Every Breath You Take
Are you aware of how you breathe? Did you know that most people are chronic shallow breathers due to stress in their lives and tightness in their bodies? It takes a deep breath to fill our lungs, top to bottom…
Restoring Calm and Ease
Our ability to remain calm and at ease has never been more crucial given today’s interconnected, volatile and complex world. With so much uncertainty confronting us, it is important to remember that stress is an inside job. Stress does not…
Tilting the Pelvis to Touch our Toes
For many decades, a typical measure of health has been the ability to touch our toes. Why? Long and strong psoas muscles, indicators of physical well-being, allow us to tilt our pelvis forward. The psoas, often called the muscles of…
Wringing the Hips to Relieve Sciatica
Sciatica, loosely defined by the general public as pain in the lower back hip and localized on one side, most commonly occurs when a herniated disk or a bone spur on the spine compresses the sciatic nerve. This causes inflammation,…
Bending Over Backwards For Wellness
Are you aware that you are as young as your spine is flexible? Having healthy posture, that is maintaining the natural “S-shape” of your spine, affects every system of the body including neuromuscular (joints, bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons, nerves), endocrine…
Wringing the Hips
A healthy body is capable of moving in many directions simultaneously. For instance, during ice skating you would find yourself externally rotating the upper leg used to stride while slightly internally rotating the other leg used to glide. In order…
Let’s Do the Twist
After a long, hardy Winnipeg winter, the promise of spring brings on a desire to air out our physical spaces and to rejuvenate our bodies. Twisting the torso is noted for its ability to release accumulated toxins, move stagnate energy…
Knee Bone’s Connected to Hip Bone
Supta Padangusthasana is an excellent pose for knee health and flexibility demonstrated by Helen Maupin and Candace Propp. “Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.” Bones become dry when restricted mobility reduces the circulation of blood, nutrients and oxygen, which…
Knees That Please
Even before reaching middle age, many sports enthusiasts and athletes find themselves challenged with “bad knees.” Disease, a family history of arthritis, improper bone alignment and long-term repetitive movement are all sources of knee pain. Furthermore, as the largest joints…
Energy Transformation — Say What?
Prior to practicing yoga, I had a very superficial understanding of energy. Either I had it, or I didn’t. For me, it was a felt sensation in my body signalling how invigorated or deflated I judged myself to be in that moment.
Many years ago, during a Reiki session, the practitioner working on me asked if I could feel energy moving in my body. I was puzzled by her question and instead answered, “What I feel is tingling in my feet.” “That’s energy,” was her reply, “you feel it when it moves.”
On Terra Firma
In the beginning years of a yoga practice, much emphasis is placed on standing poses, which were designed to develop strength, stamina, flexibility and balance. Through their continued practice, we build a firm foundation starting with the feet and ankles…
Standing On Our Own Two Feet
Yoga’s eight limbs or pathways are intended to strengthen our response-ability no matter what situation emerges in our day-to-day living. In essence, this means ensuring the thoughts, words and deeds we put out into the world are of pure intention. …