Breathing lessons

Learning how to use your breath for better health is one of the core gifts of a yoga practice.  When I was a tween and suffering from panic attacks (I didn't know that then), I figured out that slowing my rapid breathing down helped me manage the attacks.  My innate body wisdom at work.  Only years later did I learn about the mechanics of breathing through my yoga practice. 

I love using diaphragmatic breathing to induce relaxation and teaching others to do the same.  For today's Living Yoga class, I will be using crocodile pose (lying on the belly) to teach my students an awareness of belly breathing.  Check out this great article for more tips and theory.  

Yogis walk the talk workshops

Last weekend I got to immerse myself in yoga with Desiree Rumbaugh and Andrew Rivin.   I pushed myself as a yoga practioner by practicing for many hours among some seasoned yogis, which I enjoyed (mostly).  The biggest lessons I got from the hours of practice were tips for practicing as someone who is over 50, and the big one was not to tuck your pelvis, but rather to visualize having a tail, something that I also heard during an Amy Matthews class at People's Yoga a few years back.

They pointed to the work of Esther Gokhale around posture and the natural healthy curves of our spine.