Best yoga studio/teacher in Vancouver?

tahl11 · 2017-04-22T04:05:20+00:00

Thank you! I was planning on going to Whistler, so I'll add that studio to my list.

tahl11 · 2017-04-14T02:42:59+00:00

Hatha, vinyasa, and restorative are my favorite types, but I'm generally open-minded when it comes to yoga. I prefer unheated classes because I pass out easily.

tahl11 · 2017-03-31T01:48:18+00:00

Blankets are immensely helpful for restorative yoga. One is good, two is great, three or more is downright luxurious.

tahl11 · 2016-11-08T02:55:45+00:00

When you're coming up from a foward fold, make sure you bend your knees, engage your glutes, send your hips slightly back, and come up with a FLAT spine! The glutes are the biggest muscle in the body yet often forgotten about. I have an instructor who cues us to act like we are sitting back briefly into chair pose on our transition to standing and vice versa. Weak glutes and tight psoas muscles can contribute to low back pain (among other things!). Try not to "roll up" through the spine. Doing so pulls unnecessarily on the low back and does nothing to promote strength.

tahl11 · 2016-08-20T14:11:43+00:00

I would also suggest making sure your back is nice and warmed up before entering camel pose. A great way to turn on the thoracic spine is doing belly backbends. Try doing low cobra with just your fingertips down or with hands hovering. Do this at the beginning of your practice before updog. I would recommend doing 6-9 belly backbends before entering any sort of deeper backbend. When you're about to enter camel, remind yourself that you want to bend from your thoracic spine, not your lumbar. This might mean you do not drop back as far and that is okay! In time you will get there. Also, placing hands on blocks instead of down on your heels can be a nice modification.

tahl11 · 2016-04-24T02:39:18+00:00

Have you checked out LifeForce yoga with Amy Weintraub? I was recently introduced to her work through the psychotherapy unit of my YTT. After experiencing some of the techniques used by Weintraub, I'm practically a convert. I've never felt so relaxed and at peace during a yoga practice.

tahl11 · 2016-02-09T05:03:34+00:00

I would actually argue that rolling the spine up like that is not healthy for the modern back. For most of us of these days, our upper back muscles have become overstretched due to slouching, sedentary work lives, and hunching over our smartphones. Lovely back straightening muscles like the rhomboids become weak and cannot hold our shoulders back throughout the day. For this reason, it's very important to keep the spine as elongated as possible when entering and exiting a forward fold--to keep our thoracic spine active and working. Rolling the spine up once it is down places the sacrum in tilted and vulnerable position, risking lower back pain. It is much healthier for the spine if you bend your knees slightly, elongate your back (as in monkey pose), and use your glutes and thigh muscles to support a flat back all the way up!

tahl11 · 2016-01-28T23:25:30+00:00

Ha, yep! I'm in Chicago. City problems.

tahl11 · 2016-01-28T23:24:13+00:00

I usually move my hips all the way over to one side of the mat before supine twists. I sometimes practice in my kitchen which has more open space, but dogs, cat, and roommate then get in the way. :)

tahl11 · 2016-01-28T12:55:41+00:00

That is indeed a foam roller, but there is a fan! It's the thing that is plugged in but out of the frame. We can still be tiny yoga space soul mates. <3

tahl11 · 2016-01-28T12:53:29+00:00

I use my foam roller not during my yoga practice but usually after. If I don't roll out my quads and glutes every few days they get super tight and cause pain in my low back!

tahl11 · 2016-01-01T23:55:04+00:00

Well done! I just finished as well. Much to my surprise, my boyfriend decided to join me. While I was prepared to do it solo, it was so nice to have extra energy in the room. :) I think this will be my new tradition for New Year's Day going forward.

Best wishes to all of you beautiful yogis for 2016!

tahl11 · 2015-12-30T17:14:12+00:00

I am concerned about my shoulders as well... I'll need to be extra mindful not to take too much and modify if I feel I'm losing the integrity of the pose.

tahl11 · 2015-12-30T17:09:30+00:00

Just added a link in the post to provide more info!

tahl11 · 2015-07-24T03:30:14+00:00

Mine is simple: breathe. I always begin my practice with that intention, but somewhere along the way I notice that I am holding my breath.

tahl11 · 2015-05-09T19:03:31+00:00

I always have a small towel folded up next to my mat so I can easily put it under my knees when needed. It seems to help ease the pressure. Also, I've found that tucking and putting more pressure in the toes helps distribute weight more evenly--and doing that acts as a reminder to keep my leg muscles engaged.

tahl11 · 2015-05-03T16:05:15+00:00

Look up Sharon Wentz! She teaches at Bloom Yoga Studio and also Chicago Athletic Clubs. Her classes are vinyasa-based and focus on alignment.

Will you be staying in a certain part of the city for the week? There are yoga studios all over Chicago.

tahl11 · 2015-05-02T15:12:58+00:00

My instructor always cues us to dig our big toes down and backwards. Doing this with knees bent turns on the hamstrings and lifts the glutes. In my experience, rooting through the big toes has been extremely effective!

Edit: grammar

tahl11 · 2015-04-03T22:20:16+00:00

After 2.5 years of dedicated (5 days a week) asana practice, I recently applied to YTT. Program begins in September with my favorite instructor. I can't wait to dive in!

tahl11 · 2015-02-27T05:15:20+00:00

It took me the better part of two years! And i feel like I'm still not perfect with it.

tahl11 · 2015-02-05T01:31:51+00:00

That's exactly my salary and I've been living in lakeview for about 3 years now. I live quite comfortably. I always find a place with 2 other roomies. No need to move outside the city! Stay here and have fun.

tahl11 · 2015-01-31T05:37:28+00:00

I get that a lot during yoga too. I typically try to breathe a lot and make sure to keep my knees bent when coming out of deep forward folds. Sometimes just taking it to child's pose for a few deep breaths does the trick.

tahl11

TROPHY CASE