Cool yoga for hot summer days
On Tuesday night, in the last two classes I taught for the summer, we put the props away – no mats, no blankets, no straps, no bolsters, no chip foams. Just us, the floor, the walls and a couple of wood bricks each. The oak floor in the Yoga on 7th studio rests on a […]
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: find a time of day to watch your breath
I’ve come to believe that forming good habits would be a cinch if “first thing in the morning” could happen more than once a day. Nothing lets us start a daily practice more easily than resolving to do it first thing. We’re fresh from sleep. The world has yet to place legitimate demands on us. […]
Sadhana Day 10: we made it
We are all in the picture together because Jenny set my camera up to do a time lapse photo, and she and Koreen piled enough chip foam blocks on a chair to achieve the right height. We’re missing only one Sadhanista, Maureen, who had an early morning bike trip planned, and couldn’t convince her fellow […]
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 […]
Five Minute Yoga Challenge: can you let yourself relax and breathe?
As much as we may think we come to yoga for relaxation, in my own experience, it’s easier to get up and do a vigorous morning practice than it is to break the momentum of the day’s to-do list and come to a complete halt. This week’s yoga challenge asks you to do just that. […]