Tune Up Fitness® Self Care Blog

Considering we’ll likely take 20,000 breaths today, the understated muscle the diaphragm deserves attention. “When the diaphragm stops flexing, air stops moving.  After four minutes of that, pieces of the brain start to die.  Folks who bravely survive muscular dystrophy — a genetic…

Earlier this week, I wrote about why I like to roll out first thing in the morning. Not sure where to start your own morning YTU routine? Keep reading, and I’ll explain which parts of my body I address and how…

The clock strikes 6:00 am and my phone starts vibrating and playing tranquil chime sounds. Time to get up. I tap the screen to silence the alarm and roll out of bed. I know I only have 5 minutes before I…

In Part 1 of this article, we looked at the relationship between how flexible our calves are and how well we can squat. We learned that a healthy, full squat requires a good amount of dorsiflexion at the ankle joint and…

Although squatting is an essential human movement that we should all ideally be able to perform with ease, the majority of our modern Western bodies are significantly “squat-challenged”. There are many different areas of the body that can restrict our range…

Meet Dawn Adams, a member of our teaching team who leads weekly Beginning/Intermediate Yoga classes, Yoga Tune Up® classes and weekend workshops on a variety of topics in the Bay Area. How did you discover Yoga Tune Up® and why did…

It’s not often that I make it to a yoga class and when I was recently in a yoga class, the teacher said, “root through your ‘sits bones,’ ” I cringed. I also cringe every time I hear “extend your arms…

As I described in the first part of this article, high and tight breath hangs out in the upper chest, minimizes air intake and limits the three dimensional movement of the ribcage during respiration. More significantly, as this becomes habitual, it…

I’ll admit I’ve never been the proudest breather in the yoga room but I’ve spent years working on it. I thought I had it down – recognizing that lovely ease of breath as I nestled in for savasana after a practice…