Fasly-Kam

If every yoga class you walked into started with the same breathing chants, same movements, same flow, same timing, same pattern from start to finish, would you be bored, or would you embrace the routine? Would the routine become dogmatic movements or could you, would you, keep refining and exploring your breath, your postures, your movements so that they were seamless and graceful, fluid and strong? Would you be able to vary your effort and modify the poses based on how you felt that day, or would you keep trying to "perform" the same every single day? Sometimes, you just have to change things up completely to break the ritual to prevent it from becoming habitual. No where that I have studied has it said that you MUST do Surya Namaskar A exactly as in a textbook. No teacher that has imparted their wisdom has faulted me for exploring different ways to express my movements. In order to make yoga mine (or, yours), it must fit what you need, integrate your essences and help you ...

I am not a doctor. Nor physical therapist. Nor any kind of licensed health worker. I am a certified yoga instructor. I am a science-curious, anatomy-fascinated, yoga practitioner who studied so that she could share information about yoga with other people in a safe, productive, interesting and functional way. I am learning about how the body works (or doesn't work) through my own practice, and self-study, and hope to inspire other people to do the same. That being said, I MAY have had an experience or studied about an experience that MAY be able to help you improve your practice AND prevent injury during it. I MAY, however, not be able to. Some yoga instructors in fact ARE PTs or MDs or PhDs in the health profession and may be able to not only diagnose a problem but also offer a route to wellness. So, if you have a condition/problem/ache/pain that has been bugging you for more than, oh, say, two weeks and hurts MORE when you practice yoga (or when you are still), PLEASE go see a qu...

"Yoga has always been hard for me - I get SO frustrated in some classes." "I hate that I can't touch my toes." "So, how long do I have to practice before I'll be able to (do some posture)?" "What level is this class because I have been taking beginner classes for a while and I want to make sure that I'm improving so I want to get to more advanced classes." Any of those sound like you? Or someone close to you? Or overheard in class? Yeah, probably. The thing is, we may just be "condemned" to wanting to constantly improve, hone, and perfect things we do. You may call that ego, but in some cases (like, running from predators or enhancing job skills for better wages) it may just be a function of biology, or financial survival (sociological impacts). Regardless, trying to turn that off can be difficult, even seemingly impossible. We are raised on superlatives (big-bigger-biggest, bendy-bendier-bendiest) and comparisons (grade poi...