Squeeze a Brick for Strength and Clarity in Your Legs: Five-Minute Yoga Challenge
Every once in a while I read a description of Iyengar yoga that says something on the lines of: “This style of yoga uses props to make the poses easier and more accessible.” Oh no, dear hearts. Indeed, there are times when a cushy bolster, a stack of blankets or a well-placed chip foam block […]
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 […]
Resolve to be Content: Five-Minute Yoga Challenge
It’s a new year. The clean, precise energy of January has replaced December’s animal urge to fight the darkness by drinking sparkling things and eating After Eight mints. Now we’re in the season of setting goals. For years, my yoga goals went like this: I will practice every day. I will do headstand in the […]
Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: Kitchen Counter, part two
Last week’s Five-Minute Yoga Challenge could actually be accomplished in 90 seconds. This week’s challenge adds the remaining three minutes, in the shape of Utthita Trikonasana, (triangle pose). Triangle pose at the counter is a wonderful variation in several ways: • It entirely removes the possibility of touching the floor by your front leg with […]
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, […]
Interpenetrate Your Fingers and Toes: Five-Minute Yoga Challenge
If setting down roots is the fundamental act in a yoga practice, then we’d best pay attention to our feet, the primary roots for all standing poses and for much of our life off the mat. The more time we spend increasing the liveliness and connectedness of our feet, the more we can, both literally […]