Supported Bridge Pose: cross over into quiet
As quiet as a yoga practice may be, the mat is a busy construction site. We make triangles, bound angles, side angles, plows, boats, half-boats, gates, bows, and yes, bridges. And you can’t make a bridge without raising the idea of crossing it. If you see the pose as the bridge, then Setu Bandha Sarvangasana […]
Five-minute yoga challenge: extend, don’t grip in headstand
“You are old, Father William,” the young man said, “And your hair has become very white; “And yet you incessantly stand on your head – “Do you think, at your age, it is right?” Who can blame the inquisitive young man for asking? Anywhere outside yoga culture, headstand is an odd thing to do. Certainly […]
Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: disarm practice resistance with small steps – and Viparita Karani
“Building a practice has been impossible for me,” Susan, a new student, wrote in an email. “There is a part of me that is fighting yoga – it’s so weird.” Not weird at all, really. Undertaking a yoga practice will change your life. You can let your practice grow gradually – in fact it seems to […]
Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: Kitchen Counter Series, part one
This week’s Five-Minute Yoga Challenge is spinal stretch at the kitchen counter. It’s an easy one to tuck into your day – come into the kitchen, put the kettle on, and while the water boils, put your hands down on the counter and step back into spinal stretch. It has a special meaning for me, […]
Can we control how we age?
Look in the mirror and the answer seems to be “yes and no.” We are bound to look older. That’s a non-choice between wrinkles, saggy jaw lines and drooping eyelids, and the wind tunnel effect of skin pulled tight by surgery. But with a nod to genetics and a deep bow to degenerative diseases that […]
Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: reverse the curve
A normal curve and a hyper-kyphotic curve of the spineWe all have a kyphosis, or at least we ought to – it’s the natural outward curve of the upper back, which balances the inward curves of the neck and the low back. Hyper-kyphosis is different. The outward curve becomes exaggerated, and we lose our ability […]