Having a body can be challenging for many reasons. First, the body has basic needs: sleep, food, water, exercise, sex, shelter, clothing. On top of that, the world tells us all sorts of things that our body “should” be: bigger, smaller, faster, smarter, thinner, more muscular, bigger chest, smaller waist…the list goes on. It can
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Life is busy. Work, kids, appointments, errands, there are a lot of demands on our time. Most people know how important it is to exercise and move your body, but it can be really hard to fit it in when you are short on time. It feels like there are never enough hours in the
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Cat Pose and Cow Pose are two commonly practiced yoga poses and they are definitely two of my favorite. They are simple, not requiring any insane strength or flexibility, and are hugely beneficial to most bodies. These two poses can be practiced by anyone at any level of experience. Cat and Cow have alternating spinal
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Most people when they think about “the Core” they think about abdominals, mostly the visible ones, or your “6-pack.” While it’s important to have strong abdominals, there is so much more to “Core Strength” than having 6-pack abs. What is core strength? True core strength involves all 4 abdominal muscles (Rectus abdominis, Transverse abdominis, Internal
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Last week I discussed two important muscles involved in lower back pain, namely the Erector Spinae group and the Quadratus Lumborum. Click here to read last week’s post, as the information will help you better understand this one. Today’s post will be about related muscles that can lead to lower back pain that are not
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Lower back pain is one of the most common conditions in adults as we age. Years of poor posture, one side dominant living (being left-handed or right-handed), and the fact that we don’t live balanced lives can often lead to physical pain and discomfort. Understanding the muscles and structure involved, even on a very basic
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As we age, our body becomes less adaptable to what we do to it. When you were 20, you could pull an all nighter, sleep a couple of hours, then be fine. If you try that when you are older, it might take you a week (or more) to recover and feel normal again. An
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Technology. It is great for the mind, but horrible for the body. When you spend 8 hours (or more) at a desk, staring at and typing on a computer, your body starts to fall apart: Neck pain, back pain, jaw pain, wrist pain, they are all par for the course when you have a desk
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In the yoga asana practice we often talk about a category of stretching poses called “Hip Openers.” They don’t refer to the area where you “put your hands on your hips,” but target the groups of muscles surrounding the hip joints. The Hips include the Gluteal muscles (Gluteus maximus, Gluteus medius, and Gluteus minimus), the
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Yoga is a beautiful practice that, in addition to calming stress and anxiety, is equal parts stretching and strengthening. Why does this matter? As we age, we lose both strength and mobility, and unless we work to keep both, we will lose both. Neither one is more important than the other, they are both equal;
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