We hope you got the chance to join us this weekend for a day of bakasanas and booty shaking at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for our outdoor yoga celebration with MC Yogi. We kicked of the festivities with a 2 hour flow led by Sarah, Adi and Amanda and DJ El Jefe, and then hit the dance floor to experience powerful and exultant sounds of MC Yogi. Here are some of our favorite moments:
100 of our closest friends joined us on a stunning afternoon at the base of the Teton Mountains
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We’ve all been there: emotionally tense and physically fatigued but we came anyways. We joke before class that we want to hang out in savasana all practice because it’s a piece of cake, right? I’ve come to learn that in contrary, it is a very challenging pose. In fact, B.K.S Iyengar refers to savasana as the most difficult of asanas.
It wasn’t until after a year of steady practice [!] that I learned that sleeping in savasana wasn’t really the best thing. What? But it feels so, so, so, so good. Turns out so many of us fall asleep because we don’t know any other form of relaxation except for sleep. [Ouch!]
The truth is [dun, dun, dun], even after years of practicing and now teaching, I still have days when I drift away from my state of awareness. Like many people in today’s society, I have a hectic schedule. I wake up at 4am almost every single day, lead a very active lifestyle, and sometimes after a rigorous practice at the end of the day, fatigue will snatch me.
Dear Neesha,
I have a frozen shoulder (Adhesive Capsulitis) and want to know some good yoga poses that will help to gently stretch my shoulder. Child’s pose is painful, triangle and any poses that require my arm to go straight up in the air don’t necessarily hurt, but I am unable to even get my arm close to straight up. I have been avoiding yoga, but now I wonder if renewing my practice will advance my healing along with the physical therapy I am doing. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you, Kim
Hi Kim,
Thank you for writing about your concern with your frozen shoulder. Stay away from typical yoga and think more of yoga alignment therapy. The alignment (organizing your body parts mindfully in relation with one another) is the same in regular yoga asana, but we will step way back in order to increase healing and function of your joint.
It is important to work with impeccable alignment in your case. Range of motion will increase over time if you engage properly.
I am going to give you a set of instructions that I would like you to try in the given set of very simple postures. Practice the step-by step set of instructions in each position. This is important in order to get the most ideal placement of your arm bone in shoulder socket. When the muscles are able to open and strengthen in these positions, you can slowly add more weight bearing. Do this with guidance please.
Dear Adi,
I have a slight protruding disc in my middle to lower back and one near the bottom of my spine that is pressing on a nerve that numbs part of my foot. I’m not in any pain but are there any particular yoga positions that would take the pressure of my lower back? Thank you, Morag
Hi Morag,
In most bulging discs, the disc needs to be asssisted back to a more normal position by practicing spinal extension positions. This lengethens the front of the spine ( front body ) and strengthens the back of the spine ( back body ). Most of us are hyper-mobile in two areas of the spine… The cervical spine and the lumbar spine. This results in exploiting these areas, and potential disc problems. When we focus on stabilizing the lower back and opening the chest, shoulders and hip flexors, we bring more balanced action into the body and ultimately normal function.
A few positions that you can practice to achieve stabilizing your spine and lengthening your front body are Bhujangasana (cobra pose), Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose) and Shalabhasana (locust pose).
Clearing the front side of the body through lunges is also a great way to release tension along the front of the spine. A lot of times back pain and potential disc issues is a result of the psoas and hip flexor muscles being too tight. Release of this area brings a lot of freedom and relief to back pain and referral numbness. I would recommend that you try my “Lunge into Freedom” class on Yoga Today.
Continue to practice mindfully and intelligently and Yoga will be a vehicle for self healing!
Many Blessings,
Do you ever feel drained of energy during the summer, a time when you really want to be out having fun? Do you get embarrassed because of skin rashes, bad breath or canker soars? Do you have to watch what you eat at parties because of food allergies, ulcers, hot flashes or heartburn?
If so, you’re not alone. So many people struggle with these imbalances in their bodies, especially during the summer.
Ayurveda believes that if we don’t adjust our diets and lifestyles to balance out the inherent qualities of the seasons we are more likely to struggle with unpleasant symptoms like the ones listed above.
Summer is referred to as pitta season by ayurvedic practitioners and devotees. Pitta is just a sanskrit word meaning “that which cooks” and refers to the combination of the elements of fire and water. Summer is pitta season because the qualities of nature are bright, hot, moving, sharp, liquid, acidic and oily. Physical activity seems to naturally ramp up and the sun is beating down strong.