Blog
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Breathe Calm: A Simple Mindfulness Practice
We’ve all seen idealized images of meditation. Perhaps it’s a young woman on a deserted beach, hands in a meditation-friendly mudra, enjoying a sunset. Or maybe it’s an image like...
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Open Your Shoulders with a Yoga Strap
Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) is a staple in my morning yoga classes. Years ago, several of my students made up unflattering names for it—Cow Pie, Mad Cow, etc.—because it was...
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Navasana: Modify Your Boat Pose
A strong core is essential to so many aspects of our daily lives. Tending to our core muscles—the abdominals and back muscles—is core (so to speak) to our yoga asana...
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Supta Ardha Padmasana: A Lotus for Every Body
In 2001, I co-taught a teacher training with Donna Farhi in Vancouver, BC. The 50 attendees were experienced yoga teachers and body workers from all over the world. During the...
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Why Practice Slow Flow Yoga?
Vinyasa (aka flow yoga) has been the most popular form of asana practice for a while now. Based on concepts introduced through Ashtanga Yoga, vinyasa features a yoga “routine,” a...
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Sphinx Pose: Ardha Bhujangasana
Snakes get a bad rap. True, the bites of the venomous varieties can wreak deadly havoc. But most snakes are not poisonous. Some are even beneficial, especially in our yards...
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Healthy Yoga Practice - Don’t Stretch Your Joints!
I regularly offer hip workshops at various teacher trainings in the region where I live. As the recipient of bilateral hip replacements, I’ve learned a lot about which poses and...
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Peak Pose: Revolved Triangle Pose
If I were to rate yoga’s asanas in terms of how complicated they are, Revolved Triangle Pose (Parvrtta Trikonasana) would hover around the top. Revolved Triangle is a standing pose,...
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Why Bendy People Might Not Make the Best Yoga Teachers
Decades ago the film, Annie Hall, embellished a famous quote about the art of teaching. In the film the quote went like this: “Those who can’t do, teach. Those who...
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The Art of Mindful Movement in Yoga
Chances are, if you’re reading this article, you already know that yoga has healing properties that are good for your body. You probably even know that stress-reducing quality is obtained...
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How Yoga Can Change Your Habits
Practicing yoga has so many benefits. The best known of these include stress relief, along with physical strength and flexibility. But there’s more. Practicing yoga can help us navigate the...
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Metta Meditation: Kindness Toward the Difficult
Over the years, I’ve attended quite a few metta meditation retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. A few years ago, a fellow attendee asked a question that I think a...
