Yoga anatomy answers: Achilles tendon compression in Trikonasana

By joemillerApril 22, 2013 Anatomy answers 2 Comments

I’m starting a video series to answer questions about anatomy and yoga poses. This one was prompted by a question from a student about painful Achilles tendon compression in trikonasana or triangle pose. Hope it’s helpful. If you have questions you’d like me answer in future videos, let me know. Copyright Joseph Miller

Another anatomy video

By joemillerApril 1, 2013 Anatomy Leave a comment

Another clip from the same teacher training at The Shala, this one about the anatomy of the cervical vertebrae. Copyright Joseph Miller

Anatomy training video

By joemillerApril 1, 2013November 8, 2017 Uncategorized Leave a comment

A video clip from an anatomy segment I taught a couple of weeks ago for a teacher training at The Shala in New York City. This one is about the anatomy of the lumbar and thoracic vertebrae. Copyright Joseph Miller

Effort-less

By joemillerJanuary 9, 2013October 13, 2017 Asana slider Leave a comment

My father died three years ago today. A lifelong amateur handyman, he patiently taught me and my brothers and sister the art of hammering nails, sawing lumber, soldering wires and other such skills. He even gracefully accepted that, of all of us, only my sister possessed any actual skill. I remember many times struggling to align a screw with a…

Mobility and Mortality

By joemillerJanuary 3, 2013 Health, Research Leave a comment

Could being able to get up and down from the floor prolong your life? Depends how you do it. According to a just-published study in The European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention, the ability to easily stand up from the floor and sit down again is correlated with longevity. Brazilian researchers tested over 2000 middle-aged and elderly people to see…

Post-Hurricane Practice

By joemillerNovember 2, 2012 Anatomy, Practice Leave a comment

I’ve been fortunate in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Although I’m in downtown NYC and surrounded by buildings without power or water, I’m lucky to live in an enclave where we’ve had both. The subways aren’t running and most of the studios where I teach have been shut down, so I’ve had plenty of free time. Hence my return to…

Your skin breathes

By joemillerOctober 26, 2012January 3, 2018 Breathing, Physiology 2 Comments

Over the years I’ve heard lots of yoga teachers, myself included, say something like “Breathe through your skin.” Yogic poetic license, I assumed – an image of receptivity and a reminder that the whole body participates in breathing. Salamanders, sure — they breathe through their skin. Humans, not so much. So I thought. Recently, though,…

Research review: The effects of bhastrika in the elderly, part 3

By joemillerApril 2, 2012January 3, 2018 Bhastrika, Breathing, Health, Physiology, Pranayama, Research Leave a comment

In my last post about this study (1), I described how four months of pranayama practice affected respiratory function in elderly yoga practitioners. Today, we take a look at how the practice of bhastrika impacted heart rate variability and the functioning of the autonomic nervous system. Before delving into heart rate variability, a review of the autonomic nervous system is in order. The autonomic nervous system…

Research review: The effects of bhastrika in the elderly, part 2

By joemillerJanuary 26, 2012January 3, 2018 Physiology, Research review Leave a comment

To refresh your memory from the previous post, researchers in Brazil studied the effects of bhastrika practice in elderly individuals (1). They tested several measures of respiratory function at the beginning of the study and again after four months of training. Those measures included forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and maximum expiratory and inspiratory pressures (PEmax, or…

Self magazine interview

By joemillerJanuary 25, 2012 Media Leave a comment

I was just interviewed by Self magazine about why and how to modify your practice. Check out their blog for the interview. Copyright Joseph Miller