School of Yoga and Nature Arts

Forest Bathing in the rain is a truly magical experience. This Saturday, 1-4pm at Illgen Falls (part of Tettegouche). Wear your rain jacket and immerse yourself in the sights, smells and sounds of the forest. $55 Learn more and register at yurtsoflakesuperior.com #forestbathing #northshoreexplore #northshoremn #duluth #grandmarais

Week 7 of 15 Essential Yoga Poses!

Week 7 of 15 essential yoga poses! This week is Warrior 2 (Virhabadhrasana II). 🧘‍♀️ Benefits - Stretch for the legs, groin and chest - Hip opener - Tones and strengthens abdomen and legs - Improves breathing capacity and increases circulation throughout the body ---------- Contraindications - Do not practice if you have had recent hip, knee or shoulder injury - If you have neck injuries or pain, you should not turn your head to face the front hand. - Always work with your own range of limits and abilities. ------------ History of the Pose One of the intriguing parts of yoga is the lore that accompanies it. The myths and legends, I believe, enhance the yoga experience and enable its practitioners to feel connected to something greater than themselves. Such is the case with the warrior poses. Thought to have been developed as asanas by Krishnamacharya in the 1930’s, the warrior poses are arguably the most popular yoga poses we perform and hence, people love to study them and relate them to imagery found in ancient India. A beautiful example of ancient Indian art is found in the Ellora Caves, located in Aurangabad, a city of western India. These caves are actually a series of 34 monasteries and temples that were dug side by side into a cliff wall and were built between 600-1000 BCE. The caves have intricate carvings, and Cave 29 depicts a ferocious Lord Shiva, spear in hand, front leg bent to spring and back leg braced for stability- a warrior stance. --------- How to do Virabhadrasana II - Front leg is bent, making sure that the knee does not come forward in front of the foot. - Back leg is straight with the back foot at a 90 degree angle to the front foot. - The heel of the front foot is in alignment with the arch of the back foot - Arms are at a “T”, shoulder height, directly over the legs. - Drop shoulders and engage triceps, pulling the arms apart - Engage abdominal muscles - Turn head to gaze over the front fingers - Bre

Make a Wild, Foraged Milkweed Salad with Me!

Let’s make my favorite 5-minute summer salad using wild, foraged milkweed pods! This video is part of a series on cooking with foraged ingredients, so stick around if you love foraging and food! —--------------------- Foraging Milkweed Pods: - For this recipe, you should choose pods that are less than 2 inches long because you will be eating the skin of the pods. - The skin gets tougher as the pod gets bigger. - Inside of the pod is the "silk", this is the milkweed floss before it becomes mature. When it's mature, it's fibrous and cottony and you won't want to eat it. When it is immature, the silk is soft. For bigger, immature pods, where you may not want to eat the pod itself, you can still eat the silk when it's soft. Some people use it as a cheese substitute. Isn't Milkweed Toxic? - There is a small amount of water-soluble toxin in milkweed. Boiling milkweed until tender will neutralize the toxin. However, eating small quantities of milkweed raw is tolerated by most people unless you are sensitive to it. - Since immature dogbane looks like immature milkweed, and dogbane is toxic, I recommend not eating milkweed until it has pods and flowers because then it is easily distinguishable from dogbane. Milkweed Pod Salad - 2 parts olive oil to 1 part lemon juice + Salt and Pepper - Arugula or other nice leafy vegetable - Milkweed pods less than 2 inches long, blanched then sliced and mixed with salad - Feta cheese #foraging #foragingmn #exploremn #northshoreexplore #northshoremn #duluth #grandmarais

How to Identify Wild Milkweed!

Milkweed is an underappreciated foraging gem! Their milky pods are crunchy, smooth, and fresh– perfect for a high summer salad! (PS. milkweed season is coming to an end, so you’ll want to forage soon to nab these tasty bites!) Happy foraging! This video is part of a series on plant identification, so be sure to follow for more! If you like this, join the School of Yoga and Nature Arts this summer for fun and unique classes that promote health, community, and connection to nature. Learn more on YurtsofLakeSuperior.com Season end notice: the milkweed pod season is ending very soon. Once their season has ended, the seed pods will start to dry out and the inside will become feathery) —------------------------- NOTICE: as dogbane and milkweed are difficult to tell apart as sprouts, we strongly recommend you do not forage for milkweed until it flowers, as the pink/purple milkweed flowers and teardrop pods are distinguishable from the white flowers and string bean shaped pods of dogbane. NOTICE: It is always important when dealing with wild food to properly identify it and double check that it is the proper plant, as eating the wrong plant could make you sick. While we provide this video as a guide for helping you identify wild milkweed, please be sure to double check that you have encountered the correct plant. #plantidentification #foraging #foragingmn #foragingusa #foragingforfood #milkweed #identifyingplants

Week 5 of 15 Essential Yoga Poses!

Week 5 of 15 essential yoga poses! This week is Warrior 3. Benefits of the Pose - Increases strength in the legs, core and arms. - Improves balance and coordination -------------------- Contraindications - High blood pressure - Recent or chronic injury to the legs, hips, back, or shoulders -------------------- History of the Pose The warrior poses are modern yoga poses. In order to understand their origin, you need to know a little bit about the Physical Culture Movement that began in Europe and spread west to England and America. The Physical Culture Movement began in the 19th century and continued until the mid-20th century. Physical fitness regimes of all types were becoming very popular during this time period. The overarching sentiment was that exercise was necessary to combat disease. This was the time of the Industrial Revolution. People were moving to cities and adopting more sedentary lifestyles. With this came “diseases of affluence” (obesity, high blood pressure etc). Medicinal exercises to treat various ailments became in vogue. Various forms of exercise were practiced as part of the Physical Culture Movement including gymnastics, bodybuilding, and somatics (a mind-body approach to exercise). Since Physical Culture was so popular in England, it naturally spread to colonized India where various aspects of this movement mixed with Indian traditions and morphed yoga into the primarily physical practice we do today. ------------------- How to do Virabhadrasana III - Start from standing, press into the leg you will balance on - Hinging at the hips, activate the lower abdominal muscles drawing navel to spine. - On the exhale, lower torso horizontally and lift one leg up so your body is at a “T” - Slightly internally rotate the raised leg, pointing the toe towards midline - Keep a little “updog” in your chest - Gaze towards a point on the floor just in front of you - Stretch and reach from your toes through your spi

Let's Bake a Vegan Biscoff Cookie Pie!

Get your pie on! 🥧If you want to judge (or bake!) delicious, vegan pies like this one, you need to sign up for the School of Yoga and Nature Arts “Plant Pie!” Vegan Pie Contest! On August 5th, the School is hosting a course to become a certified vegan pie judge for the School and on October 21st is the Vegan Pie contest! Sign up now to enter a pie for the October contest or sign up for our August course and learn how to judge! P.S! You’re not required to be vegan to judge or compete in this contest, the only rule is that you need to have a sweet tooth!🦷🥧 See you soon, future judges and contestants! ------------------------------------- Vegan Biscoff Cookie Recipe and Instructions: Crust: - 30 Biscoff Cookies - 1/2 cup coconut oil Use a mixer to blend until fairly smooth and soft, then spread in the pan and bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned Filling: - 1/2 cup aquafaba whipped into a fluffy foam - 2/3 cup peanut butter - 1/3 cup brown sugar - 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk Blend until smooth. Pour over pre-baked crust and bake at 350 degrees until crust starts to form (about 15 minutes) Meringue top - 1/2 cup aquafaba - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla - 1/3 cup sugar Beat until soft peaks form. Once the filling has cooked to a nice crust, pour the merengue over the pie and form into peaks on the pie. Put under the broiler (500 degrees) and broil until toasted (2-3 minutes). Allow to cool and place in the fridge until cold before slicing. #vegan #veganpie #vegandessert #piecontest #pierecipe #veganrecipes #dessert The School of Yoga and Nature Arts is located in Beaver Bay, MN between Duluth and Grand Marais. The school is on the shores of Lake Superior, with untampered views of the great lake.

Week 4 of 15 Essential Yoga Poses!

Week 4 of 15 essential yoga poses!🧘Follow for new poses! This week, the Wheel Pose! -------------------- Benefits of the pose: - Heart and Chest Opening - Allow you to breathe deeper - Deep stretch for the chest and - shoulder muscles as well as the hip flexors ---------------------- Contraindications: - Back pain - Blood pressure issues - Glaucoma - Hernia - Wrist injury --------------------- History of the Pose Many modern day poses are not as ancient as yoga lore would lead us to believe. In fact, most yoga scholars agree that European gymnastics heavily influenced modern yoga. The story of Wheel Posture can be traced back to the Wodeyar Family of Mysore, India. The British restored them to the throne in 1799. Being indebted to the British, the family incorporated many aspects of British culture into their management style, including integrating gymnastics into the exercise regime taught to the royals and their subjects. In the Mysore Palace libraries, two important books can be found; the Srittattvanidhi and the Vyayama Dipika. The Vyayama Dipika, is a late 19th century manual of Indian Gymnastics. It includes drawings of gymnasts doing Wheel Posture. The Srittattvanidhi, written in the 1880’s, is the oldest text available describing a well developed asana practice. It describes and illustrates 122 asanas, including Wheel. It is common to find in Indian yoga literature that asanas are referred to by different names in different sources. In this book, the picture depicting Wheel is named Paryankasana, or what we would call “Couch Pose” today. Certainly these types of asanas were being performed before the end of the 19th century, however, there are no Mysore Palace records earlier than 1897 because of a fire on Feb 28th 1897 which destroyed all of the palace archives. ----------------- Urdhva dhanurasana or Chakrasana (Wheel Pose) Learn Sanskrit: - Urdhva= Upward - Dhanu= Bow - Chakra= Wheel - Asana= Posture For

Week 4 of 15 Essential Yoga Poses!

Week 4 of 15 essential yoga poses!🧘Follow for new poses! This week, the Wheel Pose! -------------------- Benefits of the pose: - Heart and Chest Opening - Allow you to breathe deeper - Deep stretch for the chest and - shoulder muscles as well as the hip flexors ---------------------- Contraindications: - Back pain - Blood pressure issues - Glaucoma - Hernia - Wrist injury --------------------- History of the Pose Many modern day poses are not as ancient as yoga lore would lead us to believe. In fact, most yoga scholars agree that European gymnastics heavily influenced modern yoga. The story of Wheel Posture can be traced back to the Wodeyar Family of Mysore, India. The British restored them to the throne in 1799. Being indebted to the British, the family incorporated many aspects of British culture into their management style, including integrating gymnastics into the exercise regime taught to the royals and their subjects. In the Mysore Palace libraries, two important books can be found; the Srittattvanidhi and the Vyayama Dipika. The Vyayama Dipika, is a late 19th century manual of Indian Gymnastics. It includes drawings of gymnasts doing Wheel Posture. The Srittattvanidhi, written in the 1880’s, is the oldest text available describing a well developed asana practice. It describes and illustrates 122 asanas, including Wheel. It is common to find in Indian yoga literature that asanas are referred to by different names in different sources. In this book, the picture depicting Wheel is named Paryankasana, or what we would call “Couch Pose” today. Certainly these types of asanas were being performed before the end of the 19th century, however, there are no Mysore Palace records earlier than 1897 because of a fire on Feb 28th 1897 which destroyed all of the palace archives. ----------------- Urdhva dhanurasana or Chakrasana (Wheel Pose) Learn Sanskrit: - Urdhva= Upward - Dhanu= Bow - Chakra= Wheel - Asana= Posture For

Week 4 of 15 Essential Yoga Poses!

Week 4 of 15 essential yoga poses!🧘Follow for new poses! This week, the Wheel Pose! -------------------- Benefits of the pose: - Heart and Chest Opening - Allow you to breathe deeper - Deep stretch for the chest and - shoulder muscles as well as the hip flexors ---------------------- Contraindications: - Back pain - Blood pressure issues - Glaucoma - Hernia - Wrist injury --------------------- History of the Pose Many modern day poses are not as ancient as yoga lore would lead us to believe. In fact, most yoga scholars agree that European gymnastics heavily influenced modern yoga. The story of Wheel Posture can be traced back to the Wodeyar Family of Mysore, India. The British restored them to the throne in 1799. Being indebted to the British, the family incorporated many aspects of British culture into their management style, including integrating gymnastics into the exercise regime taught to the royals and their subjects. In the Mysore Palace libraries, two important books can be found; the Srittattvanidhi and the Vyayama Dipika. The Vyayama Dipika, is a late 19th century manual of Indian Gymnastics. It includes drawings of gymnasts doing Wheel Posture. The Srittattvanidhi, written in the 1880’s, is the oldest text available describing a well developed asana practice. It describes and illustrates 122 asanas, including Wheel. It is common to find in Indian yoga literature that asanas are referred to by different names in different sources. In this book, the picture depicting Wheel is named Paryankasana, or what we would call “Couch Pose” today. Certainly these types of asanas were being performed before the end of the 19th century, however, there are no Mysore Palace records earlier than 1897 because of a fire on Feb 28th 1897 which destroyed all of the palace archives. ----------------- Urdhva dhanurasana or Chakrasana (Wheel Pose) Learn Sanskrit: - Urdhva= Upward - Dhanu= Bow - Chakra= Wheel - Asana= Posture For

Week 4 of 15 Essential Yoga Poses!

Week 4 of 15 essential yoga poses!🧘Follow for new poses! This week, the Wheel Pose! -------------------- Benefits of the pose: - Heart and Chest Opening - Allow you to breathe deeper - Deep stretch for the chest and - shoulder muscles as well as the hip flexors ---------------------- Contraindications: - Back pain - Blood pressure issues - Glaucoma - Hernia - Wrist injury --------------------- History of the Pose Many modern day poses are not as ancient as yoga lore would lead us to believe. In fact, most yoga scholars agree that European gymnastics heavily influenced modern yoga. The story of Wheel Posture can be traced back to the Wodeyar Family of Mysore, India. The British restored them to the throne in 1799. Being indebted to the British, the family incorporated many aspects of British culture into their management style, including integrating gymnastics into the exercise regime taught to the royals and their subjects. In the Mysore Palace libraries, two important books can be found; the Srittattvanidhi and the Vyayama Dipika. The Vyayama Dipika, is a late 19th century manual of Indian Gymnastics. It includes drawings of gymnasts doing Wheel Posture. The Srittattvanidhi, written in the 1880’s, is the oldest text available describing a well developed asana practice. It describes and illustrates 122 asanas, including Wheel. It is common to find in Indian yoga literature that asanas are referred to by different names in different sources. In this book, the picture depicting Wheel is named Paryankasana, or what we would call “Couch Pose” today. Certainly these types of asanas were being performed before the end of the 19th century, however, there are no Mysore Palace records earlier than 1897 because of a fire on Feb 28th 1897 which destroyed all of the palace archives. ----------------- Urdhva dhanurasana or Chakrasana (Wheel Pose) Learn Sanskrit: - Urdhva= Upward - Dhanu= Bow - Chakra= Wheel - Asana= Posture For

What is Plants and Planets?

Learn more about our Plants and Planets class! 😍🌿🌓 Saturday, July 29th. 1pm - 4pm Visit YurtsofLakeSuperior.com for more information or to sign up See you there! #astrology #wildedibles #northshore #duluth #grandmarais #astrologyclass #foraging

Week 3 of 15 Essential Yoga Poses: Half Lord of the Fishes

Week 3 of 15 of essential yoga poses! This week is Half Lord of the Fishes 🐠 ---------------------- Benefits of the Pose: - Keeps the spine flexible - Stretches the back and hip muscles - Stretches the intercostal muscles which support deep breathing - Stimulates the internal organs - Said to aid in digestion and prevent constipations --------------------- Contraindications: - Slipped disk, severe back or neck pain --------------------- History of the Pose: Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes) is a modification of Matsyendrasana, an advanced binding and twisting pose. Matsyendrasana is a medieval posture, first described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a 15th century manual on yoga. Directions on how to do this pose are outlined in section 1.26 and the benefits (section 1.27) of the pose are: “stimulates the gastric fire, is a weapon which destroys all of the severe diseases of the body” The pose Matsyendrasana is named after the Indian Sage Matsyendarnath,who lived during the early 10th century in India, and is honored as the founder of Nath Yoga after receiving teachings from Lord Shiva. This yogic path was later developed by Gorakshanath during the 11th century. Nath Yoga combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and other Yoga traditions and revitalized Hatha Yoga. Matsyendarnath and Gorakshanath are considered two of the most important figures in early Hatha Yoga. The Nath Yogis were scientists of ancient times. They believed that through the right combination of physiological techniques, alchemy, and physical postures one could obtain the highest state of spirituality and you would be able to control your own death. ------------------- How to do Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes) - Start seated, legs out in front - Bend one leg and place foot outside of the opposite knee, with ankle touching knee - The arm on the same side as the bent leg should be placed behind you on an inhale - The opposite arm should be

Week 3 of 15 Essential Yoga Poses: Half Lord of the Fishes

Week 3 of 15 of essential yoga poses! This week is Half Lord of the Fishes 🐠 ---------------------- Benefits of the Pose: - Keeps the spine flexible - Stretches the back and hip muscles - Stretches the intercostal muscles which support deep breathing - Stimulates the internal organs - Said to aid in digestion and prevent constipations --------------------- Contraindications: - Slipped disk, severe back or neck pain --------------------- History of the Pose: Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes) is a modification of Matsyendrasana, an advanced binding and twisting pose. Matsyendrasana is a medieval posture, first described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a 15th century manual on yoga. Directions on how to do this pose are outlined in section 1.26 and the benefits (section 1.27) of the pose are: “stimulates the gastric fire, is a weapon which destroys all of the severe diseases of the body” The pose Matsyendrasana is named after the Indian Sage Matsyendarnath,who lived during the early 10th century in India, and is honored as the founder of Nath Yoga after receiving teachings from Lord Shiva. This yogic path was later developed by Gorakshanath during the 11th century. Nath Yoga combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and other Yoga traditions and revitalized Hatha Yoga. Matsyendarnath and Gorakshanath are considered two of the most important figures in early Hatha Yoga. The Nath Yogis were scientists of ancient times. They believed that through the right combination of physiological techniques, alchemy, and physical postures one could obtain the highest state of spirituality and you would be able to control your own death. ------------------- How to do Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes) - Start seated, legs out in front - Bend one leg and place foot outside of the opposite knee, with ankle touching knee - The arm on the same side as the bent leg should be placed behind you on an inhale - The opposite arm should be

Week 3 of 15 Essential Yoga Poses: Half Lord of the Fishes

Week 3 of 15 of essential yoga poses! This week is Half Lord of the Fishes 🐠 ---------------------- Benefits of the Pose: - Keeps the spine flexible - Stretches the back and hip muscles - Stretches the intercostal muscles which support deep breathing - Stimulates the internal organs - Said to aid in digestion and prevent constipations --------------------- Contraindications: - Slipped disk, severe back or neck pain --------------------- History of the Pose: Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes) is a modification of Matsyendrasana, an advanced binding and twisting pose. Matsyendrasana is a medieval posture, first described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a 15th century manual on yoga. Directions on how to do this pose are outlined in section 1.26 and the benefits (section 1.27) of the pose are: “stimulates the gastric fire, is a weapon which destroys all of the severe diseases of the body” The pose Matsyendrasana is named after the Indian Sage Matsyendarnath,who lived during the early 10th century in India, and is honored as the founder of Nath Yoga after receiving teachings from Lord Shiva. This yogic path was later developed by Gorakshanath during the 11th century. Nath Yoga combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and other Yoga traditions and revitalized Hatha Yoga. Matsyendarnath and Gorakshanath are considered two of the most important figures in early Hatha Yoga. The Nath Yogis were scientists of ancient times. They believed that through the right combination of physiological techniques, alchemy, and physical postures one could obtain the highest state of spirituality and you would be able to control your own death. ------------------- How to do Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes) - Start seated, legs out in front - Bend one leg and place foot outside of the opposite knee, with ankle touching knee - The arm on the same side as the bent leg should be placed behind you on an inhale - The opposite arm should be

Make Foraged Thimble Berry Tea With Me!

Foraging meets tea? Take your tea to a new level with this simple, at-home fermentation of thimbleberry tea leaves! This tea has a lovely vegetal and deep earthy flavor, perfect for a summer brew to sip outside in the sunshine. This recipe is part of a series on foraging and food, so keep an eye out for new videos! Thimbleberry Tea: You can use the leaves raw and boil them in water to get a tea, but this will be a very weak tea. To get a more robust flavor from the leaves, try this simple fermentation process. Step 1: Pull leaves from the stem. Step 2: Crush leaves to release their oil Step 3: Mince leaves Step 4: Place in a ziplock, with the bag only partially closed (don't fully seal it) Step 5: Put in fridge. Every day, take the bag out and shake it so the leaves don't stick together. Check the leaves daily. Once the majority of them have turned very dark green, almost black, the leaves are ready to dry. The batch I made took 7 days to ferment, but it may be different for you. Step 6: Dry leaves. Either air dry on a pan, put in a dehydrator, or put in the oven at 100 degrees if you have an oven that goes that low. Once the leaves are dry, they can be used for your tea. I air dried my leaves and it only took overnight for them to dry. Step 7: Make your tea. Heat the water to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, then allow the leaves to steep for 5 minutes before drinking. #tea #foraging #foragingmn #northshoremn #duluth #duluthmn #grandmarais

Plants and Planets: Nourishing Our Sense of Wild

Do you want to learn ways to incorporate planetary wisdom into delicious recipes using local ingredients and wild edibles? If you are nodding yes, then this class is for you! 🌘🌱 In this workshop, guest instructor Jeannette Mueller (or @nourishing.roots for Instagram) will dive into the Elements and seasons of astrology and how they can act as a guide for how to nourish ourselves in the most optimal way throughout the year. As we learn how the archetypes and energetics show up in humans, plants, and the environment, intuitive eating unfolds. She will offer a demo of her favorite ways to incorporate planetary wisdom into delicious recipes using local ingredients and wild edibles from the North Shore region of Minnesota that you'll get to sample and integrate at home. Class Date: Saturday, July 29th from 1-4pm (3 hours) Class cost: $75/student For more information or to sign up, visit YurtsofLakeSuperior.com #astrology #astrological #astrologyclass #foraging #uniqueclasses

Week 2 of Essential Yoga Poses

Week 2 of 15 of essential yoga poses! 🎉 --------------------------------- Benefits of the Pose: - Lengthen and release the back body - Stretches the the spine, shoulders, hamstrings - Improves digestion ------------------------------------- Contraindications: - Do not overstretch your hamstrings - Avoid this pose if you have low back injuries --------------------------------------- History of the Pose: Seated Forward Fold is a pose that is over 500 years old. It is described in detail in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a fifteenth century text on Hatha yoga. (Excerpt below from chapter one, verse 28 and 29) 1.28: Stretching out both the legs on the ground, without bending them, hold the toes (soles) of the feet with the hands, place the forehead on the knees and stay there. This is called pascimatanasana 1.29 This pascimatanasana, the most excellent among the asanas, makes the breath flow through the susumna, stimulates the gastric fire, makes the abdomen slim and removes all diseases. ------------------------------------ Learn Sanskrit - Paschima= West - Uttana= Intense Stretch - Tan= Extend - Asana= Posture ------------------------------------ How to do Seated Forward Fold: - Start seated, legs extended - To protect your low back, tilt your pelvis anteriorly by “sticking your bum out” - Inhale to extend your spine - Hinge at the hips first before lowering your upper back - Walk your hands forward and lower your upper body until you feel a stretch in the back of your legs - Place hands on your thighs, shins, or grasp your feet, whatever is available to you - To go deeper into the pose, with every inhale lengthen through the torso, lifting the head slightly, and with each exhale go deeper while still hinging from the hips

Week 2 of Essential Yoga Poses

Week 2 of 15 of essential yoga poses! 🎉 --------------------------------- Benefits of the Pose: - Lengthen and release the back body - Stretches the the spine, shoulders, hamstrings - Improves digestion ------------------------------------- Contraindications: - Do not overstretch your hamstrings - Avoid this pose if you have low back injuries --------------------------------------- History of the Pose: Seated Forward Fold is a pose that is over 500 years old. It is described in detail in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a fifteenth century text on Hatha yoga. (Excerpt below from chapter one, verse 28 and 29) 1.28: Stretching out both the legs on the ground, without bending them, hold the toes (soles) of the feet with the hands, place the forehead on the knees and stay there. This is called pascimatanasana 1.29 This pascimatanasana, the most excellent among the asanas, makes the breath flow through the susumna, stimulates the gastric fire, makes the abdomen slim and removes all diseases. ------------------------------------ Learn Sanskrit - Paschima= West - Uttana= Intense Stretch - Tan= Extend - Asana= Posture ------------------------------------ How to do Seated Forward Fold: - Start seated, legs extended - To protect your low back, tilt your pelvis anteriorly by “sticking your bum out” - Inhale to extend your spine - Hinge at the hips first before lowering your upper back - Walk your hands forward and lower your upper body until you feel a stretch in the back of your legs - Place hands on your thighs, shins, or grasp your feet, whatever is available to you - To go deeper into the pose, with every inhale lengthen through the torso, lifting the head slightly, and with each exhale go deeper while still hinging from the hips

Week 2 of Essential Yoga Poses

Week 2 of 15 of essential yoga poses! 🎉 --------------------------------- Benefits of the Pose: - Lengthen and release the back body - Stretches the the spine, shoulders, hamstrings - Improves digestion ------------------------------------- Contraindications: - Do not overstretch your hamstrings - Avoid this pose if you have low back injuries --------------------------------------- History of the Pose: Seated Forward Fold is a pose that is over 500 years old. It is described in detail in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a fifteenth century text on Hatha yoga. (Excerpt below from chapter one, verse 28 and 29) 1.28: Stretching out both the legs on the ground, without bending them, hold the toes (soles) of the feet with the hands, place the forehead on the knees and stay there. This is called pascimatanasana 1.29 This pascimatanasana, the most excellent among the asanas, makes the breath flow through the susumna, stimulates the gastric fire, makes the abdomen slim and removes all diseases. ------------------------------------ Learn Sanskrit - Paschima= West - Uttana= Intense Stretch - Tan= Extend - Asana= Posture ------------------------------------ How to do Seated Forward Fold: - Start seated, legs extended - To protect your low back, tilt your pelvis anteriorly by “sticking your bum out” - Inhale to extend your spine - Hinge at the hips first before lowering your upper back - Walk your hands forward and lower your upper body until you feel a stretch in the back of your legs - Place hands on your thighs, shins, or grasp your feet, whatever is available to you - To go deeper into the pose, with every inhale lengthen through the torso, lifting the head slightly, and with each exhale go deeper while still hinging from the hips