How Spinefulness changed my Warrior I from fierce to friendly
I don’t remember when Warrior I popped up in my first set of introductory yoga classes, but I do know that by the end of that eight-week session, we had met, and we weren’t friends. As years went by, I learned to tolerate the pose, but I never looked forward to it coming up in […]
Looking back on a year of yoga
A heap of jewel-bright Iyengar bracelets.It was cookie night last night, by which I know that it’s officially Christmas time, and year’s end. We made Cappuccino Shortbreads, Peppermint Patties, Gingerbreads, Clove Snaps (a clove-and-citrus take on Ginger Snaps), Lemon-Lime Butter Wafers, Kris Kringle chocolate cookies that you roll in either cocoa or icing sugar before […]
Five good reasons to stick it to your yoga practice
You walk out the door after yoga class, soothed, settled, and mysteriously both more grounded and lighter at the same time. A day passes, or perhaps two, and you have time to practice. So what was that preparation for reverse triangle that made the full pose so much more accessible? What sequence led up to […]
How is a yoga pose like a Russian matryoshka doll?
What does yoga have to do with matryoshka dolls? A lot, as it turns out. From the outside, yoga poses can look as though they don’t have much in common. Take this handful: extended side angle, triangle pose, tree pose, reclining big toe pose and extended hand-to-big-toe pose. On the simplest level, orientation to gravity, […]
Are some yoga poses lemons?
On reflection, I’d say no. There are poses that can cause harm if they are badly done. And there are poses so likely to be badly done that careful teachers rarely teach them – or more precisely, they rarely teach the final pose. That doesn’t make these poses lemons, just poses to approach with care. […]
How I gained super powers in my desert-island pose
If I were castaway on Modriki Island in Fiji – site of the Tom Hanks movie – I’d be doing shoulder stand.If I ever had to pick just one pose to do for the rest of my life, I’d have no hesitation: I’d choose shoulder stand, all the way. Why does it make my list […]