Category: Yoga
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Something beautiful, Wild Asana
By Jay Hiller, September 16, 2023 The writing in the book Wild Asana: Animals, Yoga and Connecting Our Practice to the Natural World is absolutely beautiful. In each chapter the author, Alison Zak, focuses on one yoga pose and connects it to the animal it’s named after. Ms. Zak is an author, yoga teacher, anthropologist…
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A display of advanced yoga from a novice practicioner
By Jay Hiller, July 18, 2023 Photo by Daniele Franchi on Unsplash I wasn’t expecting much this morning. I had three classes scheduled and less time scheduled in between them than I really liked. Before my first class, a stand up paddleboard yoga class, I waited idly on the dock and half listened to the…
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Book Review: Yoga for Bendy People
by Jay Hiller, June 29, 2023 I won’t give away the reason why the author is wearing a zebra suit. Years ago in yoga class, I would sometimes end up practicing next to a woman who was very very flexible. It was hard not to be envious of how easily she seemed to get into…
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Foundational yoga poses are valuable for their own sake
by Jay Hiller, May 30, 2023 Photo by Jon Moore on Unsplash “And that’s quite the warm up and the stretch,” the well known yoga teacher on the streaming service said as he led Warrior I, a pose some people would describe as foundational. It’s never been my favorite and something about him saying that…
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How yoga saved my sewing machine
By Jay Hiller, May 23, 2023 When I was a little girl, I knew someone, Filomena, who had a foot pedal sewing machine. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash A few years after I started practicing yoga, I got up from my sewing table and as I turned away, I got my feet tangled up…
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Yoga works
By Jay Hiller, May 22, 2023 Photo by Richard Jaimes on Unsplash A long time ago, when I was just starting to practice yoga and after taking a yoga class I called my sister and said, “This yoga crap isn’t working. Maybe I should start drinking.” I was joking but it was during a period…
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Soul clean out: Yoga, Netflix and a good cry
By Jay Hiller, Monday May 15, 2023 Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash I like the Netflix show, Firefly Lane. The other night after my yoga practice, which was strength based and demanding for me, I watched a couple of episodes. The last season is sad if you’ve been into it and are familiar with…
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Face Yoga
by Jay Hiller, January 6, 2023 Some of the exercises I’ve been doing look a lot like this. Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash Over the last 2 weeks or so, I’ve been dabbling in face yoga, both through my yoga streaming service and a book of exercises. I don’t know how much it’s doing…
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On my reading list
By Jay Hiller, December 15, 2022 I’ve owned this book for quite a while and haven’t read it yet. I bought it because for while I was following the authors’ blog, Yoga For Healthy Aging and it was full of good ideas. The blog has since become Yoga For Times of Change. I thought they…
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A Yoga book for Core Stability and Back Pain
by Jay Hiller, November 17, 2022 Pathways to a Centered Body: Gentle Yoga Therapy for Core Stability, Healing Back Pain and Moving with EaseBy Donna Farhi and Leila Stuart (2017) Embodied Wisdom Publishing If you’ve ever wanted to understand how your back works, why it hurts and how to manage back pain, this may be…