I’m very excited to hear that Alison West, senior Iyengar teacher and co-founder of Yoga for NY, is expanding her NYC presence. Yoga Union Center for Backcare & Scoliosis will remain open on 28th Street, and the new Yoga Union will open across the street. Offering both the largest number of rope wall stations in [...]

On Saturday I ran back to Crunch for my final session with genius personal trainer Claes Passalacqua. It’d been a really long week; I needed a kick in the pants as well as the final secret series of hip and back fixers.

My back and hip pain are just about gone! I’ve been doing the physical therapy exercises that Claes Passalacqua gave me every day. Week one, I learned a Core series, week two he increased the core work, added some spine and shoulder stretches, and introduced a new friend.

I’ve been quiet on the class front lately, looking for some help with my nagging aches and pains. Vinyasa would be a joke; even Anusara is no fun. I’ve got a classic zigzag pattern: right foot, left knee, right hip, left shoulder, right wrist. So I’m pretty sure the injuries are related, cropping up due to imbalance.

If you’ve had low back pain, you know how incapacitating it can be. One wrong step, and some mysterious stranger stabs a knife between your vertebrae. If you haven’t, and you’re practicing yoga, please read this article from My Yoga Online: The Threats of Twisting The one thing I would add is an insight from [...]

Today I did Pilates at home. I count it as yoga; a lot of the Pilates moves are lesser-known yoga moves you can find in the older texts. And, as much as yoga insists you should engage uddhiyana bandha (navel lock) throughout vinyasa practice, you can go for years without doing it right or at [...]

This morning my back was tweaking out, so I did 3 spinal exercises, 6 sun salutations, 1 side bend, 2 inversions, 1 back bend, 1 forward bend, 1 spinal twist, relaxation and meditation. Perfect.

Since I got back from the retreat, I’ve actually kept up a morning practice. I always do pranayama: 3 rounds Breath of Fire (60, 75, 90 reps, and 60, 75, 90 second retentions) 5–10 rounds Alternate Nostril Breathing (inhale 4, hold 16, exhale 8 ) Sometimes I add my favorite sequence ever: the Kundalini Spinal [...]

Here is my practice sequence from last week. I’ve been trying to rest a hip strain (the massage therapist and acupuncturist said it needs 4-12 WEEKS of rest), so this gentle sequence from Dr. Amrit Raj was much appreciated. (He was in town for a “Yoga & Ayurveda” workshop at Exhale.) This is a light [...]