Human Pretzel: A Twist Practice

About This Class

Mike Nader leads a purposefully sequenced twisting practice designed to progressively warm, stabilize, and rotate the spine from every angle. The class opens on all fours with cat-cow-style spinal waking and Downward Dog, then moves into asymmetrical standing work linking Parsvottanasana and Warrior One to build lower-back strength before the twists begin. A chair-pose series deepens core stability, followed by wide-legged revolved standing poses, Warrior Three, and standing splits with dynamic hamstring pulses. The sequence peaks with twisting triangle, twisting half moon (with optional floating arms), a twisting arm balance (Parsva Bakasana), and a challenging wide-legged standing bind twist. The floor cool-down layers in dynamic bridge with cervical rotation, supine leg twists, asymmetrical half-bow pose, child's pose, and Shavasana. Ujjayi breath is woven throughout. Mike explicitly frames the practice as grounding and balancing for the nervous system, making it ideal for unwinding stress while building genuine rotational strength and spinal mobility.