I made a post recently on Instagram that has become my most liked post ever. It’s not elaborate. it’s not even me doing a yoga pose. I think it resonates with people, because yoga is changing and we’re starting to see how valuable strength and stability are. There can be a lot of pressure on yoga to be this one perfect practice that provides us everything from physical exercise, stress relief and healing. It’s not and it doesn’t have to be. Check it out.

Hey humans and humans who practice yoga asana “getting stronger fixes a ton of shit.” Plain and simple. Adding external load has been a game changer for me, a health and wellness changer. As much as I love yoga it is not a complete, fix it all discipline. We need more than stretching. Your brain, nervous system, everything that makes up the body you cruise around in thrives on diversity.

All the things I like to do and ways I like to move are better, because I started doing things like dead lifts and back squats. The breathing is different, so is the bracing. It’s not in my wheelhouse. I’m a beginner and still learning technique, but everything in my body feels more resilient because of it. The nagging low back pain that would only subside temporarily is completely gone.

It doesn’t have to be vein popping heavy. Just start lifting something beyond your morning coffee/green juice.

2020 UPDATE: Since we’re all spending more time at home and your living room is now your gym there is even more creative options when it comes to adding load to your movement routine. My favorite things to lift are jugs of laundry detergent and bags of cat food/litter. Hold them, walk around with them, squat with them, lift them over your head. Now repeat that later in the day or do it again tomorrow. That’s how you start to load your super awesome body. Cheers to feeling strong. Sometimes it’s nice just to be reminded of that.

*Yoga asana is a bodyweight practice. You bear your body weight on your arms, hands, legs and your body is a heavy weight. Foundational strength, the kind we get from from squatting and lifting things (that weigh less than our body) sets us up to be capable of all the movement we want to explore on the yoga mat.

#whatmovesyou #yogaforlife #movemore#movewell #sustainableyoga #yogiswholift#mindfulmover #yogastrong #asanaeverythirdday