Yoga Poses for Lower Back Strength
Jason Crandell Blog
by Jason Crandell
5M ago
This sequence of 12 poses is great for increasing strength along the whole posterior chain of the body — another way of saying this is that these yoga poses build back strength. (To go straight to the video breakdown, click here.) How to use this Yoga for Lower Back Sequence There are three different ways that you can use this sequence: Practice or teach this sequence for a 15-20 minute practice from start to finish Use this sequence as a starting place for a longer sequence. So, you can use some of the central tenets and central ideas and spin it into a bigger sequence. Take some of the p ..read more
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Yoga Sequence for Core Strength
Jason Crandell Blog
by Jason Crandell
10M ago
Try this simple, accessible, effective sequence to strengthen the entirety of your core: the anterior abdominals, iliopsoas, the rotational elements of the core, and the back of the core. YOGA SEQUENCE FOR CORE STRENGTH DETAILS Postures 1-4 are all reclined anterior-core strengtheners that are accessible and efficient. They also teach the neuromuscular coordination of the arm-balances and are a great way to help develop these postures. Hold each for 20-40 seconds and do as many repetitions as you’d like. Postures 5-6 are quintessential seated core-strengtheners. Paripurna Navasana, which is ..read more
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Common Errors in Manual Yoga Adjustments – and How to Fix Them
Jason Crandell Blog
by Jason Crandell
2y ago
There is nothing better in class than receiving an excellent manual cue (also called manual yoga “adjustments” or “hands-on assists”). The body falls into place and the nervous system relaxes. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. There’s nothing worse than receiving a poor or inappropriate adjustment—the body strains, the breath tightens, and the nervous system becomes agitated.  A good manual yoga adjustment skillfully communicates the actions of the pose to your body so that your body understands the posture more clearly. A bad adjustment is invasive and misguided. During lousy ad ..read more
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The Mother of All Backbends: Urdhva Dhanurasana
Jason Crandell Blog
by Jason Crandell
2y ago
Urdvha Dhanurasana is such an iconic pose, teachers around the world simply call it “backbend.” There’s no other posture like this. If your teacher said “OK everyone: arm balance,” would you have any idea which pose to do? No. What if they said, “OK everyone: twist,” or, “standing pose,” “forward bend,?” Nope. Upward Bow represents an entire posture group—and is so ubiquitous in all current traditions of yoga—because it’s so thorough. It stretches the quads, hip-flexors, abdominals, and shoulders while strengthening the entire back body. The postures also engenders a debate about whether or n ..read more
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How to Teach Yoga Transitions
Jason Crandell Blog
by Jason Crandell
2y ago
Transitions in yoga—and life—can be choppy, unstable, and erratic. Below, you’ll find five essential concepts that make all transitions in yoga more smooth and skillful. You’ll also find three yoga transitions to incorporate into your practice and teaching in order to refine your mindfulness in the space between your postures. Essential Concepts for All Yoga Transitions 1. Slow Down Slowing the movement between postures will helps you tune into the subtleties involved. In particular, you’ll observe which muscles have to engage in order to maintain your balance as you make your transitions. I ..read more
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Abs Reboot: Four Creative Core Yoga Poses
Jason Crandell Blog
by Andrea Ferretti
2y ago
When you regularly practice poses that strengthen your core, you’ll feel more stable in your practice and more at ease in your everyday life. When I skip my core strengtheners, I notice that it’s hard for me to sit up straight and my back gets tired much more quickly as I’m pecking away at my computer. I look forward to doing core poses more if I have some creative options in my back pocket – and that’s what this post will give you. In terms of where to put these in a sequence: Core yoga poses are flexible. You can use the poses below as a way to warm-up at the beginning of a practice. You ca ..read more
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A Shoulder Opening Sequence to Forearm Balance
Jason Crandell Blog
by Jason Crandell
2y ago
WHY THIS FOREARM STAND SEQUENCE WORKS This sequence leading to Forearm Stand focuses on creating greater range of movement in your shoulders. Tightness in the shoulders—particularly flexion of the shoulder joint—will distort the spine, pelvis, and legs. More often than not, these distortions produce a banana shape in the posture. When the vertical integrity of the posture is lost because the body has moved into a banana shape, it’s harder to sustain the posture because the rest of your body is overworking to compensate. Core strength can minimize this banana shape pattern, but it’s important ..read more
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5 Ways to Stay Healthy, Safe, and Grounded While You’re Teaching
Jason Crandell Blog
by Jason Crandell
2y ago
As yoga teachers, we’re committed to the wellbeing of our students. After all, our bottom line is to help people reduce their suffering. We even commit to ongoing, continuing education to help provide more skillful service. Yet, we often ignore how easy it is to injure ourselves–or become overly stressed out and ungrounded–when we teach. No, our job isn’t too dirty and there are plenty of other vocations that carry much greater risk. But teaching yoga presents plenty of physical and emotional challenges. Here are a few ways to keep yourself healthy, safe and grounded while you teach. Yoga Tea ..read more
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30-Minute Morning Sequence
Jason Crandell Blog
by Jason Crandell
2y ago
Practicing first thing in the morning has never been easy for me. But, I’ve adapted to the early hours by creating a simple, brief morning yoga sequence that slowly eases my body open. It’s illustrated above. In fact, doing a mellow practice in the morning is something I’ve started looking forward to—and, yes, I usually savor a cup of coffee prior to the first pose, or along with the sequence. Call the yoga police if you must. If I want to do a more demanding yoga flow—which I usually save for the afternoon—I can easily use the sequence above as template. Once I get my body moving and genera ..read more
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7 Ways to Use Mindfulness to Navigate the Holidays
Jason Crandell Blog
by Andrea Ferretti
2y ago
I feel incredibly fortunate to be in a phase of life when I love the holiday season. These days I’m in a, “Pass me a pumpkin spice latte while I blast Mariah’s All I want for Christmas” state of mind.  But, this wasn’t always the case. (I share more about my own experience with difficult holidays in a recent podcast Jason and I did.) The holidays can feel fraught with expectation, pressure, even sadness. During these times it’s helpful to draw upon the tools you have been developing in your yoga and mindfulness practices. Here are some mindfulness practices for the holidays that can help ..read more
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