When it comes to building strength, the first place in the body people often think of is the muscles. After all, these are the main tissues involved in coping with loads of all kinds, and it’s … [Read more...] about Brains or Brawn? Both! How Strength Expands Your Life
5 Advantages to Teaching Shorter Online Classes
Teaching online has called into question many of the structures and formulas we thought were required for sharing movement practice together. We’ve learned that we don’t need to be in the same room—or … [Read more...] about 5 Advantages to Teaching Shorter Online Classes
3 Advantages to Live Online Classes vs. Pre-Recorded Classes
The pandemic has opened up several new avenues for practicing and teaching movement online. I polled my audience on Instagram and 60% of the 88 people who responded said they practiced yoga online in … [Read more...] about 3 Advantages to Live Online Classes vs. Pre-Recorded Classes
4 Reasons Why You Should Demo Your Live Classes
Have you expanded your teaching beyond your usual repertoire over the past couple of years—maybe even more so during this time teaching online? Perhaps you’re even teaching group classes independently … [Read more...] about 4 Reasons Why You Should Demo Your Live Classes
4 Advantages to Students Being Able to Turn Their Cameras Off
Moving our classes online opened up many cans of worms, but perhaps the biggest one was the fact that suddenly we couldn’t see our students—as well or at all—when we were teaching. If you were taught … [Read more...] about 4 Advantages to Students Being Able to Turn Their Cameras Off
4 Advantages to Teaching Online You Haven’t Considered
Or: A guide to cutting everyone a lot of slack and recognizing there are many more ways to teach and learn than the ones that have been more narrowly defined for us in the mainstreamWhen I first … [Read more...] about 4 Advantages to Teaching Online You Haven’t Considered
4 Hacks for Teaching Left & Right Online with Props
Teaching live classes online presents new challenges to teachers. These includebeing able to see students clearly and provide feedback, ensuring they can see you clearly within the limits … [Read more...] about 4 Hacks for Teaching Left & Right Online with Props
Alignment Beyond Aesthetics
For many in the yoga world, alignment really means aesthetics. In other words, whether or not your knee is over your ankle in Warrior 2, or your shin is parallel to the front of your mat in Pigeon, … [Read more...] about Alignment Beyond Aesthetics
Fix or Focus? 4 Ways to Wear a Strap Jacket
The strap jacket isn’t a prop that fixes anything. I’ve abolished the posture police. In my virtual studio, it’s safe to show up as you are, in the shape that you come, and wear your strap anyway you … [Read more...] about Fix or Focus? 4 Ways to Wear a Strap Jacket
Using Bands to Assist and Resist in Primal Movements
When you hear the phrase “primal” movements, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s something like crawling, or getting up off the floor—some of the first things babies learn how to do but that adults can … [Read more...] about Using Bands to Assist and Resist in Primal Movements
A Different Kind of Chair Yoga
You may have heard a phrase from a classic yogic text, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, that “asanas,” or our yoga postures, are meant to be “steady, comfortable seats.” There’s lots of ways to interpret … [Read more...] about A Different Kind of Chair Yoga
The Story of a Sequence—Banded Dancer Pose
I moved to NYC in 2003 to pursue acting. That career path didn’t last long for me, but the thespian in me loves to think about how my current work as a movement teacher can be like telling a story the … [Read more...] about The Story of a Sequence—Banded Dancer Pose
Tactile Cueing—Teach from the Inside-In
In yoga, we tend to rely a lot on two ways of offering instruction: verbal cues (aka talking) and visual cues (aka demoing). I remember leading entire sessions in teacher trainings on these subjects, … [Read more...] about Tactile Cueing—Teach from the Inside-In
A New Attitude on Alignment
I’ve observed 3 general attitudes toward alignment-based teaching among yoga teachers and students. I’ve held these same attitudes along the way. Here is what I’ve observed. ATTITUDE #1 — … [Read more...] about A New Attitude on Alignment
Should I Feel This In My Neck?
A common question I get from students about poses like low boat (ardha navasana), where you lift your head up while lying supine, is "should I be feeling this in my neck?"My teaching thrives on … [Read more...] about Should I Feel This In My Neck?
3 Reasons I Had Persistent Pain as a Yoga Teacher
Teaching yoga asana is a tough job. A newer teacher, I learned this the hard way. Three big shifts lead me to experience persistent pain. 1. My practice was no longer entirely my own. Once I became … [Read more...] about 3 Reasons I Had Persistent Pain as a Yoga Teacher
How to Choose What Kettlebells to Get
So you’ve decided on going the kettlebell route for your home gym, and you’re ready to invest in a set of weights that will be appropriate for your strength needs and budget. But type “kettlebells” … [Read more...] about How to Choose What Kettlebells to Get
How to Choose What Size Weights to Get
I often get asked by womxn new to strength training about what weights they should buy to get started. (If I had a quarter for every time I get asked this question, I could probably buy another … [Read more...] about How to Choose What Size Weights to Get
Is Yoga Strengthening?
Strength is your ability to produce force. More broadly, it's the gift that keeps on giving. Its benefits for athletes are well known, but there are many reasons non-athletes and average Janes … [Read more...] about Is Yoga Strengthening?
Pigeon Pose and Tight Hips—A Remake of a Classic Tale
For every time I get a question about shoulder pain in chaturanga, I get two for what students describe as “tight hips.” “How can I stretch my hip flexors?” they ask, pointing to the front of their … [Read more...] about Pigeon Pose and Tight Hips—A Remake of a Classic Tale
Alignment Might Not Be the Reason for Your Shoulder Pain
Look in any of the traditional yoga asana books, including the Yoga Teacher Training manuals I taught from for years, and you’ll see a whole lot of drawings and/or photographs of the poses the typical … [Read more...] about Alignment Might Not Be the Reason for Your Shoulder Pain
Move Creatively Through Life – On and Off the Yoga Mat
In a previous post about the topic of constraint, I talked all about how using props as a form of feedback, or constraint can make for some pretty interesting movement explorations. Using … [Read more...] about Move Creatively Through Life – On and Off the Yoga Mat
Props: Creating Movement with Constraint
I’ve recently started hearing yoga teachers use the word “constraint” in their classes. After learning about this concept a few years back in the Feldenkrais method, where I felt it mostly through the … [Read more...] about Props: Creating Movement with Constraint
Supple Strength—How Self-Massage and Strength Support Me, and Each Other
My journey as a mover and movement educator has taken many twists and turns. Along the way I’ve picked up many different tools that I now incorporate freely in my virtual studio. I discovered each of … [Read more...] about Supple Strength—How Self-Massage and Strength Support Me, and Each Other
Why I Didn’t Cancel Asana Because of Pain
A few years after I started teaching yoga, I had an existential crisis (of sorts). The practice I’d loved and found so much joy in for over a decade had done an about-face. Instead of making me feel … [Read more...] about Why I Didn’t Cancel Asana Because of Pain
Your Bones Determine Your Flexibility, Too.
There's more to your flexibility than muscles. Your bones play a big role in your range of motion. Joint surfaces are the parts of bones that touch other bones and permit sliding, spinning and … [Read more...] about Your Bones Determine Your Flexibility, Too.
The Purpose of Purposeless Walking
I started taking what the BBC refers to as purposeless walks this past winter as a strategy to avoid burn out and make space in my packed schedule. On these walks, purposeless is the purpose. Starting … [Read more...] about The Purpose of Purposeless Walking
The Gratitude Challeges Can Inspire
I'm sure by now you've seen or heard about the gratitude challenge that's been going around on social media. It works like this: every day for a set period of time, you write down three things that … [Read more...] about The Gratitude Challeges Can Inspire
Uncovering Sorrow, Recovering Joy
Last week I joined some of the most brilliant movement educators I know at the Yoga Tune Up Summit in Ojai California. The theme of the Summit was storytelling. During this Summit, I climbed an inner … [Read more...] about Uncovering Sorrow, Recovering Joy
