by Kara-Leah Grant Back in 2001, movement specialist Tom Myers published a book called Anatomy Trains. In it, he put forward an idea that was to forever change the way that people understood "stretching" - a systems-oriented view of our musculo-skeletal anatomy. That is, that when we stretch, we're not just stretching separate and individual muscles, but that we're also working with fascia, which is a webbing overlaid and connecting all muscles. This book was born out of the work that Tom … [Read more...]
Search Results for: chronic pain
J. Brown on the Three Sensibilities that Shape Our Yoga Practice {video interview}
by Kara-Leah Grant I've been following J. Brown for a few years now, inspired and impressed by the consistent and constant magnifying glass he applies to the yoga world. J. has no qualms about challenging the accepted flow with his articles, calling into question elements of yoga teaching and practice that he finds problematic. But then, J. Brown is an upstart who has always gone against the grain right from the beginning of his career, deliberately taking a different approach from the … [Read more...]
No More Dancers Doing Yoga on Youtube
In celebration of the launch of The No-More-Excuses Guide to Yoga, I’ve invited some friends and colleagues to write articles relating to the theme of the book’s subtitle: Because yoga is for every body. It’s one way of helping to smash the image and idea that you need to be thin, flexible, young and female to practice yoga - or that yoga has to involve advanced postures. Unfortunately, much of what we see in the media reflects this idea about yoga - something J.Brown discusses in this … [Read more...]
Sometimes Yoga doesn’t have the answer
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Ok, I admit it, I'm the first person to think that Yoga is a cure-all. Just practice yoga regularly and it will sort out your back issues, your depression, your relationship problems and those last five kilos you just can't shift. It's the wunder-drug of the next generation. Except when it isn't. I've been practicing Yoga - of the physical kind - for about 12 years now. And yes, it's done amazing things for my back. I was living with chronic … [Read more...]
How yoga helped me… find steadiness and beauty within my body
Submitted by Zoe of the North Island (not her real name) The sexual abuse of the body started before I turned 4. I say it that way because although it happened to all of me, separating from the body it happened to became a way to survive. I could vanish into the wallpaper or the light shade in an effort to tolerate the intolerable. By the time I was in my mid-twenties my life was coming unraveled. A fiercely honed intellect wasn't sufficient for living a fully engaged life. A … [Read more...]
Don’t Despair the Tear
By Veronica King, Teaching Yoga and navigating a labral hip tear. Monday night, advanced yoga class. Parsvakonasana, a warm-up pose early in class, and as I anchored my legs and rotated my body upwards, I felt a rip inside my groin. I nearly screamed, tears streaming down my face through the rest of the class, wondering if this was the last yoga class I might ever do, knowing something BAD had just happened. It turns out that labral hip tears are common amongst dancers, yogis, … [Read more...]
The Powerful Benefits of Yoga for Teenagers
by Charlotta Martinus, TeenYoga “All of my friends smoke a spliff every day and/or take medication, either to help them sleep, or to combat anxiety or depression or for ADHD. Those drugs get shared around and sold, especially during exams.”Niall, age 17 In an uncertain world, young people are turning to coping strategies that are available to them. The medications that are designed to support those with anxiety and depression are not licensed for use among those under 18 years old and even … [Read more...]
The Beauty of Maturity: Perimenopause, Menopause & Yoga
By Donna Farhi, All my life I have had a dream that I would live in a house with a long winding driveway lined with oak trees. In my early forties, I bought thirty acres of bare land in the South Island of New Zealand with no water, electricity, septic system or house. Over a period of seven years, the task of building a house and putting in the infrastructure of power, electricity, fencing and a water recycling system was all consuming. Once the house was built my first priority was … [Read more...]
Finding an Internal Sense of Safe Alignment in Yoga
By Amy Green, To me, the inaugural Hauora Yoga Conference felt like an important step in this country's yoga evolution. The welcoming ceremony set the stage for a different kind of gathering than had ever been held in the NZ yoga community. Here were numerous teachers, speakers, presenters and enthusiasts, brought together to learn and share with one another. It was a gateway for an in-depth, more academic study of our beloved practice. It felt special, intimate…almost like something … [Read more...]
Amy Ippoliti on Why 60-Minute Yoga Classes Might Be Watering Down Yoga
by Lucinda Staniland Meet Amy Ippoliti—yoga teacher, author, earth activist and founder of 90 Monkeys, an online professional development school for yoga teachers. One of the first things I noticed when I watched this video interview with Amy was her irrepressible enthusiasm for the practice of yoga. Yes, there's no doubt in my mind that this woman loves yoga, and loves sharing it with the world. And yet, while Amy is incredibly open hearted and enthusiastic, she also cultivates a sharp … [Read more...]