A lot, maybe even most, yoga products are geared toward women, so what should you get for the yoga guys in your life? Here's a list just for them, which includes things guys love: electronics! chocolate! tech fabrics! comfortable shorts! Check out these yoga gifts for men.
If it looks like a turkey, we should call it turkey pose, right? Except that's it's already got a name, and it's frog pose. Check out Spoiled Yogi's blog for more Thanksgiving inspired poses. Happy Thanksgiving to those in U.S., and happy Thursday to everyone else!
Here comes the holiday shopping season, and, just in time, here come the gift guides. I've totally revamped the original yoga gift guide this year. Click on over to see which classic yoga photography book, ayurvedic chocolates, cool scarf, and plastic fruit holder made the cut. If you've got yoga dudes on your list, you're going to want to check out the yoga gift guide for men, with lots of options for the Y-chromosomed set. And if you need more ideas for books, videos, mats, bags, props, or pants, the yoga supply guide has got you covered.
Half boat pose, in which the legs are bent at the knee instead of extended straight, is a great option if you have trouble maintaining your alignment in the full pose. I often see student straighten their legs at the expense of their spine, coming into a slumpy, low version of the pose. It's much better to bend your knees, which allows you to stay erect and build the ab strength you need for full boat.
Or should I follow their lead and say the TITANS OF YOGA? Excessive capitalization to the side, this is a project that is definitely worth checking out, especially if you can go to, or even host, a screening in your area. Here is my Titans of Yoga review.
Holiday travel season is about to kick into gear. Though the gathering of far-flung family and friends makes it worthwhile, the combination of busy airports, crowded flights, and bad weather makes for stressful situations. Prepare yourself by studying these airplane-appropriate yoga stretches (which also work well for train and automobile travel). Yes, you can even do them in the middle seat!
Though yoga poses may appear to be very static (especially in photographs!), a slight amount of movement in any pose allows you to avoid rigidity and stay relaxed in the posture. In paschimottanasana, it's nice to have a little pulsation, in which you lengthen the spine subtly on each inhale and deepen your forward bend a little on each exhale.
Some yoga poses really benefit from being shown in a video, and cat - cow is one of them. In this Cat - Cow Video, featuring yoga teacher Joelle Hann, you get a real sense of how to move from the arched cat position into the dropped-belly cow position. If you've never tried this stretch, you are going to love it. It provides a gentle, yet effective, release of tension for the spine and shoulders.
At the beginning of class the other day, my teacher instructed us to take a frank look down while seated cross-legged and assess whether more blankets were needed to raise the hips above the knees, which creates a more easeful seat. Quite a few people got up for more blankets, which reminded me of what my dear friend Aunt Yoga has to say on the subject of finding a comfortable seat.