3 IT Band Stretches for Road Warriors
Road warriors: we see them running or cycling. Perhaps you are one or have been one yourself. These physical activities have many great health benefits but can also cause the iliotibial (IT) band to get tight, irritated, and inflamed. IT
Improve Your Balance: Yoga Practice for Seniors
This yoga practice for seniors is designed to help them maintain strength and agility, improve balance and develop mental focus. It uses simple balance poses in various positions (on hands and knees, feet, and pelvis) to work on physical balance. Alternate Nostril
3 Posture Myths You Can Let Go of Now
It’s a cornerstone of Cognitive Behavior Therapy that what you think determines how you feel. How you feel determines what you do, and what you do—no surprises here—determines your results. Your results then reinforce your thoughts, and around it goes
4 Ways to Practice Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga
Healing from trauma invites you to befriend your body. This needs to occur at a pace that honors your unique needs. Initially, this involves developing the resources to handle challenging emotions, disturbing symptoms, and distressing memories. The goal is to
Get Twisted With These 6 Yoga Poses
Twisting yoga poses are challenging, fun, and invigorating. They effectively create compression, tension, bending, twisting, and shear forces throughout the body and offer sweet release when unwound. Twists are an excellent way to target multiple tissues throughout the body. They
Relaxation, Yogic Breathing and The Vagus Nerve: It's All About the Exhalation
What is the number one thing anyone is told to do in moments of high intensity or stress? Breathe, of course. But do you know why? It’s not a secret that your breath is the most accessible and powerful tool
Upper Body Strength—Without Push-Ups
Do you remember having to take the Presidential Fitness Test in grade school? I always dreaded it, especially when it came to rope climbing. I was the kid who could never climb more than a few feet off the ground.
Mindfulness and Yoga in Stressful Times
What a time to be alive. In addition to personal and family issues needing attention, there’s the war, school shootings, inflation, climate change, and a will-it-never-end pandemic to contend with. This is why mindfulness of my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
How to Use Yoga Props: 4 Easy Ways to Use a Sandbag in Your Yoga Practice
B.K.S. Iyengar is credited with introducing props into modern yoga as a means of support within the asanas or yoga poses. Some yoga students may see using a prop as cheating. But a prop is nothing more than a tool
Sparks of Divinity: BKS Iyengar’s Wisdom
Have you ever read words that changed your life? Here are some that recently changed mine: “If doubt arises in your discipline, let it come. You do your work and let doubt go about its work. Let’s see which one
How to Handle Challenging Yoga Student Behaviors
Every profession comes with its unique frustrations and challenging interpersonal dynamics. Teaching yoga is no exception. Challenges range from students skipping Relaxation Pose (Savasana) to being averse to using props to over-focusing on getting a hard “workout” from practice. The
Manage Stress for a Stronger Core
When it comes to figuring out how to build a stronger core, most people tend to think it begins and ends with strengthening the abdominal muscles. But there’s much more to the core than that. Yes, it’s a multi-layered group
Practice Embodiment for Trauma Recovery
Embodiment is an active process of self-discovery that you renew and strengthen by repeatedly attending to your sensations, emotions, and instinctual movement impulses. Mindful body-awareness practices help you learn to sustain the focus of your attention on how your body
Somatic TFL and Psoas Release
The past few years of navigating COVID have been an exercise in letting go of expectations. I am reminded to release what can’t be right now and maintain peace in the face of the unexpected. It’s also given me time
6 Tips for Strength Building in Yoga
One of the wonderful things about the asana practice is that all active yoga poses are weight-bearing, even if you are bearing weight on some body part besides your feet. They all require muscle contraction in some form. So any