As I sit inside my house on an otherwise beautiful June day writing this blog post, my lungs are burning and I have a sore throat and headache from the Canadian wildfire smoke that has made its way here to southeastern Michigan. I am wondering how many of you, my fellow HSPs, are feeling these …
Yoga, Meditation + Neuroscience
The research is in! For ages people have been espousing the benefits of yoga and meditation–but without having any scientific proof that they actually work. Luckily, that has been changing in the past decade. I recently attended an online conference on Yoga + Neuroscience where a number of scientists presented their research on yoga and …
Yoga to Soothe Your Sciatica
Got a pain in the butt??? At some point in your life chances are good that you are going to have a bout of sciatica. Maybe you already have. I’ve been working with a few private yoga clients lately who are dealing with this issue, so I thought it might be a good time to …
My Two Favorite Core-Strengthening Exercises
[VIDEOS INCLUDED] Do you struggle with back pain? Poor balance? Bad posture? A strong core helps with all these issues and so much more. That is why I continue to add more and more core-strengthening into my yoga sequences for students. Check out two of my favorite core-strengthening exercises below. Combine them into a quick …
Is Yoga Good for Your Vagus Nerve?
By now you’ve probably seen more than a few references to the vagus nerve on social media. This nerve has definitely been having its ‘moment.’ As I like to joke, the vagus is the new psoas. (I know all you seasoned yoga teachers out there will get that reference!) In all seriousness, though, the vagus …
Why I Did A Personal Retreat – And You Should Too
My husband recently went out of town for a business trip, so I took the opportunity while he was gone to do a Personal Retreat. A personal retreat can look different for each person–you design it yourself, so you can let your creative juices flow–but ultimately it should include rest, rejuvenation and time to reconnect …
Real Self-Care: The Science of Subtracting
During my ‘Spring Yoga Tune-Up’ online course, I like to encourage students to ponder where else in their lives they need to doing some spring cleaning. Where do they need to let go, or lighten their load? I think this is something we all need to do from time to time. In fact, I believe …
5 Reasons to (Re)Start a Home Yoga Practice
Even though the COVID pandemic is in the rear-view mirror and many yoga students have been happily attending group classes at their favorite yoga studios for a while now, there are some surprisingly good reasons to (re)start a home yoga practice right now–especially if you are an experienced yoga student. Read on to find out …
Are You Sabotaging Your Self-Care?
What comes to mind when you think of the term ‘self-care?’ Many people think self-care involves a lot of time or money. Others believe that self-care is selfish. These ideas are completely false. Simply put, self-care is essential for you to be the best version of yourself. It isn’t about getting weekly massages or taking …
Are You A Stressaholic?
Addicts will tell you that their drug of choice made them feel good before it started making them feel bad. That makes sense if it’s something like alcohol or heroin but, according to clinical psychologist and author Dr. Lindsay Gibson, the same is true for stress addiction. Not all stress is bad of course, as …