Friday Q&A: Modifying Poses for a Hip Replacement

Pose to Avoid for People with Posterior Lateral Hip ReplacementA reader left this question on our post Featured Sequence: Dynamic Reclined Hip Stretches (Rerun). Q: What adaptation would you use for someone with a hip replacement?A: To answer this question, we need to consider the type of hip replacement the yoga practitioner has had. Which type of replacement person has had is going to affect their asana practice.To review from our post on...

Read More

Side Plank Pose (Vastithasana) Could Reduce Spinal Curves in People with Scoliosis!

by NinaSide Plank Pose (photo "borrowed" from Wall Street Journal)I’ve been hearing for some time that a single yoga pose, Side Plank pose (Vasithasana), is particularly beneficial for people with scoliosis (see Friday Q&A: Scoliosis). In my post Late-Onset Scoliosis is Common in Older Adults, I wrote about a New York Times article that said that late-onset scoliosis, a condition I have myself, is actually more prevalent in adults than it is...

Read More

The Fifth Branch of Yoga: Pratyhara

by RamAlley near Pourville by Claude MonetIn my earlier posts on Ashtanga Yoga, I discussed the first four angas or steps (yama, niyama, asana, and pranayama), all of which enable practitioners to become more flexible, stable, and grounded in order to move easily into a regulated breath practice and to further develop inner focus and concentration. Pratyahara is step 5 of the 8 steps. Verse 2.54 in the Yoga Sutras describes pratyahara as: sva...

Read More

Featured Pose: Triangle Pose

by BaxterTriangle pose (Utthita Trikonasana) is one of the most commonly practiced standing poses, and for good reasons! This accessible pose can help build upper and lower body strength, can increase upper and lower body flexibility, and can improve your balance. It is also easy to modify for those, like me, who lack the flexibility to bring the bottom hand to the floor. And if you have trouble with balance, you can do the pose with your back...

Read More

The Worm & Fly & Science Problem

by NinaJust a part of NY Times DiagramAs some of you may know by now, my husband, Dr. Brad Gibson, is a medical researcher who works at a research institute where the focus is on aging and age-related diseases. So I hear about a lot of studies that claim to have discovered this or that supplement or food that will slow aging or lengthen our life spans. We are often quite skeptical, especially when we learn about how the studies were done. Because...

Read More

Friday Q&A: Reflux (GERD) and Yoga

Q: I have a student who has reflux, has been to a doctor and has been told it is because the valve in her stomach is too small to keep acid from leaking out. After class she started feel the reflux and nausea. For her to safely and comfortably participate in a group class, what asanas should she avoid or modify? I'm guessing any inversions, along with being careful with twists that typically compress the digestive organs?A: Reflux, or more accurately...

Read More

Life-Changer: Understanding Your Autonomic Nervous System

by NinaAn Examination at the Faculty of Medicine, Paris by Toulouse-LautrecWe’re going to have an anatomy lesson today! I know, I know, you thought after you graduated, you wouldn’t need to be learning any more dry, technical stuff. But I swear to you this information is so useful that it could literally change your life (see 2 Steps to Take Charge of Your Stress or Anxiety). I know that because it has changed mine.So, take a deep breath and take...

Read More

2 Steps to Take Charge of Your Stress or Anxiety

by NinaEnclosed Field with Rising Sun by van GoghLately I’ve been trying to help several people who are suffering from stress and/or anxiety. Although these people are all quite different from each other—they range from a young woman with a new baby to man with newly diagnosed heart disease to an older man with chronic insomnia—I found myself saying the exact same things to each one of them. And since my advice was, in a way, very basic, I thought...

Read More

Yoga May Slow Age-Related Changes in Healthy Adult Men

by BaxterThe Three Ages of Men by GiorgioneI am always excited to have good news to share with my male students about how yoga can improve their health, and when recently I learned about a study done in India that looked at yoga’s potential beneficial effects on aging for healthy men, I decided to check it out! I first read about the study “Age-related changes in cardiovascular system, autonomic functions, and levels of BDNF of healthy active males:...

Read More