April 2010 Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana (One-legged King Pigeon Pose)
I love this pose! It is the antidote to the sitting, slouching, and driving we do all day long. It is also, in many ways, a counter pose for last month’s focus. Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana combines external rotation of one hip, hip extension of the other, full shoulder flexion, spinal extension, and knee and […]
March 2010 Primary Series
Every year, I come back to the roots of O2 Yoga, back to the Astanga system. Every year, I teach O2 Yoga teacher training from February through June in sections of weeks and weekends. The first week is the primary series of Astanga Yoga. This to me is the foundation of what we do at […]
February 2010 Hanumanasana (Split Pose)
Hanumanasana incorporates hip extension and hip flexion while maintaining a neutral spine. In other words, the 3 biggest challenges for most yogis/yoginis all wrapped up into one posture: multi-tasking and multi-challenging! This asana is named after the monkey god, Hanuman, who leapt across the ocean in one jump spanning from one foot to another in […]
Life is Yoga: January 2010: Yoga Citta Vrtti Nirodha
When considering the pose of the month, hanumanasana (please see thePose of the Month column), I couldn’t help but see the metaphors, the comparisons, and examples for everyday life. So much of yoga is lost when it is isolated to the mat. So much is gained when the experiences and lessons we learn on the […]
December 2009 Yoga Energetics 101
This month, rather than a posture, we will focus on the energy of the postures and maximizing it. We will talk first about the energetic body, including the Chakra system. We’ll discuss which postures are grounding and which are energizing. We will also talk about the effects of hand and foot positions; when do you […]
November 2009 Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Stand)
Pincha Mayurasana, or Forearm Stand, is one of my favorite poses. Pincha Myurasasa translates to “peacock feather.” Think of your feet lightly reaching for the sky in a multicolor display of energy! Okay, I am reaching, but you can get the image! This posture is one of the more difficult inversions, but is less injury-prone […]
October 2009 Dynamic Core Strength for Backbending and Beyond
The spine moves in 6 directions: forward (flexion); backward (extension); sideways (lateral flexion right and left); and rotation (twisting right and left). Most of the time we are in forward flexion: think slouching. In order to maintain and even improve good posture we need to strengthen the spine in all directions, but especially in extension. […]
September 2009 Ardha Chandrasana: Half-moon Pose
Ardha Chandrasana is one of my favorite poses. It involves externally rotating the standing hip while keeping the elevated hip in neutral. It is also a standing balance which I consider a “leg behind balance.” What this means is the torso stays in line with the elevated leg. Other poses in this category include revolved […]
June 2009 Padmasana (Lotus Pose)
Ah, the quintessential yoga pose. This posture is also the bane of many a yogi’s knees! This month we will focus on the special attention and preparation this posture requires. Padmasana is about tightly binding the lower body to create a sort of prana lock. If you cannot get into the posture fully you can […]
May 2009 Astanga Second Series
Second Series of Astanga Yoga is called nadi shodana or nerve cleansing. Primary Series is called yoga chikitsa or “yoga therapy.” Nadi shodana is more about stimulating the nervous system, but also about evening and balancing all of the energetic centers along the spine. In Second Series we begin to explore much more back bending, […]
