What’s one of the best predictors of how well you are aging, which you’ve likely never heard about? Curiously, it’s grip strength. What is grip strength anyway? It is a measure of your hand and arm strength. While the strength of our grip may seem irrelevant, in study after study, grip strength has proven to … Continued
Struggling with finding correct alignment in your yoga practice? Most people do. The sad reality is that most yoga students struggle with finding ease and comfort in yoga poses. Many poses are difficult, and our tendency is to muscle our way into poses in an effort to “do yoga” the way we think we should. … Continued
Do You Struggle with These Common Pelvic Floor Problems? Feeling a constant need to go to the bathroom, even though you’ve just been there – and don’t really need to go? You may be dealing with an overactive bladder – a form of incontinence that is surprisingly common. Pelvic floor problems like incontinence and pelvic … Continued
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
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
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
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
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
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
The number of people with hip replacement is on the rise, and the largest increase is in the 45-54 age group. If you’re a yoga teacher looking to keep your students safe and/or attract more students for privates, it’s essential to learn how to teach yoga safely to this group of people. And, if you’re … Continued