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Refueling After a Yoga Class

International World Yoga Alliance — Sun, 03 Jul 2022 04:36:43 +0000

Refueling After a Yoga Class

We tend to think of yoga as a low-intensity, relaxing, and meditative practice. And that’s certainly an accurate description of many types of yoga. But no matter what type of yoga you practice, if you’re trying to master demanding poses or practicing in a heated studio, yoga can also be quite challenging for the mind and body.

While your mind and body may feel relaxed and calm, it’s not at all uncommon to be famished after class. All that movement from one pose to the next, holding difficult poses, and deep concentration results in a need for fuel. So, if your first stop after yoga practice is the kitchen, you’re not alone.

Here’s why you need to refuel after yoga class and how to choose your post-workout snack or meal wisely.

Why You Need to Refuel After Yoga Class

Practicing yoga is a fantastic way to strengthen, tone, and stretch your muscles while calming your mind and managing stress. But if you want to get the most out of your practice, providing your body with the right nutrition is crucial. While eating a meal right before class isn’t generally recommended, refueling your body after a yoga class is a must.

When you work your muscles hard, as you do in some yoga practices, your muscles and tendons can develop microscopic tears. You may not even notice them, but it’s not uncommon to feel a little sore after a challenging session. If you fail to refuel your body properly after class, muscle recovery will take longer, and you will be more susceptible to injury.

In fact, yoga can be every bit as demanding as strength training or cardio, and refueling at the end of your yoga session is just as important as it is after any high-intensity workout. Whether you’re testing your focus during a vinyasa sequence or working your muscles in an Ashtanga session, yoga requires both mental and physical energy.

Prioritizing nutrition after yoga class can make all the difference in how quickly you recover, and how you feel as you go about the rest of your day. It can even play a role in how you perform in your next class, too.

How to Refuel After Yoga Class

Proper hydration both before and after yoga practice is absolutely essential. Staying hydrated is key for keeping your muscles functioning smoothly and it will have a major impact on your mental and physical performance. If plain water isn’t your thing, consider adding lemon or try electrolyte-rich coconut water.

Your post-yoga food selections may differ a bit depending on the time of day and what type of yoga you practice but it’s important to include both carbohydrates and protein to refuel your mind and body after class.

Keep in mind that your body will get the most benefit if you provide the right nutrients within two hours of your session. If you can, bring a meal or snack with you and eat it right after class. This will help refuel your energy levels and rebuild and repair any damaged muscle tissues.

Here are the three most important things to think about when you’re planning your post-yoga meals and snacks:

Feed Your Muscles After a Yoga Class

Feeding your muscles is key after any type of exercise, and that includes yoga. Muscle is made of protein, so it only makes sense that protein should be the key component of your post-yoga meal or snack. High-quality, plant-based protein will help your muscles recover quickly and help you build new muscle so you’re even stronger in your next class.

Protein powders made from soy are an easy way to get the protein you need and refuel your muscles quickly. They can be added to juice, a smoothie, or a shake and they’re easy to take with you on the go. They also come in a variety of delicious flavors and provide additional nutrients and antioxidants your body needs for recovery.

Other good sources of protein include Greek yogurt, hummus, nuts, seeds, eggs, cheese, nut butters, and nut milks. Shoot for around 10 to 20 grams of protein to build and repair muscle after yoga.

Add Slow-Burning Carbs to Replenish Your Energy Levels – After a Yoga Class

With all the twisting, turning, stretching, and holding that goes on in yoga class, it’s no wonder that your energy level is depleted after a challenging yoga session. They also help to refuel your muscles, give your brain a boost, and support the nervous system.

In addition to being a fantastic source of plant-based protein, Soy protein meal replacement powders are also a great source of slow-burning carbs to keep your energy level up as you go through the rest of your day.

Whole grains, such as oatmeal, are also packed with complex carbs for long-lasting energy. Fruit is another great choice because it’s packed with simple carbs to give you a quick boost. It also provides hydration, electrolytes, and vitamins, and minerals to replenish what you’ve lost during your session.

A Few Final Tips for Refueling After Yoga – After a Yoga Class

Knowing what and when to eat after yoga is key for the success of your practice. Remember that your body is the most receptive to absorbing nutrients within two hours of practice. Eating as soon as possible after class not only supports recovery, it also plays a role in how you perform throughout the rest of your day and even in your next class.

Combining carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals, and hydration will help you recover and heal faster. This combination will help your muscle rebuild glycogen which is basically stored fuel for your muscles. Replenishing your glycogen stores is key for preventing fatigue, burnout, and lowering your risk of injury.

Remember that rest and sleep are also important for recovery. In fact, proper diet, exercise, and sleep are the key components of any healthy lifestyle. Prioritizing these essentials will keep you energized and performing at your best for the long haul.

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga

International World Yoga Alliance — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 14:07:32 +0000

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Method

Opening Prayer

Fundamental Asanas

Primary Asanas

Finishing Asanas

Closing Prayer

Yoga

Yoga is a way of life, a search for meaning and a method for finding true health and happiness.

Ashtanga Yoga

The Ashtanga Yoga system is a living lineage that dates back nearly five thousand years in an unbroken line of teachers, sages and gurus that culminates in the life of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, his son Sharath Rangaswamy and every Ashtanga practitioner today. Developed by TKV Krishnamacharya and his student Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois who tells us that it was derived from the ancient indian text, the Yoga Kurunta, written by Vamana Rishi. Krishnamacharya is one of the world’s most legendary masters of yoga. He was initiated into the science of Yoga by his Guru, Rama Mohan Brahmachari. Among Krishnamacharya’s students we find TKV Desikachar (his son), BKS Iyengar and Indra Devi along side Jois who studied with him from 1927 and into the 1950’s. Jois, or Guruji as he is affectionately called by his students, continued the lineage of these teachings, sharing them with thousands of practitioners around the world.

The Practice

The Ashtanga Yoga Vinyasa system is sequences of postures that vary in difficulty and benefit. The flow between each posture is an integral part of the practice.

Asana

There are three groups of movement sequences and six series in total: The Primary Series, Yoga Chikitsa, cleanses and tunes especially the physical body. The Intermediate Series, Nadi Shodhana, purifies the nervous system, opening up for more subtle experiences of our energies and mind. The Advanced Series A, B, C and D, Sthira Bhaga, literally meaning strength and grace, which further explores flexibility, vigor and tranquility as an integrated synergy, requiring higher levels of humility and dedication. Each series of postures must be accomplished before proceeding to the next. The practice is cumulative and it is essential to follow the order of postures (asanas) meticulously as each individual asana builds on the previous one and prepares practitioners for the next. The sequential process of learning Ashtanga Yoga allows its practitioners to develop the concentration, strength, flexibility and stamina needed to progress in a safe and balanced manner. Each asana, or group of asanas, has a specific effect that is counterbalanced by the previous asana, or group of asanas.

Breath

Breathing cannot be overemphasized in the Ashtanga system. When we are born we breathe in and when we die we breathe out – in between these two breathes our life spans. Guruji says: ‘Ashtanga practice is a breathing practice … the rest is just bending’. The breath is the key to the the realm of tranquility and power and with it we can regulate and control our nervous system. The breath is the door between our body and our mind, the portal between meditation and asana practice and often the first step on the way to a more spiritual, soulful and happy lifestyle. Breathing is our most fundamental and vital act and holds a divine essence.

Vinyasa

Postures are linked together through flowing movement (vinyasa). Vinyasa means breath synchronized with movement. In Ashtanga Yoga the movement is always synchronized with the breath and there is never a separation between the two actions. When the synchronization of movement and breathing is an integral part of the yoga practice and the three body locks (Moola Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha and jalandarabandha) are applied, an internal, purifying heat is generated in the body. Unwanted toxins are released and disposed of, vital hormones and minerals flow into the bloodstream and the nervous system is purified. The result is a light and strong body.

Tristana

Ashtanga Yoga utilizes a three-pronged approach called Tristana. Tristana consists of correct breathing (Ujjayi), yoga postures/asanas (including correct use of the bandhas), and the precise gazing (dristi). This is both a method and a state and practitioners develop control of the senses, a deep awareness of themselves and their inner sensations, emotions and workings of the mind. By maintaining this discipline with regularity and devotion, practitioners develop steadiness of body and mind.

Heart Of Yoga

Ashtanga literally means eight limbs. All yoga is technically speaking ashtanga yoga as all yoga follows the eight limbs described by Patanjali. But these days the term is commonly used to describe the method taught by Jois. The eight limbs are described by Patanjali as:

Yama (ethical discipline):
ahimsa (non-violence)
satya (truthfulness)
asteya (non-stealing)
brahmacharya (refraining from sexual indulgence)
aparigraha (detachment)

Niyama (observation & purification):
sauca (cleanliness, purity)
santosha (contentment)
tapah (austerity)
svadhyaya (study towards self knowledge)
ishvara-pranidhana (surrender to God/higher self)

Asana (postures)

Pranayama (breath control)

Pratyahara (sense withdrawal)

Dharana (concentration)

Dhyana (meditation)

Samadhi (consciousness itself)

The eight branches mutually support each other and are to be learned and taken into daily committed action. An established asana practice prepares dedicated yogis for a balanced practice of the more subtle limbs such as pranayama which are the key to embodying the yamas and niyamas. The heart of yoga is ethical living, honesty and compassion.

How To Learn

Please note that you should learn only from a traditionally trained teacher who follows the lineage of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois to ensure a safe and healthy journey for the body and mind into the science of the Ashtanga Method to yoga.

Ujjayi breath (breath of victory): The core of the practice. Facilitates movement in the physical body, creating ‘room to roam’ between your bones underneath your skin. quiets the mind from unnecessary entanglements. distributes appropriate energy throughout your body and unifies the physical, mental and energetic bodies to one solid entity of motion, transformation and power. Generates purifying heat in the body.

Bandha (valves or locks): Moola Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha and Jalandarabandha helps you integrating your physical and energy bodies. Through the use of the three bandhas in your practice, the body comes together to one entity, creating bounce, flow and grace. It accumulates the generation of purifying heat deep in your body and, yet again, makes for a strong internal focus point for your mind to rest.

Dristi (focus): The eyes as a help to focus the mind, instigating a more internal and potentially meditative practice. Helps keeping your mind and senses within the parameters of your physical body.

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Grow Your Yoga Business With These 7 Organic Marketing Tips

International World Yoga Alliance — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 11:15:45 +0000

Grow Your Yoga Business With These 7 Organic Marketing Tips

There’s never a better time than now to learn how to grow your yoga business. And no, you don’t need to buy expensive ads. You can actually grow your business via organic marketing – if you know how.

Whether you’re just getting started or have been running your yoga studio for quite some time, there are several marketing strategies and techniques that you can implement today that will make a major impact on your business’s growth and success.

Growing your yoga business doesn’t require you to reinvent the wheel or blow client’s minds with a never-before-seen offering.

But before you start worrying about figuring out logistics and carving time out of your schedule to draw up an expensive marketing plan, budget, and overspend on online and offline marketing campaigns, this article will share seven ways to grow your yoga business through organic marketing.

You don’t need to be an experienced marketing professional to take your business to the next level. You simply need to know how to tap into the resources you already have and learn how to use them to benefit your business.

Here Are 7 Ways to Grow Your Yoga Business Through Organic Marketing

1. Get Social

When it comes to increasing the possibilities of reaching mass amounts of potential clients at once, there is no better place to start than with social media. Social media is the king of organic marketing.

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, and more allow you to post and share your content for free while using helpful business tools to expand your audience reach and likelihood of getting in front of the eyes of your ideal client.

Whether you post examples of class content, the types of services you offer, motivational quotes, testimonials and customer reviews, or helpful tips and instruction on growing in your practice, your social media channels are an excellent place for clients to get a window into your business and into who you are before becoming a client.

Provide them with an authentic and honest image of you and your business and you will start gaining not only followers, but also loyal clients who will want to become a part of your community.

As you begin to grow your channels you can even invest in free or fairly-priced social media management tools for yoga studios that can help you curate, schedule, and post across multiple channels in advance and at once.

2. Partner With Local Businesses

Whether you’re predominantly a virtual yoga business or have your own physical studio or location where you host your classes, partnering with local and neighboring businesses is a great way to spread the word about your services in a specific area.

Offering patrons of local businesses a special discount or pack when they sign up for your memberships and mutually promoting each other’s businesses on each other’s websites and social media can help you attract local clients.

It can also help you quickly gain their trust because a business they already know and love is giving you their seal of approval and recommendation.

If you frequent certain places or know of local businesses that would be willing to promote your online services, you can explore the same concept.

This union of local businesses working together can not only benefit the participants, but the community as a whole and bring more and more people together – especially in a time when unity and support matters most.

Whether you offer the same discount or special service to all local businesses or select specific ones to run certain campaigns, don’t be afraid to use your network and resources to explore these very useful and mutually beneficial partnerships.

3. Share Your Knowledge and Expertise

One of the best ways to gain exposure for your yoga business as well as increase your website’s visibility in online search engines is by contributing your knowledge and expertise on other websites, blogs, and publications.

Many websites will advertise that they are looking for information and contributors to participate in upcoming articles or blog posts either directly from their website or social media or through a very helpful website called “Help a Reporter Out” (HARO), which is a subscription-based pitching platform for journalist and publication inquiries.
If you have a particular publication in mind that you know could benefit from your content or if you have a story you know they’d like to hear, you can also reach out directly to the editor of the publication and share your pitch.

Practice makes perfect and perfecting your pitch can take time and stepping out of your comfort zone. But the more and more you put yourself out there, the more comfortable you’ll feel sharing your story with other publications and sites.

Once you have been featured or have a conversation about participating in an upcoming opportunity, that is a connection you’ll have for life and can reach out to with more news and stories in the future (AKA organic marketing for life!).

4. Start a Newsletter

Do you enjoy receiving email updates from your favorite brands and businesses about upcoming deals, events, and promotions? Chances are high that your clients will love receiving that same information about your yoga business directly into their inboxes, too.

Similar to your social media content, your email newsletter can be home to valuable information that you want your clients and community to know about, as well as include details that will encourage potential clients to finally sign up for your memberships.

There are several email marketing platforms and tools that can provide you with free templates as well as the ability to schedule and automate your newsletters so that you can plan for regularly scheduled messages without skipping a beat.

Many studio management softwares also integrate with these email marketing platforms, that way whenever a new client or member signs up for your business, they’ll be automatically added to your newsletter list.

5. Encourage Your Customers to Leave Reviews

There’s no better person to share how much you and your business have impacted them than your clients. Online reviews and testimonials carry a lot of weight when it comes to new clients signing up, and now more than ever, what they have to say matters.

A positive review describing how much your yoga business has changed someone’s life and helped them grow in their yoga practice and reach their goals can heavily influence someone else’s desire to give you their business.

Encouraging your customers to leave a review via your social media and e-blasts or asking them directly, and then receiving permission to then share those across your website and social platforms can help you also show how much you value those reviews and the positive impact they have on your yoga business.

Reviews are truly trusted so they are the perfect organic marketing tool.

6. Network

Joining online yoga platforms, networks, groups, and communities can be very helpful and effective in both learning valuable tips and ways to run your own yoga business as well as share your expertise with other yoga studio owners.

Other businesses might see you doing something well that they haven’t been able to do and ask for your guidance and assistance. They might also encourage their own clients to check you out if they think you offer something they can benefit from that they don’t currently plan on offering.

Those valuable connections can help you grow your reach and get you in front of the eyes of people who can convert into your best clients and partners, as well as give you a platform to advertise and share your marketing for free.

7. Always Ask for a Mention, Share, or Recognition

As mentioned above, in order to raise your visibility and ranking in online search engines, getting featured on other websites and online publications can help.

But in order for that to help you grow and boost your visibility, you need to always make sure that those sites and publications are linking to your website and sending that boost your way.

We can’t stress enough how important and helpful it is to be able to see your yoga business mentioned and be able to click on the link to visit your website directly from that post. Bonus points if they also include your social media and encourage their audience to follow your channels!

These types of partnerships can also be mutually beneficial and allow your audiences to get to know both your brand and another brand and make a connection between the two that can provide them with a lot of value, while giving your businesses online value.

Grow Your Yoga Business Via Organic Marketing

Growing your yoga business doesn’t require you to reinvent the wheel or blow client’s minds with a never-before-seen offering.

You have the tools and resources to provide your clients with an excellent and unbeatable service. Your business’s success can grow naturally and organically by displaying how you deliver that service to your clients while demonstrating how potential new clients would also benefit from that service and experience.

You don’t need to be an experienced marketing professional to take your business to the next level.

Whether you decide to implement each of the strategies shared or start with a couple, there is no one-size-fits-all perfect formula or proven route to instant overnight success.

Try out a few to figure out what works best for you and watch as your yoga business grows steadily and sustainably for the long run.

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Beginner’s Yoga Guide

International World Yoga Alliance — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 15:35:59 +0000

Yoga: A Beginner’s Guide to the Different Yoga Styles

Whether you want to relax, have a workout or get in touch with your spiritual side, there is a yoga class to suit you. And you don’t even have to be bendy…

The myriad benefits of yoga – including lower blood pressure, increased strength and bone density and reduced anxiety – should be enough to get anyone on the mat. However, as a yoga teacher I meet many people who hesitate to embrace this ancient form of fitness due to some pervasive myths. Yoga is too slow and boring; it’s practised in stuffy, incense-filled rooms – or in 90C heat; it’s just for girls and people who are into chanting. And – most misguided of all – yoga is only for the flexible.

The truth is that there is a class to suit you whatever your body type or temperament. Yoga develops strength and balance as well as flexibility – the latter is a consequence of practising yoga, not a prerequisite. No one has turned up to their first yoga class (unless they were a dancer or a gymnast) able to execute advanced yoga poses.

Before you make a decision, try a few of the most common styles of yoga that you might see on a yoga studio (or gym) timetable. Some classes – marked general or open level – are suitable for all. This is how I started my yoga journey – by watching and copying. When you think you’ve settled on a style of yoga you enjoy, try a few different teachers. All teachers have their own unique focus based on their personalities, their own yoga practice and where and with whom they’ve trained.

Yoga can be expensive, especially in the larger cities. The most cost-effective way is to take advantage of studio offers. Newcomers can sign up for deals such as £20 for 14 consecutive days of classes. Aim to go to a class every few days – later, you can consider committing to a course. Regular attendance is needed to really reap the benefits. A good teacher will not do his or her own practice at the front of the room. They should be roaming around adjusting, correcting and giving alternatives to people who cannot do the full pose or have an injury. They should be helping you to focus on what you can do, rather than what you can’t. A good teacher won’t expect you to be anything other than a beginner and they want you to have – and enjoy – a beginner’s experience.

A Guide to the Most Common Yoga Styles

Iyengar yoga

Iyengar and ashtanga yoga come from the same lineage – the teachers who developed these styles (BKS Iyengar and the late Pattabhi Jois) were both taught by Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. Many of the asanas (postures) are the same, but the approach is different. Iyengar yoga is great for learning the subtleties of correct alignment. Props – belts, blocks and pillow-like bolsters – help beginners get into poses with correct alignment, even when they’re new to them, injured or simply stiff. Anusara yoga is a more modern form of Iyengar.

Ashtanga yoga

Ashtanga is a more vigorous style of yoga. It offers a series of poses, each held for only five breaths and punctuated by a half sun salutation to keep up the pace. You can either attend a regular class or the more traditional Mysore style (see below).

Mysore style

Ashtanga yoga taught one-to-one in a group setting. Students turn up at any time within a three-hour window to do their own practice as taught by their teacher. This is my preferred style of learning yoga and, I think, the safest and most traditional. You go at your own pace, on your own breath.

Vinyasa flow

Teachers lead classes that flow from one pose to the next without stopping to talk about the finer points of each pose. That way, students come away with a good workout as well as a yoga experience. If you’re new to yoga, it is a good idea to take a few classes in a slower style of yoga first to get a feel for the poses. Vinyasa flow is really an umbrella term for many other styles. Some studios call it flow yoga, flow-style yoga, dynamic yoga or vinyasa flow. It is influenced by ashtanga yoga.

Bikram yoga

Bikram yoga is the favourite of anyone who loves to sweat. It was created by Indian yogi Bikram Choudhury in the early 1970s. He designed a sequence of 26 yoga poses to stretch and strengthen the muscles as well as compress and “rinse” the organs of the body. The poses are done in a heated room to facilitate the release of toxins. Every bikram class you go to, anywhere in the world, follows the same sequence of 26 poses.

Kundalini yoga

Kundalini yoga was designed to awaken energy in the spine. Kundalini yoga classes include meditation, breathing techniques such as alternate nostril breathing, and chanting, as well as yoga postures.

Hatha yoga

Hatha yoga really just means the physical practice of yoga (asanas as opposed to, say, chanting). Hatha yoga now commonly refers to a class that is not so flowing and bypasses the various traditions of yoga to focus on the asanas that are common to all. It is often a gentle yoga class.

Yin yoga

Yin yoga comes from the Taoist tradition and focuses on passive, seated postures that target the connective tissues in the hips, pelvis and lower spine. Poses are held for anywhere between one and 10 minutes. The aim is to increase flexibility and encourage a feeling of release and letting go. It is a wonderful way to learn the basics of meditation and stilling the mind. As such, it is ideal for athletic types who need to release tension in overworked joints, and it is also good for those who need to relax.

Restorative yoga

Restorative yoga is all about healing the mind and body through simple poses often held for as long as 20 minutes, with the help of props such as bolsters, pillows and straps. It is similar to yin yoga, but with less emphasis on flexibility and more on relaxing.

Jivamukti yoga

Founded in 1984 by David Life and Sharon Gannon, Jivamukti means “liberation while living”. This is a vinyasa-style practice with themed classes, often including chanting, music and scripture readings. Jivamukti teachers encourage students to apply yogic philosophy to their daily life.

Dynamic Stretching : Therapeutic Essentials

International World Yoga Alliance — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 08:36:32 +0000

What does this have to do with Yoga Therapeutics?

Well, our Therapeutics classes integrate many different healing modalities – Yin and Restorative yoga, strengthening and core work, breath work, guided meditation, Ayurveda, and, Self Awakening Yoga Movement Inquiries… some of which I’ll fondly refer to as “rolling around on the ground.”

When I came across the article I was struck by the images… there were a few that looked remarkably similar to some of the Self Awakening Yoga Movement Inquiries. Like this “Scorpion” and “Straight Leg March” examples below. The images drew me in, and the article itself reinforced the significant value of these movement inquiries.

According to the research complied by the Times

“The old presumption that holding a stretch for 20 to 30 seconds — known as static stretching — primes muscles for a workout is dead wrong. It actually weakens them…

Stretching muscles while moving, on the other hand, a technique known as dynamic stretching or dynamic warm-ups, increases power, flexibility and range of motion.”

I’ll often describe one of the intentions of Self Awakening Movement Inquiries as: Reclamation of Our Inherent Range of Motion. That’s a big fancy phrase, and sometimes I imagine a king’s trumpeters blowing in the background as I say it. But the truth is, that kind of effect in the body does deserve a little fanfare. We move through this life, stub a toe here, break a leg there, slip a disk here, pull a muscle there, and pretty soon we’re lopsided, sore and in pain. Don’t we deserve to reclaim a bit of our mobility and suppleness? Turns out, we’re empowered to do exactly this, just by rolling around on the ground.

Many of you know, I’m super nerdy about the science of yoga and love me some cutting-edge research. But I’m also in the fortunate position of being able to witness the powerful effects of this practice first-hand. What I see in class and in private sessions absolutely upholds what the experts are finding.

The other day I was working with a brand new client, he has arthritis in his neck, symptoms of Lyme disease in his joints, has had numerous surgeries and does not practice yoga. He started as we often do in class, by lying on the ground and noticing how it felt. He shared that was very uncomfortable, and he had to bend his knees and place the soles of his feet on the floor to alleviate pain in his lower back. We began with some head rolls from side to side and I asked him how it was going. He said “Fine. Well, I just go to where I feel resistance and push.” This is something we’ve all done and in fact most of us were taught in grade school. I explained that this was a little different, that movement inquiries aren’t about pushing past our edge, but that the exploration was actually where the benefit lay. I suggested something that many of you have heard me say — that he not worry about getting all the way to the edge, and instead focus on feeling every millimeter between one side and the other. Feeling the shifting of the weight of his own body and exploring all the places the head could roll.

He was able to slow down and really try this unfamiliar (and, admittedly, kind of strange) practice. We went through the whole therapeutic reclining spinal series and then I asked him to notice how he felt. He was lying fully on the floor with his legs outstretched, his back and his whole body felt “settled” on the floor, “not like before when there were just a few painful points touching the mat.” He was really surprised at how comfortable he felt when he had begun in such agony a mere hour prior.

Hmmmm. So there’s really something to this dynamic stretching thing. Movement Inquiries take dynamic stretching it one step further – a key distinction being the act of paying attention. Bringing consciousness to our bodies, our sensations, our movements and even our stillness. This is where stretching can become yoga. Inviting the body to move, and turning our attention on that movement, is like shining a flashlight into all the little nooks and crannies that time forgot. Sometimes just by shining that flashlight of awareness on a forgotten nook is enough to re-enliven it and reawaken even more range of motion. This is where movement becomes Movement Inquiry.

Now, does all this mean there is no place for stillness in stretching? Absolutely not. For example, both Restorative and Yin Yoga incorporate stillness for longer periods of time with profound health effects. Over the coming weeks as we continue this Therapeutic Essentials series of articles we’ll #Go Deep into these modalities as well. Instead, what this article reveals is that, whether we are athletes or not, we benefit from this “dynamic stretching.” In considering regular body maintenance, or as we prioritize healthy aging and self-recovery from physical issues, I believe this form of Right Movement is absolutely essential.