Tune Up Fitness® Self Care Blog

On day 3 of YTU Level 1 yoga teacher training, Jill took us through a shoulder sequence which culminated in Downward Facing Dog. It took 2 hours. I ran the following emotional gamut: mild amusement, boredom, impatience, seriously? don’t we get…

Yoga teachers often take advantage of the opportunity to craft “theme” classes; better yet, sometimes we get to take someone else’s “theme” class. One such class I went to recently as a student was an “agni” sequence intended to stoke our…

Recently I took a class from a very well known yoga instructor. While it was a great class for her and her body, it was not for mine. In fact, I left early when my right shoulder started complaining very loudly.…

Leading a class through some upper back ball work one evening recently, I saw several of my clients clenching their jaws because the knots across their backs, particularly in the trapezius muscles were extremely tight. As a result, my people weren’t…

I returned home from YTU Level 1 training absolutely gleeful to introduce my clients to the wonders of  YTU Therapy Balls. I bought a small case of them for my studio classes and to sell. I expected to be placing a…

Physical therapist Stephanie Spencer says “You know your multifidus group is working well if you can articulate every vertebrae of your spine and have a well connected core while moving.”  And the more control you gain, the greater your potential for…

The multifidi are deep to (they live underneath) your erector spinae.  Those are your strong cords, the big mamas running parallel to the spine that cause the gullies (laminal grooves) that lie directly next to your vertebra (spine bones).  You can…

Many seniors have very limited shoulder movement, and chronic neck tension….Shoulder Circles help to release groups of muscles affecting neck and shoulder tension…

In my senior classes I see pairs and pairs of feet that are misshapen, collapsed, misbehaved, ignored and overlooked of any attention and care.  Thirty-five years of yoga has taught me that feet are the control panels for all standing poses…