Quick Tips
Only have a few minutes? Try these tips and tricks to take your practice to the next level.
Sciatica Relief
This quick tip gives you a few common poses prescribed to help alleviate pressure from the sciatic nerve. Sciatica can occur in the body for a number of reasons so please check with a medical professional to make sure yoga is an appropriate way for you to medicate the injury. We will go through a few poses to help open the hips, lengthen the psoas and lower back for greater mobility and flexibility through the area most commonly associated with sciatica.
Relax your Shoulders
One of the most common questions when first starting out: "How can I relax my shoulders?" The answer lies in this quick tip that will teach you the proper rotation of the arm bone in the shoulder socket so you can ease the muscles that line the head, neck and shoulders. This video will help you to feel at ease in poses such as down dog, warrior two, handstand and chaturanga. Enjoy!
Finding Position on Your Mat
Have you ever walked into a yoga class and found yourself scrambling to find your footing or understand how to place your hands? In this simple quick tip video we will walk you through a basic sun salute so you can place your hands and feet right where they need to be. Nothing calms a busy mind quite like moving efficiently through a vinyasa flow practice.
Hip Flexor Relief
The psoas can become very tight with long hours of sitting or intense intervals of cardiovascular exercise. Open hip flexors will help you to step through to basic lunges in a power yoga practice. This quick tip will give you some postures to help lengthen the psoas and target the quads. A great clip for those who like to run, hike, bike or walk and are experiencing knee or hip pain as a result. Your hip flexors could be the key to a healthy lower body.
Protect The Neck In Shoulder Stand
Understanding the natural alignment in your neck is key for preventing detrimental damage to your cervical spine and to your delicate nerves. This simple understanding can save you years of pain or expensive trips to the chiropractor! Also, we discuss using a blanket (or two!) as an option in your shoulder stand to give you some safe support for the neck.
Hamstring Helpers
Most of us live with tight hamstrings because we use them all the time for daily functions such as sitting, walking, standing, etc... When a muscle feels tight, it is important not to overstretch it, because it can lead to tearing. Sometimes tearing happens instantly and sometimes it happens over a long period of time. Give your tight hamstrings a break with these simple modifications. Remind yourself that your body's flexibility will adjust and become more limber with time, practice and patience, but in the mean time, be kind to your hamstrings and keep your body safe from injury!
Meditation Preparation
This is a quick guide through of your body, breath, and mind to guide you towards a place of stillness. The more you watch and practice this quick tip, the more you can guide yourself on your own, easily and deeply settling into the experience of meditation.
Wrist Pain
Wrist pain is very common for yoga practitioners because we ask a lot of our arms to support us in vinyasa, arm balances, and hand stands. Here are a few simple things to think about when your palms are on on the ground to alleviate wrist pain and keep it from forming in the first place!
Coming Into Headstand Safely
Headstand is a delicate pose to attempt because of the pressure on the neck. If we allow this pose to stem from our core, and we lift away from the earth, we avoid dumping into the neck and potentially damaging our spine and nerves. PLEASE watch this and learn how to come into headstand safely so that you can practice this beautiful pose for years to come!
Chaturanga Breakdown
A brief breakdown of Chaturanga dandasana. We move through this pose between plank & updog (or cobra). It is a commonly mis-practiced pose & very important for building the necessary strength in your upper body for more advanced poses.
Cobra or Updog?
Have you ever wondered what is more appropriate in your practice, updog or cobra? Do you find yourself flowing through this transition w/ stress on the shoulders or lower back? This tutorial is for you! A breakdown of Cobra & Upward facing dog & how to incorporate them into a Vinyasa/Power Practice.
Handstand Breakdown
Adho Mukha Vrksasana, Handstand, is a complex pose with immense benefits. This 20 minute breakdown will guide you into the pose, touching on all of the proper actions to lead you in with ease. SUGGESTED PROPS: 1 Strap, 1 Block