Pranayama, one of the core practices of yoga, is often translated as "control of life force" or "breath control". This is so because 'prana' means life force or breath, and ‘yama' means control or restriction. (See the footnote below for a detailed grammatical explanation of the meaning of pranayama). While this is probably the original historical meaning, it is worth [...]
Do you frequently wish you had more energy? Do you drink coffee or tea to energize? Caffeine is by far the most-consumed drug worldwide, and the reason is simple: we all want to have more energy. Unfortunately, caffeine is generally not the best way to get it. A few hours after a caffeine-induced energy boost, your energy levels tend to [...]
Setting a solid foundation can improve alignment, balance, and spaciousness in your yoga poses while increasing your safety and enjoyment. In addition, setting your foundation with intention is a way to become more mindful in your practice. However, to reap all those benefits, it is important to actually notice how changes to your foundation affect your poses, rather than [...]
Muscular and Organic Energy are a pair of yoga alignment principles designed to work in tandem to bring us into balance. I find such paired alignment principles powerful teaching tools, because they inherently stress the importance of balancing opposites. By balancing opposites like Muscular and Organic Energies, we can increase not only our joy in our practice, but its [...]
Inner and Outer Spirals are a pair of alignment principles usually applied to the hip girdle. They are specifically designed to take us towards a place of balance, as they are based on the realization that wellbeing is a state of balance, not an extreme. This perspective runs counter to the widespread belief that more is always better. It also [...]
Most of us have a tendency to work too hard in yoga at least some of the time. We typically do this in an effort to try to force improvement in our practice. However, over-efforting is counterproductive not only because it increases the likelihood of injury. It also distracts us from the enjoyment of the present moment and impedes our [...]
My approach to yoga places the balancing of opposites at the heart of the practice, because I believe that an emphasis on balance is key to increasing the benefits of yoga. This week I want to focus on balancing groundedness and lightness. Balancing groundedness and lightness allows each pose to reach its full expression How is this pair of opposites [...]
Forward bends can be quite problematic for the lower back. When we bend forward, we tend to do too much of the movement in the lower back. The lumbar spine is quite mobile in this direction, but excessive movement here is a frequent cause of back pain. Lower back pain in turn is the most common health complaint in the [...]
Research has shown that happy emotions contribute to long-term wellbeing. But none of us wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed everyday. So how do you generate joy when you don't already feel joyful? One answer of course is yoga. :) Generate joy by focusing on the here and now One secret to increase your joy is to realize that happiness is [...]
In our lives off the mat, we rarely if ever go upside down. Thus it is quite natural that for many of us the idea of inversions causes some trepidation. However, inverted yoga poses have many positive effects on the body (and the mind). Different inversions have specific benefits, but in general, they stimulate the endocrine, immune, and digestive systems. [...]
