Here’s an idea you can build on…plan your class with three types of poses in mind: forward folds, backbends and twists. Folds, backbends and twists are complimentary—your body will begin to crave them as you move through class. Basically you’ll follow the pattern Rupali suggests in this Vinyasa Short on Folds/Backbends/Twists. She shows three repetitions […]
Parshva bakasana the fun and easy way
I’m a big fan of arm balancing poses like parshva bakasana (side crow or crane) because they REALLY require that one-pointed focus that yoga is known to cultivate. For example, if there’s a wobble in parshva bakasana, it might not be about the pose itself but perhaps the mind wandered even just a tiny bit. […]
How to open up those %#&*! hamstrings
As a teacher, you’ve undoubtedly heard a student ask more than once about how to open up those %#&*! hamstrings. Hamstrings are one of the most resistant muscle groups to lengthen, and even when it feels like they are beginning to open up, miss a few days of practice and twang! They snapped back as […]
3 poses to build your core stabilization muscles
I started teaching yoga long before any talk of ‘core stabilization’ ever occurred. In those days, we just struggled with each pose until we nailed it. Sometimes, depending on the pose, that took awhile. Now as practitioners and teachers, we can use this core stabilization concept to consciously activate the trunk of the body as […]
Anantasana and sphinx make up this brief ‘Vinyasa Short’
Anantasana is one of those sneaky poses…looks easy but it’s really not. By starting this short sequence in sphinx, you end up traveling across your mat laterally. And yes, you’ll also end up rolling off the mat a bit. C’est la vie! This sequence starts belly down in sphinx, then rolls off to one side […]