by Iain Grysak | posted on April 17, 2015

One who is practicing yoga as sadhana (rather than yoga as entertainment) has a relationship with their teacher, a relationship with the prac.

Thoughts on Deepening an Authentic Yoga Practice Authentic yoga practice is an exploration in relationship.

by Charlene McAuley | posted on July 6, 2016 On the surface, the synchronised movements, bodyweight balances, and attention on breath seem.

Where is the feminine in yoga? Yoga has become the ultimate female activity, with 80 per cent of practitioners from the вЂfairerвЂ™ sex 1.

by Melanie Cooper | posted on July 6, 2014 The ankles, knees and hip joints all have to be mobile and the muscles in the legs and the hip gird.

Yin Yoga for Lotus Hips Padmasana or Lotus can be one of the most challenging and frustrating poses for a yoga practitioner.

by Chad Herst | posted on February 23, 2014

Ashtanga: Aging and Fatigue A friend within the Ashtanga community recently reached out to me because she has been struggling to find a way into her practice such that it supports her fatigue and depression.В She wrote, вЂњI have h.

Reading Sources: De Franca, 1996, Pelvic Locomotor Dysfunction Kendall, McCreary, Provance, 1993, Muscles, Testing and Function Cook, 2003, Athletic Body in Balance Holding asanas for too long can therefore be destructive, itвЂ™s important to know when to stop. Physiotherapists have also noted that exercising when fatigued can weaken muscles: if you continue to perform movements when muscles are tired, the correct muscles cease to work and other muscles are substituted to continue performing the movement, leading to incorrect muscular habits, which are learned by the nervous system and will continue to be used unless correct movements are retrained. Athletes should rather do sequences and asanas that concentrate on core body strength, more leg strength is the last thing they need. An unstable sacroiliac joint is very vulnerable in lunge positions and leads to lower back pain, especially in those who also play sports and have strong legs. Yoga sequences that mostly consist of postures designed to strengthen the legs can also create these imbalances and weak hips lead to sacroiliac instability. Because these weaknesses are caused by the nervous system, the body leads to relearn correct movement patterns, and this is best done by trained professionals. This process is largely neurological and the solution is not to simply exercise these muscles, because it is very easy to overtrain the stabiliser muscles of the hips, causing pain and stiffness.

weak Gluteal muscles cause the lower abdominal muscles to weaken.

Tight Hamstrings create tight lower backs.

Tight Adductors inhibit Abductors (Gluteus Medius and Minimus),.

Tight Hip Flexors inhibit the Gluteus Maximus,.

A predictable pattern of strength and weakness, called Pelvic Crossed Syndrome occurs in many athletes, especially runners and dancers- those who use their legs a lot. If unbalanced exercise routines are followed, weakness can occur in the hips and lower abdomen, due to reciprocal inhibition. Weak muscles also become tight and it has been noticed that the larger movement muscles inhibit and weaken the stabiliser muscles.

If you only exercise one part of an opposing muscle group, it becomes overactive and tightens, and then the antagonist muscle will weaken because it is hardwired neurologically to relax, if its antagonist is contracted. Muscles must have a balanced relationship to each other to function correctly.

The nervous system controls this as a reflex action, it is not a conscious process. Movement is also aided by other surrounding muscles, called Synergists, and they mostly function as stabilisers, so that movement can occur in a controlled way.ДЇor example, if you wish to extend your knee, the Quadriceps must contract but this can only happen if the Hamstrings relax, because they are the antagonists for this movement. All movement is controlled by opposing sets of muscles, called Agonists or prime movers, and Antagonists that create the opposing force which returns the part being moved back to its original position. Reciprocal Inhibition is a process that the body uses to create movements.

Altered reciprocal inhibition