What's "Neutral Pelvis"?

When I was in school, (for Exercise Physiology) each movement began “from neutral pelvis”, but no one ever explained how to find neutral pelvis.  How far do you stick your backside out?  How much do you tuck your pelvis?  This has always concerned me.  And no wonder!  I recently looked up the psoas in one of my old Anatomy books, and it barely had a paragraph about it.  I can’t believe that.  It’s such an important muscle in the health of your back, and it just had a paragraph!  Of course I had a hard time finding neutral pelvis, not to mention what a hard time I had teaching my personal training clients about neutral pelvis. 

But then, I went to yoga teacher training.  I studied under Stephanie Keach, at Asheville Yoga Center (awesome yoga teacher training program, if you get a chance to go!).  Stephanie teaches a technique she calls “Pez”, like the candy.  I’ll show you what she’s talking about in the workshop.  Suddenly, I understood!  Yay for yoga.

But over the years, with so much teaching, I started to have trouble with my left hip and sacro-illiac joint.  What was going on?  I was practicing Pez!

Last fall, I went to the workshop at AYC with John Friend.  John looked at me, and immediately knew I had been tucking my pelvis under too much.  All these years of teaching yoga had strengthened my abs to the point that they overwhelmed my back muscles.

So, I’ve modified Stephanie’s Pez just a little bit, added a bit of John Friend’s advice,  as well as my own experiences, and have come up with a workshop I call “Neutral Pelvis”.  If you have back pain, or know someone who does, try this workshop!

Hope to see you there!

Forage & Feast Recipes

Below are my quick adaptations of the recipes Marc gave out at his Forage & Feast.  You haven't tried any of these until you've tried them with wild ingredients!  If you get a chance, check out Marc's work at his website or his facebook page.
From Marc Williams at www.botanyeveryday.com

Basic Pesto
2c Fresh herbs
2 large garlic cloves or similar
1/2 c freshly grated hard cheese
1/4 c nuts or seeds
1/2 c oil
salt & pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a food processor, blender or mortar pestle
Save nuts and/or seeds till last to preserve texture

Basic Dressing
2/3 c oil
1/3 c acid (vinegar, lemon juice, orange juice)
1/4 c fresh herbs
1 garlic clove or similar
sea salt to taste
Combine ingredients in blender, adding oil last while blender is running to ensure emulsification

Herbal Tea
1 c fresh herbs per gallon (1/2 c dry)
options: (just a few of Marcs are listed here!)
peppermint, applemint, spearmint, lemon balm, rosemary, holy basil, yarrow, dandelion, echinacia, sassafrass, spice bush, ginger, honeysuckle flower, ginseng, honey, licorice, stevia, maple syrup
Bring water to a boil then turn off heat.  Steep ingredients to desired length of time ( at least 15-20 minutes)
Strain and sweeten if desired to taste

Yoga for Singers & Performers

A couple weeks ago, Dr. Sun-Joo Oh (“Sunny”) asked me to do a yoga class for her singing students at ETSU, specifically designed for their needs. I was thrilled to work with this group, and interested to learn about their special concerns. I had never considered the specific needs in yoga for those who sing, play instruments, or perform in other ways, so it gave me a chance to research & learn a new topic. I found so much information! If there’s enough interest, I would love to do a 3-hour workshop at the studio on this one.


I began by printing out anatomy sheets for each of the students, and discussing just some of the muscles I intended to highlight. I was so excited that the class was clearly engaged in the process. Next, we did a short class, using all the muscles we covered, plus a few more. It was a light-hearted, fun time. Thank you, Sunny, for the invitation, and thank you, students for the warm reception.

A few highlights:

-singers should remember to keep their cervical (neck) spine in line with the rest of their spine, not only while singing, but also while driving, or carrying the heavy books around campus.

-relaxing the muscles in the front of the neck can have a long-term impact on the vocal cords

-yogic 3-part breath (inhale chest, then ribs, then belly…then reverse for the exhale) will help strengthen and stretch the intercostal muscles, which lie between the ribs.

-pranayama, or yogic breath practice is very helpful, and is easily practiced on-the-go

Anxiety & Depression & Yoga

We had an awesome class today with Brooke Sullivan, RYT-500, from Asheville.  She is a ParaYoga instructor, and offered a workshop about Yoga for Anxiety & Depression.  I LOVED Brooke's class, and thought I'd share just a few of my notes with you, just in case you missed it.
Anxiety & Depression both have so many causes.  Nervous system imbalances, imbalances in the digestive system, respiratory ailments, and past trauma are just a few of the root causes that Brooke mentioned.
But one of the ways to combat both anxiety & depression is through a yoga practice.  Yoga can show us how to listen to "what's up with me".  It can help us identify specific causes of the way we feel, so that we can acknowledge and heal.  Also, by forming our bodies into the asanas, or poses, we can release & re-open portions of our bodies that have been shut down.  This allows the stories, or emotions to come to the surface, so we can effectively cope. 
A big key is the breath.  By breathing all the way down into the belly, we can free up stuck energy, and really notice how our bodies & minds feel.  A large portion of our workshop today focused on lying still while focusing intently on the breath.
If you'd like to experience more of Brooke's teachings, check out her website:  www.vitalyogi.com to see where and when she's teaching next.

Forage & Feasting!

As expected, Forage & Feast was awesome!  Seventeen people gathered at Linda Bolt's Hatterdale Farm to hear Marc Williams talk about plants.  We wandered in fields & woods, learning about different types of plants that are safe to eat & use as medicine.  Then, we brought our harvest inside & made it into a delicious meal!  This was my 4th walk in the woods with Marc, and each time, I learn so much.  His knowledge about the plants is amazing.  Learning about edible plants has recently become an "obsession" for me, and these walks just make me want to learn more.

We've had so many positive comments about Forage & Feast.  Most of our group wants to do it again.  Hopefully we can have Marc back soon.

In the meantime, I promised to post the recipes from the feast.

Happy Foraging!

Wild Hummus

3 cans of beans

1/4 c. tahini

1/4 c. lemon juice

dandelion

1 1/2 c. chickweed

1 T cumin

1/3 c. olive oil

salt & garlic to taste

Yogurt Fennel Dressing

1 c. yogurt

1/4 c. fennel

1/4 c. honey

1/2 t salt

Honey Mustard Dressing

1 c. mustard

1/2 c. mustard leaves

1/4 c. honey

1/2 c. oil

Quinoa Tabouleh

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c. lemon juice

1 c. mint

1/4 c. wild carrot

1 tomato

2 t salt

Bliss Bites

1 c. pumpkin seeds

1 c. sunflower seeds

1 c. raisins

1/2 c. honey

1/4 c. tahini

1 T spice bush fruit

roll in coconut or rose petals

Kundalini Detox workshop

Last Saturday, January 7th, Sierra Hollister joined us from Asheville to teach a Kundalini Detox and Vitality workshop.  If you missed this workshop, you missed a real treat.  A true Detox class, this class moved all parts of the body, focusing on the lymph system.  Kundalini is a repetitive, breath-focused style of yoga, and we did many repetitions of some VERY cleansing movements.  We had 24 students in class, and the feedback has been wonderful.  Sierra is such a loving and kind instructor.  Her style was fun and energetic.   We can't wait to have Sierra join us again.  For more info about Sierra and her classes, check out her blog:  http://www.dragonflysamadhi.blogspot.com/

Forage & Feast

Over the Memorial day weekend, Scott & I attended a great program, just outside of Asheville, called Forage & Feast.  It was put on by Appalachia School of Holistic Herbalism, and occurred at SoulFlower Botanical Sanctuary.  For most of our time together, we walked through the gardens and the woods, learning about plant species, and which are safe to eat, and which are poisonous.  BTW, don't eat buttercups!  As we walked, we collected bags of herbs.  When we collected enough, the group went inside and made dinner, using what we had collected.  These wild things became a delicious salad, a bright pesto, a dip, and even a dessert.
For more info about herbs, check out http://www.herbsheal.com/
Have you eaten anything wild lately?

Joe Taft at Mountain Yoga

This past Sunday, we hosted a workshop starring Joe Taft.  Joe is an instructor at Asheville Yoga Center and helps with the teacher training program there.  We had 20 students, and everyone worked up a great sweat.  His theme for the class was "Let Love Rule", and he challenged us with some great heart-opening techniques.  To see more about Joe, check out his website at http://www.joetaftyoga.com/.  Awesome workshop, Joe!  We hope to have him back again soon.  And keep an eye out for other workshops, coming soon!

The Beauty of Backbending!

This past weekend, my adorable friend, Sami Te, joined us from Asheville to lead a backbending workshop.  Sami Te is a yoga instructor, a fire dancer, an aerialist, and a physical therapy student.  She's great at what she does, and you can check out more at http://www.samiterocks.com/.    But on Saturday, she led an awesome workshop, here at Mountain Yoga.  She began with a brief introduction of the musculature involved in backbending, and a discussion of agonist & antagonist muscles (actor & reactor), to make our practice safer & more effective.  Then we had a beautiful practice, with almost all the backbending poses I know, plus some Q & A time at the end.  We had a nice crowd here, and the atmosphere was light & fun.  Sami Te's energy made it such an enjoyable experience.  After class, many of the students enjoyed asking about & seeing several of her tattoos.  Overall, it was a great workshop, and we're hoping to have her teach here again sometime.  Personally, I got an excellent workout, and achieved some of my best backbends ever.   Thanks so much, Sami Te!