Baddha Konasana, Bound Angle pose Through my almost 30 years of practicing and teaching yoga, there have been many poses that I’ve “hated.” You know those poses. The teacher mentions it in class and you let out a groan, either internally or externally. We all have poses that we dread and that we try to
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When I was 39, I started having some weird lower back pain. I was very active with yoga and swimming and didn’t want my back to hold me back. I wasn’t even 40! Why was this happening?! I went to see one of the physical therapists in my office (I am also an acupuncturist), and
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Work with the body that you have, not the body you wish you had. I love practicing yoga, and one of the reasons is because it is adaptable to all bodies. Whether you can stand or only sit, whether your wrists and toes bend easily or they don’t, there is always a way to modify
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First the body, then the mind There are many ways to meditate. You can practice while seated, finding stillness and watching your breath, or you can practice while moving, like with walking meditation. I also find swimming and hiking in the woods to be wonderful ways to meditate and move. You can read about walking
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Managing election anxiety and finding sanity at this crazy time I don’t write about politics, and that’s not changing in this post. However, there’s an incredibly important election coming up here in the United States that has many Americans’ anxiety at an all time high. Why is that? There are many reasons. I could go
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“If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old; if it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.” ~Joseph Pilates According to Joseph Pilates, the founder of the Pilates exercise method which focuses on core strength, “A man is only as young as his spinal column.” There is some truth to this.
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When you are used to numbing, feeling your feelings can be scary, but will free your heart and mind. If you are a regular reader of my essays, you might know that I am a Type A recovering perfectionist who has a history of numbing my feelings. That might be why you are here. You
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Hi, I’m Janine. I began my recovery from perfectionism in 2012, when I was 40. For most of my life I carried what Brene Brown calls the 20 ton shield of perfectionism. It kept everyone at arm’s length so that they didn’t see my myriad imperfections. I didn’t let anyone see my true self, because
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Stop lying about your age! One When I was a kid, my maternal grandmother would lie about her age. I never knew how old she actually was until she turned 100. She ended up living until 106, but for most of her life, I could only guess. She was always very coy about it. This
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Ardha Chandrasana: Half Moon pose It’s been awhile since I’ve written about poses, and Ardha Chandrasana, or Half Moon, is such a good one. This pose uses all the wisdom of Trikonasana/Triangle pose but you move the floor to stand on one leg. Balance is hard enough when you are vertical, there is. whole new
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