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
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
“I can’t do yoga because I’m not flexible.” How often have we all heard this statement? Believing that you need to be flexible to practice yoga is a common misperception among beginning yoga students that can keep them from returning to the mat. Why is this myth so pervasive, and what can be done 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
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
One of the greatest lacks in our life is, paradoxically, “nothing.” We rarely take time to just be, to rest, to just feel silence, to hear our heart’s deepest longing. We are just too busy, too occupied, too distracted, too over-scheduled. We try so many strategies: new calendars, to-do lists, New Year’s resolutions, and endless promises to ourselves to do … Continued
The most foundational yoga pose of all is Tadasana, or Mountain Pose. Tadasana demands just one simple thing: that we stand with good posture in a way that supports the natural curves of a healthy spine. In our Western sedentary society, however, it’s surprisingly difficult for most yoga students to achieve correct alignment in Tadasana. … Continued
While backbending is a part of asana practice, it is still an unfamiliar movement for the vast majority of our students. It is also a necessary one for a flexible and strong back. In this course, Judith Hanson Lasater will start with a review of the structure of the vertebral column and the primary muscles … Continued
Studying yoga is a process of self-evolution and gradual self-knowing. We all go through stages along the way, we shift, we move forward, we get stuck, we have breakthroughs. But in general, we move in two major ways in our practice: either toward transcendence or toward integration. In this audio course, Judith Hanson Lasater begins with a … Continued
At the heart of our yoga practice lies the deepening relationship between mind and body. Most of us are raised to spend most of our life in our heads, but yoga invites us to develop a much wider experience of our being, and opens us to the rich sensory experience of the somatic landscape. Increasingly, … Continued
Wonder how to deal with tightness in the hips that hold you or your students back in their yoga practice? Yoga poses that create greater balance in the hip joint are some of the most rewarding yoga poses, but they are often challenging, particularly for beginning yoga students. Creating greater balance in the hip joint … Continued