Your Brain on Yoga: 4 Ways Yoga May Help Mitigate Cognitive Decline
Can yoga help curb the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's? A review of 11 studies offers some encouraging preliminary evidence. The statistics are sobering: After age 65, the risk of Alzheimer’s disease doubles approximately every five years. By age 85,
Avoiding the Resolution Blues: How to Make Your New Year's Resolutions Count
Ah - the beginning of a New Year. Like a baby, there's nothing like the prospect of a brandnew year lying before us to inspire the best in us. And so, like a child that still believes in Santa Claus,
Yoga and Weight Loss: How Much of a Calorie Blaster Is Bikram Yoga Really?
Bikram Yoga (Hot Yoga) has soared in popularity in recent years, thanks in large part to its reputation as a “calorie blaster.” Some studios claim their Bikram classes will help you burn as many as 1,000 calories in a
Molecular Magic: New Review Study Suggests Your Yoga Practice Gene Expression
For years, yoga practitioners have reported feeling transformed by their practice—calmer, healthier, more resilient. Now, cutting-edge genetic research is revealing that these benefits extend far deeper than anyone imagined, literally rewriting our cellular code in ways that could slow aging
Pelvic Pain in Men - Is Your Prostate at Fault?
Confession: I treat men for pelvic floor problems—lots of them. Seriously, I think my schedule is often about 30% men. This shouldn’t have to be a confession. You shouldn’t be surprised by this, but you possibly are. I mean, my
Picture Perfect Posture: Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Tadasana is also known as Mountain Pose. It is the most foundational of all yoga postures, in fact, the principles of Tadasana or Mountain Pose translate into all yoga postures. In other words, once you get Tadasana right, you have
Tired, Achy Feet? Try These 6 Yoga Poses for Relief
Why is yoga so beneficial for the feet? Whether it’s a night on the town in high heels, a trail run in new running shoes, or an afternoon walking the flea market in flip-flops, our feet take quite the pounding
Concerned about Your Posture? How Yoga Can Help
Maintaining good posture as we age seems like such a simple thing we tend to take for granted. Yet, if we don’t actively work on maintaining and improving posture, there is almost an inevitable trend toward poor posture and unhealthy
Vagus Nerve Activity Can Impact Cancer Prognosis, Research Shows
What gives people greater resilience in the face of life-threatening illnesses like cancer? Researchers now believe that vagal nerve activity may contribute to enhanced health and longer life expectancy for individuals with cancer, as well as to enhanced cardiac health
4 Ways to Fit Yoga into Your Day—No Leggings Required
As a yoga instructor and practitioner, I can see that for many people, one of the biggest obstacles to maintaining a consistent yoga practice is lack of time. Add up all the pieces of getting to a yoga class—traveling, getting
4 Yoga Practices to Stimulate the Vagus Nerve
The vagus nerve is the longest of 12 cranial nerves in the autonomic nervous system. The word vagus in Latin means “wanderer,” aptly named because the vagus nerve spans from the brainstem to the colon with branches that innervate the heart, lungs, liver, spleen,
Asana Is a Question - Shifting from Performance to Presence in Yoga (Free Video with Judith Hanson Lasater)
Discovering the True Purpose of Your Yoga Practice Here's a question for you: When you move into a yoga pose, like a forward bend, where are you trying to go? If you're like most of us, you're likely aiming for
Free Yoga Video! A Gratitude Practice with Judith Hanson Lasater
How Your Practice Can Cultivate a Richer Emotional Life We usually think of yoga practice as a means to get stronger, more flexible, and as a means to help retain our youthful vitality as we get older. But have you
Teaching Svadhyaya: 3 Ways to Encourage Self-Study in Yoga
As yoga teachers, our job is to teach yoga. This means more than teaching our students how to do yoga poses and how to breathe properly. It’s also our duty to impart some of the deeper wisdom and more
Sthira and Sukha - Balancing Effort and Ease in Yoga Asana
When you imagine a yoga class, what comes to mind? Do you envision an array of sweaty bodies in Lululemon garb contorting themselves into pretzel-like shapes? Or perhaps you picture a roomful of fit and healthy yogis flowing gracefully through