Feet First: Yoga Therapy Tip Basic

Feet First: Yoga Therapy Tip Basic

Let’s face it – our feet take a beating in daily life, whether it is the shoes we wear, the activities we do, or the way we stand, the feet are our foundations. If you already have a pre-existing condition, then you can use Yoga Therapy to strengthen and even prevent further damage to your feet as well as  learn to stand using better posture. It is always good to know, who you are and what you bring to asana.  Sometimes cues are for the general public.  I have found, through years of practice, that my bunions have gone from pain level 10+ to almost no pain ever (with the exception of walking in some shoes for prolonged periods).  However, I have to do a lot of work in my feet especially in standing poses. Great read on bunions by one of my teachers, Doug Keller

Tips

Yesterday at a client’s house, we didn’t have a tennis ball but they had some small 3 pound weights which we used to

-roll the feet over as a little preliminary massage before

-some ankle rolls

– toe tractions.

Don’t wait for your next pedicure to take care of your feet from the inside out. Try to distribute your weight on your feet (not so easy).  And don’t forget, the feet communicate with your calves so don’t expect to get tension out of the calves without working the tootsies…For more tips contact mefoot healthreflexes in the feet

YOGA as Therapy

“Yoga Therapy is the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the teachings  and practice of  yoga” – International Association of Yoga Therapists (definition 2011)


“It’s well known that stress can contribute to back pain and that yoga reduces stress.  Yoga, however, approaches this in a way unfamiliar to Westerners.  We believe our minds cause our bodies to move, our brains sending signals down nerve pathways to our muscles.  And, of course, that’s true.  However, in yoga, the opposite also applies.  The state induced by yoga in our bodies calms our minds.” – Loren Fishman, MD, and Carol Ardman,   Yoga for Back Pain Continue reading

Transition and the Modern Yogi(ni)

anitya-asuci-duhka-anatmasu-nitya-suci-sukha-atma-khyatih-avidya:  Ignorance is the confusion of the temporary with the permanent, the pure with the impure, anguish with the pleasure of being, and the relative with the absolute – Patanjali: Sutra 11.5, B. Bouanchaud, The Essence of Yoga


“If you are doing anything big and worthwhile in life, you are going to flush up some uncomfortable feelings” – G. Hendricks, K. Ludeman, The Corporate Mystic 


“It takes a brave heart to deeply accept that everything changes” – Judith Lasater, Living Your Yoga Continue reading

Body Language and the Modern Yogini



“Pain has a definite way of getting our attention.  It is difficult to deny deep pain.  All our attention goes to that place. Yet in deep sleep it seems to go away or lessen.” -Nischala Joy Devi, The Healing Path of Yoga 


“Mindful awareness has this great capacity to free us from the self-imposed limitations of our fears and thoughts.” – Tara Bennett-Goleman, Emotional Alchemy Continue reading

yoga and safety

“Yoga has its origins in the search for the spiritual and in primordial questions about the meaning of life.  The awareness that yoga is a spiritual practise whose roots are ancient gives our journey continuity, richness, and depth” -Esther Myers


“The problem with institutionalized yoga or textbook instruction is that the reality of a person’s life situation is not taken into account…The key to right teaching is in the adaptation of yoga to the individual, not the idividual to yoga” – T.K.V. Desikachar


“Yoga is not a standardised practise” T.K.V. Desikachar

Lately much is in the news about yoga and safety. Continue reading

HAND BOOK 2012 for health and happiness

I have been getting this every year by email, so am sharing the 2012 version; it is always nice to go through the list, see what we can add/subtract/ignore from the choices we are currently making.  My dear friend Syvie said she wished me “the grace of manifestation” and I share these wishes with you! Continue reading