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Why Structure is Important: Effective Sequencing Through the Lens of Backbends

By Yoga Teachers

I adore the feeling of floating off my mat after Śavāsana, feeling strong and limber, my hips yielding gracefully to every step, and my mind ever-so quiet. This post-yoga experience is no accident, but rather the result of deliberate sequencing and a well-thought-out lesson plan. As yoga teachers, if we lack a clear objective and an anatomically-informed roadmap to get there, it will likely be harder for our students to retain the lessons that lead to greater body awareness. Leading structured āsana classes offers our students opportunities to not only connect deeply with the postures, but also calm and focus their minds. It’s important to pick one thing to teach and teach it well.

It can be intimidating to lead a back-bending sequence because backbends involve so many moving parts that must be addressed throughout the class to ensure students practice these particular āsanas safely. If the body is not properly warmed up, back-bending could lead to discomfort or injury in the lower back or shoulders. As is true for all āsana sequences, but is especially important for back-bending, each pose should serve a purpose.

Let’s take Wheel Pose (Ūrdhva Dhanurāsana), for example. This āsana is an intense backbend that expands the chest, but with support from the core and the hips. To prepare your students for this pose, incorporate postures like Upward Facing Dog Pose (Ūrdhva Mukha Śvānāsana), Plank Pose (Phalakāsana), Locust Pose (Śalabhāsana), and Cow Face Pose (Gomukhāsana), which engage and open the chest and shoulder muscles. With equal importance, address the muscles involved in hip extension, which is when the angle of the hip joint increases. In order for the hips to extend and the spine to bend backwards, the abdominal and iliopsoas muscles must be properly warmed up.

The psoas muscle starts at the Thoracic spine (T-12), hugs the lumbar vertebrae, and attaches to the top of the femur bone (thigh bone). It flexes the hip joint and stabilizes the spine. Because it connects to the lumbar vertebrae and stretches when the hips extend, working the psoas through various āsanas like Low Lunge (Aṅjaneyāsana), Warrior I (Vīrabhadrāsana I), and Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Pārśvakoṇāsana) is essential to supporting and preventing injury to the lower back in back-bending postures. Along with various abdominal exercises and core-activating āsanas like Half Boat Pose (Ardha Nāvāsana), incorporating several rounds of various Sun Salutations (Sūrya Namaskar) will help students generate the internal heat needed to open their bodies in a pose like Wheel.

Those are the essential components of a back-bending class. But arranging poses together is not the same as teaching something specific. Within this framework, what insight or information can we offer our students to help them experience Wheel Pose in a new, deeper, more effective way? Let’s circle back to hip extension, which is a mechanism of Wheel Pose. But this posture, among others, also reveals something interesting about hip extension. In Wheel, the hips extend so the spine can bend backwards, but hip extension itself requires the strength of the legs in order to effectively support the backbend. And therein lies the focus of the class – the glutes and hamstrings.

Teach back-bending but do so in terms of how the glutes and hamstrings work in these postures. In Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhāsana), cue your students to engage these muscles to support the elevation of their hips. In Locust Pose (Śalabhāsana) and Bow Pose (Dhanurāsana), hip extension alone does not account for each action; the hamstrings and glutes facilitate the lift we experience in these postures. As well, include āsanas like Garland Pose (Mālāsana), Chair Pose (Utkatāsana), and Warrior 2 (Vīrabhadrāsana II), among others, for building leg strength. When it comes to Wheel Pose, make the connection for your students between these leg muscles, hip extension, and the backbend. Engaging the hamstrings and glutes specifically, along with all the leg muscles, stabilizes the hips so the spine can bend backwards in one fluid arc, without compressing the lumbar spine.

Keep in mind the purpose of āsanas; they are postures, intricate compositions of skeletal alignment and muscular engagement intended to keep our bodies fit for what they contain – our souls. As technical physical shapes, āsanas require time and attention to detail; and as gateways to Spirit, call for sincerity and reverence as well. By sequencing with purpose, we offer our students something to focus on, rather than their fluctuating thoughts, revealing the true gift of āsana: when our minds are steady and calm, soul-nourishing truths begin to emerge

March 22, 2021
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Teaching During COVID: A Pep Talk for New Yoga Teachers

By Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Teachers

It’s true – becoming an effective and confident yoga teacher takes practice. While opportunities to teach āsana may currently be in short supply as a result of COVID-19, being a new yoga teachers is not dependent on having access to public spaces to teach. Discovering who you are and sharing that person with not only yoga students, but also the people you encounter throughout your life is at the heart of being a yoga teacher. It’s a process that has the potential to transform you and impact those around you in profound, and sometimes unexpected, ways.

Yoga is more than the āsana, and so are you

new yoga teachers is helping young woman to make asana pose at gym.By no means are the postures insignificant; Iyengar asserted that, for the average person, practicing āsana and prāṇāyāma are the two most effective disciplines for quieting the mind. But, in reality, the postures are only a piece of a much bigger process of self-discovery and transformation. Teaching āsana is not the only way to share yoga.

I once supported someone through the death of a loved one. To help her manage the mound of tasks that surfaced in the wake of her loss, I would remind her to take breaks, to take deep breaths, and assess situations before acting. In essence, we practiced a little yoga every day. By helping her to hold the space between stimulus and response, she was able to control her thoughts enough to meet her responsibilities, while also honoring her grief.

Ask yourself these questions: Beyond the postures, how have I shared yoga with others? And, how can I continue to do so? Maybe it’s been through writing, conversation, or relationship, but if you’ve offered any of yoga’s gifts to another person, that’s teaching too.

Memberships expire, but knowledge doesn’t

Several years back, I moved from my home of four years. In the two years that followed, I taught yoga in studios sporadically, struggling to find my groove in new places. When it came time to renew my Yoga Alliance registration, I didn’t have many teaching hours to log. For a moment, I felt like I had lost my legitimacy as a teacher. Then I realized that, while memberships expire, knowledge doesn’t. My connection to yoga hadn’t gone anywhere, and that’s because I never stopped practicing.

During those tough two years, I maintained a very disciplined morning practice of worship and meditation. When I started teaching in studios again with regularity, I did so with ease and authenticity. Through a committed daily spiritual practice (sādhanā) and self-study through sacred texts (svādhyāya), my relationship to yoga shifted from a set of practices I performed to something that I lived.

Group of young people learning from a new yoga teachersBeing a yoga teacher means being a student first. If you don’t have many opportunities to teach or share yoga right now, weaving yogic practices and philosophies into your everyday life is essential to uncovering what you’re meant to offer as a teacher.

Keep your eyes on your own mat

In other words, don’t compare yourself to others, and commit to what feels right for you. If we’re focusing on what someone else is doing, we may stray from the work we’re meant to do. Krishṇa speaks to this in Bhagavad Gītā 3.35 when He explains that no one else can perform our dharma (spiritual purpose) for us, nor can we perform another’s. In fact, it’s dangerous to attempt to do so.

I run into this trap all the time. I’ll notice someone else’s work on social media, make a snap judgement, and then I’m full-steam ahead down one continuous, self-critical scroll. I eventually catch myself, realizing I’d been investing time in an idea of who I think I should be, rather than nurturing who I am. It happens, especially when the digital world tends to showcase large and enticing markers of success. Focusing on what it is we do well is really just another way to practice yoga.

If you recently completed a yoga teacher training, it’s both possible and important to continue your journey as a teacher right now, despite the plethora of unprecedented challenges we face today as yoga teachers, studio owners, and simply human beings. These perspectives are not meant to be magic-fixes, but rather things to practice. If there’s one thing that yoga reveals to us, it’s that we can show up imperfectly and make progress, even if we can’t immediately see the transformation taking place.

March 15, 2021
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Building Spinal Strength from Cobra Pose to Upward Facing Dog

By Yoga Asana

In vinyasa yoga, Cobra Pose is usually considered a basic posture for beginners. Alternately, Upward Facing Dog, an intermediate pose, is regularly taught in a vinyasa sequence. In vinyasa, either of the poses can be used interchangeably during transition, though they are distinctly different. Due to the quickened nature of a vinyasa practice, these poses are usually held only for the length of an inhalation. Because of this, many vinyasa students have not experienced a full range of extension in Cobra Pose, nor have they properly aligned their Upward Facing Dog. However, when practiced regularly and correctly, both Cobra Pose and Upward Facing Dog build spinal strength and flexibility, allowing students of all levels to participate in flow-style vinyasa practices.

What Is Vinyasa Yoga?

group doing upward facing dogVinyasa yoga has its roots in Ashtanga yoga; a style of practice developed by K. Pattabhi Jois in the mid-twentieth century, which is considered to be the backbone of modern Western yoga. Ashtanga yoga’s formulated sequence of poses is preformed in a specific order, whereas vinyasa yoga is a freeform practice with limitless variations. Both styles are energetic, dynamic, and steadily paced. The term vinyasa is a linkage of two Sanskrit words: nyasa, meaning “to place”, and vi, “in sacred accord.” To vinyasa, therefore, is to preform poses in accordance to the breath, each transition synchronized with either an inhalation or exhalation.

While a vinyasa style class known for its flowing sequences, its claim to fame is the transition of Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog to Downward Facing Dog. In the heighted pace of a one-breath-one-pose setting, learning the mechanics of a proper Upward Facing Dog often requires a greater length of time then allotted for in a general vinyasa practice. Due to the highly mobile structure of the hand, elbow, and shoulder, an improperly aligned Upward Facing Dog places the practitioner at a physical disadvantage. Because we often misuse our hands and arms in computer-related activities, it is essential that we execute the vinyasa transition, particularly Upward Facing Dog, with precision and awareness. Because the vinyasa transition can occur with frequency, taking the time to learn proper alignment, and to build the supportive muscles of the spine, is important to prevent injury. To this end, Cobra Pose offers a well-suited alternative to Upward Facing Dog, and prepares the body for the rigors of vinyasa.

Cobra Pose

Cobra Pose is a fundamental posture within a solid asana practice. As a floor pose, it is both accessible to beginners and well suited for daily practitioners. Cobra Pose can be used during a vinyasa sequence as a substitute for Upward Facing Dog without breaking the flow, offering a variation that is gentler on the back, shoulders, neck, and wrists. To practice Cobra Pose, lie down on the floor with the stomach downward. Press the hands flat on the floor on either side of the ribcage, just below armpit level. Curl the toes under, and while keeping the ankles together, pull the heels of the feet back, lifting the knees from the ground. With an inhalation, lift the chest and upper back upwards. With an exhalation, roll the shoulders back and downwards. Keep the entire abdominal sheath on the floor while pressing the chest forwards, creating traction by firmly pressing the palms down and pulling the elbows back and in. When done correctly, Cobra Pose stretches and strengthens the upper back, chest, and shoulders, while also developing the musculature of the upper, middle, and lower back, as well as the upper arms. To fully experience the benefits of this pose, it should be practiced daily to build strength, flexibility, and the habit of good alignment.

Upward Dog Pose

women doing upward facing dogBuilding from Cobra Pose, Upward Facing Dog strengthens the entire spine, deepens flexibility, and is incredibly rejuvenating. When practiced properly, Upward Facing Dog can elevate spinal stiffness, aches, and pains. To practice Upward Facing Dog, lie on the floor with the stomach downward. Press the hands on the floor on either side of the ribcage, just below armpit level. Push the hands down and straighten the elbows, lifting the body off of the floor, leaving only the tops of the feet and the palms of the hands on the mat. Engage the muscles of the legs; lift the chest forward and up, drawing the shoulders and upper back downward. Look forward, or upward, if it causes no tension. Press the pelvis forward, and the back of the knees upward as much as possible. Because all of the body’s weight rests in the hands and on the tops of the feet, avoid sinking into the joints of the shoulders and lower back by actively lifting forward and up. Engage the muscles of the legs and arms as much as possible, and avoid bending the knees or leaving them on the floor to prevent injury or soreness in the lower back.

Why Building Strength From Cobra Pose To Upward Facing Dog

While it might seem that established practitioners of vinyasa yoga prefer Upward Facing Dog as the gold standard of backbends, Cobra Pose is a viable alternative that builds strength, flexibility, and healthy alignment. Far from being a simplified variation of Upward Facing Dog, Cobra Pose offers tremendous benefits both physically and subjectively, especially with daily practice. When properly preformed, both poses are fundamental components of a healthy asana practice. It is important, therefore, to take the time to learn proper application and alignment of these poses, especially in vinyasa practices where the length of time spent in the pose may only be a breath. When the alignment becomes second nature, and the breath is steady, both Cobra Pose and Upward Facing Dog can be preformed smoothly, and used interchangeably as needed.

March 8, 2021
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Crow’s Game

By Yoga Asana

It took me six years of consistent practice before I managed to lift off my toes in bhakasana. The first time I came into the pose I was practicing yoga on the cement walkway in my backyard. Previously, I had always tried to pick my toes off the mat purposefully. On this day, however, I decided to track a little ant making its way towards the top of my mat with my nose. I leaned forward over my flat hands, covering the ant with the shadow of my head, causing it to speed forward towards the sun. I leaned forward more, and… POP! My toes pulled right off the ground, just as I looked up to see the ant trekking along in the sun, about 10 inches above my mat. Did I breathe? Did I balance long? The only lingering memory is the elation of having lifted into bhakasana for the first time, and the eagerness to do it again.

So, I play a little game with myself every time I practice Crow. Midway through my asana practice, I set up for Crow and tell my feet, “Hey toes, don’t come off the ground.” In my mind, in my voice, I say those words to myself, “Hey toes, whatever you do…don’t come off the ground!” Its playful, it’s silly. After all, crows are the pranksters of the animal kingdom. Crows caw in a way that’s practically a laugh out loud. They delight in shiny objects and trinkets, and won’t hesitate to swoop down and grab a bobble right off your picnic table in front of your face. This pose is all about fun. I’d been too serious in my earlier attempts at Crow. In the spirit of jest, I say, “TOES! Do not lift off the floor!” And, POP! There they go again! Toes up and at ‘em, Crow in motion, I smile and look up to see not an ant, but the smiling faces of my yoga students as I play my little game aloud while teaching class.

Crow is contagious. You know, they rarely fly alone. When one person “gets it,” or masters the pose, and can explain the how-to, crows begin to pop up on yoga mats throughout the class, throughout the entire yoga studio, even. Bhakasana practice is so beneficial; especially to build upper-body strength, even if the toes, truly, do not come off the ground. And that is fine! Maybe it’ll take you six years to “get it,” like me. But, nah! I did those years of groundwork as a service to all of us. If you’re ready lift off into Crow, play the game the little ant taught me! You’ll gain Crow pose, and so much more…but let me not get ahead of myself!

OBJECTIVE:

Bhakasana

SET UP:

Spend five to ten breaths in malasana, squat pose, while practicing mulabhandha. Mulabhandha is a concentrated contraction of perineum muscle applied on the exhale. This engagement feels similar to withholding the flow of urine. Release mulabhandha on inhale, drawing the breath down the length of the spine. Apply this same breath technique throughout the practice of Crow.

Now, position yourself: Flatten your palms on the ground shoulder distance apart with spread fingers. The elbows should bent inward, towards the ribcage, with the upper arms parallel to the floor. Lift the hips high, lift the heels up, and place the knees on the upper arms. Use the upper arms like tables to support the knees.

PLAY THE GAME:

Now you’re ready to play! Crows are flyers! Let your eyes follow an upward path, look up as much as you can, and begin to lean your body’s weight forward into your hands, arms and shoulders. Look up! You’re a bird! Just move forward and look to your trajectory. Now, in your mind, say, “Hey toes! Don’t pick up off the floor!” HA HA HA! Laughing like a crow, how silly you are, talking to your toes! Try it again, “Hey toes! Whatever you do, don’t come off the floor!” Its no big deal, this isn’t about our toes, or our legs, we are using our arms and our eyes to fly! Lean forward! Look up! Breath! Apply mulabhandha on exhale, lifting your hips up to the sky.

HOW TO WIN:

Play Crow pose for five breaths, three times a week, for one month.

Dare to play? There is only one winner in this game, and that is the one who plays it. Crow is such a lighthearted pose, after all, how can you fly weighted down? Put a smile on your face, and learn the lesson of the little ant. Look forward, look up, chase the sun, and keep going! Many asana poses are named after animals. There is a sort of childlike magic we can tap into when we embody the energy of the animals the poses are named for, as if they lend their characteristics to the shape. All we have to do is animate those shapes with our breath. Animals teach us to not be so serious, to live in the moment, and just go about the business of being exactly what we are.

The beauty of Crow is that it unlocks a pantheon of inversion postures. Crow pose is more about upward motion and steady balance than it is about strength. The dynamic upward lift of the posture is not conducive to force. No matter how much we try to lift our toes up, feet up, legs up, until we are balanced on the edge of flight, we’re earthbound. However, at some point, weightless occurs within bhakasana. Once you “have it,” Crow sets the foundation for handstands, forearm stands, and crazy fun animal poses like titibhasana, Firefly pose, urdhva kukutasana, Upward Rooster pose, and pincha mayurasana, Peacock Feather pose. All the flying animals come out to play once Crow takes flight! Have some fun on your mat, and play this little game with yourself. You just may find you’re no longer a busy ant trekking along your way, but a heralding Crow, calling in the power of flight.

March 1, 2021
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Om Sweet Om

By Lifestyle & Wellness, Yoga Teachers

Once, my yoga studio was my home away from home. My fellow yoga teachers were closer to me than my family, and that familial love extended to our students. After ten years of service, I departed my cherished yoga studio to pursue an academic career. Far from home, and craving like-minded community, I became “yoga tourist,” trying out new studios and teachers. I was open to exploring new ways of practicing yoga, and was really curious about the yoga community at large. During my years of “yoga tourism,” I recognized specific traits and values that make a yoga studio great, and the qualities that set exceptional yoga teachers apart from an industry saturated with choices.

A likely place to begin a search for a new studio is on a customer review-based website. Though everyone’s needs are different, certain aspects may standout in multiple reviews. If a teacher’s name is mentioned over and over again, his or her class might be worth trying out. It could be that multiple reviewers note that the musical volume is loud, which may draw some students, while deterring others. Overall, I would look to see comments that indicate a studio is clean, has plenty of yoga props, and is reliably punctual. While all businesses would prefer to have a high customer rating, don’t let the amount of stars keep you from trying out a studio. It takes time for newer studios to develop a demographic; while more established studios could have such a loyal student base that their reviews are favorably weighted. A general online overview of your local studios can provide you with several studios to try out, sometimes with the added bonus of a free class, or discounted class packages for new students.

When I try a new yoga studio, I always take my first class with the owner, if he or she is a teacher. I believe that the owner of the studio sets the standard for the other teachers to follow. If I like the studio owner’s vibe and his or her class, chances are the rest of the teachers also offer quality classes. On the other hand, if the studio owner begins class late, engages socially with known students while not introducing themselves to newcomers, or ends class too early or late, the other classes at the studio are most likely managed the same way. Most studios require their teachers to complete in-house training or mentorship to insure a similarity in teaching styles, and consistency teacher to teacher. If you enjoy a specific teacher’s class, ask him or her to refer you to other classes of like instruction. Chances are that a skilled yoga studio proprietor is unifying the efforts of an equally skillful teaching staff.

If you are used to practicing a certain style of yoga over others, it may be difficult to replicate your preferred practice. While touring studios, I decided to practice hot yoga because the sequence of postures, and the temperature, was very different from my regular practice. Without comparing the practice to what I was familiar with, I was able to sense the demeanor, tone, and presence of the instructor. In this unfamiliar territory that I realized I preferred teachers who both demonstrated the poses, while also moving throughout the room in order to connect with the students.

I also discovered that many yoga teachers talk throughout the entire class, giving little room to experience the sound of breath alone. And, importantly, I learned that shavasana, the final relaxation at the end of an asana sequence, was oftentimes too short for my liking, or not offered at all. I then tried Iyengar yoga, a practice that focuses on alignment and holds with the use of props. This practice was generally cooling, slowly paced, and relaxing. While I enjoyed the calming environment and soothing sequence of Iyengar yoga, I found that my mind was busy and my physical energy level was too high for this practice. Ashtanga yoga was next on my yoga tour, a practice more closely aligned with what I was familiar with. Even yet, I had a challenge settling into myself. Rarely could I attend a class without a teacher overly adjusting my poses to fit into standard form, even though I just wanted to slip into anonymity at the back of the room to get a feel for myself moving in new ways.

Though my tour through the yoga community oftentimes met dead ends, I discovered subtle nuances within teaching styles, varying practices, and methodologies that I would not have if I had stayed in my home studio. Ultimately, I became a more masterful teacher in the process. This journey taught me how to hold space for students who practiced differently from what I was accustomed to seeing, without needed to alter their practice, or to change the shape of their body into something I considered to be more proper. I learned to speak less, and let the breath hold its own space in silence. I learned that my sequences and choice of words were of equal importance to the way I used my body to demonstrate postures. And, importantly, I recognized that the breath that is the lifeblood of the practice, regardless of the style. Lastly, I came to regard every student as a master in their own right, regardless of their prior yogic experience.

Though my days of yogic tourism are behind me, I use these same practical techniques when looking for a studio to offer my services in. If you’re new to yoga, searching for a studio to practice in, or established in your own practice but curious about what’s new in the yogic community, the sweet spot is where you feel challenged, nurtured, and comfortable despite a new setting or pose. Ultimately, the essence of a yogi is that of conscious, external activation, paired with a sense of relaxation and awareness. That attainment occurs from within, regardless of where the practice may take place.

February 15, 2021
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Emotions, Feelings And Yin Yoga: How To Heal From The Inside

By Miscellaneous

Yogis, as well as many others, believe in the connection between mind, body, and spirit. The three exist as a union, and when one is out of balance, the others struggle as well. In essence, what happens to the mind also happens to the body and spirit, and vice versa. So, if something is bothering you spiritually, emotionally, or mentally, there is a good chance it will show up in your physical body. But, as you work deeply into your body through a yoga practice, emotional issues can be released.

The Body-Mind Connection

The yogic view is that we hold emotions and misplaced thoughts within our bodies, and they keep us from reaching ‘samadhi’, which is considered “conscious enlightenment.” Asanas offer one way to find the path to this blissful state, as they work by focusing our minds and releasing any emotional or tension in our bodies.

Unfortunately, western medicine has been slower to accept this idea of the mind and body connection. But more and more new research is presented that shows how mental and emotional conditions can affect the physical body, and that the mind-body connection is indeed very real.

Have You Ever Experienced?:

  • Butterflies in your stomach before a big meeting?
  • Sweating more than normal when you’re nervous?
  • An upset stomach or indigestion after a stressful time?

These are examples of the body reacting to something that’s primarily happening in our mind. Many people with chronic anxiety will report having experienced different physical symptoms such as stomach aches, headache, dizziness, feeling faint, a tight chest, and more. In many instances, nothing is physical wrong, but instead the mental anxiety has a deep connection to how the body functions.

Leaning Into The Issues

Ana Forrest, founder of the Forrest Yoga Circle studio in Santa Monica, California, is an experienced yoga teacher who has dealt with her own breakthroughs both on and off the mat. Her intention as a teacher is to push her students toward their own emotional blockages. “It’s not that I push with my hands,” Forrest explains. “But when I work with people, I really ask them to go deep, and I educate them along the way. I tell them, ‘You’re going to hit what’s stored in there. Let it come up and be cleansed out of your cell tissue. It’s a gift of the yoga.’”

For example, if a student tells Forrest she’s just been through a breakup or is dealing with a heartache, Forrest says, “Challenge yourself to make every pose about moving energy into your heart.”

Yin Yoga For The Ultimate Release

Yin yoga is a style of yoga that evolved from the Taoist yoga lineage. There are 26 poses and you may only do a handful of them in a class since each pose is held for anywhere between two and seven minutes, on average. Each pose focuses on ‘cleaning out’ the different meridians, which are the same energy channels used in traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture.

Yin is about disengaging. It is commonly mistaken for restorative yoga but it’s not actually the same. Yin is composed of tension and compression as well as rebounds that create a cleansing of the fascia and connective tissues.

This releasing action that yin creates can bring up all kinds of emotions. Many students find that the most ‘triggering’ poses are those that work on releasing connective tissue around the hips.

Think of your body like a car, with your hips being the trunk where you store all your emotional baggage. The hips have six of the 12 meridians running through them. So anything you do around your hips is touching on six major organs, six meridians. Basically a full range of emotions.

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February 5, 2021
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10 Reasons To Make Time For Yin Yoga

By Yoga Asana

Yin yoga is considered an introspective practice that gives students the chance to turn inward and nurture a calm, quiet state of mind that lives within all of us. It’s a practice in stillness, patience, and non-reactivity.

Through yin yoga we become better listeners by learning to tune in, wiser as we get to know ourselves from the inside out, and more curious about our own inner world.

Some of the popular benefits of yin yoga include:

  • Reduces stress
  • Balances our yang energy
  • Relieves tension
  • Improves flexibility
  • Helps us learn to handle stress
  • Encourages mindfulness and meditation

Keep reading to learn more reasons why you should take time to add a yin yoga practice to your day.

 

The Stillness Of Yin Yoga Prepares Us For Meditation.

class practicing yin yoga The yin practice sets us up to tap into a meditation mindset. Our daily cloud of thoughts and distractions tend to block us from being able to dive deeply into our consciousness. When we find space for physical stillness in a yin practice, we create conditions for the brain to become clear.

 

Yin Yoga Helps Us Learn Balance.

Finding balance within our lives is a juggling act — we have jobs, family, friends, responsibilities, and hobbies. If you look at the yin/yang symbol you’ll notice that the white and black sections are in perfect balance. Many of us live very active lives and leave little or no time to bathe in the quiet, introspective side. Over time this can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. Through a yin yoga practice we can restore balance so that both sides have equal and necessary attention.

 

A Yin Yoga Practice Allows Us To Slow Down.

The long holds in yin yoga poses provide a chance to bathe in stillness. There is a shift that occurs while holding a yin posture. Time opens up for us — deadlines, pressing matters, and to-do lists fade away and open up space for rest and renewal.

 

You Can Learn Self-compassion Through Yin Yoga.

Taking care of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual self is crucial to our wellbeing. A yin practice offers us the chance to observe, nurture, and calm ourselves. Carefully moving into a  posture and focusing on your body’s specific needs is a form of self-care.

 

Handle Stress Better With Yin Yoga.

Holding a pose for several minutes can provoke anxiety. But when we approach it with tenderness, the body acclimates. Surrender is a common theme in yin yoga, and giving up the need to control a situation is a lesson that we can carry with us into our day-to-day lives. The ability to adapt to the ups and downs of life and to manage change with grace can lessen our predisposition to stress.

 

Yin Practice Can Restore Range Of Motion.

A healthy range of motion requires our layers of connective tissue to allow for the muscles to glide over each other. But injury, poor posture, and aging (among other factors) can tighten the connective tissues and create ‘adhesions’ and restrict the movement between the sliding surfaces of the muscles. Adhesions block the flow of nutrients and energy, (think of a traffic jam) causing pain and limiting range of motion. When we hold poses that gently and safely lengthen the muscles and connective tissues, it helps break up adhesions. Applying mild stress to joints and connective tissues can also increase their range of motion.

 

Yin Yoga Rejuvenates The Body.

women doing a folded yin yoga poseOur body’s tissues can experience a revival of sorts with a long soak the same way that an old, stiff sponge can. As you hold a yin pose, the slow release that takes you deeper into the pose is the tissues lengthening, hydrating, and becoming more pliable. Many times you even can sense the tissues being stretched, squeezed, twisted, and compressed if you really focus your attention on the physical body. A yin practice has the potential to leave you feeling as though you’ve had a massage.

 

A Yin Yoga Practice Creates The Opportunity To Sit With Emotions.

Our bodies store emotions, so from time to time our thoughts, feelings, and memories can bubble to the surface during a yoga practice. Yin teaches us how to be gentle, patient, and nonreactive. When emotions bubble to the surface, the conditions are safe for us to explore them.

 

Yin Yoga Taps Into The Parasympathetic Nervous System.

Belly breathing, (also known as diaphragmatic breathing) is a powerful way to induce the parasympathetic nervous system. Activating the parasympathetic nervous system is good for us. It helps alleviate stress, tension, blood pressure and aids in better sleep, digestion, and immune function. Most of our time is spent stuck in the sympathetic nervous system because we live busy, active lives.

Belly breathing can change this.

As you move deeper into your yin practice, the breath slows down significantly, pulling you deeper and deeper into this parasympathetic, or relaxation, state. This is where the internal organs get a chance to catch up on their to-do list (digest, eliminate toxins, heal, repair).

 

Yin Creates An Opportunity To Cultivate Gratitude For Our Bodies

Yin yoga allows us to return to our bodies and to see just how remarkable we are. Diving deeper into the layers of ourselves, we learn about our inner workings, connecting to respiratory and circulatory functions, internal organs, and sensations within the muscles and joints. This heightened awareness of the body brings us closer to santosha, or contentment.

The more you practice Yin Yoga, the more you will embrace the act of slowing down and connecting to yourself. As Bernie Clark said, “Completeness, wholeness often requires a rebalancing and a returning to the center where I can see my energies and care for my soul.”

 

Interested In Becoming A Yoga Teacher?

Learn about our Yin Yoga Teacher Training and contact us to learn more!

January 28, 2021
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Attractive woman practicing yoga, relaxing after training, lying face down

The Benefits of a Yin Yoga Teacher Training

By Yoga Asana

Most students who step onto a yoga mat learn quickly the many benefits of yin yoga: flexibility, strength, a calm mind, better sleep, better digestion, and the list goes on and on. But with so many styles of yoga, how do you know which is right for you? Many students like to try a few different styles, to get a sense of the benefits of each.

In this article we’re going to dive into yin yoga, a style of yoga that works deeply into our body with passive, longer-held poses. There are many benefits to this style of yoga and injuries are less common thanks to the slow movement, which helps students become aware of sensation before it can become an injury.

What is Yin Yoga?

group doin yoga on beach knowing the benefits of yin yogaYin yoga is different from many other types of yoga because there is no flow from pose to pose. Each yin pose is held for several minutes at a time, from 2.5 minutes up to 7 minutes, depending on the pose and the experience level of the students. Most poses are done seated or lying on your back or stomach, which makes it possible to stay in the posture for a few minutes. Unlike restorative yoga which is about total relaxation, yin yoga should cause some sensation, a mix of compression and tension, rather than deep relaxation.

Yin yoga also has different names for poses you might have previously practiced in a vinyasa yoga class. This is because yin poses have different rules: the alignment and overall focus is quite different than how you might practice it in a flow class.

Using Your Breath in Yin Yoga

We use the breath in yin yoga to help sustain the poses when they become uncomfortable. It’s the uncomfortable moments and sensations that help the body release deeply held tension and also create lasting change. By allowing the breath to flow freely, we keep our mind calm and our body continues to relax into the sensations we’re feeling. While other types of yoga utilize the breath to build heat and help with focus, yin yoga uses the breath as an aid. Think of it as a silent friend supporting you during an uncomfortable moment.

Yin Yoga Helps Release Tension, Stress, and Anxiety

Yin yoga has a lengthening and releasing effect which allows us to dig deeper into the connective tissues that surround the joints and release tension. It also helps to free up energy within the body. Specifically, it helps free up emotional energy that may be causing anxiety, stress, or tension.

It is very countercultural to be allowed to “simply be”. The act of slowing down might be all you need to calm your mind. Do your best to breathe and to sink heavily into each asana with the time you’re given.

If you’re unsure if your physical stress has an emotional link, try to identify the area of the body needing attention. Very often, the stress in the body manifests itself in the major joint systems. Our major joint systems carry the heaviest burden while supporting the body, therefore, making them more susceptible to emotional pressures. They include the spine, shoulders, and hips.

Postures in yin yoga support the joints through a process of detoxification. While the poses are being held, the joint system being worked on is starved of vital nutrients and prana. Once the pose is released, a rebounding pose is introduced to encourage the rushing back of nutrients into the joint. This flooding cleanses the joint of toxins and lowers levels of inflammation. This cleanse can also be felt in the emotional body as a sense of release.

Yin Yoga Compliments Other Workouts

class working on the benefits of yin yogaThe ancient Chinese concept of yin and yang relates to the idea that within two opposing forces, there is balance. Certain styles of exercise can be categorized as either yin or yang according to their qualities. Workouts such as running, HIIT, and heat building yoga classes are considered yang because they are active, sweat-inducing, dynamic, and repetitive. The principles of yang relate to masculinity, heat, and movement. Yin is the feminine force and is related to stillness, rest, balance, cooling, and release. Exercises that are based in stretching and relaxation are yin in nature. If yang-style workouts are overused without the balance of yin, there is the potential for the body to become overworked, injured, or fatigued. Bringing yin yoga to your movement routine will help with improved flexibility and relaxation.

Yin Yoga Balances Your Chi

According to traditional Chinese medicine, our bodies are powered by a vital force called ‘chi’. Chi runs through specific energetic channels in the body, called meridians. While all yoga styles could have an effect on the meridian pathways, yin yoga has a more profound and extreme effect. All of the meridians flow through the back and legs and many yin postures will touch on several meridians at once. Yin classes are usually structured to allow students to work on all of the meridians.

Yin Yoga Can Help Build Fortitude and Perseverance

When life is feeling a bit difficult or situations are making it hard to focus, you can turn to yin yoga to help rebalance energy. Yin teaches us that staying still and dealing with whatever thoughts, feelings, emotions, or sensations come up will actually help you grow. Learning to take each moment as it comes will help you become more proficient in managing the discomforts that come up in life off the mat. As time passes in each posture, it gets harder to ignore the ‘monkey’ mind and students sometimes have the desire to leave or modify the pose. Yin teaches us to find a place of comfort in a not-so-comfortable place and observe our thoughts and reactions from a place of calmness.

Yin Yoga is for All Ages and Abilities

As a practice, Yin Yoga is safe for people of all ages and physical abilities. It’s a great addition to a current yoga practice or workout, and can be adapted for those with injury or limitation. Always make sure to let your teacher know if you are pregnant, have a new or old injury, or are feeling any sharp, shooting pains while in a pose. There are modifications available to make each pose better suited for your body and specific needs.

Become A Yin Yoga Instructor

Interested in becoming a yin yoga teacher and teaching the benefits of yin yoga? Learn about our Yin Yoga Teacher Training and contact us to learn more!

January 26, 2021
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Learn If Yin Yoga Is Right For You

By Miscellaneous

Yoga has been in the spotlight as a healthy and natural way to work out, destress, and quiet the mind, but one style has recently become more popular and is attracting all types of people. Yin yoga offers the opportunity to relax, ground, and release. With our daily lives already very active, stressful, and constantly on-the-go, more people are being drawn to this practice that teaches us how to surrender.

Yin yoga is a simple and quiet practice, but it’s not always easy or comfortable. It can take you beyond your normal comfort zone, and this is where many of the benefits live.

While yin yoga is great for the physical body, many of the benefits stem from its effects on the mind and emotions. This practice allows the body to drop down into the parasympathetic nervous system, offering a grounding, calming, and revitalizing practice that can have profound energetic and emotional outcomes. This makes it a great practice for practically everyone.

Yin Yoga for Athletes

Yin yoga is one of the most effective styles of yoga that athletes can incorporate into their workouts. It’s great for increasing flexibility, relieving tightness, and deeply relaxing both the body and mind. It’s not generally comfortable and does require a good amount of time to be set aside, but the benefits are worth the effort.

Yin and yang is an ancient Taoist concept that describes the interdependency of oppositional forces. Day relies on night to exist, just as hot relies on cold, and so on. Neither aspect is good or bad, but are understood as two sides of the same coin.

When applied to sports, yang activities are typically hot, fast, dynamic, stimulating, and energetic. Yin activities are passive, cooling, relaxing, and therapeutic. Committing to both types of training aids in healthy recovery. Too much of one and not enough of the other can lead to falling short or burning out.

Some of the benefits athletes experience when committing to a yin yoga practice are:

  • Increased flexibility
  • Improved range of motion
  • Eases in aches and pains
  • Improved posture
  • Sped up recovery
  • Reduced injuries
  • Improved focus and concentration
  • Reduced anxiety
  • Relaxation and better sleep

Yin Yoga for Injuries

There is no right or wrong, good or bad, or even a certain way the yin postures are supposed to look. The reason for this is because everyone’s body is unique. Ideally, each yoga student gives themself permission to feel and experience whatever is happening in that moment, without expectations or judgment. This is a safe, non-competitive environment where we can allow ourselves to just be in our bodies without specific goals.

From healing injured shoulders to safely rehabbing a new knee, yin yoga can help. Yin yoga is based on passively-held yoga postures, usually seated or lying down, held for anywhere between 3-10 minutes. These asanas unblock your chi flow through the meridians of your body, which happen to run through the connective tissue. Connective tissue is worked, nourished, and hydrated by yin yoga. It’s where injuries can be healed through the action of fibroblasts and your immune system.

Yin Yoga for Beginners

Yoga classes are usually planned out based on levels — new students start with beginner or fundamental classes and work their way to Level 1, 2, 3, and beyond. There’s all types of creative names for yoga classes that help designate what kind of yoga flow you can expect. But yin yoga doesn’t have levels, and that’s because it’s appropriate for students of all levels, from the very new beginner to the handstanding expert.

One of the benefits of yin yoga practice is the ability to pay close attention to how we’re feeling. Yin yoga gives us a chance to learn what sensations are, where they are, and whether they are healthy or too intense. In yang styles of yoga, beginners can be worried and overwhelmed with all the details of the poses: the alignment, muscle engagements, the teacher’s directions, the breath, and on and on. But in yin yoga we have time to learn how to pay attention to each sensation and breath.

Students learn to develop their own awareness of what they need, including when to go deeper and when to back off. This helps students become well equipped for the faster-paced styles of yoga.

Become A Yin Yoga Instructor

Interested in becoming a yin yoga teacher? Learn about our Yin Yoga Teacher Training and contact us to learn more!

January 21, 2021
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​Why Prioritizing Stress Management is Important

By Lifestyle & Wellness

As we enter a new era where adaptation and often sheer survival instincts are essential, how can we possibly make time for stress management? In an ideal world, we would have all tested and practiced various stress management techniques to find out what worked for us before self-isolation and social distancing was recommended or required, but that simply wasn’t the case for most of us. We’re now dealing with more stressors than ever before, from learning how to co-work in a little studio with our partner or figuring out the best home-based learning solutions for our children.

How Stress Management Can Be Beneficial

couple finding stress management in yogaStress management isn’t a luxury. It’s part of our inherent and very necessary survival skill sets as human beings. We have no choice but to adapt in many situations, including the one we’re in right now. There are countless avenues to alleviating stress and anxiety, and not all of them are healthy. If we don’t take a conscious effort to explore and identify healthy relief that works for us, we’re likely to reach for vices that provide temporary but dangerous and harmful results. Smoking, drinking, or spending hours bingeing on Netflix are all very common “stress relievers” that don’t do us any favors in the long run—or even in the short run.

Start Simple: Short, Easy and Accessible

You’ve probably heard that yoga and meditation are fantastic avenues to relieve stress and anxiety, and they are! However, many of us—particularly in western countries—have been conditioned to think there’s a “right way” or “best way” to practice both. For instance, maybe you’ve heard that a proper yoga session should be 90 minutes, and you can certainly find studies to back up just about any claim. Rest assured, 90 isn’t a magic number. The reality is that any time you can spend on the mat is beneficial.

I personally have a daily 30-minute yoga practice. Admittedly, this began before the COVID-19 issues, and I started practicing at home in November. It worked for me then, and it works for me now, because as a small business owner I simply don’t have the time to get ready to go to a studio, commuting 20 – 30 minutes each way. It would honestly be more stressful to watch the clock all day to see what else I have to squeeze in before I had to go.

I “graduated” from using free YouTube yoga classes to simply writing down key asanas I wanted to practice every day and creating my own new daily flow. Granted, I had the benefit of 600 hours of yoga teacher training to help me with this, but that isn’t a requirement either. If you’ve practiced yoga before, you can start experimenting with creating your own flows. There are countless flows online you can use and tweak.

Plus, know that 30 minutes also isn’t the magic number for everyone. It’s simply what works for me and my schedule. You can amplify that time by selecting background ambiance if that helps you deepen your practice. Ever the multi-tasker, I have taken to listening to 30 minutes of classical music as my yoga practice background. Classical music isn’t something I was able to indulge in on a daily basis before a home practice, so there’s the added benefit of imbuing that joy into my daily life, which you can add to your practice as well. I also burn incense in my little office-cum-studio and face my mat towards the window that overlooks my front yard. Any little thing you can do to enhance whatever length practice you have at home is beneficial. The important thing is to make this your time to get on the mat. And if you have kids with no other adult in the house to watch them during this time? It might be time to start exploring yoga videos to practice with children.

Making Time for Meditation

women posing to help with stress managementOne of the pillars of meditation is concentrating on living in the present. It’s extremely difficult to do, so simply trying not to get flustered is a big part of the practice. My personal meditation practice usually follows my yoga practice or takes place first thing in the morning. I’ve tried out several types of meditation in my life, and I’ve found that candle meditation (staring at the base or tip of a flame in the dark) and mala beads work best for me.

It’s been said that you can practice meditation anywhere, and to an extent, that’s true. However, it can be difficult to really live in the present and focus solely on your breath if you’re trying to multi-task and meditate while you wash dishes. I adopted a ten-minute meditation because—at this point in my life—that’s what my body and mind can handle. Yours may be longer or shorter, in the dark like me (honestly, it’s my closet) or in the daylight.

Final Throughs from the Author

Be kind to yourself. Be realistic. And remember that what your yoga teacher said was true—the toughest part usually is just getting to the mat (even when it’s in your living room).

May 29, 2020
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