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Invert Your Way Out of Depression & Anxiety: Part II

A growing body of research continues to illustrate the benefits of yoga postures that turn us upside down. These inversions affect the central nervous systems in such a way that not only is our mood elevated but the muscle tone…

Helen Maupin

Invert Your Way Out of Depression and Anxiety: Part I

Prior to our current COVID circumstances, I wrote of research proving that yoga poses incorporated with regulated breath work (pranayama) drastically reduced depressive symptoms.  Interestingly, there is a known correlation between depression and anxiety, which realizes that reducing one reduces…

Helen Maupin

Adaptation Manifests Refinement — Part II

Refinement is a necessary step on our evolutionary ladder toward self-actualization and fulfilment. Being aware of what forces drive our behaviour means we can adapt who we are, moment-to-moment. Each adaptation we make refines our skills, innate gifts and decision…

Helen Maupin

Adaptation Manifests Refinement — Part I

I just came home from an intriguing breakfast conversation with two dear friends, David and Deri. Our back-and-forth dialogue circled around the uncertain adventure COVID is presenting within our global community. Fortunately, in any time of personal and collective crisis,…

Helen Maupin

Freeing Your Neck & Throat with Yoga Actions (Part 2)

Given the tendency for many people to project their head forward as a result of long hours working on computers, I am continuing to explore how the throat diaphragm can enable us to correct this misalignment. The yoga actions and…

Helen Maupin

Freeing Your Neck & Throat with Yoga Actions (Part 1)

Last week, we looked at a yoga sequence and yoga actions focused on freeing the physical and emotional tension (holding patterns) in our heart space. Within our body, the physical element of air is concentrated in the heart region. Air…

Helen Maupin

Freeing Your Heart Space with Yoga Actions

Last week my blog illustrated yoga actions and poses aimed at freeing physical and emotional tension held within your pelvic bowl. The yoga action utilized to ease this tension involved drawing breath into the back edge of the pelvic diaphragm.…

Helen Maupin

Freedom = Concentration + Absorption + Integration (Pelvis)

For humanity, freedom is a much sought-after state beginning early in childhood. Do you remember the first time you rode your two-wheel bicycle solo? The sense of accomplishment and independence was exhilarating. I still experience that rush of blissful joy…

Helen Maupin

Be Gone to Be Light

Today, I remind myself not to be buffeted by narratives of the past or belittled by negative opinions in the present. Although neither serve any valuable purpose, it took me many years to shed the social conditioning associated with pleasing…

Helen Maupin

Inner, not Outer, Expansion Saves the World

This is my first blog following a five-day yoga retreat I led for a group of committed students. As always, after such a deep experience, we all need time to rest, recuperate and reflect on its impact. Over the millennia,…

Helen Maupin

Shapeshifting with Yoga

On August 17, I teach my annual five-day yoga retreat. This whole-being intensive is meant to build capacity and release tension by tapping into every bodily system or sheath — physical, energetic, mental-emotional, spiritual including our bliss or joy. This…

Helen Maupin

Transcend Fear into Freedom

Photo by Jeremy Williamson As new COVID cases continue emerging due to reduced physical restrictions, fear, anger and blame also mount. Physical freedom has been challenged, and many construe this as an assault on their personal freedoms. However, this is…

Helen Maupin