Tone Royal @ Swan Dive
Tone Royal @ Swan Dive Read More »
Wake Up Gently
If you’re still groggy after you hit the alarm button, slowly awaken your spine and hips and breathe life into stiff joints with this easy, fun sequence. AS YOU PRACTICE Use your face to measure tension in your body. Kira Sloane, who designed the sequence, calls the face “the dashboard of the pranic system.” When
Warm Yourself Up
This invigorating sequence of balancing and twisting postures will stoke your inner fire, known as agni. AS YOU PRACTICE To help you stay mentally calm and clear and spread the rising heat throughout your body, breathe through your nose while slightly constricting your throat to create the smooth, rhythmic, ocean-sounding Ujjayi Pranayama (Victorious Breath). Breathe softly
Embrace the Unfamiliar
Break free from a rut with a practice that offers subtle variations to common poses. AS YOU PRACTICE When you consciously change a habitual action, it’s natu-ral to feel a moment of discomfort or uncertainty. Be patient with yourself as you move through these poses, and observe any unease. Remind yourself that bringing awareness to
Embrace the Unfamiliar Read More »
Center Yourself
This simple sequence will soften spots that tend to cling to tension (lower backs, hips, thighs) and ground you with squats, passive backbends, mild inversions, and twists. AS YOU PRACTICE Energetically, these poses aim to rebalance apana vayu (downward-moving energy), allowing the mind to calm and the body to relax. This is the perfect sequence
Salute the Sun
This Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar) is a great basic practice. Depending on how many times you repeat the sequence, it can serve as either a mini practice on days when your time is short or a warm-up for a longer session. AS YOU PRACTICE You can alter this Sun Salutation by playing with its pace. If you
Chatus Pada Pitham – Four-Footed Tabletop Pose
Weakness in the hamstrings makes it hard to create a neutral extension of the hip joints, so many people use the quadriceps to extend the knee and push the foot into the floor. The problem here is that this tends to also create hip flexion, which obstructs the opening at the front of the hip
Chatus Pada Pitham – Four-Footed Tabletop Pose Read More »
Vasisthasana – Side Plank Pose (Sage Vasistha’s Pose)
The challenge of this pose is not one of flexibility, but instead of how to maintain the neutral alignment of the spine and legs and the simple position of the arms against the action of gravity. The asymmetrical relationship to gravity means that muscles have to work asymmetrically to create a symmetrical alignment of the
Vasisthasana – Side Plank Pose (Sage Vasistha’s Pose) Read More »