by Tiffany Holmes “Go inside,” the Iyengar teacher at my home studio likes to say. This is where we check our business without worrying about how the shape we’re in looks, but rather how it feels. When I started teaching yoga, I took cues from all over the place, including the mobility/recovery, and CrossFit world. [...]
YogaDork Ed
We rarely pause to consider the functions of the organs that process and assimilate our food into our bodies. Yet without our digestive system, our bodies would lack the essential nutrients to keep our beings healthy and vibrant. In this post, we will explore how our habitual body positioning can throw our digestive systems out of whack.
Two to three poses later my intention flies out of the window faster than a bird spooked by my cat. This was my experience with creating mantras and setting intentions in the past. It’s no wonder I never dove in and really used them to my benefit. They were fleeting.
Like many women who are “blessed” with a very large bustline, I developed early, which is exactly when my bad posture habits began. When you’re still a kid, you’re not all about drawing attention to your body. So I covered up with large clothes, slouched to hide myself as best I could, and avoided activities that involved jumping around. I really avoided physical activities in general until I was in my 20s.
When we develop mindfulness practices and allot chunks of our days to them, we are quite careful about what they entail—we sit properly for meditation with alignment to support the spine, in yoga practice we move with grace and alertness toward the precise placement of our limbs, we allow sensation to teach us strength and connectedness with our full bodies and then…we step off the mat and into our world.
In Yoga and Ayurveda we believe that digestion is the cornerstone of good health. Everything that is taken in must be chewed and broken down. We must be able to assimilate that which will contribute to our well-being and release that which would become toxic if built up.
by AnnMerle Feldman I arrived at Kripalu last August, my too-large belly tucked and belted firmly into my high-waisted stretch jeans, wondering what the Yoga Tune Up Core Integration Immersion, one of the foundational YTU immersion trainings, could do for this “unsightly bulge.” I have been ashamed of my belly my whole life. I sucked [...]
We’re delighted to be sharing this fascinatingly yogadorky excerpt on the wonderful world of fascia from this great book: Anatomy and Yoga: A Guide for Teachers and Students by Ellen Saltonstall. Anatomy nerds and curious yogis will love this one. We’re also excited to be hosting a giveaway—stay tuned! … Fascia: The Grand Organizing Tissue [...]
In the yoga and fitness space, there is an abundance of advertisements of “yoga for back pain,” “yoga for shoulder strength,” “yoga for weight-loss,” and a wide range of other objectives. Out of curiosity, I’ve been following research on pain management and specific movement modalities, including yoga, Pilates, weight-training, walking, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, and other practices.
