If you’ve been practicing yoga for a while, you understand that yogis tend to get into patterns. For instance, perhaps your first instructor always did Warrier I with her hands together overhead, so regardless of how your current teacher does it, you still do it the “old” way–partially in honor of your first instructor and [...]
Archive for the ‘practice’ Category
Preconceived Motions
Posted in fitness, practice, yoga on May 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Bone Density and Yoga
Posted in practice, weight loss, yoga on April 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Recently, I was asked to do a seminar on bone density and its connection to yoga. We had a wonderful group of ladies at the Bangor Y’s Isaac Farrah Mansion in Bangor, Maine, and they had great questions. Here is some of the material I included in the seminar:
What the Research Shows
Researchers say just 12 sessions of [...]
Feel the Flow
Posted in fitness, practice, yoga on April 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
When we practice yoga on a regular basis, it’s easy to get caught in the trap of concentrating too much on how perfect we can make our poses. Precision is certainly important in our routines. This helps us avoid injury and get the most physical benefit, but focusing too much on perfection can rob you of [...]
Warmer Means Deeper, right?
Posted in fitness, practice, yoga on March 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Experts often disagree about whether a practice room should be warmer or cooler during yoga practice. Some say the extremely warm rooms (90 degrees plus, such as in Bikram Yoga) breed bacteria, while others say practitioners need a warm room to deepen the stretches and prevent injury. My personal choice is to have a room that [...]
Injury Loves Company
Posted in fitness, practice, weight loss, yoga on October 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Being hurt is never a fun or easy thing. It’s even fewer giggles when it interferes with your practice on a long-term basis. Such is my case right now. Come to find out the spraigned ankle I experienced about 9 months ago was not, in fact, a muscle injury. My foot had been broken, but [...]
It’s Never Too Late
Posted in fitness, practice, sprituality, yoga, tagged Add new tag on October 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
One of the things I love about yoga is how it brings people together in a common struggle. It binds people, much more so that many other forms of exercise. I expect this has something to do with the fact that yoga should not be a competition. It is a battle with yourself–your own limitations, physically and [...]
Joints a lockin’
Posted in martial arts, practice, yoga on October 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Martial artists often used the old adage that “pain is temporary–pride is forever”. As a yoga instructor, I’m constantly reminding people to push themselves to the point of discomfort but not pain, which is crucial in injury prevention, however, I don’t mean that you will experience no pain through your yoga practice. In fact, there will [...]
Classes for the Masses
Posted in fitness, practice, yoga on August 20, 2008 | 4 Comments »
As instructors, it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling more fit than others, but why do we do what we do? Sometimes instructors forget that their jobs exist so that others who need to get in shape can do so.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen many teachers who beleive they are superior try to make their class [...]
Group Energy
Posted in fitness, practice, sprituality, yoga on February 19, 2008 | 1 Comment »
My personal “yoga high” crept up on me, unexpectedly. I’d heard of that overwhelming, buzzing feeling regular practitioners get when their bodies are somehow in tune with their minds and being challenged to the right limits, but until recently, I really hadn’t experienced it.
My yoga high is dependent on a number of things, including building [...]
Culmination
Posted in martial arts, practice on December 23, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Black belts, of any real accomplishment, don’t brag. Most people don’t even realize they have achieved black belt status. They may seem to walk taller, with more authority than the average person, but to the laymen, you’d never know.
Such is the case with my long time partner, Gaylen, who reached black belt recently. There are [...]
