Friend and yoga teacher, Jen, recently emailed me about Vasisthasana (Side Plank) alignment. She asked if turning the sole of your foot down on the bottom leg is healthy alignment or if it could be bad for your ankle. Well, let's take a look and see!

We've all heard from yoga teachers to NEVER put your lifted foot on the knee of your standing leg, but can you safely put your foot on your knee in tree pose without catastrophe?!? Short answer is... probably. Fellow yoga teacher, Kellyn, recently asked for my thoughts on an article about this Vrksasana (Tree Pose) topic. 

It's one thing to be able to control your core while holding a yoga pose, but as you grow and progress in your practice, you might be ready for a bigger challenge. Here's a little activity that I call inversion walking to take you to the next level of core control. It's a lot harder to keep your core stable when the things attached to it (like your legs) are moving all around. Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Hi all! Just a fun post with some pics of Rick Bayless and me doing some warm-ups and sun salutations before his yoga photo shoot with Scott Shigley. Celebrity chef, iron chef master, successful restaurateur, supporter of sustainable farming and just overall good guy, Rick is also a devoted yogi with a phenomenal practice! Check out our pics on my gallery page and also see Rick's full yoga gallery on his VibeUP event page!

Namasté

There's ALWAYS more to grow, and that's why we call yoga a practice. No matter where you are in this journey there is another step to be taken. Be thankful and content for where you are, but appreciate the things to come! As for asana, a common way to progress a movement or body position and make it stronger is to do that movement or position on an unstable surface. This challenges and improves your balance, proprioception, and strength. It's like standing on solid ground vs. standing on an exercise ball. It takes A LOT more effort. Here's a way to challenge your handstand. In the video below, you can see that I sway a little and need to adjust a lot to hold my handstand, but that's the point!

Give the blocks a good squeeze! I like to hook my fingers over the front of the blocks slightly to get a better grip. Be careful on this one though! You need to have a pretty stable handstand on solid ground first for this challenge. Try not to dump your weight into your wrists or you could injure them. Have fun!

Namasté

The popular fitness blog, aSweatLife recently interviewed Dr. Dominika M. Hertsberg and me about yoga for runners. The high impact of running can cause a lot of stresses on your body. Yoga is an excellent way to balance your running routine and aid in your recovery. Check out our thoughts and recommendations here!

Here are more snippets from my handstand selfies workshop!

Open shoulders (or shoulder flexion) are very important for achieving good handstand alignment. Let's look at a few tips for assessing and preparing for shoulder "open-ness".

Sitting for extended periods can be harsh on your back! It is a lot of work for the back and core muscles to maintain a supported spine. This can be a problem when it comes to seated meditation. Some have even said that the sole purpose of asana practice is to make one strong enough to do seated meditation!

I recently spent some time with my friend, Natasha, founder of Kathmandu Yogi, to talk about how her meditation pillows can help with this issue. This simple but effective solution can help you achieve proper alignment for a healthy and more comfortable seated meditation practice. The pillows also look great and are hand made in the Kathmandu Valley under fair trade and sustainable practices! Check out the video below about how one of these pillows can help your meditation practice.