You’ve practiced with them on YogaGlo. You’ve followed them on Facebook. You might even take their classes in person once in awhile if they travel to or live in your city. But how well do you know our YogaGlo teachers? We’ve created a new series, Ask a Yogi, so you can learn more about them by asking questions you’ve always wanted to ask.
From favorite poses and tips for beginners to deeper questions about how their practice has changed their worldview, our teachers will collectively answer a new question each week. If you have a question you’d like to “Ask a Yogi” let us know in the comments or email us at hello@yogaglo.com and we’ll add your questions to the list. Today’s Ask a Yogi question is:
- Elena Bower: “Bound Lotus. So so challenging to stay there for more than 5 minutes.”
- Kathryn Budig: “It might sound funny, but Savasana. I’ve been having amazing, deep savasanas that leave me feeling so revived and refreshed. I’m on the road a ton, so this is the perfect pose to bring me back to life.”
- Jason Crandell: “Natarajasana has been incredibly satisfying lately. Don’t get me wrong, I’m under no illusion that my hands will ever catch my foot. In fact, as I’ve let go of trying to get somewhere other than where I am in this (and most every) pose, I’m enjoying my experience much more. And, honestly, I’m appreciating the 2 feet of belt that is connecting my hands to my feet and savoring the even, balanced opening that I receive from deep inside my upper-arms all the way through my shoulders, spine, hips and thigh.”
- Tiffany Cruikshank: “People assume that just because I can do the fancy poses that that’s all I want to do, but nowadays, especially when I’m traveling a lot, I find the simple poses do the most for me. Maybe I’m just getting old. Lol 🙂 When I’m traveling, I often practice in my hotel room sans mat. I try to take classes when I can and people are always surprised that I’m not busting out fancy poses, but those really aren’t important to me these days. To me, it’s all about how I move & breath in whatever posture I’m in and my reactions within the pose. Even the simplest of poses can trigger big reactions. I find warrior 2 is a big one. In most vinyasa classes this is a transition pose and when I first started holding it it was like nails on a chalkboard cause my body felt like it should keep moving. I love that stuff! To look at our reactions and start to rewire how we react & how we live, that’s what it’s all about.”
- Steven Espinosa: “This is always a tricky question because I feel I should be saying something hard like “handstand drop overs!” But to be perfectly honest, my favorite pose right now is Supported Bridge. By placing a firm block underneath my sacrum it allows my pelvis and lower lumbar spine some immediate relief. Then by lifting my legs straight up into a Shoulder Stand Variation, I can get the reverse blood flow down my legs which also feels great. Finally, bending my knees and opening up my inner thighs allows my inner hip sockets to deepen and widen which also relieves tension and pressure in my lower back.”
- Marc Holzman: “Hanumanasana. This pose falls under a category that I’ve affectionately dubbed “Use It or Lose It Poses”. There are certain asanas that live in my body very fluidly. Even if months pass without practicing them, I have easy access to these poses; I pull them out, dust them off and voilà! It’s as if no time has passed. Hanumasana is NOT one of those poses for me. If I don’t practice it several times a week it just disappears into the ether, and I am back to square one. It’s precisely because it’s so challenging for me that it is currently my favorite pose. It also teaches me to be gentle and generous with myself.”
- Amy Ippoliti: “Pincha mayurasana because of how it opens my shoulders, keeps me strong and gets me upside down.”
- Tara Judelle: “Right now, I’m hooked on Trikonasana, Triangle, because I can use it to find the balance in the bones, and to explore infinite expansion through the potential space that comes from lateral lines (the energy in our body that desires to move out sideways from the core).”
- Dice Iida-Klein: “Favorite pose right now is dwi pada viparita dandasana. It’s a deep backbend, a nice shoulder opener and it’s fun to tick-tock between there to dolphin pose. Viparita chakrasana on the forearms!”
- Kia Miller: “My favorite pose is Ego Eradicator. Sitting with the arms up at 60 degrees with Breath Of Fire for 3 minutes. I experience this a my reset button. One of the beautiful things about Kundalini yoga is the extensive toolbox of breaths and postures that rebalance your energy in short periods of time. For greater results practice daily!”
- Christina Sell: “Well, I have favorite hard poses I am intrigued by at any given time and then favorite poses that are like old friends or a comfortable pair of shoes. As far my favorite hard things I am working on right now, I am exploring some work in Natrajasana (Lord of the Dance Pose) that has some interesting tidbits of alignment in the standing leg, the shoulders and upper back that is very fascinating to me. I can’t get to it every day but I do work on some of the more basic variations of that pose like standing bow almost every day and I am practicing moving that posture into more and more of a standing split. So natrajasana and also one-armed mayurasana (peacock pose) are my favorites on the “hard” list. I actually balanced for a while in that pose the other day and it was so thrilling! On the other list of favorites but not “hard” live the seated forward bends like janu sirsasana (head to knee pose), parivritta janu sirsasana (revolved head to knee pose), ardha badha padma pascimottanasana (half-bound lotus in seated forward bend), triang mukaikapada pascimottanasana (three limbs pose), pascimottanasana (seated forward bend/intensice western stretch pose) and parivritta pascimottanasana (revolved western stretch pose). That sequence is just so wonderful, soothing and deep so I love it a lot right now.
- Stephanie Snyder: “My favorite pose right now is Ardha Supta Virasana (supine half hero pose). I am a mother of two small children- one of which is still a baby. I am cradling, nursing, holding, bouncing, rocking my baby most hours of the day. So, Supta Virasana really helps to balance all of that with a great amount of opening in my front body. It’s absolutely delicious!”
- Jo Tastula: “Ha! Choosing a favorite pose is like naming a favorite child! But if I had to choose one that I’m gravitating to at the moment, it would be down dog (ardho mukha svanasana). It’s one of the few postures where you get to put both your hands and your feet on the earth, so there is this real sense of physical connection and support. It’s a pose which draws your attention inward so I find it very peaceful and meditative. There is a great skill also in aligning the arms, spine and legs to create maximum length and symmetry with minimum effort. I love tending to the pose with minuscule adjustments that help to create this delicate balance. After a few minutes in down dog I often feel connected, supported, aligned and relaxed.”
- Harshada Wagner: “I can speak about my favorite meditation. It is actually kind of a prayer. I connect with a sense of limited-ness and smallness. I contemplate and connect with my incompetence and powerlessness. I let myself feel really small, like the tiniest thing in the world. From this space, I pray for help. I offer my body, mind, life, and time over to Grace with a simple feeling of “I can’t – you can”, and then let go into the energy of Grace. It is SO delicious!!! That’s what I’m into right now.”
