I was settling into my end-of-class lotus, feeling so grateful for my yoga practice, ready for a little oming. But no. The teacher asked us to mentally list three things we were grateful for. And I panicked. Because I’ve quit gratitude lists. It's not that I’m an ingrate. I thank people all the [...]
Twists are a time-honored remedy to kick-start the digestive system when practiced with conscious attention to breath and posture. According to gastroenterologist Sabine Hazan Steinberg, MD, “Gentle yoga twists increase blood flow to the bowels. If followed by rest, twists help the movement of the bowels. Twists are also shown to decrease inflammation.” Twists put [...]
When yoga could cause harm and what to do. Yoga Therapy: This is the first in an ongoing series on the therapeutic applications of yoga to appear in LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health magazine. Adapting yoga practice to meet an individual’s needs is at the core of yoga therapy. In any situation, your [...]
I was used to having the most advanced practice in the room. I rocked difficult arm balances, twisted myself into complicated knots and bent myself into stunning scorpions with little effort. Thirteen years as a competitive gymnast had rendered me strong and flexible, which made for easy asana assimilation. I found my way to Ashtanga [...]
From Injury To Inquiry Rachel Krentzman I clearly remember the moment when shooting pain in my back sent me down on my knees, unable to breathe. I remember the numbness and tingling in my right foot – no matter how much I commanded, my foot would not obey. As a physical therapist, [...]
Luxuriating yoga sessions while at home can offer some of the richest experiences of centering that you may ever have. To achieve this, you’ll need to face the demons of procrastination and laziness as well as doubt about whether you’ll know what to do without a teacher instructing. We have a tendency to slide into [...]
From Injury To Inquiry This is the second in an ongoing series on the therapeutic applications of yoga to appear in LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health magazine. I clearly remember the moment when shooting pain in my back sent me down on my knees, unable to breathe. I remember the numbness and tingling [...]
Practice Pages: Meditation Three-Minute Kundalini Yoga Techniques To Repaint The Blues, Reduce Stress And Negativity And Increase Joy “Your house is on fire, you’d better come with me,” a colleague said as he interrupting my meeting. I stood up in shock; surely he was joking. I had just been home for lunch and I quickly recollected [...]
“Soldiers, above other people, must suffer and bear the deepest wounds of war,” sadly states Brigadier General James T. Cook, who has served in the U.S. Army Reserves for 30 years. Brigadier General Cook is one of a growing number of people nationwide, both inside and outside the Armed Services, who are turning their attention [...]
Yoga is like a gateway drug. At least it was for me. One day I was opening my hips and the next thing I knew I was opening my mind. Downward-facing dog led to chakra meditations, led to psychic flashes, led to pendulums, remote energy healing, DNA activation and now I find myself a full-blown [...]