Tonight in class, one of my students asked me to expand on the response article to “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body,” particularly as it relates to two asana: shoulderstand and headstand. Headstand and Shoulderstand – labelled the King and Queen of Asana by Iyengar for their therapeutic properties – got a bad rap in […]
A yoga teacher and galpal of mine recently emailed me about the proverbial drying of the creative yoga well. “Last Wed I feel like I taught the WORST yoga class of my life: it was so vanilla, last minute sequencing on my feet (which sometimes I’m good at, but this time I lost the muse), […]
The New York Times recently ran an article, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body,”that has a rather sensational and silly title and a fairly simple point: doing yoga can cause injuries. The article, citing the musings of yoga teacher Glenn Black, references the medley of yoga injuries that have been developing through the West over […]
Who doesn’t like sugarcane in the moonlight? De-lish. But let’s face it, getting into this variation of Half Moon (Ardha Chandrasana) can test your balance, flexibility, and coordination as you reach back and grab your lifted leg. Never fear, here are some tips that help make this elusive pose more accessible. Component Parts First, to […]
Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow, also known as “Wheel”) is one of the most delicious and expansive of yoga asana, inviting a full opening of the “Eastern,” or front, side of the body. As in all yoga asana, the stability (sthira) of the back body is essential for supporting the full expansion and sweetness (sukha) of […]
Headstand is like the grandpappy of inversions. Unlike the 5-year old exuberance of handstand, or the slightly more moderated enthusiasm of forearm stand, headstand evokes a deep seated patience and – dare I say – necessary dignity in the practitioner. Kicking up into headstand is a big ol’ no-no, primarily because the head is rooted […]
A thought provoking happiness article from The Economist. A lovely, and spirit-lifting, read! Why, beyond middle age, people get happier as they get older Dec 16th 2010 | from the print edition ASK people how they feel about getting older, and they will probably reply in the same vein as Maurice Chevalier: “Old age isn’t […]
By Rachel Scott From YYoga’s blog You catch sight of it out of the corner of your eye. There’s a perky little splash of red on one of the YYoga Events Boards. You look closer. It’s the announcement for an information session for the upcoming 200-hour teacher training. Something inside of you starts buzzing. Teacher […]
As appears in YYoga’s Blog: Off the Mat It’s that time of year again, the time that we emerge bleary eyed from a winter of gray rain and step blinking into the growing Vancouver sunlight. The warming weather reminds of last year when, was it possible? We actually went outside! It’s time to slough off […]
This chant is inspired by my intrepid teacher trainees up here in Whistler, who asked me to figure out a chant to the first sutra of the second pada of Patanjali’s yoga sutras. (For those unfamiliar, the Yoga Sutras are a 2,000 year old text with tons of good tidbit on how to make your […]
Watch this and be INSPIRED!!!! My friend and YYoga co-worker Steph Tait runs 11,000 miles in one year with her running partner Matt Hill to generate environmental awareness. An astonishing journey!!!! Message from Steph: In celebration of Earth Day 2011, commit to one new action for Earth. Small steps add up. 1. Eat local & […]
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of taking a therapeutics training with Susi Hately Aldous. On the basis of that training, I want to propose a crazy idea. Work less. Rather than working our way into poses that “look right,” how about we invite your bodies into pure movement…and leave it at that? […]
Last weekend I went skiing in Whistler. Now, I am not what you’d call a great skiier. Last time I was on the mountain was three years ago, before that, it had been a decade. So let’s just say that I was shocked to find out that good skis aren’t straight and that it’s now […]
In the fall of 2010, I initiated a project where the community of YYoga joined together to create a cd called “listen to understand, vol.1”. This remarkable endeavor features the original music of our teachers, guest experience team, base camp team, and wellness practitioners. And every last cent is donated to Vancouver’s Children’s Hospital. To […]
From the guys at “HowStuffWorks.com”. Love these guys – an interesting take and explanation. Listen to “How Reincarnation Works.”
“Vi” = in a special way “nyasa” = to place “krama” = step by step Change is challenging. When confronted with change, it’s easy to get swept up in anxiety, discomfort, depression, or panic. We distract ourselves, or seethe as we create a million contingency plans. We cling to our “creature comforts” – those small […]
Why is it so hard to let go? Of habits, relationships (healthy or toxic), of expectations, of dreams? Even when we know we’re hurting ourselves by hanging on, what drives the compulsion to keep gripping? What do we do when old behavioral patterns no longer serve our life? First of all, don’t beat yourself up. […]
When I went traveling to India this last month with my mom, I packed everything in a small backpack, determined to be a minimalist. It was an experiment to see if I could really get away with traveling light. “Aren’t you impressed,” I asked my boyfriend. “I got everything into here!” I brandished my backpack […]
I realized last week that I was trying too hard to lift my arms. I was reaching my arms overhead in urdhva hastasana and – I thought – doing a pretty good job. I was straightening the arms, lifting through the sides of the waist, and (for once) not sticking my ribs at. Ah-ha, I […]
I got disconnected three times. Three times. In a row. “Just hold one moment while we transfer you to confirm,” they’d say sweetly, just before I heard a strange sound. The sound of silence. The vacuum of a disconnected phone line. The sound of my impotent, mediocre frustration growing to a boiling point of irrational, […]
Shopping cart
