Online Mentorship and Courses in Yoga Anatomy
My most recent blog post, How Our Obsession with Yoga Alignment Misses the Point, is the product of a massive paradigm shift that was at least a decade and a half in the making. Despite the indisputable fact that yoga helps many people, asana can cause harm, and is not universally “good”. Yet the idea […]
For many yoga practitioners “alignment” is synonymous with “the best way to practice a pose for injury prevention”. But this perspective is strange for a practice that is considered fundamentally healthy. Why are so many of us so motivated to turn our toes to a certain angle by the fear of injury from yoga? People […]
Is there such a thing as too much yoga? Thirty day (or other length) yoga challenges have become a thing in the last 15 years…and therefore a staple of the yoga world every January. Typically these challenges involve attending a yoga class (virtually or in person) each and every day for 30 days in a […]
Francesca Cervero kindly invited me to be a return guest on her podcast, The Mentor Sessions: Support and Strategy for Yoga Teachers to talk about HIPS, specifically yoga hip injuries. (If you missed the first episode on anatomy-informed yoga, you can listen here). Francesca and I both experienced major hip injuries, as in the kind […]
Many patients who seek treatment in my physical therapy practice are yogis. Because I am both a physical therapist and a long time interdisciplinary yoga teacher, yoga practitioners trust me with their injuries and physical challenges. I see one yoga-related challenge (sometimes I see it before it becomes a full injury) more frequently than any […]
Teaching anatomy for yoga practitioners is about much more than relaying the nuts and bolts (muscles and bones). In order to understand anatomy in the context of the vastness of yoga, we must understand how yoga, yoga classes, and yoga teaching influence bodies and fit in to a larger conversation about the intersection of yoga […]
Handstand before Headstand…is that ok? YogaAnatomyAcademy has been spotted in the March 2018 edition of Women’s Health Magazine! This was a fun, first experience: picking up a magazine in the airport and finding your own face inside. In the Ask Anything section, we (I) answer this: “I have neck issues, so headstands make me nervous. […]
Three golden nuggets of anatomy wisdom on M.B.Om – Mastering the Business of Yoga Podcast Yoga Anatomy Academy had the great privilege of being featured on yet another podcast (the third in 3 months!), in which we share three of our most audio-friendly nuggets of anatomy wisdom. (If you missed the first two, please check […]
One of the first principles of teaching anatomically sound asana is this: Any yoga pose can harm; Any yoga pose can heal. For example, Tadasana (Mountain Pose) can reinforce poor postural habits, or it can build strength. Headstand is likely to cause excess pressure on cervical vertebrae, but may also be a skillful way to […]
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 […]