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Lift your fingers to work your upper arms in downward dog pose
Yes, you get marks on your hands, but the work in your arms is worth it. How do you walk your downward dog? I’m tempted to say, “let me count the ways,” but there are so many. Let’s just look at one...
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A relaxing way to think about yoga and belly fat
Who knew that working on your abdominals could be so relaxing? Belly fat has been more than usually on my mind for the past few weeks. First Style Craze, an Indian style and beauty blog, asked me for...
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Lessons in letting go from B.K.S. Iyengar
In the week and a bit since B.K.S. Iyengar died, this has become my new favorite quote. And as each day passes, I am more grateful to him for setting such a good example of a happy life and a majestic...
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The Magic of Sun Salutations, or what I learned on my summer vacation
I had three months off teaching this summer, mostly because I spent June in India, studying at the Iyengar yoga institute in Pune. Anyone who has studied at RIMYI knows that a month there doesn’t...
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The Lunacy of Trying to Be Better
What if trying to be better keeps you from being present? When I first heard my teacher Ingelise talk about “the lunacy of trying to be better,” I was not convinced. Of course we try to be better,...
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Why Learning to Row Makes Me Grateful for Yoga
At last: I’m learning to row. When I was seven, my family rented a cottage on a small lake, with a rowboat the kids could use. As the youngest, I had to fight to sit in it, much less row it. Then one...
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Good-bye Five Minute Yoga, Hello Spinefulness
The results of two years of taking Balance/Spinefulness classes: a more relaxed body, and a much straighter upper back. I set off for Palo Alto, in March 2016, to take a weekend course in something...
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Why write The Annals of Catastrophic Posture?
Yes, bending from the waist qualifies as Catastrophic Posture. So why was this poster hanging in in a healthcare facility? I don’t like pointing my finger at other people’s flaws, having far too many...
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Jean Couch’s Collapsing Spine Demo
The dramatic moment is just about to happen Nothing conveys the vulnerability of a spine out of alignment quite like watching the vertebrae collapse. That’s why Jean Couch’s collapsing spine is one...
View ArticleShirley Temple, the pelvis, Warrior I in Natural Posture and more
Things have happened on the Spinefulness.ca blog since the last time I wrote. I’ve started posting twice a week. On Tuesdays it’s some posture-related idea, image or video that caught my eye. On...
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