Posts Tagged ‘in class tonight’

for weak and/or injured backs (for angela)

kim on 3:51 pm March 29th, 2010 / 1 Comment »

A bright new student of Boundless recently asked me what to do about her back problems. A few years ago, she injured her back and has “babied it,” which has led her to become weak in her the core and tight at the site of the injury and around it.

Angela is not that different from more than 90% of Americans. With a tight back and weak core, her problem is exacerbated every time she sits down in any chair or seat — as long as she sits without thinking about what she’s learning in yoga class.

I told her I’d post a few stick-figure shapes to help guide a 10-15 minute practice at home a few times a week. This work, coupled with regular yoga class attendance (twice or three times a week ideal), is the best investment anyone can make in the healthy longevity of their spine.

Here they are:

touch it

kim on 3:53 pm December 4th, 2008 / Be the first to comment! »

i think everyone is well served touching their own tailbone once in a while. for sure they should check out that bad boy during yoga class.

though this might not be the case for others, i find my own tailbone (coccyx, actually, and check out the groovy diagram on wikipedia) to be thinner and, well, bonier, somehow, than i always imagine it to be.

this is the base of your spine, the thing that holds you up so well. it’s amazing to think that the tailbone is where it all goes down.

hatha 2 moving to thursday nights

kim on 2:11 pm December 1st, 2008 / Be the first to comment! »

i am teaching thursday nights at 8 pm now, hatha 2, right after the 630 pm open hatha class.

thank you!

kim on 12:07 pm November 25th, 2008 / Be the first to comment! »

i started this post several weeks ago when i noticed that the amount i was being thanked for adjusting students in class went up.

i didn’t know what to say about it at first, but i’ve decided now that it’s surprising.  i want all yoga students to expect to be adjusted, or at least be guided, with as much precision as possible through the poses they do in my class. when i adjust someone’s pose verbally or physically, i consider that part of my job, part of what i’m paid to do.

so, you’re welcome, but sheesh! it’s what you deserve!

thursday 8 pm advanced

kim on 3:49 pm November 17th, 2008 / Be the first to comment! »

i’m thinking of moving my monday 8 pm class to thursday nights at 8 pm. i’m wondering if the hatha 2 students think this is a good idea. let me know.

eyeing nirvana

kim on 7:58 am May 14th, 2008 / Be the first to comment! »

last night in yoga class with john schumacher at unity woods, i noticed in meditation how the eyes either help or hinder.

i meditate almost every day. as with last night, i often catch myself in a thought or series of thoughts that i can immediately map into an experience of stress or discontent in my body. worry is a big one: i suddenly realize i’m fretting about a conversation i’ve just had with my mother, or thinking about finances, and i can feel tension in my shoulders and a swirly, uncomfortable heat in my solar plexus.

but last night, noticing myself running along one of these stress roads, i experienced the eyes. they, too, were, running all over the place: rolling around and looking for more and more images as my mind produced the thoughts.

we are creatures of habit and, to support a system designed to live on patterns, the eyes mimic the patterns our eyes follow in response to thoughts during our waking days. indeed, if you watch someone sleep, their eyes roll around to mirror the images the brain produces in its yin state.

so, in meditation at the end of class last night, i observed my eyes relaxing, and poof! at least for a few minutes, i forgot to think. this created a state of calm i observed for some time after.