Safe Smart Yoga

Starting Out Smart & Safe in Yoga

 

Dear Emma and Olivia, This morning in Arizona I received a wonderful note from your teacher that explained how you were preparing to start yoga in your after school program. She shared that you’d done some research on yoga and found this site about being Smart & Safe in yoga. I’m glad to hear you found it helpful. What I’m really excited about though is that you two did further research to learn how yoga can benefit you BEFORE you started your classes. Oh, that adults were as wise as you two! Your teacher mentioned you found a blog post about easing back pain with simple yoga poses. She wanted to surprise you by asking me to add it to my list of resources on my site. I thought giving you your own blog posting would be more fun AND offer a learning opportunity for you and your smart class mates as you start yoga. The learning opportunity is that right now the adults are having a hard time agreeing on what is Smart and Safe…and even what is true or not. Sometimes it feels to me like maybe we should develop “after-work” lesson plans for the adults on getting along and studying “What is true?”! Have you noticed the silly arguing going on among the adults? That’s why I’m so excited to learn that you actually were smart and decided to seek a deeper understanding of a subject and ask an expert to learn more about what is true. What’s…

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Exciting New Course for Rehab Professionals

 

My first project after finishing my sabbatical is actually one I worked on during my sabbatical with the brilliant Hannah Millson, SPT of U of Montana Doctoral Physical Therapy program during the fall semester of 2016. Hannah contacted me the spring of 2016 as I was leaving on sabbatical and wanted to do an independent study project around yoga and rehab. From that request developed the idea of creating a 15-week online course for rehab graduate students that will:   Be evidence-informed on using yoga therapeutics in rehab. Be experiential where they could experience the effects of practice on themselves…and hopefully also be a self-care tool. Provide the clinical rationale and basic science evidence to go back to the internship or classroom to share their insights with faculty, colleagues and patients. Provide students, faculty and clinical instructors the same material to share, adapt or modify for free as a Creative Commons licensed program (ie, you just have to attribute to us)…perfect for inservices, student groups, and capstone projects!   This course is now open as of August 15, 2017. It is free to all graduate students and student groups (Use coupon code “givingbackiytir“… see picture below…no credit card request; it looks like you will have to after you hit “Register,” but once you enter the coupon code it goes away, and NO upsells…promise). Graduates, faculty, clinical instructors, and active rehab professionals will be able to participate for free if they request a code from info at smartsafeyoga.com. While the course…

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Is Hot Yoga Smart or Safe?

 

Q: Is that hot Yoga good for you? I can just sit in my car and sweat. What are the differences and safety concerns for my health? A: Isn’t it amazing how many “flavors” of Yoga there are? The wide variety of names and types can be a bit daunting. One of the major sub-categories in Yoga is the “hot” group where classes are held in a heated room. Let’s take a look at what the rationale is, who it is appropriate for, and most importantly, the safety concerns and subtle health issues involved in choosing a hot practice. What is Hot Yoga? Typically it is any Yoga done in a hot room…from 90 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. In the westernization of Yoga there are multiple branding efforts to get marketing traction. The most famous is the Bikram brand. The idea is that Yoga is a process of change and the “fire” (tapas) of practice burns away the dross or tired barriers to change. Often the precious metal analogy of gold and silver is used. Raise the heat, let the unneeded or unwanted melt or float to the surface and keep the good stuff! Another aspect of the heat is that it mimics the ambient conditions of parts of India where the practices developed and therefore heat is staying to true to the heritage. Valid points, but keep in mind there are other considerations to weigh in making a decision if it’s right for you. When Hot Yoga is Appropriate…

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How to Find a Smart Safe Yoga Teacher

 
Find the right yoga teacher

“How do I find a smart, safe yoga teacher?” This is the question I get most often online and in my clinic. If there was an easy answer, there’d be no reason for this website! Finding a yoga teacher is much like any other consumer question, “Caveat emptor” (buyer beware). Let’s break this task down into some useful steps that will provide you with a shopping list to help you find that smart, safe yoga teacher/therapist…

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