Embodied Yoga: 3 Ways to "Listen To Your Body" in Yoga

“Listen to your body.” If you practice yoga with any kind of regularity or are even tuned into the modern wellness movement in any way, I’d be willing to bet that you’ve heard this before. Between the lines of that

Empress Pose: Royal Relaxation

My favorite Restorative Yoga pose is Empress Pose because it gives such a wonderful feeling of full support and ease, allowing the body and mind to deeply relax. I hope you will find many hours of peace and healing by

12 Keys to Teaching Trauma-Informed Yoga

Teaching trauma-informed yoga takes skill, heart, and patience. But approaching your teaching from this angle is one of the greatest gifts you can give your students. Why? Because everyone who shows up to the mat has experienced some level of trauma. The

Revolved Wide-Legged Forward Bend Pose

Yes, it’s a mouthful. Revolved Wide-Legged Forward Bend Pose (Parvrtta Prasarita Padottanasana) has a complicated name. And maybe that’s fitting. While it may look simple and straightforward, there’s more to it than meets the eye. The unrevolved version, the slightly

Find Freedom in Any Moment

One of our deepest desires is for freedom: to be free of stress, anxiety, a frustrating person, a difficult situation, financial struggles, health problems, the daily grind, distractions, feeling inadequate. So many books, products, and other paid solutions offer a

3 Yoga Practices to Support Pelvic Floor Health

The pelvic floor muscles support the bladder and bowels. In females, they also support the uterus, and in males, they also support the prostate. They’re a collective group of muscles that create a sling of structure and scaffolding at the

Dealing with the Difficult Emotions of Loss and Grief – A Somatic Embodiment Approach

Some experiences in life are just awful and we are left with feelings of sadness, dismay, anger or complete overwhelm. No one wants to feel these difficult emotions, and yet they are part of life. So, how do we experience

5 Yoga Poses for Your Heart

Yoga is known for improving flexibility and balance. But did you know that a well-rounded practice of yoga poses for your heart is an effective tool for maintaining cardiovascular health? Active yoga poses stimulate the heart, increasing both heart rate

Stay Stable and Agile with Yoga for Your Feet

When we’re babies, most of us can suck our toes. As adults, we’re much less intimate with our feet. Yes, there’s a greater distance between the brain and big toe, but we add to our disassociation with years spent walking

How to Help Students Set Goals in Yoga

When we work with yoga students one-on-one, we always begin by identifying each student’s unique needs. The first question we always ask our new yoga students is, “What do you hope to get out of this?” Helping students articulate their

Current Research-What Causes Thickened Fascia

There are lots of rather boring studies dealing with the fact that as we age we tend to get stiffer. “Age-related Changes in Mechanical Properties of Human Abdominal Fascia” is one such study that I will spend five seconds on

Peak Pose: Baddha Konasana

I like to sequence my asana classes in an arc. This means that we start slow, work up to more complicated poses, and then cool down to a long, luxurious Relaxation Pose (Savasana). We practice one or more “peak” poses

Earth Element: Stand Your Ground

Earth A popular nursery rhyme from the early 19th century suggests that we are made of many things, “frogs, snails and puppy-dog tails” for boys, and “sugar, spice and everything nice” for girls. The Bible says, “ashes to ashes, dust

5 Ways Thickened Fascia Causes Chronic Pain

Although I have been discussing thickened fascia on my site for at least 15 years. The scientific community has often referred to thickened fascia as tissue that has undergone a process of densification. There is some very cool new research

Upward Plank Pose: Wrist-Saving Variations

With my long neck and a body that prefers curling up into fetal position, Upward Plank Pose (Purvottanasana) has always been a challenging pose for me. But I’ve also found over the years that the more challenging poses in yoga

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