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teaching yoga

Why You Cannot Square Your Hips in Warrior I or Warrior II

Older White Female Yoga Teacher in Warrior II

From my earliest days of practicing yoga, I heard teachers instructing “Square your hips” in Warrior I (virabhadrasana I) and Warrior II poses (virabhadrasana II). [Scroll to the video at the bottom of this page to see the essence of this blog post in video format]. I repeated this phrase in my own yoga teaching […]

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Malasana: How to Overcome the Struggle in the Deep Yoga Squat

how to get into garland pose deep squat butt to heels

Here’s a comprehensive guide to getting more comfortable in Malasana Plus, if you scroll down far enough, 7 Steps to Better Ankle Mobility We at Yoga Anatomy Academy love malasana and are on a mission to make this deep squat more accessible to more humans. The motivation is this: a large chunk of what we […]

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5 Actions to Get Your Foot Up Between Your Hands

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

The Instagram 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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Two Tips for Rotator Cuff Strengthening in Yoga

The rotator cuff (RTC) is a well-known group of muscles that are important in stabilizing the shoulder, basically no matter the activity. When it comes to keeping the arm bone centered in the “socket”, these are the guys for the job. The larger the weight or force that an arm lifts, the more important the […]

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Balancing the Science & the Mystery in Yoga

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 […]

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Three Anatomy Wisdom Nuggets (Podcast! + FREEBIE)

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 […]

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Knowing Anatomy Totally Changes Your Yoga Teaching (Podcast Alert! + Freebies)

Ariele Foster, Podcast, Francesca Cervero, Yoga, Yoga Anatomy

Talking Yoga Anatomy on Podcasts is Kind of Our Jam. Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a busy travel holiday, with loads of folks driving long distances to connect with family. If you are appreciating a relaxing long weekend or spending time in a moving vehicle, I hope that you’ll enjoy this chat:   […]

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Do We Serve the Poses or Do the Poses Serve Us? (Science Yoga Sundays episode)

Julie Tran of Science Yoga Sundays graciously invited me to speak on her program. I chose a topic that has been on my mind a LOT lately — Are we serving the yoga or is the yoga serving us? “We are here to enhance our lives, we are not here to bow down to some […]

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Yoga Anatomy to the People: a Manifesto

In case you haven’t noticed, yoga is undergoing a revolution. This revolution is a natural ricochet from dominant paradigms of physical asana practice that have included: 1) overly prescriptive alignment and/or 2) lack of alignment plus excess repetition, but that 3) in nearly all cases discouraged critical thinking, deviation from your teacher, and incorporating modern […]

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Any Yoga Pose Can Harm, Any Yoga Pose Can Heal

yoga injury, harm from yoga, is yoga good for you

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 […]

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