Discover YOUR yoga.
Happy Friday! Today we're continuing our look at Supta Padangusthasana, or Reclined Hand-To-Big-Toe Pose. If you missed Part 1 of this series, you can catch up on that here. While this is a pose we often think of as a hamstring stretch, there are a lot of other things you can explore in this shape.… Continue reading Fresh Take Friday: Supta Padangusthasana Part 2
Happy Friday! Today, we're taking a fresh look at Supta Padangusthasana (Reclined Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose). This is a common pose done lying on the back. One leg is extended into the air, usually either with a strap around the foot or holding the big toe in the fingers. This is often thought of as a hamstring… Continue reading Fresh Take Friday: Supta Padangusthasana Part 1
Photo by Cliff Booth on Pexels.com Happy Friday! Today we're taking a fresh look at how we're doing twists. Twisting, or spinal rotation, shows up in a variety of yoga poses - standing, seated, and lying down. Like many yoga poses, we often approach twists with the idea that more is better. To twist more… Continue reading Fresh Take Friday: Twists
Photo by Tree of Life Seeds on Pexels.com Pain is definitely a sign that something isn't functioning quite right in the body, but the existence of pain is also a normal part of being alive. It's an indicator that the body is functioning correctly; it's communicating with you about what isn't working and what needs to change.… Continue reading Practicing Yoga with Pain
One of the most common requests I get from yoga students is "hip openers". A lot of people report that the hips feel tight, stiff, or limiting - and it can feel really good to get a stretch sensation in this area. But what does it mean to "open" the hips? The hip is a… Continue reading Fresh Take Friday: Can You Feel Your Hip Flexors?
Happy Friday. Today we're taking a fresh look at a common seated forward fold. I want to acknowledge Leslie Kaminoff for influencing how I'm thinking about and practicing this pose these days. Pashimottanasana (Intense Stretch of the West Pose) is a seated forward fold usually done with the legs together. It's often done either holding… Continue reading Fresh Take Friday: Paschimottanasana
Happy Friday! Today we're taking a fresh look at... well... Fresh Take Fridays, your to-do list, yoga itself, the sacred art of rest, non-attachment, and taking your yoga off the mat. Yoga has become so synonymous with the achievement of poses in the West that many people aren't aware that the term yoga refers to… Continue reading Fresh Take Friday: On Letting Go
Take a look at the picture below. How many folks are worried about her front knee? Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com If you've taken a yoga class before, you've probably heard the cardinal rule: Don't let your knee go past your ankle. When I did teacher training, that's one of the things we were taught… Continue reading Fresh Take Friday: What about the knee?
What the Yoga Sutras reveal about nature of yoga Yoga beginners often tell me I'm not flexible enough to do yoga or I need to get in shape first. In the West, we’ve come to think of yoga as synonymous with the practice (or sometimes performance) of physical postures and the development of super-human flexibility,… Continue reading What is Yoga?
Happy Friday, everyone. I took a little break from the blog this week, but I'm back. Today, let's take a fresh look at how we're moving through the spine. Your spine. It's an engineering marvel. It bears the loads of being upright in gravity. It is responsive to your movements. It protects your spinal cord… Continue reading Fresh Take Friday: Segmented Spinal Movement
