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Is Navasana a Core Pose? 

Is Navasana (Boat Pose in yoga) a core pose?

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Yoga Anatomy Academy (@yogaanatomyacademy) As an avid student of yoga since the mid-90s, I have heard many yoga teachers say that boat pose, also known as navasana or paripurna (full) navasana, was a core pose.  This always confused me because, in my own body during navasana, […]

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What is (and is not) the “Core”

After recently hearing a yoga teacher insist that foot strengthening exercises were “core exercises”, it got us thinking: what exactly is the core? And how can we help the yoga community apply this term more precisely? “Core” is not a medical term, and does not have a universal, clear definition. It can (and will) be […]

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5 Actions to Get Your Foot Up Between Your Hands in Downward Facing Dog

stepping your foot between your hands in yoga, from downward facing dog or down dog

Social media is full of fluid movers, yogis who can gracefully place a foot between their hands in slow motion, usually on the way down from a single arm hand balancing feat with a glass of wine between their toes. Not a drop spilled. What is less common: actual instructions in yoga class on how […]

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The Hidden Pulling Actions in Chaturanga or The Problem is Never the Pose

Amid the growing awareness that yoga asana is not always an infallible and complete physical workout, has been a tendency to dismiss certain poses (for example: wild thing, sleeping pigeon, chaturanga) as culprits of injury. The real culprit In reality, the culprits of injury — no matter the physical pursuit — are excessive repetition of movement […]

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What’s so special about Psoas?

Psoas is a deep lumbo-pelvic muscle that can curl us into the protective fetal position or quickly engage to hurl us forward in a run. There are fascinating articles out there on the emotional role of this muscle, but I’m here to talk about its biomechanics in yoga asana. Psoas is a multi-articulate or multiarticular muscle — one that […]

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