Inversions like Sirsanana (Headstand) and Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand) are also sometimes referred to as the king and queen of asana. They balance the entire nervous system and are considered to be among the most important poses for our daily yoga practice because of their profound effects on physical and emotional health. Benefits of inversions include greater … Continued
Every second of the day, your body is functioning seemingly effortlessly, regulating the literally millions of physiological functions that keep your body running. The part of the nervous system in charge of orchestrating all these functions behind the scenes, so to speak, is the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system regulates all the functions … Continued
As yoga teachers, we often experience situations where students are unable to perform even basic yoga postures properly, because of physical limitations in strength and/or flexibility. To help such students progress, it’s essential for yoga teachers to know how to assess a student’s current strengths and limitations. Join yoga teacher and physical therapist Chrys Kub, … Continued
Motherhood is a rite of passage and yoga is an ideal method for carrying women through that rite of passage into the fourth trimester of postpartum. Yoga can help women embrace motherhood and their new identity, as well recover after giving birth. A woman’s body undergoes miraculous and enormous changes, a complete transformation, during pregnancy … Continued
Like the rest of our body, the brain changes in numerous ways as we get older. What happens to the brain during healthy aging? And are there ways that we can positively influence the changes in the structure and function of the brain, much as we can with muscles and bones? In this course, Dr. … Continued
One of the inevitable changes of aging is a gradual loss of the ability to balance. While this may at first seem insignificant, it is a key factor in the increased risk of fractures people face as they get older. Most fractures of the hip, wrists, or ankle are preceded by a fall, and the … Continued
In this course Dr. Timothy McCall will provide an overview of the emerging field of yoga therapy: the use of yoga and its vast toolbox to help treat virtually any health condition — physical or psychological. Yoga therapy has grown enormously in the last several years, there are ever-increasing numbers of scientific studies examining its effectiveness, … Continued
Moving from the Organs – The Many Benefits of Twisting Postures We often focus on practicing our poses from the spine, arms and legs. But the ancient teachings of yoga also dealt with opening and quieting the organs of the body, like the heart, kidneys and liver that are found in the “kunda” or vessel … Continued
Most people know the importance of core strengthening for health and long-term well-being, but the pelvic floor is an important group of core muscles, which tend to get ignored. “The torso is like a tote bag for your organs,” says Leslie Howard, a Bay area yoga teacher who conducts workshops nationally on pelvic floor strengthening to … Continued
Every pregnancy is different, even for the same the woman. The journey can be both exciting and daunting, especially when trying to safely navigate an ever-changing body through the trimesters. The key to confidence in pregnancy is learning how to utilize the gifts of yoga to better support a woman’s body, mind and heart. So … Continued
Many yoga classes speak about the benefits of hip “opening”, and yet surprisingly, the most common injuries in yoga are related to the hips – back pain, QL issues, piriformis syndrome, labrum tears, SI Joint and knee issues. This begs the question – what are we actually doing in hip openers? It is a little … Continued
Scoliosis affects an estimated 6 million Americans, but millions more than that have minor scoliotic curvatures of the spine, which largely goes unrecognized, but can be the source of discomfort in the spine, shoulders and sacroiliac joints. Yoga, when practiced with insight and self-awareness, is quite well suited to working with scoliosis and the pain … Continued