Traditional goals of asana practice

Nowadays, we tend to define our health and fitness mostly through numbers (body mass index,…

Is it better to be flexible or stable?

Many years ago, when I just started teaching yoga, I wanted to make sure that…

Do you need tightening or loosening? Stability and ease at every level of the human system

“Clinical psychologists sometimes say that two kinds of people seek therapy: those who need tightening…

What can home yoga practice do for you?

To be honest, the older I get, the less I am interested in doing yoga…

Twenty superposes that carry maximum benefit with minimum risk

The term superfood is usually used to describe nutrient-rich food that is especially beneficial for…

Two fundamentally different ways to do Bridge pose

Am I the only one who finds that sometimes detailed instructions on how to get…

Downward Facing Dog: alignment, release valves and adaptations

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog pose) is probably the most overused and the most…

How habitual movement patterns can hurt our bodies

For the past couple of years, I’ve been trying to figure out this mysterious pain…

What makes Jathara Parivrtti a “superpose”?

Have you heard the term superfood? It is usually used to describe a nutrient-rich food…

An Ode to Warrior

There are a handful of poses that I choose to do in almost every yoga…

Fancy yoga poses – are they worth the risk?

Last time I was at my hairdresser’s, I read an article in some fashion magazine…

Myths about benefits of yoga poses – how much truth is there?

Let me tell you a secret – many claims that yoga teachers and yoga publications…

Five other ways to avoid benefits of yoga poses (potential release valves, part 2)

some time ago, I wrote a post about the so-called “release valves” in yoga –…

Five ways to forgo the benefits of yoga poses (potential release valves, part 1)

During my very first (weekend-long) yoga teacher training, we were taught to “swan dive” –…

The cult of a yoga pose: what yoga poses are and are not

My teacher, Gary Kraftsow, likes to ask, “Are you for yoga, or is yoga for…

Six yoga substitutes for the most common gym pre-exercise stretches

Every time I go to the gym, I see somebody doing the anga bangha stretching.…

Why do we hold yoga poses?

I had a student many years ago who, due to some psychological issues, wasn’t able…

Three steps to making any yoga pose more effective: why do we repeat the pose before we hold it

“Raise your hand if you are busy” – my teacher Gary Kraftsow likes to prompt…

Why the foot pain is connected to the neck pain: your movement patterns shape your body

In the yoga world, if we get pain somewhere in the body, we take it…