Why The Body Loves Whole Body Exercise Like Yoga Tune Up®
[See Part 1 of this blog and the discussion of antioxidants here!] You may also ask: Doesn’t my antioxidant system continue to get rid of the ONOOs even when I’m being a couch potato? The answer is...
View ArticleTake a Breathing Break
While teaching one of my senior privates recenty, she started off telling me how stressful her weekend was since she had some problems with co-workers. She needed something to help her to calm down. I...
View ArticleAbdominal Breathing – Look Ma, No Lungs!
If you’ve been around the yoga block a few times, you will no doubt have heard the instruction to ‘breathe into your belly’ – and that direction may have had you stumped. After all, your abdomen...
View ArticleAbdominal Breathing for Better Living
If you’re not breathing, you’re not living. Literally. And if you’re not breathing well; you’re not living as well as you could be. If you pay attention to your breath, you can learn a lot about how...
View ArticleOvercoming Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Yoga
Marisa had been regularly attending my yoga classes for a few weeks before I realized how committed she was becoming to the practice. As time passed I was increasingly aware of this timid woman in her...
View ArticleBridge Lifts to Reduce Anxiety
For students with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, simply lying down and being told to “relax and breathe” can trigger Relaxation Induced Anxiety. But deepening the breath is one of the best ways to calm...
View ArticleYoga Tune Up® Therapy Balls Can Reduce Mild Inflammation
Here’s a clip of some simple ball work for the upper back that can help reduce healing time for mild inflammation in muscles and their surrounding connective tissues. As always, do not roll on severely...
View ArticleBelly Breathe The Yoga Tune Up® Way For Stress And Anxiety Relief
A few days ago, I noticed a Web article that claimed a good dose of stress and anxiety to be a healthy and even a necessary component of a healthy existence. Yes, we all experience some anxiety here...
View ArticleBuilding A Coregeous EmbodyMap, Part 3: Uddiyana Bandha
In Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, author and yogi Dr. H. David Coulter claims, “Udiaynna bandha is the only practice in Hatha Yoga that frankly stretches the respiratory diaphragm.” (p. 197) After 16 years of...
View ArticleThorax, Relax: Your Ribs Are Not A Cage
Me: Exhale to squeeze all of the air out of your belly and lungs. Student: Pffffffffffffftt. Me: Great! Now keep your belly engaged and take a deep breath in. Student: (Holds breath for a few seconds)...
View ArticleSoothing Stress with Yoga Tune Up® Therapy Balls
Since my first roll on Yoga Tune Up® Therapy Balls, I knew I ‘kneaded’ it. My soft tissues were rock solid from years of poor posture and a lack of awareness. The only time I had decent posture was...
View ArticleMake Therapy Ball Rolling A Daily Practice
My daily Yoga Tune Up® Therapy Ball routine always includes a roll out for the upper back. My day involves driving in the car, teaching, and sitting (or standing) at my desk. All activities are in...
View ArticleSankalpa: Your Inner Resolve
The first day of Level 1 Teacher Training opens with Jill talking about sankalpa and I think, “ugh… she’s gonna ask me to set my intention.” I resist rolling my eyes back and force my mind to stay...
View ArticleYTU Therapy Balls: An Alternative to Excedrin and Botox
Picture the “before” person in an ad for a headache pain reliever: brows furrowed, eyes squinting, fingers massaging temples. Headache pain manifests in different areas, but the archetypal muscle that...
View ArticleIs Pain Just In Your Head?
All of us have had experience with pain at some point in our lives, whether we had an injury, experienced a bad fall or suffer with occasional back spasms. For many of us, we feel immediate pain...
View ArticleCoaching Your Nervous System and Stress to Curtail Chronic Pain
On Wednesday, I discussed pain messaging and how chronic pain signals can be a result of a overly sensitive nervous system rather than tissue damage. Here are my top 3 recommendations on how to quiet...
View ArticleBreathe Easier with Yoga Tune Up
What do Louis Jackson, Kevyn McAnlis, Kelly Starrett* and twenty five million Americans all have in common? None of us can breathe….well maybe that’s being a little extreme, but we do have asthma. As...
View ArticleShift Your Stress in 3 Minutes
Our world is moving faster than ever. The speed of technology, gadgets and smart phones provide a constant overload of information that puts our bodies under an incredible amount of physiological...
View ArticleFrom Stress to Rest in 3 Minutes or Less!
On Wednesday, I discussed the negative affects stress has on our breath and bodies. Did you know that your breath can help you shift your stress in as little as 3 minutes? Starting today, it is time to...
View ArticleBecome the Master of Your Masseter
On Wednesday, I wrote of my discovery and recovery from jaw and neck pain. Left untreated, tension in your primary jaw muscles, the masseter and temporalis, can lead to dysfunction at the...
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