Welcome to Yogi Sticks!

Do you know your Gomukasana from your Adho Mukha Svanasana? Is your Vrksasana all it can be? And how do you feel about Supta Baddha Konasana? Do you know what I'm even talking about?

Sometimes the Sanskrit - however beautiful it sounds - is not very helpful. So, to encourage my students to expand their yoga practice into their home, I sketch the poses we practice during class on a chart and add the Sanskrit and common name. Hopefully, this is a useful tool to help them along in their yogic journey. I also troll the internet, books, and journals to find interesting articles about yoga and the yogic lifestyle.

8-9-10: Psoas Awareness and 8-11-10 Pigeon

Psoas work tonight! Wait...what kind of work? Is that appropriate language to use on a family-friendly yoga blog? Yes. Yes it is.



The psoas is a little appreciated muscle that you only hear of in two situations: yoga and the doctor (or chiropractor, or massage therapist). The psoas ("so-as") is like a bridge linking the trunk to the legs. It is vital for alignment, joint rotation, and range of motion. It is also responsible for unconscious physical tension, such as in the flight-or-fight response. So, if your psoas is chronically tight (like you are curling into a fetal position), your body thinks you are in danger which releases chemicals from the adrenal glands, exhausting the immune system.


Because it is buried so deeply in our bodies, it is not as familiar as our biceps or calves. But in yoga we work to release the psoas in back bends and outward rotation poses (such as warrior 2 and triangle).



Click on "Bandha Yoga Anatomy" on my Favorite Links on the right. When you get to their homepage, click on "Scientific Keys" and then "Awakening the Psoas" to find some fabulous information.

Quote for tonight from Horace Greeley: "Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; riches take wing; only 1 thing endures, and that is character."

Our pigeons came home to roost in class tonight (and thanks for the wonderful turnout! I love yoga parties!). Pigeon is all about our hip rotators (the buttocks area of the front leg) and our hip flexors (along the front of the straight leg's thigh and pelvis. Plus it is internal rotation of the back leg and external rotation of the front. No wonder it is such a challenging - and rewarding - pose!

We all love to work on hip openers for one main reason - we all have tight hips. Why? First, too much sitting, which means no rotation, no flexion, and no extension. Second, the most popular exercises and sports require hip strength, but not hip flexibility (tennis, golf, walking, swimming, etc). And third, stress accumulates in the hip area (and that is a life-long build-up).

When working with your hips, remember that you may taste bitterness before getting to the pose's sweet spot. Be gentle. Be mindful. Be consistent.

Quote from practice: To know others is wisdom; to know yourself is enlightenment. To master others requires force; to master yourself takes true strength." -Lao Tzu

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