Lately, I feel like I’ve been defining yoga by what it isn’t rather than what it is. Yoga is not about extreme flexibility, or doing advanced poses, or wearing fancy tights. Having a sanskrit tattoo, standing on your head or taking 5 classes a week will not make you better at yoga. That’s not to […]
There are many benefits derived from back bending. They open the front body, strengthen the back body, extend the spine, and energize the spirit. Of course, like most poses, some people love ‘em and some don’t. We’re spending the month of July practicing a wide range of backbends. Some backbends such as locust and cobra […]
A few days ago, I asked a student to show the class revolved side angle pose. I wanted her to do it since I can’t ground my heel and achieve the “full pose”. Instead, I do it with a lifted heel. It works for me so I’ve never spent much time figuring out why I […]
Recently, I attended a small local meditation gathering where the theme for the evening’s practice was seeing the good in others and ourselves. At first, this seemed like an easy concept to contemplate. After all, I don’t think of myself or others as being “bad”, maybe we make unskillful choices but we aren’t bad by […]
Our local radio station has a segment every other week called Tips for Healthy Living. I recently went to KTNA and had an on-air conversation about the benefits and challenges of self care. It can be especially hard to maintain a routine during the Alaska summertime. But it’s worth the effort and you can do […]
Last week in the Thursday night Inversion Series we practiced supported shoulderstand. Click here if you’d like to check out Jason Crandall’s sequence for warming up for shoulderstand. This inversion is one of the classics. It’s also one of the poses that’s caused me the most struggle. Over the years, I’ve used more blankets, less […]
Transitions are a fundamental part of life. Some are obvious, like graduating from high school, and some are more subtle, like the pause between the inhale and exhale. For the next month or so in my classes I’ll be teaching how to stay present during the transitions between poses and the transitions that turn us […]
