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 […]
What’s the difference between movement and action, and why does it matter?
In everyday life, there’s not much call to distinguish between movement and action. Sure, a man of action sounds impressive, and a man of movement not so much. But trust me, you can live a full and happy life without ever giving it another moment’s thought. In yoga, on the other hand, being clear on […]
Lose Your Counterbalance: Five-Minute Yoga Challenge
All of the standing balance poses have a counterbalance – a spot where it’s easy to stay upright because you’ve fallen away from the centre line. Most often it involves the standing leg thighbone, high in the hip socket. Let it drop out to the side, and the balance is easier. The problem is, you’re […]
Sadhana Day Seven: the last forward bends practice
Sunrise with Gulls at Myrtle Beach, South CarolinaIt doesn’t seem possible, but there it is: we’re in the last practice cycle. Today it was forward bends. Tomorrow we’ll do back bends, on Wednesday twists, and on Thursday, a restorative practice. Then the Sadhana will be over. As the days go by, the practice goes more […]
Pain or golden glow? It matters what you call it.
Several years ago, while stocking up on reading for a beach holiday, I bought an old Pelican paperback (which has the name Doris Shadbolt written on the cover in a small, round hand). Yoga, by Ernest Wood, is an account written by an Englishman who came to India in 1910, learned Sanskrit and associated with […]
Stand tall by working your shoulder-blade stabilizers
I have fallen in love with Google Analytics. Every morning, it tells me how many people visited this blog the day before, how long they stayed on the site, what cities they live in – Vilnius! Abu Dhabi! Helsinki! Snellville! – and, if they came by Google search, what they searched for. That’s why I […]