Yogis Be Careful With Your Joints!!! 

This is an important topic. I know only too well what being over flexible can do to your joints. I developed intense knee pain years ago after about 10 years of vinyasa and ashtanga practice. I had to stop yoga for months and strengthen my quadriceps. I became a certified personal trainer to learn more about fitness. Most of my yoga teachers at that time were not able to help me understand what had happened to my knees or how to help them recover. So I finally returned to yoga practice and found some very smart teachers. They were Anusara trained and I began to study this style. It helped me understand how to engage my muscles in a balanced and safe way and this is what I teach now. Since then I have found other wonderful teachers who also know about alignment. What I see so often these days though is fast flowing vinyasa classes where there is not enough time to place your body in the optimum place or even to become aware of where one's body is in space. Many are teaching aerobic yoga and not even holding poses long enough to derive much benefit. This really bothers me. Moving slowly with awareness of the body and breath is the essence of yoga. Please read the article on my Articles page for more info. 

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