This article challenges the “no-flexion” rule for osteoporosis, arguing that gradual, cyclic movement is safer and more effective for building bone resilience than total avoidance in yoga practice.
This article explores the modern evolution of yoga, emphasizing its role as a means of reducing suffering rather than a form of exercise or performance.
Online classes using Zoom are £13, limited to 25 students, and can be booked as individual drop-ins, or in blocks of as many as you like.
Start by clicking one of the classes below and then, on the next page, add the date(s) required to your basket.
Stomachs don’t eat lunch, mouths don’t talk and eyes don’t see… We would never use this kind of language because we know it doesn’t really make sense. However it is not unusual in an anatomy class to be told that a bicep flexes the elbow. These parts play a role in the functions described but they can’t elicit these actions on their own. This kind of thinking falls prey to the ‘mereological fallacy’, yet it runs deep in our study of anatomy – and nowhere is it more evident than in yoga anatomy books; often beautifully illustrated books showing exactly which muscle does what action, on a perfectly clean skeleton. Just in case there is any doubt, the origin, insertion, innervation and function are usually described on the same page.
There’s no shortage of opinions in yoga about what constitutes safe practice for people with disc problems, particularly in the lumbar spine. To make sense of these differing views, it helps to look again at the anatomy of the intervertebral disc and the history of ideas about what causes disc injury.
Most yoga practitioners are familiar with the broad picture: each spinal disc has a tough outer ring (annulus fibrosus) surrounding a gel-like inner centre the nucleus pulposus). The annulus consists of concentric layers of collagen fibres, each angled alternately to the next. This architecture makes it exceptionally resilient to both internal pressure and external stress.
Continue reading Thinking about disc problems and their relationship to yoga practice
The balance between life and death is a fragile one, and the ability to maintain a life is frankly astonishing. It is an interesting exercise to reflect on how it is done.
It’s an interesting thing, the structural model – or what is sometimes called the biomechanical model. It’s neat and clean and full of satisfying solutions. It works really well with machines, such as cars…
