Breathe Like a Jellyfish: Functional Breathing in Yoga
How functional is your breath? This was the exact question I asked myself in January 2002 when my blood pressure rose and my heart rate became rapid and irregular. My heart was in trouble and I knew it. I needed
Teaching Yoga to Seniors
Years ago I read an article titled “Yoga after 50” that made it sound as if older students practicing yoga is some sort of a novel idea. I couldn’t help but wonder: how did we manage to distort the yoga
Spiritual Wellbeing: What It’s All About
Isn’t it fascinating to consider the paradoxical nature of asana as a practice of spiritual wellbeing? We seek something beyond the body through the body, in the body, and using the body. I recently received an email from a new
5 Fun Ways to Spice Up Eagle Pose
Eagle Pose (Garudhasana) is a challenging standing balance posture. And while Eagle Pose is fun to practice in its own right, it can sometimes be even more fun to play with Eagle Pose variations. The next time you want to
How to Keep Commitments to Ourselves
It is easy to show up to appointments we make with other people. But I’ve noticed that most of us struggle with commitments to ourselves. If we say we’re going to exercise, meditate, write, journal, and work on a project,
The Chronic Pain of Our Healthcare System
Pretty much everywhere in the world, we’ve watched our healthcare systems struggle under the crushing weight of the pandemic. Sure, it’s important to applaud the heroic efforts of healthcare workers and cheer them on. But what they really need is
Book Review: Yoga for Times of Change
Yoga is a potent tool we can employ to accept and adapt to the changing circumstances in our lives. Today’s yoga includes ancient and modern techniques, enabling us to return to balance in the midst of change and uncertainty intrinsic
The Vagus Nerve and Eye Movements
It is often said that the eyes are a window to your soul. Indeed, your eyes provide great insight into how you are feeling. When we are stressed we tend to furrow our brows, contracting the muscles around our eyes
The Mind-Body Connection in Yoga
Many of the benefits of practicing yoga cannot be explained by modern Western science—especially the mystical aspects. Nevertheless, an advantage of approaching yoga scientifically is that we can often identify elements of the practice that produce a benefit. Then we
Surfboard Pose: Soothe Body and Mind
Surfboard Pose (Salamba Salabhasana or Supported Locust Pose) is a wonderful way to gently release the sacrum and lower back while relieving stiffness in the neck, upper back, and shoulders. Lying on the belly also allows us to let go
4 Steps to Boat Pose for Everyone
Boat Pose (Navasana) is a challenging posture that strongly activates your core, hip flexors, and legs. While the shape might look fairly simple to make, it really takes a lot of strength, as well as mobility, to be able to
Fight Alzheimer's: Physical Exercise and Brain Health
It’s a very common myth these days that the best way to keep your brain healthy is to exercise it with mental exercises, you know, by learning a new language, doing crossword puzzles, and so on. But there is more
Is Online Yoga Teacher Training for You?
If there is a silver lining in the pandemic, it is that the dramatic expansion of online yoga has opened up countless new opportunities for yoga teachers. Chief among them is the opportunity to take Yoga Alliance-approved online yoga teacher
16 Steps to Contentment
In our daily lives, we often rush through tasks, trying to get them done, trying to finish as much as we can each day, speeding along in our cars to our next destination, rushing to do what we need to