Iyengar-Style Sequencing, Part 1

Flowers in Summer by Michele McCartney-Filgateby NinaBefore I start delving into some of the more subtle aspects of how to sequence yoga poses in the Iyengar tradition, I thought it would be useful to give you an overview of how to sequence the basic categories of poses. Typically most Iyengar sequences are based on the following template:1. Starting Poses 2. Standing Poses3. Headstand4. Backbends5. Neutral Pose6. Twists7. Shoulderstand (and Plow)8....

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Post Asana Assessment

by BaxterOne of the most essential skills for yoga asana practitioners to develop is something I like to call “post asana assessment.” And although I wish it were a skill that beginners came downloaded with, my personal experience and what I have observed with my students over the years has shown me that it is a skill you only learn with encouragement and practice. So what, you may be asking, is this PAA? Quite simply, it is the deliberate pause...

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Shari Ser Joins Yoga for Healthy Aging

We're pleased to announce that Shari Ser, a physical therapist and Iyengar-style yoga teacher, has joined the staff here at Yoga for Healthy Aging. She'll be posting regularly, and will be available to answer questions on a weekly basis. To begin, we've asked her to tell us all a little about her background in physical therapy and yoga. —NinaBefore I trained to be a physical therapist, I had a degree from SUNY Buffalo in Women's Studies/Labor History/American...

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Workshops of Interest: Yoga for the Larger Woman

Recently Baxter wrote about his experience teaching larger women at the The Yoga Project in Portland, Oregon (see "Larger Women and Yoga: Getting Creative"). Women in the Bay Area now have the opportunity to take a similar workshop at Namaste in Rockridge, Oakland. These days the media is full of stories how excessive weight can be a contributing factor in all sorts of health concerns from diabetes to heart problems to cancer risks. This afternoon session, which was designed specifically for The Yoga Project’s “Larger Woman” Program, will look...

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Friday Q&A: Rotator Cuff Pain

Q: I've been trying unsuccessfully to resolve a very long term (perhaps a year) of rotator cuff pain. I've modified my yoga practice, but it still hurts. I've tried acupuncture and massage. Neither worked. I'm doing PT, and I think it's addressing the underlying muscular problem but I want to keep my whole body moving and stretching.A: Thanks for writing in about your journey toward healing!  If you have not do so, I’d definitely get the shoulder looked at, and consider requesting an MRI to more clearly identify what is really going on in...

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Featured Pose: Simple Chair Twist

by Baxter and NinaThe Simple Chair Twist is one of our five essential office yoga poses. It releases back muscles that are stiff or sore from sitting at a desk or from traveling, or from everyday activities that stress the back, such as gardening and painting, and increases the rotational mobility in your spine. Twisting also helps nourish the spine—movement of the spine helps maintain the health of the discs—and also strengthens the bones themselves...

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Healing from an Injury

by BaxterIt seems that no matter where we develop an injury, it has a profound effect on the way our entire body functions in everyday life. I myself injured my left rotator cuff many years ago while participating regularly in rock climbing. And although I gradually recovered most of my function in that arm, after giving up climbing and taking up yoga, it is still stiff every time I do my first Down Dog! And just this past weekend, after doing some...

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Honoring the Process

by Sandy BlaineAfter the Rain by Joan WebsterTypically physical exercise is a goal-oriented pursuit; whether the goal is to beat your opponent at tennis, better your time in running, or improve your heart health and increase your muscular strength, you are after results. With yoga, the process, rather than the results, is the point. You will likely improve your strength and flexibility and might even achieve advanced postures along the way, but it...

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Kalendar Aktiviti Bina Badan 2012

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Stressed Mind, Stressed Cells?

by BradFerns by Joan WebsterLast Friday I attended a talk by Dr. Elissa Epel called “Telomeres, telomerase and mental states: Stressed mind, stressed cells?” According to the abstract Dr. Epel supplied in advance of her seminar:"I will discuss our UCSF research on the telomere/telomerase maintenance system and relationships to stress and other psychological states and lifestyle factors. The length of our telomeres is a predictor of health status...

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Friday Q&A: Hamstring Injuries

Q: I'd like to know how to manage a nagging pain at the hamstring insertion point. I bend my knees and never stretch to the point of discomfort, and yet it persists. A: Hamstring insertion injuries are challenging to heal. They can take a long time—I'm talking 6-12 months—due in part to the fact that every time you stretch the hamstrings, even inadvertently, such as when bending down to tie your shoes, you tend to re-injure the area a little bit. This leads to chronic ongoing inflammation at the spot on the sitting bone where the muscles attach....

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Sequencing: An Essential Skill for Home Practice

by BaxterPathway at Dripping Springs by Brad GibsonWe recently received an inquiry about how to sequence a home practice. Although this is a large topic in many respects, it is an essential skill you can develop that will go a long way to make your home practice more enjoyable and rewarding. Sequencing refers to the way you construct or put a practice together. In some ways, it is like a mini journey we take each time we come to our mats to...

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Yama Drama: Considering the First Branch of Yoga

by NinaA Hollow Trunk by Brad GibsonIn classical yoga (the yoga of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras), there are eight “branches” or “constituents” of yoga.Moral injunctions (yama), fixed observances (niyama), posture (asana), regulation of breath (pranayama), internalization of the senses toward their source (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and absorption of the consciousness in the self (samadhi) are the eight constituents...

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Featured Pose: Dynamic Arm Circles

by Baxter and NinaIn the coming weeks, we're going to be introducing a set of poses you can do outside the yoga room (such as at work or the airport) or from a chair (if standing is not possible, for whatever reason). We're starting off this new set of poses with dynamic arm circles.This pose is great for preparing your shoulders for yoga practice, or for any task where you will be using your arms overhead (such as painting a house) or a sport that...

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Interview with Steve Cropley: Relief from Sciatic Pain

Baxter: When we spoke recently, you reminded me of an event that happened to you while attending a week-long retreat lead by JJ Gormley and me.  What was going on with your body that week?Steve: I suffered low back problems from my high school years on. I routinely jumped off of gas tanker trucks onto concrete in leather-soled moccasins. Today they call that sort of thing “Parcorp”; in the 60s it was called “working for Dad.” My back problems...

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11th South East Asian Bodybuilding Championships–Yangon, Myanmar.

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New Tricks for Old Dogs: Working with Bunions

by BaxterIt was my first class with Donald Moyer in the new year, January having flown by and February upon us. I checked in with him before class began and mentioned an unusual aching in the lateral aspect of my left foot that I had been experiencing for about two months. It was not bad enough from preventing me from my normal activities, but I noticed it when turning my left foot out to 90 degrees for many of my standing poses. He gave me some...

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A Week of Yoga Practice

by NinaIs anyone else a fan of the brilliant food writer M.F.K. Fisher? I not only love her beautiful writing, but also her ideas. When I first started reading her work, I remember being struck by a simple but profound of advice she had for eating well:“Instead of combining a lot of dull and sometimes actively hostile foods into one routine meal after another, three times a day and every day, year after year, in the earnest hope that you are being...

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Interview with Baxter Bell by Life Style Maven

Today on the blog Life Style Maven there is an interview with Baxter Bell by Cailen Ascher, a yoga teacher, writer, and blogger. She asks Baxter the following questions:What does yoga mean to you?What style of yoga do you teach/practice? Why? Do you have a favorite yoga sutra?What is your mission statement as a teacher? What inspires you and your practice? So if you'd like to learn more about Baxter's teaching, check it out he...

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New Features

by NinaI spent a little time this weekend changing the layout of the blog and adding a few new features. If you haven't already noticed, at the top of the blog you'll now see tabs that will take you to special pages on the blog.The "Audio Tracks" tab takes you to the page where you can stream relaxation tracks (and other audio tracks as we add them) or get access to our Band Camp site to download tracks.The "About Us" tab takes you to the page where...

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Friday Q&A: Future Topics

by NinaNo reader questions came up this week on the blog, so today I'll ask you all a question.Q: What topics would you like us to cover in the coming months? You can ask brief questions for the Q&A, suggest topics for longer pieces, or recommend experts to be interviewed or perhaps write posts as guest bloggers. You can leave your answers as comments on this post (or any other post), send email to me (click the Contact Us tab at the top of the...

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Airport Yoga: Baxter's Interview on Washington Post Blog

Baxter was interviewed yesterday by the Washington Post health blogger about the new San Francisco Airport Yoga Room and the benefits of doing yoga at the airport, and you can see the post here.In his interview, Baxter admits that it is unlikely that anyone would stop at an airport yoga room after they arrive at their destination, however, during the time before you take off or when you layover in an airport between flights, practicing yoga can be beneficial."The general tenor of travel these days is so stressful, it’s almost designed to get the...

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"I think I have sciatica"

by BaxterIf I had a dime for every time I have heard this from friends, students and patients, I would be doing all right! Usually, any time someone gets a pain in the back that travels below the buttock, they believe they are suffering from sciatica. And some of them may be right, but others could have something else going on. So before we go any further, let’s step back and try to define what sciatica is, which is easier than that might seem, as...

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