A monthly newsletter that explores all things Yoga – from adjusting your asana to discussing philosophy – and how to make all of it your own.

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Happy January – and Happy New Year!

Hello Reader,

I don't know about you, but my 2024 has kicked off with a bang. And it's left me thinking about balancing things in life – and how often we fall out of balance.

The first big change in my world is a familial one: my husband bought an optical shop! He's officially a small business owner, and thrilled to continue a legacy of independent optical in Edmonds. (Shameless plug – if you need glasses, he's very good at his job, and they'll take great care of you at College Place Optical! 😁)

Now that he's managing people and inventory, I've been reflecting on the differences between a small business and a solo business. While he's learning to balance the needs of a physical space, a few employees, and his own new schedule, I'm still balancing the needs of my solo yoga business – which relies heavily on my mental and physical capacities, and my time constraints.

Which brings us to big change number two: I'm pregnant again! We'll be welcoming another tiny human to our family this summer. And...it is throwing my business out of balance. By a LOT. My energy, mental capacity, and general availability have drastically reduced, and I have to fight the feeling that I'm falling down on the job.

One of my teachers always said that balance poses are ego-busters – and that taking our egos down a peg or two can only help us in the long run. So I'm trusting that, as we do in balance poses, I'll keep making adjustments and standing back up after each stumble. I ask for your patience if things show up a little off schedule or my response time is slow for the next few months!

In the meantime, happy new year to you, and may you keep seeking balance (and having grace when you don't find it).

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Anatomy Spotlight: Three Arches of the Feet

When you think of the arch in your feet, you probably automatically refer to the one that’s easiest to see – from the base of the big toe mound to the start of the heel, near your midline. This arch (the medial longitudinal arch) is designed to help your balance while standing and walking. But did you know that you have two other arches stabilizing your feet?

One arch parallels the first, but on the pinky toe side of the foot (the lateral longitudinal arch). Its height is less pronounced, but is designed to help transfer the body’s weight along the foot while walking. The third arch (the transverse arch) is perpendicular to the first two, and supports the shape of the midfoot, adding “spring” (or “attitude” 😉) to your walk. All three arches, when activated correctly, are key for shock absorption when walking, running, or jumping.

In yoga, we usually increase our awareness of our feet as part of our overall tuning in to the body’s signals. By building awareness, we can also correct poor patterns, harness greater efficiency of movement, and recruit under-used muscles. Above all else, this will help our balance as we move through the world – especially as we age.

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Pose Breakdown: Tadasana Weight Placement

Tadasana is one of the foundational postures of yoga, asking us to find our ideal alignment in gravity. Because we spend a lot of time standing in life, we often overlook the subtle nuances available by tweaking our tadasana pose – we think we know what we’re doing. (Most of us don’t!) Since tadasana has us standing on our feet, proper foot alignment is a great place to start workshopping this pose.

To begin, make sure your heels are aligned under your skeletal hips – you find this by referencing two fists between the bony ankle protrusions. Forcing the toes into a parallel pattern is usually counterproductive, as our bones aren’t perfectly straight; instead, allow a natural turnout (or turn-in) from the ball of foot for them to feel comfortable. Unlock your knees, and allow sixty percent of your weight to settle through your heels. Begin activating all three arches by rooting the big toe mound and pinky toe mound, while imagining the top of the foot shortening so the transverse arch lifts lightly in space. Toes are on the earth without gripping, and hips may be further back than you expected.

Do you feel rooted? Is there room to rise out of gravity? Welcome to Mountain Pose.

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Philosophy: Pranayama

Although pranayama is identified as the fourth limb of yoga, its importance is felt throughout every pose and meditative posture. Literally translated as “expanding the life force energy,” our main access to this is the breath. Most practitioners think of breath practices as the primary work of pranayama.

Energetically, as we use Yoga to become ever clearer in our mind and our perception, we are increasing our capacity to contain our prana. Whether through conscious breath control exercises (such as nadi shodhana, ujjayi, or 1:2 ratio breath) or through our mental efforts to eliminate ignorance, we release internal ‘blockages’ and feel more and more of our life force residing within us.

Physically, breath is a tool that bridges the mind and body – it is both an automatic and consciously controlled function. The diaphragm, your primary breathing muscle, attaches to the spine next to the nerve roots that bridge the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems; depending on how you control your breath, you can literally switch your brain from “fight or flight” to “rest and digest” (and back!).

While this is a deep and varied topic – we’ll only scratch the surface here! – I want to remind you that breathing techniques can and do produce powerful physical effects. Please seek a real live teacher’s guidance (not Dr. Google!) when trying pranayama for the first time.

Thanks for joining me!

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