When I hurt my wrist last year and had to have my entire forearm casted, a lot of people asked me “What happened to you?” And when I answered, “I hurt myself doing yoga,” they would laugh and think I was joking. (more…)
A lot of embarrassing things can happen in yoga class. Yesterday, I experienced something that was absolutely mortifying. After about half and hour or so into the class, I realized that I stank to all hell, and soon people around me were gagging and dying from my stench. (more…)
Filed under: Yoga Musings
Here’s a very common scenario: A yoga teacher teaches at a studio, makes connections with many students, some of these students want private lessons and hire the teacher, independently from the yoga studio, to give them private lessons at home. I’ve seen this happen with individual students, and even with an entire group of students. Basically, the studio gets cut out of the picture, potentially never seeing another penny of the student’s (or students’) money. Does the yoga teacher behave ethically in this situation?
Filed under: Health and Nutrition
For all the vegan chefs out there, here’s a great blog/website with lots of delicious vegan recipes: http://www.fatfreevegan.com/
I’ve been told the vegan pepperoni is delicious.
Filed under: Digital Asana Project
Urdhva Padma Mayurasana is one heck of a pose to get into. It requires open hips, the ability to do full lotus, strong and flexible wrists, balance, and an open back. In other words, this one is not for beginners. I’ve pretty much stopped doing it myself because it compresses the back of my neck too much, but for people who are both strong and bendy, this may be a fun pose to add to their asana practice.
In this video, I demonstrate one way to get into the pose. (This is another video taken during an in-store demo, which is why there are random people walking down the sidewalk in the background.) I start by getting myself into a full lotus. Next, I turn my wrists backwards and bring my forearms together; this will be the base support for the entire pose. Then I tuck my elbows deep into my stomach, making sure they’re in there good. (If my elbows slip out in the middle of the pose, I’ll come crashing down.) Then, using my chin as the final support, I lean forward and lift my hips and legs off the ground. It’s very difficult to get into the finished pose in an elegant way, because you need to be relaxed in certain areas of your back while the muscles are fully engaged in other areas of your shoulders, back and arms. This video demonstrates my best effort at getting into the pose.
Disclaimer: I am not a certified yoga instructor, and the ideas and opinions expressed here are not intended to be formal instruction on yoga poses. If you plan to start up a yoga practice, or if you have one and plan to do any of the yoga poses described in this blog, please seek out an experienced, living, breathing yoga teacher to guide you with hands-on instruction.
Filed under: Health and Nutrition
I recently tried, on a whim, this hugely popular lemon, cayenne pepper, maple syrup fast, aka The Master Cleanse. Normally, I’m not one to get swept up into these fad diets, or whatever you want to call this, but I’ve heard so many enthusiastic firsthand reports from friends at the yoga studio, I decided to give it a shot. (more…)
