Ask anyone who doesn’t practice yoga why they don’t give it a try and odds are you’ll hear some version of this: “I can’t do yoga because I can’t even touch my toes.” While yogis and yoga teachers can … [Read more...] about Yoga Journal | Are You Hypermobile? This Sequence Will Help You Build Awareness and Avoid Injury

As a yoga teacher, I share a wide variety of movements in my classes: self-massage using therapy balls, interdisciplinary movement inspired by systems like Pilates, Feldenkrais, and weight-training, … [Read more...] about Shut Up and Yoga | But is that Even Yoga?

In the previous installments of this series, I discussed the anatomy and mechanics of healthy shoulder movement and how the cues we’ve been passed down (and pass along) do not always do a service to … [Read more...] about Uplifting News for Depressed Shoulders (6/6) | Shoulder Soothing Sequences | Written for the YTU Blog | May 2015

Because a teacher’s practice is the primary resource from which they will draw their movement cues, teachers will often wittingly or unwittingly help their students adopt the teacher’s own postural … [Read more...] about Uplifting News for Depressed (5/6) | The Trapezius Trap | Written for the YTU Blog | May 2015

In my last post, I deconstructed scapuloclaviculohumeral rhythm, the co-movement of the bones of the shoulder (humerus, clavicle and scapula) during movement. To more thoroughly understand … [Read more...] about Uplifting News for Depressed Shoulders (4/6) | Refining Upward Rotation | Written for YTU Blog | May 2015

Instead of attempting to draw the shoulders down while simultaneously trying to flex the shoulders, consider ways to work and cue upward rotation of the scapula. A cue such as “Lift your outer … [Read more...] about Uplifting News for Depressed Shoulders (3/6): Feel the Beat of Your Shoulder Rhythm | Written for YTU Blog | May 2015

Let’s begin with one of the most important things to know about the shoulder joint complex. It’s not just one joint. It’s four. When you peel back the skin that curtains the shoulder stage, all four … [Read more...] about Uplifting News for Depressed Shoulders (2/6): Finding the Beat of Scapuloclaviculohumeral Rhythm | Written for YTU Blog | May 2015

Originally, yoga postures were practiced to obtain spiritual enlightenment, not for musculoskeletal health. Renunciates used their asana practice to tame their unruly flesh in order to be able to sit … [Read more...] about Uplifting News for Depressed Shoulders (1/6): Parampara or a Long Game of Telephone? | Written for YTU Blog | May 2015

It’s true that Serratus Posterior Inferior is not the musclebrity that Serratus Anterior is.  If you read up on yoga anatomy, or take yoga from a teacher who does, you’re most likely enamored with … [Read more...] about Serratus Posterior Inferior Is A Pretty Superior Muscle