Iyengar Yoga study resources for serious students and new and aspiring teachers. This is by no means an exhaustive list! Simply some suggestions to get you started. Let me know if you have any of your own recommendations, I would be happy to add them. Yoga Authors BKS IYENGAR: His seminal work, Light On Yoga, […]
Poor Posture and How to Overcome It
Why We Develop Poor Posture Posture is impacted by many aspects of our daily lives, some physical and others psychological. Physical factors include how we habitually stand or sit at home or at work. Long hours stuck in the same position can cause joints to stiffen, and muscles to tighten and become weak. Injuries which […]
Immune System Health Tips
Hygiene Probably the most important thing you can do to protect your immune system is to wash your hands well and often. Check out how to in this video from the BBC for correct hand washing habits. Here’s another BBC video instructing how to clean your smartphone safely. Exercise To proactively support your immune system, […]
Psoas Anatomy
Location of the psoas The psoas muscle is buried deep in the front core of our body. It’s traditionally been considered a hip flexor muscle due to it’s powerful ability to flex the leg towards the trunk. However, many of it’s attachments are anchored to the vertebrae and vertebral discs, so now more anatomists and […]
Mexican Yoga Blankets
Mexican blankets are great to use for yoga due to their dense weave. When you fold them into the shape you need, what you see is what you get. They’re well behaved blankets who mind their Ps and Qs. They don’t squish, loosen, slip or unfold themselves, which makes them ideal props for shoulder stand, seated […]
Understanding how you stand
This article is part of a series discussing the biomechanical connections between the feet, ankles, knees and hips and how they all impact knee health. What are your standing tendencies? To find out how your feet affect your ankles, knees, hips and spine, the first thing to do is observe how you tend to stand. […]
The Knee-Hip Connection: Muscles and movement
This article is part of a series discussing the biomechanical connections between the feet, ankles, knees and hips and how they all impact knee health. The knee-hip connection Healthy hips are able to perform a diverse range of movements (see diagram right). All of these movements and their associated muscles have a direct impact on […]
Spinal Stabilization part 2
By Ann West This is part 2 of a 3 part series on Spinal Stabilization. Core training In cases of core muscular impairment the bottom line is that you cannot strengthen a muscle your nervous system cannot activate. You can practice all the core poses you want, but if you haven’t retrained the nervous system’s […]
Spinal Stabilization part 1
By Ann West This is part 1 of 3 part a series on Spinal Stabilization. Many people who suffer from back pain know that developing a strong, awake core is essential for spine health. But did you know that there are two layers of core muscles – an inner layer of stabilizing muscles that connect […]
Yoga & the Sacrum
The sacrum is a large, wedge shaped bone that sits at the base of our spine. It forms a strong foundation for the vertebrae above and is central to the structural bearing of our entire body. Sacrum anatomy Sacrum nerves How to locate your sacrum Sacrum pathology How yoga can help the sacrum Sacrum spiritual […]