Anatomy Archives - Page 3 of 4

Stomaching the Holidays with Supta Virasana

by Eve | Dec 27, 2011 | Anatomy, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching , Yoga Therapy

Supta Virasana is a terrific stomach stretcher. Just what I needed today after experiencing the Big Xmas Day Indulgence, followed by the Big Boxing Day Seafood Extravaganza. My stomach was a tight as a drum head in this morning’s practice, and I didn’t even know it until I did the pose.

Stomachs are special organs and need to be well-catered for. Think of all the great expressions that relate to this organ: butterflies in the stomach, gut feelings, armies marching on their stomachs. We who are health-oriented know that stomachs need to be well-exercised, too. […]

Anatasana

by Eve | Dec 24, 2011 | Anatomy, Yoga practices

In typically colourful Hindu lore, Anata is one of the names of Vishnu and, as well, his serpent. Vishnu sleeps on the ocean floor on his couch, the thousand headed serpent. While Anata is asleep, a lotus grows from his navel and that is where Brahma is born. Brahma then creates the world.
In the photo above taken in Myanmar in 2007, you see the reclining Buddha arranged in Anatasana pose. […]

Ardha Chandrasana

by Eve | Dec 23, 2011 | Anatomy, Families of Poses, Pleasure, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching

A friend and colleague of mine said that the standing pose Ardha Chandrasana went from being a nasty pose to a nice pose for him when he finally mastered it. As postures go, it will test your balance and equanimity to the hilt. However, once you meet the challenge, it’s going to be a lifelong friend.
When I was struggling with hip arthritis, Ardha Chandrasana was the pose that could realign my femur in its socket when it went out of position. […]

Image Conscious

by Eve | Dec 11, 2011 | Anatomy, Healing, Yoga practices

Part of what comes with being human is that we are born beautiful and innocent, connected to our divinity, and then we undergo years of forgetting this happy state.
Maybe this is because we live in a culture that says it’s conceited to think well of ourselves. […]

The Lonely Part of the Body

by Eve | Dec 7, 2011 | Anatomy, Families of Poses, XAnatomy, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching

Have you ever noticed that sometimes a person will say a phrase and, for what ever reason and no matter how mundane it is, it lodges in your brain.
Consequently, we yoga teachers should take particular care about what we say to our students when they are in a relaxed, suggestible frame of mind. Once that phrase or expression goes in, it might be indelibly printed.
You know what I mean. You’ve heard your instructor say something like, “Unhunch your shoulders”, a word not in any language, I’m sure. […]

Is Women's Yoga Sexist?

by Eve | Dec 6, 2011 | Anatomy, Health, Yoga practices

When I was first learning yoga in the 70’s, it was the time of women’s lib and the sexual revolution. Many women wanted equality in every way with men, especially in terms of job opportunities and income. In the way I was originally taught yoga, there was no real distinction between the asanas a man and a woman might do in class. I was shocked the first time I attended the Iyengar Institute in Poona in 1984 that some of the classes were men-only and women-only. It seemed like such a backwards approach to this westernised girl. […]

Limping Along

by Eve | Nov 15, 2011 | Anatomy, Healing, Humour, Wisdom, Yoga practices, Yoga Therapy

Have you ever torn a hamstring or suffered an inflamed tendon? Then you would know the feeling of limping along, having to do just half-speed yoga poses.
I feel like that today after having had a little mishap with my computer keyboard. A portion of my morning coffee, so much anticipated after my yoga practice, spilled over the board. […]

A Dog Pose A Day Keeps the Chiropractor At Bay

by Eve | Nov 7, 2011 | Anatomy, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching , Yoga Therapy

Well, I can’t say for sure that the above statement is true, but around our house, where we all do yoga, no one has seen a chiro for a very long time. Or osteopath, or even a masseuse.
However, tomorrow morning I have an appointment with a physiotherapist – the first time since early last year when I was rehabilitating from hip surgery.
I’ve been waking up in the morning with a very sore area around my right scapula (maybe a nerve impingement?). […]

Healthy Hugs

by Eve | Oct 20, 2011 | Anatomy, Healing, Health, Pleasure, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching , Yoga Therapy

I’ve been doing some research for the workshop I’m leading on the Gold Coast in a couple of weeks entitled “Pelvic Freedom: Yoga Poses and Practices for Women’s Well-Being”. The day-long program is pretty rich, I think, and encompasses information on anatomy, pelvic problems, and asanas and practices for various stages of a woman’s life. I thought I’d pass on something I read today (isn’t Google wonderful?) about the importance of keeping the pelvic floor muscles healthy – something we all know we should be doing, but perhaps need to be reminded of occasionally. […]

Great Kidney Poses

by Eve | Sep 29, 2011 | Anatomy, Families of Poses, Healing, XAnatomy, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching , Yoga Therapy

Two very important organs of your body nestle under the back ribs and serve as a vital filtration system for wastes. The kidney organs work to pass urine through the ureters to your bladder for storage and elimination.
If you get extremely run down, you may develop an ache in your lower back that is not muscular and arises when the adrenal glands, situated near the kidneys get overstimulated.
Traditionally, the family of poses that are meant to soothe the adrenals and tone the kidneys are forward stretches. […]

Our Incredible Shrinking Beach

by Eve | Sep 19, 2011 | Anatomy, Healing, Nature, Yoga practices

On my return from holidays, I was quite shocked to hear that our closest beach had lost about a half kilometer of it’s length as a result of recent flooding and storms. That’s a big chunk.
The area concerned is at the mouth of the Manning River, but the dunes all along in a southerly direction to Old Bar Beach are seriously eroded too.
A sad part of our loss is the potential encroachment of the sea on the little tern breeding ground. […]

Healing the Body/Mind

by Eve | Sep 11, 2011 | Anatomy, Community, Healing, Wisdom, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching

I’ve just been deliberating about what to entitle this post so that it would accurately describe the yoga class I did with Berkeley, California teacher, Donald Moyer, and maybe capture some of what I got out of it.
What I experienced was more than doing asanas under the instruction of a skilled, gracious teacher. […]

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