I've been yoga prop adverse in the past but have slowly incorporated more props into my regular practice. The more and more I practice, the more I see props  place in yoga. Even for someone who is relatively flexible, props allows me to move further and/or relax into the pose.

The yoga strap has found it's regular place in my practice. It's been with some trial and error that the strap has found it's place. My inability to loop the strap has been my biggest challenge! :)

And as usual I've fished around to get a couple key points about yoga straps. Here's what I found:

Typically yoga straps are made of hemp or cotton and are between 6 to 8 feet long. I opted to get two straps with different lengths just to be sure (and honestly, try to encourage my husband to use one to help with his posture!)

Duskyleaf.ca states three main reasons to use a yoga strap.

#1 - Strap in and Relax
Essentially let the strap secure your specific body part into a pose or let the strap carry the weight of your body part to increase the stretch.

#2 - Binding your Time
Allow the strap to make connections between hand and foot or hand to hand.

#3 - Better Blindfolded
In the end of practice while in savasana, use the strap just like an eye pillow to encourage the eyes to relax and block out any extra light.

What prompted my exploration of yoga straps this week is that I tried a new DVD called Hatha & Flow Yoga for Beginners by Tamal Dodge. During the Hatha portion of the DVD, he uses the strap in many unique ways that I have never tried before.  For example, using the yoga strap with the upper body during a modified warrior I pose (seemed to help stack the shoulders over the hips better and engage the arm muscles more) and single leg happy baby pose (allowed for greater hip range of motion).

Again, I can't reiterate how much I still need to learn about yoga and how to  incorporate the yoga strap into poses. All this work is building on my knowledge and experience to be a teacher one day!
LW

I practice yoga because personally it provides me with physical and mental benefits. I have some concrete evidence to support these benefits and at times the scientific side of me wants more.

This week I found a glimpse into what I'm looking for - scientific support for a yoga practice. The National Centre for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) produced a video showcasing a snapshot of yoga research. Interestingly, one of the researchers noted she started this work in 2005 so this area of research is relatively new. How exciting! Take a watch below:

One additional resources that is my go to for sound scientific work  is Timothy McCall's book, Yoga as Medicine. As a health care professional and former graduate student, I thrive on evidence based best practice. These are two resources to keep in the back of my lulu yoga pants pockets!

It is a dream and ambition of mine to include yoga therapy in my practice as an exercise physiologist. One day...
LW

I've been eating a lot of fish lately. With the recent trip to Mexico, fresh fish was abundant and sure yummy! I've also been cooking fish often because my little one loves eating it. There are many known health benefits to eating fish but I would also argue that there are many health benefits to doing the fish pose (Matsyasana) too.

Fish pose is not a pose I am very familiar with as I've rarely done it. In a recent session in my parent's basement (with their DVD, SELF Ultimate De-Stress Yoga) it reminded me of how much I'm missing the benefits of fish pose in my practice.

Being a backbend and chest opener, it usually compliments shoulder stands (Sarvangāsana). It is considered an advanced pose due to the hyperextension of the cervical spine. It takes a fair amount of body awareness to ensure proper positioning as the body is being supported by the elbows, not the neck.

During the pose, it  initially feels kinda awkward. It isn't a position our bodies are in frequently. And this is why it has such benefit! It passively stretches the chest as the scapula (shoulder blades) squeeze together. After 12 months of nursing and carrying a baby around, this lengthening of the pectorals is essential.

Once back on the ground, so to speak, I felt a release through the neck as well as the chest. This is not only beneficial for me but likely the majority of the population. This release will help facilitate better posture! Now, that is a health benefit we all need!

Interestingly, the Yoga Journal website, states that fish pose is the “destroyer of all diseases” based on traditional texts. It only makes sense, that better posture would equate to better health.

So, fish pose has now been entered into my yoga repertoire. Because I just can argue with the benefits.

Fishing for more,
LW

Although it doesn't show the actual part of the DVD with fish pose, here is a small sample of the DVD I sampled in my parents basement!

From as far back as I can remember, I really have enjoyed (and benefited) from child's pose (balasana). Having a chronic back/hip injury and the associated pain, it was a position that I could stretch my back out even as an awkward tween. Yoga came into my life because of my back injury. Hard to believe how long I've be practicing child's pose!

Child's pose is a kneeling forward  bend pose. It releases the low back and spine by letting gravity pull the torso down towards the ground. I even read how some yoga teachers encourage this pose to help energy move through the chakras (I barely know and understand chakras at this point!) All I know is that the prone position (very common) and the similar supine position (think flipped on your back with your knees to your chest) is such a relaxing pose!

In recent practice session with a DVD, Shiva Rea Flow Yoga for Beginners,  the yoga teacher provided a real unique way to look at child's pose. The teacher called it wisdom pose because "it is the wisdom of knowing when to relax and come back to yourself. It is the wisdom of knowing when you need to take a break for your body...". What a great way to think of this restful pose.

Recently a friend was commenting on a class she attended where she was doing child's pose the way she was taught, arms outstretched overhead, and the teacher told her that child's pose is suppose to be done with the arms and hands at the side of the body. This made me wonder - what is the actual way to do it? And, like with many poses, there must be modifications and/or variations on how to do it. I dove into my books and the Internet and this is what I found:

1. In most publications it shows arms resting at the side with the palms in the pronated (facing up) position. Forehead is resting on the floor.

2. An upper body option is arms stretched above the head ( in shoulder flexion). So, yes , my friend was still doing child's pose but a variation.

3. Alternatives for the lower body include opening the hips (abduction) and allowing the belly closer to the floor. This variation is something I am very familiar with. It was the only way I could do child's pose while pregnant!

4. The head positioning can also be varied. Forehead can be placed on stacked hands or fists. But also the head can be turned to one side as well.

5. The final variation that I could find was the arms by the side of the body but the hands clasping the heels. For whatever reason, I find this version the most relaxing and least taxing on the body.

So there you have it. The many faces of child's/wisdom pose. My back is better for it. So grateful for this pose!
LW

As part of my full time work as an exercise physiologist, I work with individuals with limited mobility. And in most cases but not all, these individuals have not participated in physical activity for years or ever. These clients constantly remind me of how disconnected/connected we can be with our bodies.

I already know that once I am a yoga teacher, I will continue to work with this population. In my opinion, yoga is an essential way to move people from inactivity to activity. I reflect back on the time I had a volunteer yoga teacher come to one of my group classes to teach. It was wonderful to see clients enjoy yoga and reap the benefits. At times, I think yoga can be very intimating and thus, I tried a chair yoga DVD this week to experience a class that's more accessible than your tradition mat class.

The DVD is called, Chair Aerobics for Everyone: Chair Yoga, and I found it on the shelf of a local library location that I rarely visit. I snatched it up instantly and was eager to try it for myself. These are the types of poses I want to perfect to teach to other newbies.

What stood out the most was how great of a yoga session it was and all the poses were in the chair! I wasn't totally surprised but it really drove home the fact that yoga can be accessible to all. I was shocked by how difficult Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II) was in a chair. I haven't competely figured out what it was about having a chair support me that made the pose more challenging. Maybe the seat of the chair allowed for a wider stance and thus a greater stretch? Not sure but I know I've never done a Warrior II pose and felt that same intensity.

I've decided that one of the contributions I want to make as a yoga teacher is to use chair yoga to reach the possibly unreachable populations particularly those dealing and coping with chronic disease and mobility concerns.

It's kinda nice to know where I'm headed already!
LW

P.S. I found a short clip on YouTube of the DVD. Very short!

Photo credit: Sitka, Alaska (September 2009). Wouldn't that be a nice place to sit and do yoga?