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Summary
On episode 562 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Emily Sharratt, an editor, writer, and qualified yoga instructor who has taught for over seven years and kept a personal practice for almost 20, to discuss her book Yoga Animals: 32 Poses from the Wild.
Emily explains why naming poses after animals, like peacock, downward dog, and crocodile, strips away the intimidation factor that keeps so many people out of a yoga class, and why she believes there is a yoga practice for absolutely everyone, no matter how inflexible or fidgety they think they are.
The conversation covers the difference between vinyasa flow and yin yoga, why breath work is the foundation of the whole practice, and how a handful of simple poses can counter the rounded shoulders and forward neck that come from sitting at a desk and staring at a phone all day.
Links
- https://www.instagram.com/emilytreeyoga
Key Takeaways
- There is a yoga practice for everyone, no matter how inflexible or restless they feel. Emily says the people who insist they are “too inflexible” for yoga are exactly the people who should come to class, because the practice can be customized to whatever your body needs on a given day.
- Breath work is the foundation the rest of yoga is built on. Most adults have unlearned the deep diaphragmatic breathing they were born with and default to shallow chest breathing under stress. Relearning it, through practices like box breathing, gives you a tool for calming the nervous system anywhere, from an elevator to a stressful meeting.
- Vinyasa and yin serve two different purposes. Vinyasa strings poses into a flowing, faster-paced sequence that raises the heart rate and adds a cardiovascular element. Yin holds gentler poses for longer, using props for support, to reach deep connective tissue and give the nervous system a genuine reset.
- A full session follows a deliberate structure. Emily builds every class the same way: breath work and cat-cow to warm up the spine, sun salutations, a standing sequence with a balance pose, seated twists and forward folds, hip openers, back bends, inversions or arm balances, a chest-opening counterpose like fish, and finally restorative poses ending in savasana.
- Yoga can build strength, not just mobility. Emily and Allan both note that a vinyasa-heavy, dynamic class can double as an intense bodyweight workout, not just a stretching session.
- A handful of poses can directly counter desk-job posture problems. For rounding shoulders and a forward-craning neck, Emily recommends cat-cow to move the spine through its range, along with gentle strengthening back bends like locust and sphinx, done with the core engaged to protect the back.
- You need almost no equipment to start. A mat helps, but Emily says a towel to stop slipping is enough to begin, which makes yoga one of the most accessible movement practices available.
- Naming poses after animals lowers the barrier to entry for beginners and kids alike. Emily finds that the storytelling element, calling a pose “peacock” or “crocodile” instead of an unfamiliar Sanskrit term, makes the practice feel playful rather than esoteric, and it is something both she and Allan have seen resonate with children.
- Emily Sharratt’s three strategies to get and stay well: find a form of movement that genuinely gives you pleasure rather than feeling like a chore; choose movement that fits naturally into your existing life, like walking as your main way of getting around, so it never gets neglected; and prioritize connection to nature, even if that just means stepping outside and taking a few deep breaths.
“I’m a firm believer that there is a yoga practice for everyone.”
Emily Sharratt
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