For many students proper body alignment in yoga poses doesn’t come naturally. Beginners come to yoga classes with the “baggage” of habitual movement patterns, physical restrictions, poor body awareness and lack of understanding of the purpose and form of postures. More experienced practitioners might have improper training or excessive mobility that causes them to “collapse” … Continued
What does yoga have to do with your hormones? Plenty! Just about every yoga pose you do has an impact on the hormonal (endocrine) system in your body – making yoga a fabulous way to support this system and keep your hormones healthy. With focus and intention, we can use our yoga practice to keep … Continued
Spinal extension and flexion each have tremendous benefits for both body and mind. When we open the front body with backbends, we counteract the effects of daily lives often spent hunched over screens and steering wheels, thus mobilizing the upper back and opening the heart in transformative ways. When we forward bend, we have the … Continued
We tend to think of meditation as a thought practice. In fact, Judith notes, meditation is a very physical practice and “enlightenment” is a corporeal experience. Meditation, when done from the point of view of body awareness instead of the point of view as thought awareness, is infinitely more powerful. In this course, renowned yoga … Continued
The ancient yoga masters instructed us to conserve our prana so our mind would be clear and our energy vibrant. Linking breath to prana they discovered the secret to health through a process of reduction and subtlety. Yet, our modern day yoga classes have us noisily respiring at huge volumes that expend prana and may … Continued
We now know that muscles don’t work in isolation and instead form part of an intricate fascial web that connects and wraps around the body in lines of meridians that influence movement. Whole body movement practices like Feldenkrais, Yoga, Gyrotonics and Tai Chi already work with these lines. SomaSensing is a simple somatic movement practice … Continued
Ana’s Easy Does It series invites you to reawaken your relationship with your body. This series is designed to re-energize, refresh, and empower. Awakening Your Body In this first practice of the Easy Does It series, Ana invites you to reawaken your relationship with your body by asking, what part of this can I do? … Continued
In this course with Judith Hanson Lasater, you will learn how to practice yoga twists safely and effectively to receive the benefits of these powerful yoga poses. Judith will explore how you can use twists to promote a healthy balance for the organs in the chest and abdomen, as well as explore the theories of why … Continued
Can yoga practice predispose you to sacroiliac (SI) joint pain? In her travel and teaching around the world, renowned yoga teacher Donna Farhi has found that SI joint issues are one of the most common complaints that she sees in yoga practitioners. Can yoga practice predispose you to sacroiliac (SI) joint pain? In her travel … Continued
The pelvic floor is literally the foundation for our whole body: it sits at the bottom of our torso and forms the floor for all our organs. It serves as the base for our core musculature and plays a crucial role in our overall postural and functional health. Because of this, when the pelvic floor is … Continued
The growing understanding of fascia – the connective tissue of the body – is transforming the way we view the body and what it takes to stay healthy. We know now that fascia plays a key role for not just our structural health and well-being, but for numerous aspects of our health and our ability … Continued
Mother always told us to “Stand up straight.” What did she and our ancestors know about standing upright that has taken a backseat in our modern culture? They knew that good posture is intimately related to good function, which is the basis of a healthy, supple, and strong spine that can flex, twist, and extend. … Continued