Yoga Practice for Better Sleep
Two years into World War II, the US military realized that due to extraordinarily high levels of stress and lack of sleep many of the combat pilots began to freeze up in flight and make potentially fatal mistakes. To counteract
Holiday Entertaining with Healthy Chocolate Mousse
Who says you can’t eat your greens… and your chocolate, too, in one dish? This healthy yet decadent chocolate mousse tastes like the “real deal” with each creamy and rich spoonful. Enjoying pleasurable foods, including dessert, is the key ingredient
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
Looking Back: Yoga U Online's Most Widely Read Articles of 2018
As 2018 winds down, we at Yoga U Online invite you to revisit—or visit for the first time—the eight articles on our site that garnered the most attention and discussion on our social media sites. The articles vary in scope
Varicose Veins: A Yoga Practice That Can Help Alleviate Symptoms
Since humans are bipeds, standing and walking upright adds more pressure to the veins of legs and feet and these tend to wear out easily. Thus, while any vein may become varicose, the veins of the legs and feet are
What Is Mechanical Back Pain? How to Reeducate Your Nervous System to Alleviate Pain
If you’re suffering from back pain, you’re not alone. Between 50 and 80 percent of Americans will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. (1) It’s estimated that 97 percent of cases of back pain are mechanical
Deep Rest: Healing Yoga for Cancer-Related Fatigue
For most people, a good night’s sleep will set us right when we experience occasional fatigue. Cancer-related fatigue is different and not completely understood by allopathic medicine. This deep tiredness is not alleviated by sleeping and is one of the
Preparing for Handstand: 7 Alignment Tips for “L” Handstand
As a yoga student, it can be wildly intimidating to be in class and all of a sudden you hear “take your mat to the wall for Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana) practice.” Your eyes look across the room to watch
Healthy Joints: 10 Things I Wish I’d Known about Hypermobility Before I Started Practicing Yoga
While it became fairly obvious that I was hyper-flexible early on in my yoga career, I never really understood to what degree. Nor did I fully grasp the implications of having hypermobility, aside from meaning that I was more flexible
Sleep to Stabilize Your Mind: How the Yoga Sutras Interpret Dreaming and Deep Sleep
I am a big fan of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. I believe that they are full of insights that can help us better understand our experiences on a daily basis and give us tools to deal with life’s challenges. There is
The Rotator Cuff: What It Is and How to Prevent Injuries through Yoga Practice
The number of rotator cuff injuries reported in the United States is increasing, as are the number of surgical interventions for such injuries. These injuries can be debilitating and interfere with work and recreation. Healing can take a long time,
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, would be at the top of any yogi’s list. It is after all, the physical link between the spine and the legs. The
Making Peace with Our Differences: Cultivating Equanimity in Relationships
It’s been a full year since a dear friend succumbed to cancer. A longtime yoga student and generous soul, I was privileged to know her for 20 years. I think about her often. Even now, sometimes my mind has a
Fall Favorite: Butternut Squash Soup
This is a fall favorite in my house that is flexible and can include whatever veggies you have on hand. The savory roasted vegetables and herbs combine beautifully to create a smooth, creamy and nourishing soup. Serve garnished with toasted
A Vagus Nerve Reset: How to Connect with Your Happy Place
In this post, I am introducing a concept called The Pressure System. The Pressure System is a “3D Approach” to Protecting Your Happy Place, which means a place where you are resilient, have a strong core and low back, and