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Hello René

Paul Grilley includes the erector spinae in what he categorizes as the 10th myofascial group. "Thoracolumbar Muscles: Folding forward stretches them, standing up or lifting something up contracts and strengthens them."

Cheers
Bernie

I don’t know if any statistics have been gathered on what percentage of the population can comfortably sit in Burmese pose (one foot in front of the other) or any Lotus variations (one foot on top of the opposite leg) but I am not sure that knowing the numbers would really matter. What matters is wh...

Hi...the link has been fixed. You can visit that page here. As to my thoughts on Lotus Pose, you can read this article and this article if you have knee issues.

Cheers!
Bernie

You are welcome, Amy. Another option, or little "trick" we can play as teachers is to subsume the instructions for pregnant students inside a list of considerations. For example, you could say for Sphinx, "If you ate before coming to class, or have any stomach discomfort, cramps, nausea, are pregnan...

Hi Amy During the first trimester the mother to be is not as restricted in range of motion so can do most postures, but what you may want to consider is not so much which postures to avoid, but how to do any pose. A general point of advice from teachers who have been pregnant and who are both prenat...

That is good to hear. Thanks, Kathleen.

Thecal sac impingement on the nerve roots can be caused by so many things: spinal stenosis, scoliosis, congenital deformation of the bony areas nearby, osteoarthritic changes, and probably many other things that I am not aware of. In G’s case, the diagnosis is a disc bulge. I can imagine that since ...

Please expand your question as it is not clear what you are referring to. What do you mean by Is it normal if my arms don't straighten after my first workout and there is pain whenever I try to straighten them? Does your arm straighten before your workout? Was there pain before your workout? Does it...

I was recently asked the following questions about a student doing Yin Yoga with herniated discs: G has history of 2 herniated discs L4/L5 & L5/S1, many years experience with hatha yoga, is a very dedicated and mindful student, interested in Yin but concerned about it. G is ok in forward bending as ...

I was recently asked the following question, "What happens during Shavasana?" Wow! This is a big topic. There are so many ways to address the question. What follows are my first thoughts....enjoy! Bernie “Lying down on the ground, like a corpse, is called Shavasana. It removes fatigue and gives res...

Hello Tina I am not a doctor and I have not personally examined your student so I can only speculate as to what is happening with her, but like you I suspect some sort of nervous interaction. However, I don’t believe this is due to a particular nerve being damaged, but rather a sensitivity of her mu...

There are several backbends in Yin Yoga that can take you progressively deeper. You can start with Saddle or Sphinx as low backbends, then use a higher Supported Bridge pose and finally, Proud Swan or Seal pose for the deepest spinal extension. For the thoracic spine, Heart melting Pose or Anahatasa...

It is not unusual to have one side of the pelvis different from the other. One acetabula may be higher, more anteverted or at a different abduction angle, etc. One ilium may be longer or broader. And, yes — 90% of people have one leg longer than the other. Curiously, up to 75% of the time, the right...

We recently received the following question: Hi all. I am currently completing my 300hr YTT and being drawn towards Yin Yoga more and more, both on a personal level and for the benefit of my students. I have a student who, every time we doing anything with our arms, be it extension, compression etc....

Toaster, you asked, "should I avoid any yin postures?" Never is never correct, but I cannot think of any yin yoga posture that would lower your bone density or make your bones weaker. Of course, you can do too much of anything, but as long as you pay attention, stay out of pain, and don't go overboa...