Do your hips tend to feel stiff and unmovable? Do you have a tough time with balance, or feel pain in your legs? If so, your piriformis may be in need of TLC. The piriformis is a muscle that rotates your leg out from your hip and, when tight, can lead to glute pain, low back pain, and because it’s close to your sciatic nerve, tingling in your legs. Because so many of us sit for much of the day, we’re likely to have tight hips, which is where this chair-adapted pose comes in.

I was miserable in my first job out of graduate school. It’s not that the job itself was awful—I was working on meaningful research, had a short commute, and was surrounded by nice coworkers—I was miserable with the way I felt during the workweek. Over weekends I was able to recover some energy for activities I loved, like seeing bands with friends, learning new songs on guitar, and walking on a nearby trail. But Sunday afternoon the anxiety started creeping in. I’d fantastiz

Breath is linked not only with the body but with our emotions as well. Usually, unless we are paying attention, we are likely breathing shallowly into our chests. However, most of us have experienced the effect deep breaths can have on calming our nerves in the face of panic. Mindfully bringing the breath all the way into the belly, into the lower lobes of the lungs, increases our intake of oxygen, a vital form of nourishment. You'll find that your shoulders relax, the racing

Few things are as frustrating as being wide awake when you’re craving a good night’s sleep. Research shows an alarming list of ways we are hurting ourselves by not sleeping. Lack of sleep is related to everything from depression to heart disease, which is enough to work any insomniac into a frenzy. Which really stinks, because anxiety is a major reason a lot of us can’t sleep, and advice like “don’t worry about it, and you’ll sleep better” can be totally infuriating. Other re

For some people, standing balance poses are the hardest yoga poses. We find ourselves fighting gravity, wavering muscles, and even the breeze to stay in the pose. Our ego can get so wrapped up in the process of trying to maintain balance that some of us may have to learn the hard way that desperately fighting to stay upright when we have already lost our balance can end up in a pretty hard fall. Yet one of the loveliest things about trying to find your balance is that the cha

Image source Having a truly crappy day? Give yourself a break with these turnarounds: Connect. When something really painful happens, I immediately reach out to two people: my partner, Mark, and my best friend. I can always count on Mark to give me a hug and put a cat on my lap, and my best friend will sit on the phone with me while I cry, and offer to exact revenge on anyone who has wronged me. Even if I’m not ready to talk about it and my best friend (probably) won't public

Over the past few months I’ve developed tendonitis in my ankle, most likely from wearing shoes with poor support while dancing (please learn from my mistakes, fellow dancers!). I’ve had to put my favorite hobby on hold while my ankle heals, and I really miss walking, which is where I do a lot of thinking and processing. One of my loved ones has been experiencing a lot of back pain, so he’s been sidelined from his active lifestyle as well. He’s clearly mourning the loss of tim

In 2002, I was in the process of recovering from knee surgery for an overuse injury. My knee hurt no matter the position, and exercise outside of the pool was out of the question. As anyone who has experienced physical therapy after surgery can attest, movement can be pretty unpleasant for quite some time! When I happened upon a yoga video I had fairly low expectations. At the time I knew very little about yoga except to picture slender people twisted into pretzels, with Enya

Blog posts on body love and lasting wellness are on the way! I'm so glad you're here, and I can't wait to connect! In the meantime, check out this throwback post. Even if you're not a regular yoga practitioner, this simple walking meditation can center and calm you while you're patiently awaiting new content. Be sure to sign up for updates by subscribing to my newsletter. You'll be notified as new content is posted, including blog posts, workshops, videos, and audio recording