Tag: yoga actions

Easing into Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose)

I’ve come to see paying attention as a spiritual practice. I write to remind myself that life’s seemingly mundane moments are often where we find beauty, grace, and transformation. When we race through life, we miss it. Katrina Kenison I…

Helen Maupin

Backbend Into An Open Heart — Part VII

During times of social isolation from friends and even close family members, we especially need heart-warming and heart-opening rituals and experiences. These practices remind us of the vital role loving-kindness plays in healing, growth and transformation, which becomes even more…

Helen Maupin

Backbend Into An Open Heart — Part VI

If you have already practised my previous five backbend sequences, you recognize those practices are directed toward intermediate or advanced yogis. However, backbend yoga poses are introduced at the beginner level in order to encourage new students to adopt them…

Helen Maupin

Vinyasa: Asana that Warms From the Inside Out

For the past six weeks, I illustrated different mini inversion sequences intended to open you to the benefits of turning upside down. Most specifically, the focus was to relieve the depression and anxiety that creeps in when we are under…

Helen Maupin

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

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 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

Side Bends Aren’t the Pits

Some years ago, in a yoga class taught by B.K.S. Iyengar, he was quoted as saying, “If you open your armpits, you’ll never get depressed.” In an era where the World Health Organization estimates depression will be the #1 global…

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A Yoga Sequence for Your Physical Body—Annamaya Kosha

Our being is made up of three bodies — the gross or physical-energetic body, the subtle or mental-intuitive body, and the causal or spiritual-bliss body.  All three bodies need to be in constant communication with each other in order for…

Helen Maupin

An Everyday Yoga Practice

For those of you who know the benefits of a daily yoga asana practice, the 60-minute sequence below offers poses you could do every day. However, should 60 minutes be too great a commitment, choose 3 or 4 poses instead…

Helen Maupin

Yoga Asana for Balance

As social and physical distancing become a greater part of our everyday life, our physical activities do not need to take a back burner. In fact, it is even more important to find ways to stay active, which fortifies our…

Helen Maupin