I have a regular column in Wilderness Magazine. They ran a series on garuda or eagle pose. This is a great balance pose that stretches your arms and strengthens legs and challenges you to balance all at the same time!
Simple how to of triangle (trikonasana) pose
Triangle pose is one of my favourites. It’s a great way to stretch the sides of your upper body and shoulders, while secretly working on your balance and leg strength. Start in a lunge with your left foot forward. Turn
Build upper body strength to step from down dog to lunge
Most yoga classes will at some point ask you to step from down dog to a lunge. It seems like a simple request, but it requires a combination of flexibility, strength and coordination that takes time to practice. In addition
The opposite to a press-up (stretch chest and shoulders)
We’ve been working on building strength in the shoulders and back through plank and chattaranga (press-up), down dog and cobra. Purvottanasana (or up dog) is often called the counter pose to press-ups because it stretches the muscles across your chest,
Using your leg muscles in cobra pose to protect your back
Using your leg muscles in backbends like cobra can help prevent back pain and protect your back. Try these steps to see if you notice a different feeling in your lower back and belly. Lie down on your belly with
Warm-up and coordination challenge for shoulders [video]
Last week I introduced a new way of warming up your shoulders that involves a simple practice of moving your arms through 4 positions. The practice not only warms up your shoulders but can help improve your coordination and focus.
The muscles of cobra pose and backbends
Cobra pose is common to just about any yoga class. Often people focus on using their arms to press their chest away from the floor and fold backwards. But there are so many more muscles involved as you can see
Folding forward
The forward fold (or uttanasana) is another common posture. We often don’t pay much attention to it, but we use this pose all the time to transition. On it’s own, it can be a good stretch for your hamstrings and
Mini sun salutation sequence to move the spine
For the last few weeks we’ve be going through a simple sequence that feels almost like a sun salutation to warmup the shoulders, spine, chest and back. It starts with an extended form of child’s pose. I’ve detailed this pose
Spinal twist combined with cat and cow pose
Yoga has been evolving since it was first conceptualised, and western practitioners are often introducing new poses or ways to move, including this pose often called ‘thread the needle.’ It’s a gentle and accessible way to start your yoga practice