Mark's Musings
These writings are informal reflections on practicing and teaching yoga. Click on any title to read the entire piece.
Liberating Warrior I Pose
If you’ve ever taken a Vinyasa Flow class or tried Ashtanga Vinyasa, you’ve moved through Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) pose a lot. Or perhaps you sip from another cup of yoga such as Iyengar or basic Hatha in which you often hold Warrior I longer than the five breath maximum prescribed in Ashtanga.
Healing Low Back Pain with Yoga
This is excerpted from Yoga Therapy, Foundations, Methods, and Practices for Common Ailments.
(Photos showing asana details are in the book only.)
Chataranga Dandasana: An Endangered Species
Flowing with Chataranga
Chataranga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose) is an endangered species, one increasingly lost in the rushed transition from Plank Pose (Phalakasana) to Upward Facing Dog Pose (Urdhva Mukha Svanas
The Fingers in Downward Facing Dog Pose
We often hear the instruction to spread the fingers and thumbs as wide as we can in Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) and other hand support
The Origin of the Human Being in Ayurveda (From Sarngadhara’s 13th century Compendium)
Excerpted from Yoga Therapy, Chapter 2.
Mysticism & Modern Medical Science
[Excerpted from Yoga Therapy, Chapter 3, "Modern Medical Science.]
Is Yoga Good for Your Skin?
The top seven results of a Google search for the terms “skin” and “yoga” are all about the most superficial aspect of skin – not the health of the skin, but how it appears.
Alternatives to Ashtanga Vinyasa's Claim to Yoga Chikitsa
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.
—ANAIS NIN
Communication and Interaction in Yoga Therapy
Excerpted from Chapter 17, " Communication and Interaction in Yoga Therapy," Yoga Therapy: Foundations, Methods, and Practices (712 pages, forthcoming November 2017, North Atlantic Books/Penguin Random House)