What is aqua yoga? Aqua yoga is as simple as it sounds. It’s practicing yoga in the water. It’s a complete yoga practice including asana (poses), pranayama (yoga breathwork), and meditation (done floating) all informed by yoga philosophy. You can do it with or without equipment. How do you do it? Aqua yoga can be doing the exact […]
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Why an Aqua Yoga for Arthritis Course? Because people living with arthritis need diverse choices for managing their symptoms. Arthritis affects everyone differently and the number of options available should reflect the diversity of people living with arthritis. Obviously, as an arthritis patient, you are working with your health care provider to get your arthritis […]
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Unfortunately, there is no research on the benefits of aqua yoga and it’s efficacy for arthritis patients compared to aquatic exercise in general or compared to land-based yoga. I do think it’s important to keep up on related research to keep one’s practice and teachings evidence-based. As I come across papers relevant to aqua exercise […]
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Last week I posted an article on how to keep your aqua yoga practice going when you can’t make it to the pool. Sometimes, you have to just throw in the towel and move your practice inside. If that’s the case, your pool noodles can come with you because they make great land yoga props. […]
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Here in the northern hemisphere, winter is here with a vengeance and you might be feeling frustrated with your practice. Maybe you only have an outdoor pool or transportation to an indoor pool is not possible right now. Here are seven ideas for how to keep your aqua yoga practice going even when you can’t […]
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Incorporating the principles of aqua yoga into any aqua aerobics class is possible with a little planning. I was supposed to be presenting on aqua yoga and how you can add it to your aquatics programming at the International Aquatics Fitness Conference before the COVID-19 outbreak. This is an excerpt of an article I wrote […]
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Spring is here in Florida and you might be looking for some new things to do with your kids in the pool. The first piece of advice I can give you about kids aqua yoga is keep it light and short. Kids just want to play and splash and have fun in the pool. As […]
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March is Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month and May is Lupus Awareness Month. In support of people living with lupus, and raising awareness about autoimmune diseases in general, I’m offering this Aqua Yoga for Lupus sequence for free. It includes a short 25-minute practice for when you need something mellow, and a full 45-minute practice for […]
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Floating Meditation Tip #1 – See Noise as growth When you’re in the pool trying to meditate and the kids are crying in the kiddy pool or the old guys are shouting at each other about politics in the hot tub, it can be hard to stay focused on your practice. Instead of getting annoyed […]
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As a Certified Yoga for Arthritis Instructor, I’m required to do a certain number of continuing education credits to renew. For me, stepping up and doing the Arthritis Foundation’s Aquatic Exercise Program training was a natural. I wrote this review of the program for the Yoga for Arthritis audience from the perspective of a yoga […]
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This is a tutorial specifically for Warrior II pose. If you’d like more general information about aqua yoga, check out my Ultimate Guide to Aqua Yoga. Directions for how to do Warrior II pose in the pool with two pool noodles: Warrior II pose in one of the most common poses we do in yoga. […]
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I produced a lot of material in 2019 but it’s easy to miss things too. This Aqua Yoga 2019 review is a way to catch up with the most popular material that you might have missed. Enjoy! Top 5 2019 Aqua Yoga Articles The Ultimate Guide to Aqua Yoga Yoga Exercises for Arthritic Hands Aqua […]
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This yoga advent series originally appeared as a daily prompt on Facebook. They are collected here for non-Facebook users and anyone who’d like to use them as a body of work. While the yoga sutras can help you keep your holiday stress level down, they’re meant to be used all year. Yoga advent isn’t just […]
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Need gifts this season for yourself for your aqua yoga practice or a friend or loved one? These items are all things I’ve owned and used, so they’re pool tested and yogi approved. 1.UV Sunshirts – I’m supposed to get as little sun as possible so I’ve got a full kit of sun management products. […]
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I’m working on building a library of downloadable aqua yoga audio recordings for my website this fall. These are excellent for: land yogis who are curious about what aqua yoga is anyone who wants to start a home practice but isn’t sure about how to sequence yet yogis who don’t have aqua yoga classes in […]
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If you’ve joined me for one of my yoga classes at the library, you know I always include a reading in the spirit of the library providing us the space. I choose the poems with care and are a reflection of that day’s class, perhaps my mood or larger events in the world. If you […]
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What is Deep Water Yoga Deep water yoga is just what the title implies. Yoga practices in the deep end of a swimming pool. You can combine all the elements of yoga – poses, breathwork, meditation, all 8 limbs – that you would in the shallow end of the pool, in the deep end. What […]
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Down Dog pose is one of the most common poses in yoga. If you try to do the pose in the pool, the same way you’d do it on your mat, you’d end up doing Drowned Dog. Here’s how we stay true to the principles of the pose in the pool, without going under water. […]
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This video focuses on how to build core strength in aqua yoga. You’ll be using the pool stairs to do leg lifts, and it gives you several practice variations. Start by sitting down on a pool step that allows approximately half your torso to be under water. Your arms should be out to your sides […]
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If you’ve never done aqua yoga, you might be wondering what are the benefits compared to land yoga or other aquatic disciplines? Is aqua yoga all about the stretch? Is the meditation the same? Does it get your heart rate up with a soundtrack? I did a webinar recently that covered this topic that included […]
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May is Arthritis Awareness Month and because your feet and ankles are common places to get arthritis, I put together these two videos. Both are easy exercises for foot and ankle arthritis but can also be used to support foot and joint health in general. This first exercise is great for your arches but can […]
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May is Arthritis Awareness Month. As someone who lives with arthritis, and as a yoga teacher who works with others with arthritis, I always focus on how our yoga movements can benefit our skeletal system. Pain and stiffness in our hands is very common in many different forms of arthritis. These are two videos of […]
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5 Ways to Start an Aqua Yoga Practice…Even if you don’t own a pool #1 Just do it! Even if you own a pool, there are always obstacles. #2 Practice one or two postures on land to learn the difference of how it feels in your body. #3 Incorporate visualizations into your movements throughout the day. […]
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It’s easy to adapt land yoga to the pool is when you keep a few principles in mind. To adapt land yoga to the pool, what are your goals with your postures or asanas? This boils down to what do you want to get out of your postures: Do you want to look exactly like […]
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Unpredictable Command Technique, UCT, was developed by David Ogden, PT. He developed these novel techniques to help a client with Parkinson’s disease. Her condition dramatically improved after implementing this work and it was expanded to be used in group classes. I took a workshop in UCT at the ATRI Symposium last year and was struck […]
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Why Aqua Yoga for Arthritis? March is Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month started by the Autoimmune Related Diseases Association. For me, living with arthritis, and teaching yoga are integrated. I had arthritis for more than 20 years before I knew about it and had a hard time reconciling everything I’d achieved, and my relative lack of […]
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What is private yoga? Private yoga sessions are what they sound like. You select a yoga teacher you have a connection with to work with you individually. Or, if the teacher offers it, semi-privately with others you choose. The locations can vary. I offer them in people’s homes, their private pools, or at the St. […]
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The Jewel of Abundance by Ellen Grace O’Brian is a wonderfully clear and concise book about how to lead a richer, more full life with the tools of yoga. Abundance is available to everyone. While you might feel that way philosophically, you might not have the tools to get […]
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I used to set New Year’s resolutions like a lot of people. Like a lot of people, I failed at them, or forgot about them by the end of January. This year I got intrigued by the idea of picking a word for the year. Inadvertently, I’ve been doing this before now. When I got […]
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These posts originally appeared on Facebook as the Yoga 12 Days of Christmas. They are collected here in one place to be easier to find. While the theme of these posts was applying these principles to the holidays, yoga truths are universal so use them all year long. Yoga 12 Days of Christmas – Day […]
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