Balance Lives in Your Standing Foot, Not Your Lifted Leg
When a balancing posture wobbles, most of us fixate on the leg in the air. We try to control it, steer it, will it to stay put. The steadier path runs in the opposite direction. Your stability is built in
Facilitating Calm & Balance: Understanding the Multi-Functional Psoas Muscle
On the list of MVMs—most valuable muscles that is—the psoas muscle, or more precisely the iliopsoas chain, is at the top of any yogi’s list. It is after all, the physical link between the spine and the legs. The primary
Try Crane Pose From a Block Before You Trust It to Your Arms
Most of us assume Crane Pose (Bakasana) is a matter of raw arm strength, and that we will simply float up once our arms are strong enough. The truth is more encouraging. The thing that lets you lift is the
Cow Face Pose: How a Block Under Your Hips Opens the Stacked-Knee Stretch
Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana) has a reputation for being out of reach. You see the deeply stacked knees and assume your hips simply will not cooperate. Indeed, for many of us who sit in chairs all day, settling onto the
Rolling Right: How to Re-Enter after Savasana
Physical therapists and yoga teachers alike tell us that rolling to your side before sitting up from a supine position is healthier for your back. But why do so many yoga teachers suggest rolling onto our right sides specifically? And
Standing Yoga Poses: The "Suspenders" Cue That Steadies Every One
If you are newer to yoga, the standing yoga poses can feel like a lot to track at once. Where do the feet go? What are the hips doing? Indeed, it is easy to focus so hard on the shape
The Real Engine of Boat Pose Is Your Whole Spine, Not Just Your Abs
When most of us settle into Boat Pose (Navasana), we brace for an ab burn and wait for it to be over. We think of it as a stomach exercise, plain and simple. Yet the practitioners who feel steady and
10 Yoga Balance Tips for Developing Proprioception and Maintaining Good Balance
Maintaining our ability to balance is essential as we age. About a third of the population over the age of 65 takes a fall each year. At age 80, half of the seniors fall annually. Falling is the leading cause
Yoga for Detoxification: How to Power Up Your Body's Natural Detox Processes
Yoga helps detox our bodies. Let's build heat in our practice today. Twist longer. Breathe deeper. Sweat harder. You’ve probably heard those phrases in a yoga class before. But are they true? Can yoga really help detox your body by
Full Wheel Pose: The Intermediate Step Most People Skip That Makes Everything Safer
Full Wheel Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana) is one of yoga's deepest backbends. It asks for openness through your shoulders, your hip flexors, and the entire front of your body. Most practitioners who struggle with it aren't lacking flexibility. They load the
Gentle Yoga Flow: Why Slowing Down Produces Deeper Results Than Pushing Harder
There's a version of yoga that treats difficulty as progress — faster sequences, deeper stretches, longer holds at the edge of comfort. A gentle yoga flow asks a different question: what if slowing down is actually the more demanding practice?
The First Yama: Ahimsa – Nonviolence
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali delineated the eight limbs of yoga. These precepts are intended as guidelines to living a life with meaning and purpose. We can seem them as a kind of map for seekers of greater happiness and
Judith Hanson Lasater: The Greatest Gift of Yoga Asana
All I remember of my first asana (posture) class is the ceiling. Between movements, we would be instructed to lie down on our mat and rest. I do not remember very much about what we did, but I do remember
DEXA Fracture Risk: Does Your Scan Tell the Whole Story?
Osteoporosis Myth: Your DEXA Score Tells You Everything You Need to Know About Your Fracture Risk The Reality: Your DEXA score is only one piece of a much larger fracture risk picture. Read that again. The scan tells you about
The Weight Distribution Secret Inside Downward Facing Dog Pose That Protects Your Wrists
Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana) shows up in nearly every yoga class. It's often called a rest pose. Yet if it actually felt restful, teachers wouldn't need to keep offering modifications for wrist pain, tight hamstrings, and shoulders