True North Yoga - From the Adirondacks

Solstice Sun Salutations

truenorthyoga — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:21:19 +0000

We’re just days away from the winter solstice, the day when the sun begins to fight its way back to dominance after the longest night of the year. The ancients celebrated the solstice with fires, which burned through the long night to encourage the sun’s return. In yoga we honor the sun by practicing Surya Namaskar, or sun salutations.

Sun salutations are vinyasa, a flowing sequence of asanas. Movement is coordinated with the breath. Surya Namaskar builds heat in the body by igniting our internal fires, creating our own internal solstice celebration.

After warming up, we’ll move slowly through a the series of poses that make up the core of sun salutations for those who have never tried this before. Then we’ll flow through some complete rounds of Surya Namaskar and put that power to work in Warrior I with Eagle arms. I’ll leave you with a moving meditation to complete your celebration of the sun.

All you’ll need is your yoga mat. Enjoy, and Happy Solstice!

Juicy Hip Openers

truenorthyoga — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:34:18 +0000

The hip joints are designed for motion. Healthy hips enable fluid movements, but for many of us the hips feel more like stone than water. In this practice, we’ll get into those hips from every angle, slowly opening the hip muscles.

All you’ll need is your yoga mat for this juicy practice.

Engage Your Core

truenorthyoga — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:37:19 +0000

With Thanksgiving and its indulgences less than a week away, it’s a good time for a core-focused yoga practice. This series of asanas will require you to engage your deep abdominal muscles, which support your low back. You’ll test those muscles with some balancing poses and finish your practice with an easy twist to stretch what you strengthened. You only need your yoga mat to engage your core, and your low back will thank you when you’re lugging those holiday packages.

Love Yourself

truenorthyoga — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:50:20 +0000

This is the first podcast yoga class from Debbie Philp of True North Yoga, a tiny yoga studio tucked into the hamlet of Schroon Lake in the Adirondack mountains of New York State. In this class, Debbie explores heart-opening asanas and helps you find your inner light, the divine spark in each of us that is so worthy of love. Cultivate self-love, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

For this class you will need a yoga mat, a folded blanket or flat pillow, and two yoga blocks. (If you don’t have yoga blocks, big books or sturdy boxes about 8 inches high can be substituted.)

Namaste.

Welcome to the True North Yoga class podcast!

truenorthyoga — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 02:46:33 +0000

The first podcast will be up soon, so keep checking back.