Shoulder opening asanas to improve posture.

All shoulder opening poses are great for improving posture but here are a few of my faves!

Farm Yoga

Farm sitting for friends this weekend. Had to sneak in some farm yoga.

Yoga in bed

Yoga in bed! Genius. This is the perfect way to wake up or end the night. I've also been using my bed for seated meditation bc it's all comfy and cozy to prop up and sit for long periods of time. Pillows are your natural props.

Do it.

Variations

This is me hangin out in a variation of king pigeon.
ALL The time I hear people say that they aren't flexible enough for yoga. Well guess what, that's a terrible excuse because there is always a variation to any pose. I'm the most inflexible person I know and I LOVE yoga. There are even things out there like chair yoga so no more excuses. Get on that mat... or chair.

Children's Yoga

 

After receiving my 200 hour yoga teacher certification, one of my first yoga gigs was assisting a kid's yoga class. They were ages 4-7. This was an ASSITANT job and I thought it was going to be so much fun and so rewarding... it wasn't. There was a group of 5-8 kids each week and they were horrible. They would bounce off the walls the whole time, yelling and screaming, and maybe because I wasn't the head instructor or maybe because they could smell my fear, they refused to listen to a word I said. I tried creating fun games and even bringing in my ukulele to sing about different poses and being quiet and calm but instead the games turned into sprinting around the room and climbing on top of yoga props and my ukulele songs turned into a war about who would strum the tiny guitar and impersonate Miley Sirus next. My romantic idea of teaching kids yoga died pretty quickly and the memory still haunts me to this day.
Then a very close friend of mine who coordinates events at a local library in town asked me to teach a kids class this past winter. I could hear the screaming voices ringing in my ears again as I started to push the word no out of my mouth but instead I decided to accept the challenge and face my fear because I am a grown woman and I needed to stop being afraid of children.
It took me2 years to give it another go and I am so glad I did. It was great! My advice to anyone thinking about teaching yoga to kids:
1)wear lots of flowers in your hair, they are facinated by them and can't take their eyes off of your head
2)encourage the parent's to join the class and practice next to their children
3)children have a 2 second attention span so in order for them to hang out in a pose for more than 2 seconds you need to come up with cute animal names for each pose so they can use their imagination and pretend they are each animal-this can get them rowdy so remember to have lots of quiet animals (example: the snake goes tssssssssssss, the clam goes blub blub blub).
When you have a bad teaching experience, don't give up! Had I not given children's yoga another chance I would have never gained back that confidence and learned something new.

Yoga Journal Sequences

I took all of my yoga journal magazines and put all of the sequences into one notebook. They are my favorite part of the magazine. They always give me great ideas for classes AND amazing descriptions for each pose.

Tadasana

From Light on Yoga:

1. Tadasana (also called Samashiti) One

Tada means a mountain. Sama means upright, straight, unmoved. Sthiti is standing still, steadiness. Tadasana therefore implies a pose where one stands firm and erect as a mountain. This is the basic standing pose.

 

(in the book he is actually standing with the palms facing his thighs, feet together, head straight forward)
Technique
1. Stand erect with the feet together, the heels and big toes touching each other. Rest the heads of metatarsals on the floor and stretch all toes flat on the floor.
2.Tighten the knees and pull the knee-caps up, contract the hips and pull up the muscles at the back of the thighs.
3.Keep the stomach in, chest forward, spine stretched up and the neck straight.
4. Do not bear the weight of the body either on the heels or the toes,  but distribute it evenly on them both.
5. Ideally in Tadasana the arms are stretched out over the head, but for the sake of convenienve, one can place them by the side of the thighs.

Effects
People do not pay attention to the correct method of standing. Some stand with the body weight thrown only on one leg, or with one leg turned completely sideways. Others bear all the weight on the heels, or on the inner or outer edges of the feet. This can be noticed by watching where the soles and heels of the shoes wear out. Owing to our faulty method of standing and not distributing the body weight evenly on the feet, we acquire specific deformities which hamper spinal elasticity. Even if the feet are kept apart, it is better to keep the heel and toe in a line parallel to the median plane and not at an angle. By this method, the hips are contracted, the abdomen is pulled in and the chest is brought forward. One feels light in body and the mind acquires agility. If we stand with the body weight thrown only on the heels, we feel the gravity changing; the hips become loose, the abdomen protrudes, the body hangs back and the spine feels the strain and consequently we soon feel fatigued and the mind becomes dull. It is therefore essential to master the art of standing correctly.

-BKS IYENGAR

Moon Salutations

Sun salutations are cool and all but don't forgt about moon salutations. These are great for that special time of the month when a lady has to avoid inversions ;)

Moon salutations are also just great for stress relief in general. That moon energy will help sink your awareness deep into the hips.

I love to do these with my classes on a full moon!

Pets n Yoga

Pets are hilarious, especially when their human is trying to find some zen.

Inversions

Headstand is my favorite asana. Salamba Sirasana is a magical place where you get to experience an upside down world. The ground is the sky, the sky is the ground, and your poor little feet get to swap places with your brain for a few short ethereal moments.
Handstand is the next inversion I'd like to conquer. This article by David Keil is pretty insightful... http://www.yoganatomy.com/2011/06/so-you-wanna-do-a-handstand/

The Promise

I know this title is a lil' funky but this book completely changed my personal practice and my teaching style. I recommend it to all!