Yoga Pose Primer: How to Get into Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana)

Gomukhasana, or Cow Face Pose (go = cow, muhk = face, asana = pose), is one of those seated yoga postures that is more challenging than it appears (or the fun name suggests). Perhaps that is because it’s as equally

For Weight Loss, Mindfulness is Key

When it comes to weight management, skip the tough and go straight to the love. The moments you overfeed your body are moments of suffering. When you see others in pain, you offer your love and compassion. Yet your inner

Is Yoga Safe? A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Says Yes

In 2012, William Broad’s sensationalist article, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” and subsequent book, The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards, triggered a firestorm of debate about the danger of yoga postures. His exaggerated claims about the

Teaching Yoga to Seniors - Ten Tips to Strike the Right Note

More and more seniors are taking up yoga for healthy aging. Yoga teacher Jennifer Williams-Fields offers key tips for teaching yoga to older adults.  Of course, just like my children, I love all my yoga classes equally. But, my big yoga teacher

Yoga for Stress Relief off the Mat: The Zen of Doing

“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.”   ~ Zen proverb​ In the chaos of the modern world, there is beauty in simply doing. We’re buffeted wildly by whatever emails, conversations, news, events, demands that are

Use Music to Heal Yourself: Four Techniques

Since the cradle of civilization, people have used music to heal. In the Bible, David healed Saul through harp music. Krishna healed with his flute, and the ancient Hawaiians used song and chant in healing. The god Apollo oversaw both

Kindness to You is Kindness to Me; Kindness to Me is Kindness to You

What do you need? The Practice:Kindness to you is kindness to me; kindness to me is kindness to you. Why? I usually describe a practice as something to do: get on your own side, see the being behind the eyes,

Why Worry?

[Tweet “”If it can be fixed why worry? If it can’t be fixed, what’s the point of worrying?” ~ Shantideva”] This is definitely one of my favorite quotes. I have had this plastered on my family’s chalkboard for a couple

The Neuroscience of How Yoga Helps Your Mental Health – Part 7: Tend and Befriend

With this article, Subtle Yoga founder Kristine Kaoverii Weber continues her blog series about a research paper exploring how yoga affects psychological health. This is Part 7 of the series. To start at the beginning of the blog posts click here: Neuroscience of Yoga. Women, Yoga

Natasha Rizopoulos: Asana – Taking a Look at The Big Picture

Recently a student told me she missed the philosophy page that was on my old website, so I decided to revisit what I had written and bring it up to date as a kind of statement of purpose for why

New Study Shows that Mindfulness Is Effective for Depression

Recurrent depression is a tough disease to battle. Like most mental heath issues, sufferers appear outwardly fine. On the inside, however, you may experience a lack of energy, loss of interest in many activities, and pervasive feelings of sadness or

Utkatasana: Awaken Your Inner Fire

Have you ever seen the famous paintings of ancient Indian yogis sitting in chairs meditating? Me neither. Over the millennia, the vast majority of sadhus who committed themselves to the yogic life owned little more than the minimal clothing they

9 Phrases to Purge from Your Yoga Instruction

One of my friends had recently reported on her experience in a yoga class: “The teacher was really nice, but she kept calling us “folks” literally in every sentence and sometimes twice in one sentence. It was really distracting.” Oh

A Full Plate, An Empty Garden & Another Post About Finding Balance

I will not be tending a backyard vegetable garden this year. Shocking, I know. I live in the South, my house sits on an acre and a half, and I already have the boxes built from last year’s failed garden

The Battle Between Success and Compassion

If you were asked to rank in order of importance academic achievement, happiness, and care for others as priorities for our young people today, how would you respond? If you’re like most parents and teachers in the U.S., you would

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