows. Our flows are usually just a few minutes long, they creatively weave togethers forms. activations, switches and transitions. See an example in the video above!
7. Filming: Recording our flows is one of the hallmarks of the Animal Flow Practice. It allows us to see how we move, builds mind to body awareness, and helps us connect to our global Animal Flow community. Simple type Animal Flow in any social media search bar and see amazing flows created by the world-wide Animal Flow family.

Expect the unexpected:
Animal Flow looks very different than our "traditional" types of yoga. Firstly, we do not use a yoga mat and we move around an entire room instead of a small quadrant. Also, postures and transitions are classified by the animal which inspired them instead of sanskrit names. Created by Mike Fitch, the Animal Flow methodology incorporates primal locomotion, fluid transitions and functional movement patterning. It's sweaty, challenging and playful.

What you will need for our class:
Animal Flow requires no equipment. Not even a yoga mat. We practice directly on the ground, so if you don't like being on all fours- this may not be the class for you. Animal Flow is usually practiced with bare feet, but if feet are sensitive you are welcome to pack a clean pair of five-finger shoes (such as Vibrams) or grippy toe socks. Regular socks are not recommended as they don't have enough grip.
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Your first class at Troy City Yoga?
Please follow the link below to read our First Class FAQs and get all the important info before arriving! 

Your first visit to TCY