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Summer Quarterly Newsletter
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All of our classes during the summer are on a drop-in basis. You may purchase a punch card in the amounts of 5, 10, 15 or 20 classes or you can pay each time your come to class. This is also a great time to try us out! 503.223.8157
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Join Julie Gudmestad July 30 - August 3, 2018 for her weeklong anatomy series in Portland, OR. Inspire and deepen your yoga practice with this workshop. It's well worth the time.
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It's time to let us know what you want to do for fall term, even though it is months away.
Our fall term begins the week of September 17, 2018.
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June 2 - 3, 2018
Foot, Ankle, Knee, Hip
Knutsford, ENGLAND
Knutsford Yoga UK
June 9 - 10, 2018
Upper Back, Neck, Shoulders
Dublin, IRELAND
Yoga Therapy Ireland
June 20 - 24, 2018
Sprained, Strained or Pained
London, ENGLAND
Yoga Campus
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300-hour Teacher Training Interest?
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Are you interested in receiving your 300 hour Yoga Teacher certificate? We are looking for your feedback regarding interest.
The possible start date we are considering is January 2019.
Please let us know your level of interest by emailing Rachel and we will add you to the list of people we will contact as things start to develop.
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Join Hope Fyfield for The Art of Teaching Restorative Yoga.
This class is this coming Sunday, May 20, from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm.
Go to gudmestadyoga.com for more information.
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A Note from Julie Gudmestad
These days, it seems like the news is full of stories about the many benefits of yoga. Recently, I read about some exciting research that was done on one of our favorite poses, Vasistasana, or side plank. The research was well done, and the respected results show that the practice of Vasistasana helps to change and stabilize a scoliosis, or sideways curvature of the spine.
Usually seen as an S or C curve, a scoliosis causes a twisted or even hunchbacked posture, and can be life-threatening in its more severe forms due to pressure on internal organs. For the mild forms, which are fairly common, Vasistasana seems to work as well as or better than conventional medical interventions. However, if you have a more severe curve, you should be under a doctor's care.
Vasistasana has other benefits as well, including weight-bearing on the arms and shoulders. Wolff's law tells us that putting a load on a bone stimulates the bone to maintain or even build bone density: in other words, your body may "steal" calcium from bones that are rarely stressed. As a physical therapist, I've seen plenty of wrists and shoulders that were broken in a fall, and it makes good preventive sense to bear weight on those bones to help keep them strong.
And Vasistasana has even more benefits. It is an arm balance, often one of the first arm balances that students learn. We recommend that students practice a variety of balance poses, whether balancing on your hands or feet, upright, sideways or upside down! All of these poses stimulate your balance reflexes and help to prevent those dreaded falls that may have such serious consequences. Obviously, any of the arm balances are going to strengthen your arms and shoulders. Vasistasana also strengthens your side waist and abdominal muscles--hence the effects on scoliosis--as well as strengthening the side hip muscles called the abductors.
If you'd like to reap the benefits of side plank, it's very easy to practice when you do your downward dog. See the Yoga Tip below for more hints on how to master this fun pose. For best results, be sure to put it into your practice sequence a few times each week: once a week isn't enough!
As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to contact us.
Namaste,
Julie Gudmestad
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Vasistasana
Vasistasana flows easily from downward dog, but your hands need to be further from your feet than in your usual dog pose. Start your side plank work by setting up an extra-big dog--the Great Dane of dog poses--by coming forward to plank pose, with the heels of your hands under your shoulders. Then take your hands even a few inches further from your feet. This distance means that when you're in Vasistasana, your hand won't be directly under your shoulder. With your hand out beyond your shoulder, your arm isn't vertical, which helps keep a healthy 90 degrees at your shoulder. Study the accompanying photo to see an appropriate set up.
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Now come back to your Great Dane dog pose. Start coming forward, about halfway to plank pose, and roll onto your right hand and outer right foot. Push out onto the right foot, so your contact with the floor rolls from the outer foot toward the sole of the foot. This is an important element of the pose: if you bear weight on the top of your foot, you won't be able to get a good lift in the pose.
If you struggle with balance, you can always try the pose with your back to the wall. Or, put the top foot (left, in this case) on the floor in front of the right foot. Eventually, the left foot sits on top of the right. To prevent your hips from sticking out in back, tuck your tailbone forward. Press down on the right foot, lift up out of the right shoulder, and stretch your left arm up toward the ceiling. When you feel stable, look up at your top hand. You're practicing an arm balance, and with regular practice, you'll reap the benefits of increased strength, improved balance reflexes, and strong bones.
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It feels like summer! It's warm and sunny, at least right now. Everything seems to be bursting with life. There's an excitement in the air. So much to do, so many places to go. Take time to soak it all in and revel in it between those adventures.
Janice Gega
Gudmestad Yoga
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