Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor

Can Yoga Wreck Your Body? Responses to NYT Article: Part 2

2012-01-22T10:49:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple other links to well-written responses to the NYT article, How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body. One is by Eddie Stern (I think) of Ashtanga Yoga New York, How the NYT Can Wreck Yoga . He does think that the increasing incidence of yoga-related injuries shouldn't be ignored, but he also agrees that the article is unbalanced and sensationalistic. Eddie writes, "One reason that injury

Can Yoga Wreck Your Body? Responses to NYT Article: Part 1

2012-01-15T14:06:00.006-05:00

There's been a lot of discussion about the recent New York Times article How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body, published January 5, 2012. The article is negative and alarmist in nature, citing anecdotal evidence of yoga students and teachers who have badly injured themselves, and stating that many yoga poses are inherently dangerous for most people. Well, sure, if you take the average person off the

Happy Holidays! Now go do a yoga practice for yourself!

2011-12-26T11:39:00.006-05:00

Namaste Holiday Yoga Ornament Happy Holidays from Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor! I hope you are all enjoying this special time of the year. We've been enjoying family and friends coming over to our house, including our two sons and daughter-in-law, and our 3 month old grandson (our first grandchild!). It's been wonderful to see everyone. Because of my own busy-ness in getting everything ready

Lightness and Ease with Strength and Flexibility

2011-12-05T19:52:00.001-05:00

Some texts say that with enough yoga practice, we can learn to levitate. Well, I have my doubts about that. But this video shows a young man who is a close to levitation as anyone could get. He combines strength and flexibility to create this astounding routine that looks light and effortless, as if he's almost floating. This takes an incredible amount of perseverance and body awareness.

Yoga and Healing Trauma | Matthew Sanford

2011-11-09T21:20:00.005-05:00

Matthew Sanford is a wise man! Well worth watching this video. Click on the image to start video. COMMENT It took awhile for the video to load -- be patient. You can also go to the Yoga Journal page with the video: Yoga and Healing Trauma.

Yoga Breathing Exercises (Pranayama) Reduce Anxiety and Stress

2011-10-22T12:20:00.000-04:00

In my previous post, Breathing Through the Circle of Life, I mentioned how paying attention to my breath has helped me to get through the worry and anxiety about my mother's serious illness and the premature birth of my first grandchild. That prompted me to write another on-line article, Reduce Anxiety With a Calming Yoga Breath. Image: nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net As I pointed out,

Breathing Through the Circle of Life / Bhramari Breath

2011-10-14T09:56:00.001-04:00

Those of you who've been coming to yoga classes recently at Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor know that there've been a couple of life-changing events in my extended family during the last month or so. My mother, who has always been a strong, active, vibrant woman had a recurrence of an old health problem that triggered some other serious health issues this past year. It came to a head early this fall

Yoga From the Heartland Regional Conference a Great Success!

2011-09-24T17:34:00.003-04:00

A few of us from Harmony Yoga attended the Yoga from the Heartland Regional Iyengar Yoga Conference last week, September 15 -- 18. It was a great success! I heard positive comments from the other Harmony Yoga people who attended, although one also said that "there can be too much yoga" (it was definitely a lot of yoga, and I do agree -- I actually "played hooky" during one class...). The

What were you doing on 9/11, 2001?

2011-09-11T15:16:00.002-04:00

Many of us remember exactly what we were doing the day of the 9/11 attacks. I had just entered the yoga room where I was teaching my Tuesday 10am Gentle Yoga Class at the Ann Arbor YMCA, and one of my students said she had heard that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. I envisioned a small private plane that had gone astray, and thought it was tragic for the plane occupants,

Cultivating Peace of Mind

2011-08-16T17:26:00.003-04:00

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali state that to have peace of mind we need to cultivate four great virtues. These are (in Sanskrit, with translations): Maitri -- friendliness, loving-kindness Karuna -- compassion Mudita -- sympathetic joy Upeksha -- equanimity I first heard of these concepts as the Brahma Viharas, or the Four Sublime States, as taught in Buddhism, but they are

Yoga for Seniors -- again

2011-07-27T08:29:00.001-04:00

Downward Facing Dog Pose with Chair Support I was recently asked if I could write a guest post for the blog Life After 60 - Living Life With Joy, by Joan Adams. She is another writer on Squidoo and Wizzley, where I've also written some articles (some on yoga -- see the sidebar to the right). Joan had seen my article Yoga for Seniors - Aging Well With Yoga, and thought her readers would be

Sign Up for the Midwest Regional Iyengar Yoga Conference - September 15 - 18

2011-07-08T19:22:00.003-04:00

Yoga From the Heartland Sept. 15 - 18, 2011 Most of you who attend classes at Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor have heard me talk about the upcoming Regional Iyengar Yoga Conference, Yoga From the Heartland, to be held in downtown Chicago, September 15 - 18. If you're still undecided about going, read this excerpt of an email I received from IYNAUS (Iyengar Yoga National Association of the U.S.)

Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana

2011-07-04T10:37:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, some of you had the opportunity to try the standing pose Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana. I mentioned that I had come across a photo that showed a woman in high heels doing the same pose. Here it is! She's doing the full pose, with an arm reaching around her back to hold on to her lifted foot. We did the pose with both hands on the floor (or a chair or blocks). Ardha Baddha

Yoga for Seniors (Aging and Yoga)

2011-06-05T10:44:00.001-04:00

Yoga for Seniors - Aging Well As the Baby-boomer and the Silent (Great Depression and WW2) generations age, there are more yoga classes that are suitable for seniors than ever before. My Gentle Class at Harmony Yoga, comprised mostly of students over age 60 (okay, I know a few are a little younger!), is currently my largest class, and overall has the most stable student base of all of my

We Have a Rope Wall Now

2011-06-01T21:39:00.003-04:00

Rope-supported Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) This is the third week that we've had our ropes up at Harmony Yoga, and for the most part, people are enjoying their use. As you can see in the photo to the left, a rope-supported downward facing dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana) allows these students to more easily extend through their upper backs. Suza Francina (not from Harmony

Register Now for "Yoga From the Heartland" Regional Iyengar Yoga Conference

2011-05-29T10:50:00.013-04:00

Register soon for the Regional Iyengar Yoga Conference, "Yoga From the Heartland", September 15 - 18, 2011, in downtown Chicago. This conference is not just about taking another yoga class or yoga workshop, but it is also a celebration of the practice of yoga with other like-minded people. Of course you'll take a few yoga classes during this 4-day event in Chicago, IL, but there's much more

Yoga Poses Support the Body's Detox Functions

2011-05-15T09:56:00.002-04:00

I've written before about how yoga can help our bodies with the detoxification process in Yoga Poses for Detoxing the Body. In a nutshell: Yoga twists "squeeze and soak" the abdominal organs, like wringing out a dirty wash cloth and then rinsing it with clean water. Forward bending poses compress the abdominal organs, and stimulate the digestive system, making the elimination process more

Response to "13 Things Your Yoga Teacher Won't Tell You"

2011-05-04T15:36:00.017-04:00

Ardha matsyendrasana from Free Yoga Images Thanks to my friend Pam for telling me about 13 Things Your Yoga Teacher Won't Tell You I found this on Shine by Reader's Digest Magazine, with the points below submitted by yoga teachers from different parts of the country. Various yoga blogs and newsletters have picked it up, and I thought it was worth commenting on also. It may sound like the

Practicing the Poses We "Hate"

2011-04-30T16:52:00.004-04:00

Don't Shy Away From Difficult Poses! I enjoy most of the yoga poses that I work on, but there are a few poses that I really, really don't like. I hesitate to use the word "hate", but I do have a very strong negative reaction to a couple of poses in particular. But some of the poses I used to "hate" I now enjoy, or at least don't mind practicing. My least favorite pose is Virabhadrasana III,

Practicing Yoga at Home

2011-04-17T17:51:00.003-04:00

While we were having dinner with a couple of good friends last week, the guy mentioned that he had just started practicing yoga poses again, after a long break (many years I think). He was browsing through Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar and noticed that the Appendix included yoga practice courses for beginning, intermediate, and advanced yoga students. In these courses, B.K.S. Iyengar lists

Yoga From the Heartland -- Registration Now Open

2011-04-03T16:06:00.001-04:00

Registration is open now for the 2011 Regional Iyengar Yoga Conference, From the Heartland, which will be held in downtown Chicago, September 15 -- 18. This will be a great opportunity for yoga students of all traditions, from beginning to advanced, to learn more about the practice of Iyengar Yoga. For the opening ceremony on Thursday, September 15, the Keynote Address will be given by

Iyengar Yoga and Back Pain Relief

2011-03-14T22:47:00.001-04:00

Downward facing dog pose is great for backs. A number of people who come to yoga classes start as a way to help relieve chronic back pain. The mindful practice of yoga poses help to stretch and strengthen the muscles in the back, and ease stiffness in the spine. There are a few good studies out that confirm what we experience in yoga classes -- that yoga really does help reduce back pain, and

Iyengar Yoga -- Inspiration From a Video

2011-03-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

There are many yoga videos on YouTube --most of them I'm just not that impressed with, but occasionally I find one that's interesting or inspiring in some way. Here's a video of Iyengar yoga teachers, Linda DiCarlo and Claude Goldstein, demonstrating a number of poses during their December 2010 holiday party at Linda's studio, Iyengar Yoga Source, in Rhode Island. They start with Surya Namaskar

Why Practice Yoga Standing Poses?

2011-02-14T21:48:00.001-05:00

If you've taken Iyengar Yoga classes for any length of time, you'll have noticed that there's a strong emphasis on learning and practicing the standing poses, often from the very first class you took. Why are the yoga standing poses so important? What are their benefits to us? Some of the more obvious benefits are that we develop develop greater strength, stamina, flexibility, and balance

Yoga From the Heartland -- Iyengar Yoga Regional Conference, Sept. 2011

2011-01-29T21:48:00.004-05:00

If you take classes regularly at Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor then you've probably heard me talk about the 2011 Regional Iyengar Yoga Conference, Yoga from the Heartland, that will take place in Chicago, September 15 -- 18. This will be a marvelous opportunity for you all to gather with other yoga students for a few days of enjoyable Iyengar Yoga study and practice, and other special events, in