by Lucinda Staniland For all the years I’ve been practicing yoga, I’ve always strived to ‘go deeper’ into the poses. In fact, I thought this was the point of asana. In the name of depth, I’ve pursued an ‘open heart’, and ‘release’ in the hips. Whatever the pose—lunges, backbends, twists—I’ve had an image in my mind of precisely how the pose should look, and the depth that I need to reach to achieve the perfect alignment. I’ve stretched my hands to my toes in standing forward bends, sunk deep … [Read more...]
What Are We Really Doing in Asana? Online Interactive Workshops on Injury Prevention in Yoga
by Kara-Leah Grant Last August, I interviewed Matthew Remski almost a year ago about his project What Are We Really Doing in Asana?, investigating yoga and injury. He's been doing great work and has interviewed hundreds of yoga practitioners about their history of yoga injury - a topic that was largely taboo or silent until this conversation began. The articles that Matthew has written, and the interviews that he's done, are all going towards a book that he's writing. But in the … [Read more...]
Is Yoga Really as Dangerous as Downhill Skiing? High ACC Levies Hit NZ Yoga Teachers
By Laura Brookes If ACC’s got it right, all New Zealand yoga teachers should be on immediate hazard alert. They currently face the same risk of injury in their workplace as downhill ski instructors. Yoga instructors are charged $1.37 for every $100 earned in ACC levies, a higher rate than prostitutes ($0.40), firefighters ($0.92) and professional netball players ($1.31). ACC groups yoga instruction into the classification unit for Sports and physical recreation instruction, meaning they … [Read more...]
What do I do when a Student Complains about Wrist Pain and Wants to Leave Class?
by Kelly Fisher, Urban Yoga Kelly is our resident yoga teacher mentor, answering questions from readers about how to teach and what to do when issues come up. You can email Kelly your question here. The Yoga Teacher's Question: “There it was yesterday: my first and rather frustrating setback in my teaching experience. I have a student who suffers from a lot of wrist pain. She comes along to my 45 minute class that is short, sharp and energetic. Because I know she requires special … [Read more...]