Low back ache is suffered by so many people and as a yoga student it can often make you feel vulnerable or uncomfortable. Depending on the underlying cause of the discomfort these few postures may help you on your way to finding more space and softness.
It really is important with backbending to open the shoulders and hips and have a strong core. In this workshop Sofia demonstrates some useful exercises to do just that, with a specific focus on getting ready for Kapotasana. Kapotasana is a very deep backbend and an advanced posture, as in fact are some of the exercises that Sofia uses to warm up, so please be kind to yourself and honest with where you are with your own practice before you…
The arm balances of third series really take all I have in terms of upper body strength – and all I have is often, still not enough. Jen René asked her teacher, Tim Miller, for advice last week.”Use your head,” he told her. When she relayed his message, I giggled at the irony of a teacher finally telling me to use my head instead of get out of it!
I was recently asked a question via email. Can yoga fix scoliosis? It’s certainly not the first time that I’ve ever been asked about scoliosis and I’m sure it won’t be the last. It’s a seemingly simple question but it bends in a direction that makes me wonder about our larger expectations for our yoga practice and our desire for a simple answer to what seems like a simple question. The truth is, it’s neither a simple question nor a simple answer.
When working a joint the first thing a yogi or yogini must decide is whether she intends to work muscle or bone. She must decide if she wishes to strengthen the muscles that stabilize the joint or stretch the ligaments to increase range of motion. In this article we explore the second option: stretching the joints of the spine.
“A sword by itself rules nothing. It only comes alive in skilled hands.” Sir Te to Governor Yu in the martial arts classic, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Many myths, legends, and historians hold that human beings in the ancient past were much more connected to their higher selves and power. These sources maintain that, at some point in our distant past, we suffered a primal trauma—an injury that affected us to our core, both biologically and psychically. Some theorize this…