Lion Pose, Simhasana, is said to cure bad breath, clean the tongue and improve speech and enunciation. It is such fun and a fantastic release of tension and energy. The 'Roaring' part of it comes in the teaching of it. First the students...
To begin our practice we must carve out time for ourselves in our schedule. We arrive in the space where we'll lay out our mat. The space you choose should be somewhat clear. For me that means swiffing the floor before each practice. The...
When we anchor ourselves firmly into ground, we can allow our heart a feeling of buoyancy. This warm up begins with releasing the inner legs downward, all the way. If you could get your inner legs to touch the ground, it might feel quite...
This article originally appeared on YogaCityNYC. As central as the Sun Salute is to so many practices, it seems as if each yoga school, or tradition, teaches its own brand. With so many subtle differences between them you could become a...
Many yoga poses require us to keep our hips squarely facing front. This direction is something that we have all heard so many times and have done so many times that we assume we have mastered it. But, it is surprising how often our hips...
This warm up begins lying prone, on my belly. I lay down and relax in a prone Savasana. My head is turned to one side; my shoulders slump comfortably, my arms bend with my hands somewhere around my head. I begin my letting go process and...
In this warm up, the wall is your partner. The idea is to prevent energy from leaking through our own physical patterns and misalignments. We use Jalandhara Bandha (Chin Lock) to 'lock' our Upward Moving Wind out of our head and move it...
This warm up begins standing so that we are up and ready to go. It is also a change from how many yoga classes begin — with sitting or lying down. We twist to cleanse. The arm movements wake up and circulate the shoulders. 1. Right...
In this Warm Up, I was working with two ideas. The first idea is about being fully committed, even if what we are doing isn't exactly 'right' yet. When we are on our way to a pose, we can make a full commitment to it, even before we get...
It is quite a relief to feel our body weight releasing down, comfortably settled. Letting our bellies release the habitual gripping we often hold can tell us how our clothes are actually fitting us around the waist. We tune into our gut....