While traveling I never worry about keeping my normal routine. I let it go and find a new routine that fits the freedom that I enjoy while keeping in the rhythm of spontaneity while traveling. Because on holiday I hike and walk a lot, my first consideration is how to keep my upper body strong and my hips…
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IT’S ALL YOGA TO ME
being a yoga teacher and student, everything to me translates into yoga. Either what to teach, a theme, or the discovery of a whole new way to say something. I can be inspired by anything. it could be how my dog lets out a big exhale and then relaxes into the couch or a walk on the beach listening…
IF YOU BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU DO. DO WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN.
I spend some of my study time reading a series of books of interviews with BKS Iyengar. whether it’s a sentence, a paragraph, or a chapter, it is an instant source of inspiration for me. His medical successes, his approache (against all odds) in the medical world, his constant faith in his study of yoga in therapeutic ways. As one who has…
BREATHE AWAY PAIN
After suffering for 3 weeks with a sharp pain in my right lower back and for over a month from a pinched nerve in my upper back due to a fall, causing classic symptoms of pins and needles down my right arm into my little and middle finger, I felt possessed by pain. I am not one to take patiently or…
LOST IN TRANSLATION: ADHO MUKHA SVANSANA
by Shelley Piser Teaching yoga for 35 years, I am always excited to discover new clarity in conveying movement (sometimes very abstract movement) to my students so they get it! Teachers can get stuck in how they express poses and students can get stuck in how they translate directions into their own postures. For a beginning student, yoga is a new…
Pull up a chair: Utkatasana
I am always learning from my students. I am always amazed and surprised by my own discoveries of a Posture that I have practiced for years and suddenly I am introduced to again as though it was the very first time. I have finally grown into it in a completely new way. Chair Pose (Utkatasana) is one of those “simple”…
TAKE A BREATHING BREAK
While teaching one of my senior privates she started off telling me how stressful her weekend was since she had some problems concerning co-workers. She needed something to allow her to calm down. I proceeded to do some very slow, 3-minute poses that help to unwind and regenerate. Half way through she told me that in the midst of her…
A senior moment or more; 2-minute yoga practice
When my senior beginning students ask me what they should practice at home I always prescribe Leg stretches. Never to overwhelm a new student with more things to add to their pressured day, I keep it simple by suggesting to start with just one pose. Simply asking them to hold each leg stretch for only one minute to begin with.…
Seniors love Yoga too!
One of my teachers, Martyn Jackson, would tell us that the best time to begin yoga is in your forties. That’s when children are grown and you have the time and maturity to devote to your practice. In October I was graced with one of my favorite teaching experience in recent times. I am teaching 2 classes a week to…
Asana, your treasure trove of Possibilities
Do you know that just one yoga posture can change your whole day? Believe it or not, it can! There are days when you only have five minutes to spare to do yoga. That is enough time to find one pose that will refresh you to move through your day with more energy. The freedom that comes with the study and…