yoga tips – Page 3 – The Branches

Adapting Yoga for a Pregnant Body

This blog post was written by Michelle, one of our yoga teacher trainees, who recently gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Check out her post on adapting her yoga practice for a pregnant body.

I received the exciting news that I was pregnant during my first week of my year long yoga teacher training. As I approach my due date, I’d like to share how I’ve adapted my practice while growing a human being and the benefits that yoga has provided during my pregnancy. The points below are from my personal experience and may not apply to all pregnant students, but I hope they can be useful if you are expecting or if you are a yoga teacher with a pregnant student in your class.

Most Regular Yoga Poses can be Adapted

When possible, I try to go to special pre-natal yoga classes, but they don’t usually work with my schedule. And, as a regular yoga practitioner, I find that pre-natal classes are often missing some of my favourite aspects of asana (poses), such as surya namaskar (sun salutations). Mostly, I continue to do my regular practice and go to open level classes, adding a few adjustments, which I’ve outlined below.
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Don’t “Unfriend” Your Pain — Follow it!

Sharon has been teaching Physical Education in schools for many years. She recently retired and has turned her learning towards yoga teaching, participating in our 2014 Yoga Teacher Training. In this blog post she shares about learning to listen to pain and seeing it as a friend trying to help.

Body Talk

Most people notice pain as it begins. It is our body talking to us – “Stop what you’re doing!” Pain is trying to help us and support us throughout our lives to keep us safe. Our own personal goodwill ambassador ! Why then do we choose to ignore such a valuable friend? The way out of pain is to attend to it and be sure to acknowledge it through self-awareness. Drugs and other substances are only a temporary solution to blunt or mask the pain. Welcome the pain and know that through its support early on, you will get well again by listening to your body.

Pain’s arch-enemy is the ego. Your ego is what you think you are. Our ego, we listen to all the time. It’s what makes us do really irrational things sometimes . . . often even things that hurt us. We really should change things around . . . Listen less to our ego and more to our pain. I think in the long run we probably would be much happier.
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Yoga for Kids: Tips for Creating a Fun and Healthy Practice

Thinking about introducing some yoga to your children, or children in your life? Try some of these simple strategies for a fun and empowering experience. Forget what you’re accustomed to from yoga classes geared for adults! If your kids love yoga, consider signing them up for our upcoming Kids Yoga class, starting Wednesday Oct 8.

Do you ever wish that you had started yoga sooner? Imagine if your practice began when you were a child. Consider how a yoga and meditation practice might have benefited your approach to homework, tests, competitions, parties, and knowing what you need.

Just like adults, children have tight spots too. They’re spending many hours in front of screens, sitting in class, and experiencing growth spurts. They will benefit from exercies that increase range of motion. Yoga can also help children feel more confident and to trust themselves. They may even learn when it feels good to transiton from hyperactivity into feeling calm, and how to enjoy relaxation and stillness.

That being said, put 30 kids in a field and ask them to assume Mountain Pose and quietly breathe laterally into their rib cage – it’s probably not going to happen. Unless you try some of these techniques!

Keep it short

Set an intention to make the experience feel good and be realistic about attention span. If it’s a fun memory, they’ll want to do it again another time. For toddlers, aim for no more than 5-15 minute sessions. Older children may enjoy half an hour or 45 minutes with games and a brief relaxation.

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September Sequence for Hips & Shoulders

I am relishing every last bit of these warmer August days, but it’s undeniable that September is on its way. In the yogic and Ayurvedic understanding of the seasons, autumn is the season of wind and movement. It brings cool and blustery days, crisp nights, the bustle of back-to-school, and the intensity and pace of work often increase. To help yourself stay grounded and even-keeled for whatever the fall brings, commit to more regular yoga practice, make time for coziness and cuddles with loved ones, and nourish yourself with warming stews and root veggies. Here is a sequence that helps to cultivate over-all strength and release tension shoulders and hips. I hope you’ll find it both energizing and grounding as we savour the end of summer and transition to September.

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Your Yoga Teacher Isn’t a Magician

In this post Leena reveals some trade secrets of her profession…

Have you ever been in a pose and your yoga teacher came along and said one tiny thing to you or gave one little adjustment to you that changed the entire pose and made it feel better and way more possible? Sometimes that moment feels a little bit magic. Though it’s kind of fun for people to think we are psychic wizards, here’s the truth: yoga teachers aren’t magicians. Teachers that study alignment-based yoga have systems of understanding the mechanics of the body, and there are reasons why that little adjustment made all the difference. When applied carefully, and in sequence, these biomechanical principles can help make an impossible pose feel more doable, help you stabilize when you feel you’re about to collapse, or help you open up just a bit deeper in a pose.

In a survey of our 2014 teachers-in-training, we asked: What are the most helpful things you’ve learned so far in the training? The most common response was: Learning about the Loops! The 7 Loops (which are a foundation of alignment methodology from Anusara Yoga), are a concept that help us align our body and support key joints and junctures in the body.

Realign with Gravity

The the aim of Mountain Pose (Tadasana) in our yoga practice is to find equal standing (Samasthiti). The knees are stacked over the center of the ankle, the pelvis is centered over the legs, the spine is elongated with its natural curves, and the head is centered on top of the spine. When our bones “stacked” in this way, then the force of gravity moves through down a central vertical axis evenly, our joints can decompress and our muscles can be fairly relaxed.

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Establishing a home practice, not always as easy as it sounds

No matter who you are, keeping up a home yoga practice can be difficult at times. Heck, even our Yoga Teacher Trainees struggle with it sometimes! We showed our YTT’s this article on 10 Tips and Tricks to Establishing a Regular Home Yoga practice and asked them what they thought. Continue reading “Establishing a home practice, not always as easy as it sounds”

Prenatal Yoga – What’s it to you?

Are you or a friend interested in practicing yoga during pregnancy? Here’s what our prenatal instructor Julie Zettel has to say about why she thinks yoga is helpful for women during their pregnancies.

Prenatal Yoga has become a huge draw for many women looking to stay healthy and vibrant throughout their pregnancies. Pregnancy is an ideal time to begin a yoga practice under the guidance of a certified yoga teacher. These classes are a great environment for the first timer to learn basic postures in a safe manner and experience the incredible healing effects that the practice has on body and the mind.Continue reading “Prenatal Yoga – What’s it to you?”

Breathing Deeply – A Tip from Meaghan

When we are told to “breathe deeply” most of us tend to take deeper inhales. However, if we don’t make room for those inhales, we will not get very far. In fact, trying to force more air into the body can cause tension – the very thing we are trying to alleviate by breathing deeply!Continue reading “Breathing Deeply – A Tip from Meaghan”

8-Point Pose (Astavakrasana)

My mentor Christi-an often says, “Let what you can’t yet do inspire you!”

Not too long ago this pose used to baffle me, but with steady practice and careful alignment it’s gradually become one of my favorite arm balancing poses. Both myself and Emma have been introducing it in our classes lately, and it’s been so fun to both watch students take flight, and see the smiles filling the room as we try sometime new, ridiculous, and seemingly impossible. Thankfully the ground isn’t far below! Continue reading “8-Point Pose (Astavakrasana)”