Friday Q&A: Foot Position in Pigeon Pose

Q: I'm wondering if you would please weigh in on something in one of your posts. It has to do with the position of the ankle - dorsiflexion or plantar flexion - in pigeon pose. I've always heard to dorsiflex the ankle (toes toward knee) in thread the needle and pigeon. But recently I heard that in pigeon the ankle should be in dorsiflexion only if the shin is parallel to the front edge of the mat, i.e., at a 90 angle to the knee, as it is in thread...

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Positive Psychology vs. Yoga Philosophy

by RamThe Moon Over a Waterfallby HiroshigeRecently, I was introduced to the topic of positive psychology, a newer branch of psychology that has earned wide popularity thanks to the seminal work done by psychologists Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (this name is tougher to say than a yoga pose in Sanskrit: the closest I can come to his name is “Me-high Sheek-sent-me-high”). According to Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, the focus of...

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Featured Sequence: Easy Balance Practice

by BaxterAs we have talked about many times here at YFHA, balance is one of the key physical skills to cultivate as we age. As Shari said in Nina's interview with her about aging and balance:“ …if we can’t balance, we fall and break bones or hurt ourselves in different ways. Twenty percent of all Americans have balance issues, and falls are a public health catastrophe. They send people to hospitals and may require costly surgeries and months of pain,...

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An N of One and an N of All: Personalized Medicine and Personalized Yoga

by BradPatterns in Nature by Melina MezaA couple months ago I attended a conference in Seattle sponsored by US HUPO (Human Proteome Organization) called “From Genes to Function.” Afterward, while I was mulling over the talks, I was reminded of some earlier posts I’ve written where I discussed studies that were “under powered,” that is, they didn’t have enough subjects and controls to come to any firm, or statistically validated, conclusions. These...

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Cultivating Healthy Posture with a Simple Restorative Pose (Rerun)

by TimothyPoor posture is a common problem that people of any age can have but it is one that tends to worsen over time. Particularly common is the rounding of the upper back into a C-shaped curve, aka Slumpasana. People often hold their heads several inches forward of the body’s plumb line, which can lead to neck and upper back discomfort, among other problems. I’m just back from teaching workshops on therapeutic yoga at Kripalu and the Himalayan...

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Are Partial Reps Bad? By Veeraj Goyaram

Training Who Said Partial Reps Are Bad?By Veeraj GoyaramThe Myth Sergio Oliva used partial reps to build his chest "Half reps equal half results" One of the first advice I received when I started training was to always train with a full range of motion (ROM) in order to get the maximum benefit. That's the usual advice we always hear and can be generally viewed as good advice for those starting out. However, nothing is set in stone as partial...

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Friday Q&A: Aging Muscles, Bones and Joints

Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the ElderQ: You all have been writing a lot about muscles and bones lately. I was wondering, how exactly does aging affect our musculo-skeletal system? And how can we influence the aging process with yoga and our lifestyle choices?A: The process of aging affects our musculo-skeletal system in several particular ways. As I have written about previously, as muscles age, especially after about the age of 50, we start to...

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Can you expand your Ribcage with pullovers? With input from Doug Brignole.

Q&ACan you expand your Ribcage with pullovers? Freddy Ortiz was known for his impressive ribcage Question: Normal 0 false false false EN-ZA X-NONE X-NONE ...

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