Yoga Foundations I & II – Making the Heaiing Powers Available to Every Body

All yoga students come to their practice with pre-existing physical limitations. Whether it’s lack of flexibility, poor posture, limited strength – or something else, these all have one thing in common: They hold you back from progressing in your practice as smoothly and quickly as you might otherwise.

Moreover, these physical blind spots not only hamper progress, but may predispose us for injury and chronic pain issues as we get older.

What if there was a way to not only understand what your unique limitations are – but also learn how to structure your practice to overcome them? And what if overcoming these limitations not only help you develop a more fulfilling yoga practice, but also can help heal previous injuries and other limitations in the extended body-mind?

Well, now you can. We are very pleased to offer this opportunity to study online with Iyengar yoga teacher and physical therapist Julie Gudmestad of Gudmestad Yoga in Portland, Oregon. No matter what your age (or that of your students), learn the essential biomechanics that will help you lay the foundation for a lifelong healthy yoga practice. In this online course, Julie draws on her 30+ years of yoga teaching experience to demonstrate the common biomechanical limitations students bring to their practice, how to observe them, and how to overcome them.

The course comes in two parts: Yoga Foundations I focuses on the biomechanics of Upper Body Balance; Yoga Foundations II focuses on the Biomechanics of Lower Body Balance.

Best Deal: Get our Premium Option with both Foundations Courses, plus some great bonuses! See details below.

What You Will Learn – Yoga Foundations I

• Telltale signs of posture imbalances and how they affect alignment in yoga postures

• The key muscles involved in common posture imbalances and best yoga poses to counteract them

• Yoga poses and sequences that are particularly useful to help correct shoulder tightness and imbalances in the erector spinae, to improve spinal alignment and relieve back pain

• How to focus the stretch or strengthening actions on the thoracic spine, or midback, while avoiding compensations in the lumbar and cervical regions

• Participate in asana practice sessions that allow you to feel, in your own body, the actions of muscles and the dramatic affects of subtle changes in alignment

What You Will Learn – Yoga Foundations II

• Essentials of Healthy Core Strengthening – Learn why core strengthening is so important and why most people go about it completely wrong

• Why imbalanced core strengthening can lead to neck and back pain, and even difficulties breathing

• The hamstring conundrum facing most yoga practitioners and how to avoid the fall-out of tight hamstrings

• The most ignored muscles in yoga classes that you need to get to know, which impact everything from inversions to arm balances and standing poses

• One of the most critical muscle groups to focus on to stay mobile and fully functional as we get older

Also Enjoy These Bonuses

Yoga Foundations I: Biomechanics of Upper Body Balance

Sessions 1-2: Posture Foundations – Restoring Verticality

Poor posture is rampant in today’s society. Many people coming to yoga have lost their sense of proper postural alignment and need to develop a better awareness of verticality. Julie shows how to help students develop the foundation for neutral alignment in yoga postures, and permanently transform how you carry yourself throughout the day. Lecture and Practice.

Sessions 3-4: Keys to Shoulder Opening – How to Avoid Common Compensations

Many yoga poses require full range of motion in the shoulders, which is a problem for most people in our sedentary society. When yoga students have limited shoulder movement, the result is often compensations which transfer the movement into the low back or neck. Learn how to spot common compensations and how to avoid them by creating greater opening in all the muscles that affect the health of the shoulder joint. Lecture and Practice.

Sessions 5-6: Arm and Shoulder Foundations: Preparing for Weight-Bearing on the Arms

Keeping the arms and shoulders strong is essential for aging bodies, and weight-bearing yoga poses are great for this. However, when people start yoga, weak arms and shoulders can create problems with wrists, elbows and shoulders, a common complaint among people beginning yoga. In these sessions, Julie demonstrates progressive ways to help students build up the strength needed in arms, wrists, and shoulders to avoid pain and injury. Lecture and Practice.

Sessions 7-8 Tackling Forward Head Posture: Restoring Upper Back, Neck and Head Alignment

If your neck needs some TLC, these sessions are for you! Neck problems are epidemic in our society where most people work or drive with poor alignment of their shoulders and neck. Poor neck alignment contributes to neck pain, headaches, and jaw problems, and can also be related to stress and tension. Julie demonstrates the key muscles involved, and guides us through a practice to release common tension points. Lecture and Practice.

Yoga Foundations II: Core and Lower Body

Sessions 9-10 Core Strengthening – Front-Back Team Work

Most core work focuses on the abdominal muscles, but it is equally important to strengthen the muscles of the back to avoid muscular imbalances, which can lead to back pain down the road. As we build strength in the abdominals and core, we must also teach the muscles to relax when the strengthening is over. Julie shows how to do both, and how to build the challenge gradually to keep it fun and enjoyable.

Sessions 11-12: Pelvic Alignment: Foundation for a Healthy Spine

Most Westerners don’t have a sense of where the pelvis is in space, and how it affects the alignment of the spine. The gift we can get from yoga is to make our spinal alignment healthier and prevent some of the back problems that are so prevalent in our society. Julie covers the three orientations of the pelvis in relation to the spine and shows how these affect spinal alignment. She shows essential teaching methodology to help restore awareness of pelvic alignment. Lecture and Practice.

Sessions 13-14: Safe Hip Opening for Western Bodies

Most people come to yoga with tight hips and very limited range of motion. The hip joint has a very wide range of potential movement, and we need this full range of motion in yoga. It’s critical to help students open the hips safely, as tight hips otherwise lead to compensations in the knees, lumbar spine or SI joint. Julie offers a soothing hip opening practice that can help students make progress safely, and open the hips over time.

Sessions 15-16 Last but Not Least: Creating Healthy Feet

When we wear shoes all day long, numerous problems often ensue. The sole of the shoes doesn’t allow the joints of the foot to move the way they should do. With that, we also lose the strength and flexibility in the muscles that support the feet and the arches of the feet. We also lose sensitivity in the feet, which can have balance implications as we get older. Julie shows how to use yoga to help regain the strength of flexibility of the feet, and also regain the sensitivity and control that is critical to preserve long-term balance. Lecture and Practice.