YOGA + Life® Magazines
  • Partner With Us
  • Subscribe
  • Events Directory
  • SHOP — What We Love
  • “The Practice”
  • HOME
  • FEATURED
    • Community + Culture
    • Wellness + Nutrition
    • Products
    • Profiles
    • Yoga + Fitness
    • Events
  • ALL CONTENT
    • Community + Culture
      • Art
      • Books
      • Community
      • Culture
      • Family
      • Fashion
      • Food + Drink
      • Nourish Me
      • Motivation
      • Music
      • Outdoors
      • Travel
    • Wellness + Nutrition
      • Self-Care
      • Nutrition
      • Psychology
      • Recipes
      • Therapy
      • Weight Loss
    • Products
      • Product Spotlights
      • Roundups
      • Try It On – Reviews
      • Try It Out – Reviews
    • Profiles
      • Business
      • Partner Profiles
      • People
      • Spotlight Cities
      • Students
      • Studios
      • Teachers
      • Seva Story
      • Sustainability Story
      • Storytelling
    • Yoga + Fitness
      • Asana
      • In the Practice
      • Meditation
      • Philosophy
      • Physiology
      • Sports
      • Workouts
    • Events
      • Festivals
      • Retreats
      • Training Spotlights
    • Inspiration From Y+L Partners
  • Y + L COMMUNITIES
    • COLORADO
    • MINNESOTA
    • NEW YORK
  • CONNECT
    • Order A Magazine
    • Partner With Us
    • Contribute
    • Contact Us
  • LIVE CLASSES
Featured Posts
  • ecotherapy
    Ecotherapy : Reclaim Your Power | By Julia Clarke
    • 7 views
  • author with dog in utah
    Solo Female, Will Travel : Lessons Learned on the Road | By Laura Mills
    • 16 views
  • breeo fire pit
    Try It Out : Breeo X24 Fire Pit + Accessories | By Laura Mills
    • 26 views
  • Partner With Us
  • Subscribe
  • Events Directory
  • SHOP — What We Love
  • “The Practice”
0 Followers
0 Likes
Partners
YOGA + Life® Magazines
Subscribe
  • HOME
  • FEATURED
    • Community + Culture
    • Wellness + Nutrition
    • Products
    • Profiles
    • Yoga + Fitness
    • Events
  • ALL CONTENT
    • Community + Culture
      • Art
      • Books
      • Community
      • Culture
      • Family
      • Fashion
      • Food + Drink
      • Nourish Me
      • Motivation
      • Music
      • Outdoors
      • Travel
    • Wellness + Nutrition
      • Self-Care
      • Nutrition
      • Psychology
      • Recipes
      • Therapy
      • Weight Loss
    • Products
      • Product Spotlights
      • Roundups
      • Try It On – Reviews
      • Try It Out – Reviews
    • Profiles
      • Business
      • Partner Profiles
      • People
      • Spotlight Cities
      • Students
      • Studios
      • Teachers
      • Seva Story
      • Sustainability Story
      • Storytelling
    • Yoga + Fitness
      • Asana
      • In the Practice
      • Meditation
      • Philosophy
      • Physiology
      • Sports
      • Workouts
    • Events
      • Festivals
      • Retreats
      • Training Spotlights
    • Inspiration From Y+L Partners
  • Y + L COMMUNITIES
    • COLORADO
    • MINNESOTA
    • NEW YORK
  • CONNECT
    • Order A Magazine
    • Partner With Us
    • Contribute
    • Contact Us
  • LIVE CLASSES
  • CO YOGA + Life
  • In the Practice
  • Yoga + Fitness

How To Realign Your Practice for National Yoga Month | By Lara Heimann

  • CO YOGA + Life®
  • 247 views
  • 3 minute read
Total
14
Shares
14
0
1

National yoga month has us question–why do we need to evolve our idea of yoga and functional movement? Our modern daily lives are spent in contracted positions for prolonged periods of time, creating imbalances in the tissues that surround the many joints of our bodies. Our bodies are made to move, and in fact, more of our brain real estate is dedicated to movement than it is to language. And yet we probably spend more time speaking or communicating in some way (texting!) than we do in moving our bodies. How is that impacting us?

During this national yoga month, I would like to promote more attention to alignment and functional movement within the yoga practice. Here’s why: when we limit our movement experience as we do in the more common sedentary lifestyle, we impose imbalances in the connective tissues and surrounding muscles that not only impact how we move but also affect the efficiency of our movement. And then we carry that patterning of movement and subsequent compensatory strategies on to our yoga mat. While we might feel better briefly after the practice, we are most likely reinforcing the already existing imbalances unless we specifically bring awareness to our movement. In other words, we are not curating the most balanced state of mind and body that we often seek in a yoga practice.

So, how do we shift the physical practice to help us more on and off the mat so that we move and feel and act better? national yoga month

First, we have to think about truly balancing our strength and flexibility and moving within ranges of motion, not obsessively pushing to end ranges of motion in a way that yoga has traditionally glorified. A strong core that supports the mobility of the limbs is a key ingredient for healthy, habit-forming movement.

Second, we need to slow down the movement so that we can notice when we are losing our sense of core integration or hanging and pushing into the joints passively. national yoga month

Third, we need to hold a higher bar for yoga teachers to become more skilled at teaching an informed and sustainable practice. Yoga teachers who teach movement need to know about functional anatomy.

Finally, we should work for our strength in the pose by embodying the shapes with attention and discipline. It is not the pose that makes it “yoga” but more the process of moving with attention and awareness that invites us to be awake in life. When we pay attention to our form, refining our alignment, we move more efficiently and sustainably; we can be freed from the conditioned sleepwalk through work and life amidst the steady hum of distraction and instead practice living with more consciousness. national yoga month

It can be that simple. Functional movement in yoga is key for this participation in life. Are you ready?

Photo by Jordan Matter.

Lara Heimann is an international yoga pioneer and physical therapist focused on evolving the practice of yoga to empower movement and balance amidst a modern lifestyle of technology and sedentariness. With an advanced degree in physical therapy and more than 25 years of yoga practice and education, Lara is redefining the modern practice through her comprehensive LYT (Lara’s Yoga Training) Method, emphasizing smart alignment, functional movement and spiritual wellness. Sustainable, freeing and efficient, LYT champions smarter, safer and more conscious movement patterns and is practiced worldwide through daily online classes at her newest initiative, movementbylara.com. Additionally, Heimann leads teacher training certifications online and in person at her studio, YogaStream, in Princeton, NJ , and hosts international workshops and speaking engagements about consciousness and purposeful movement. Through the holistic connection between body and mind, Lara’s methodology is a clear and influential roadmap to ignite the spirit to operate at its highest potential both on the yoga mat and off.
Total
15
Shares
Share 14
Tweet 0
Pin it 1
CO YOGA + Life®

This article first appeared in CO YOGA + Life™!

Previous Article
  • Books
  • CO YOGA + Life

“Mindful Travelling” | By Sarah Samuel

  • YOGA + Life® Magazines
View Post
Next Article
  • CO YOGA + Life
  • In the Practice
  • Physiology
  • Yoga + Fitness

How to Alleviate Foot Pain : 3 Tips to Integrate into Your Yoga Practice | By Darvin Ayre, Craig Heneveld, and Kristin Savory

  • YOGA + Life® Magazines
View Post
More from Y+L
  • Sedona Yoga Festival

    Sedona Yoga Festival Celebrates 10 Years | By Kristen Grace

    • YOGA + Life® Magazines
    View Post
  • Cranial Touch

    Sacred Sister Collective Retreats | By Kaitlin Emig

    • CO YOGA + Life®
    View Post
  • Loveology Retreat

    Dr. Ava Cadell Opens New “Loveology Retreat” in Maricopa, California

    • YOGA + Life® Magazines
    View Post
  • Beyul Retreat Yoga

    Beyul Retreat Center Near Aspen Aligns Humans with Nature | By Kaitlin Emig

    • CO YOGA + Life®
    View Post
  • Yogi in front of sunset

    Why Taking Retreat is Essential to Renewal of Spirit | By Kali Basman

    • CO YOGA + Life®
    View Post
  • The Vail Wine Classic Returns This August

    • Lexi Reich | Managing Editor
    View Post
  • An Evening with Elizabeth Gilbert : A Revolutionary Woman Is A Relaxed Woman | By Rachel Glowacki

    • YOGA + Life® Magazines
    View Post
  • Telluride Yoga Festival

    Telluride Yoga Festival Makes A Move To Mountain Village | By Kristen Grace

    • CO YOGA + Life®
    View Post
  • Elizabeth Gilbert is Coming to Denver on May 4 | By Kim Fuller

    • CO YOGA + Life®
    View Post
  • Oars

    On The River + In The Flow : Balancing Yoga, Meditation and a Thirst for Whitewater at a Women’s Wellbeing Retreat | By Lisa Blake

    • CO YOGA + Life®
    View Post
Archived Posts!
  • Tune Into Your Cycles | By Kimberly Nicoletti
    • 159
  • Amy Ippoliti : Environmental Activist + Marine Biology Conservation | Interview By Taylor Rose Worden
    • 246
  • Q + A with Triathlete and Strength Coach Shane Niemeyer | By Julia Clarke
    • 527
  • MALA of the Month – Embodying Wholeness | by Fly Girl Designs
    • 403
  • 2019 Retreats
    • 340
Instagram

Join the YOGA + Life® Newsletter!

Events, Product Reviews, Promotions and More!

about
YOGA + Life® - an online community and magazine.
Recent Articles
  • ecotherapy
    Ecotherapy : Reclaim Your Power | By Julia Clarke
    • CO YOGA + Life®
  • author with dog in utah
    Solo Female, Will Travel : Lessons Learned on the Road | By Laura Mills
    • YOGA + Life® Magazines
  • breeo fire pit
    Try It Out : Breeo X24 Fire Pit + Accessories | By Laura Mills
    • YOGA + Life® Magazines
  • The Spa at The Brown Palace
    Denver Spa Day : The Spa at The Brown Palace | By Lexi Reich
    • Lexi Reich | Managing Editor
  • About Us + Policies, Terms
  • Online Columnists
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
YOGA + Life® - All Rights Reserved

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

 

Loading Comments...