Health Tips

Building Strength

I’m super excited to bring hand weights to my yoga teaching. I have been on a journey to get stronger for over ten years. Once I realized that I was spending too much time stretching and trying to get into some deep yoga postures, I felt like I was always chasing pain around my body. But strength work changed everything. It became clear that my core was weak, which was part of the cause of some repetitive injuries I had been dealing with trying to manage. You may have been in a class with me where we have added external load using a yoga block, bolster, or blanket. However, unless you have worked with me privately or done a specific strength-building course I’ve offered, you may have experienced only some of the benefits hand weights can offer. First, I began focusing on more strength-building postures using my body weight and […]

Learning to Listen

Are you a good listener? By that I mean do you listen to the messages your body is sending? Feelings and sensations are your body’s thoughts. They alert you to what is happening and what you might need. Generally speaking, most people are too busy to notice what their body is saying. Your body can alert you of its needs the same way it alerts you of hunger and pain. The question is, do you pay attention? In Western culture, the body and the mind are regarded as separate parts. Yet in the East, they are considered an integrated unit. Yoga practice, which includes physical posture, breath work, and meditation, is an opportunity to build a relationship with your body. Time on your Yoga mat or meditation cushion provides a space to get quiet enough to really listen. It takes a dedicated practice to expand your awareness and feel all […]

Squat Like Your Ancestors

Long before chairs were invented humans took a load off in a natural seat. Our ancestors and many people all over the world today use the resting squat as a position to rest, eat, wait, and well you know, relieve themselves. Squatting is a fundamental human position. It’s hard wired into your DNA. I love watching kids squat without even a thought or a struggle. Unfortunately many people loose the ability to squat as they grow older. Have you ever thought about why? If you guessed that one sitting in chairs is one of the reasons you were right! When you sit in a chair your body stays flexed 90 degrees at the hips and knees. Some of your muscles turn off because they don’t have to work to hold you up, the chair supports you. Other muscles end up over-stressed. Over time your hips and legs become weak and tight and you […]

Break Up With Stress – Part Four – Inversions For Health & Well-Being

You may have heard that inversions in yoga are good for you. But do you practice them? Maybe you are a bit intimated by the thought of doing an inversion. Or you don’t think you are strong enough to hold an upside down pose long enough to reap the benefits. Or perhaps when you think of an inversion you think of headstand and another pose that seems more like a circus trick than something you see yourself doing. This week I would like to demystify inversions and make them accessible to you on a daily basis. Inversions revitalize your whole system. By taking the weight off your legs, they relieve strain. By turning the internal organs upside down, sluggish parts are awakened. They improve circulation, support the glandular system, and help the body and mind relax, promoting deeper sleep. What is an inversion? Technically an inverted posture means that your head is below […]

Break Up With Stress – Part Three – Release Tension & Relax

Pandiculation, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, and Guided Savasana: Besides being a new word you can impress your friends with, pandiculation is good for you! It’s like nature’s reset button to relax your muscles and reboot your brain. I imagine you have seen a cat or a dog jump off the couch and do what looks like a full body yawn. It’s a simple move that we humans and nearly all animals have been doing since the beginning of time. It results in more relaxed muscles while having greater muscle control and coordination. There are three steps to pandiculation: 1. a voluntary contraction 2. a slow lengthening 3. complete relaxation So what does this do? It resets the length of your muscles, not just in the muscle fibers but also at the level of your brain. It’s different from stretching because it is active, not passive. Lengthening a contracted muscle sends a message to your sensory motor […]