LYT

Category: Podcasts

  • 581. Wednesday Q&A: Passive Stretching, Foot, Hamstring, & Diaphragm Cramps, & Rib Cage Placement for Breathing

     

    Welcome to Wednesday Q&A, where you ask questions and we answer them!

     

    In this Wednesday Q&A, we answer your questions about passive stretching after a gym workout, foot cramps, hamstring spasms, and diaphragm cramps, and proper rib cage placement for breathing well.

     

    Your questions:

    • What should you do after a gym workout instead of passive stretching, if you’re already doing LYT yoga every day? 
    • I have a question about a student. She’s almost 70 but super fit. She weight trains regularly with a personal trainer, and has been practicing yoga for 20 years. She has arthritic knees, has had two children, and is diabetic. But overall, she’s very mobile, eats, grows a lot of veggies, and enjoys exercise. She’s been coming to my classes for over two years, mostly recently in-person versus Zoom. I found out that she’s been having foot cramps, hamstring spasms, and diaphragm cramps for a few years now, usually when she’s active. In my class yesterday she experienced hamstring spasms during bridge and in reverse table. She took some breaks and they went away. But I felt sad to see her in pain during class. She says her toes will curl towards the plantar side of her foot. Sometimes the anterior aspect of her diaphragm cramps, she pointed to the left side, sometimes when she does forward bends. Her hamstring cramps when she does bridge and hip thrusts in reverse table. I did notice that she does tend to have an anterior pelvic tilt when in bridge and in reverse table. She’s been to massage therapists, chiropractors, PTs, and nutritionists who, by the way, recommended potassium and magnesium, none of which has really helped. She thinks it’s just part of getting older. I recommended that she see a pelvic floor physio. I know that the arches of the feet, pelvic floor and diaphragm are related. And the hamstrings originate from the SIT bones. So I think the pelvic floor might be the connection between them all. When I mentioned the pelvic floor, she said that’s the only part of her that’s working well and that she’s been doing kegels for years, which makes me think her pelvic floor may be hypertonic. Any thoughts on this? Any other physical connections, recommendations for moves in my classes that may help, or other health practitioners that could be recommended to her would be awesome. 
    • How do you feel about rib cage positioning, breathing, etc.?

     

    To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: lytyoga.com/blog/category/podcasts/

     

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  • 580. Yin Yoga & Dharma Teaching with Kali Durga

    580. Yin Yoga & Dharma Teaching with Kali Durga

     

    Today on the podcast, Lara chats with the twinkly, bright spirit Kali Durga. Kali is a yin yoga teacher who utilizes Internal Family Systems Therapy and she practices Buddhist and Dharma philosophies. She uses anatomy, Traditional Chinese Medicine, mind training, and trauma healing in her offerings of classes, trainings, and retreats. Kali also holds an MPH in Environmental Public Health and serves as a Project Director for the United Nations Association Global Health Initiative on the Africa Affairs Committee. She has worked with the UN as a Global Health consultant for over 5 years and is a Conscious Dying Coach and Sacred Passage Doula.

     

    In this episode, you’ll learn:

    • Why vinyasa yoga can often feel like a one-night stand and yin yoga is more like a long-time marriage.
    • How to safely practice yin yoga through tuning into our subtle body languages.
    • How to discern between reactivity and response in developing a yin practice that supports you.

     

    To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: lytyoga.com/blog/category/podcasts/

     

    Resources:

  • 579. Wednesday Q&A: Nerve Pain with Myofascial Release Balls, Pilates vs. Yoga, & Fun Postural Exercises for Kids

     

    Welcome to Wednesday Q&A, where you ask questions and we answer them!

     

    In this Wednesday Q&A, we answer your questions about nerve pain with myofascial release balls, pilates vs. yoga, and fun postural exercises for kids. 

     

    Your questions:

    • I use a collection of balls for myofascial release. I use them everywhere for general conditioning. Several weeks ago, I noticed when I take one of the hardest, densest balls on the QL (quadratus lumborum), on the right side, which I’ve always done, I feel a nervy kind of pain into the gluteus medius. I don’t feel any pain during my yoga practice or with any activity, not with yoga or walking or running or dance. Any thoughts?
    • Can you tell us your thoughts on pilates versus yoga?
    • My daughter is five and super active. She loves climbing, jumping, and running. Nevertheless, she has quite rounded shoulders. Are there any fun moves you would recommend for kids to prevent rounded shoulders and slouching?, I see more and more kids already sticking out their belly and butt, which might lead to anterior pelvic tilt in the long run. What are fun ways to strengthen the deep core musculature and help their posture from such a young age?

     

    ** Joseph Pilates did not earn a degree or certification in physical therapy. However, he was self-educated in anatomy, bodybuilding, boxing, wrestling, yoga, gymnastics, and martial arts. And at the outbreak of World War I, he was in England and became a nurse-physiotherapist to his fellow interns who were sick or injured. 

     

    To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: lytyoga.com/blog/category/podcasts/

     

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  • 578. Monthly Motivation: Top 10 Tips for Getting Back Into a Movement Practice

     

    This month Lara helps us all out with her top 10 tips for getting back into a movement practice. Maybe you aren’t moving as much as you used to anymore. Listen in to hear some great ideas of how to get moving again. You deserve to move! Your body is designed to move and it needs movement to feel great. 

     

    1 – Remember your why

    2 – Plan your approach

    3 – Be creative, yet consistent

    4 – Appreciate your body

    5 – Avoid comparisons

    6 – Capitalize on what motivates you

    7 – Schedule and execute on Monday

    8 – Recruit some help, if you need it

    9 – Focus on the feeling

    10 – Use really powerful and helpful tools to keep you motivated

     

    To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: lytyoga.com/blog/category/podcasts/

     

    Resources:

     

  • 577. How to Become One with Your Sleep with Devin Burke

    577. How to Become One with Your Sleep with Devin Burke

    Sleep. Everyone needs it, but not everyone gets it. We’re talking good, quality, restful sleep. Devin Burke, a sleep expert, was first introduced to this extremely complex phenomenon when doing some research for a friend. The only solution he found was sleeping pills. Refusing to believe this was the answer, Devin found himself going down the rabbit hole of how sleep is the foundation of health and what people can do to improve it.

     

    In this episode, Lara talks with Devin about insomnia, the many different forms it can take, and practices people can incorporate into their lifestyles to get better sleep. Along the way, you’ll learn the myths society spreads and how quality sleep can be attained with a little biological and psychological mindfulness.

     

    In this episode, you’ll learn:

    • The different types of insomnia and what they mean
    • How to evaluate your feelings and improve your sleep health 
    • How meditation and mindfulness can help you dig deeper 

     

     

    Resources Mentioned:

     

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    Sponsors:

    • Shop my favorite 100% Science-Backed Amino Acid Supplements. Enter code “LYT” to save 30%. aminoco.com/LYT
    • Visit tryveganmealprep.com and get 25% off your first order with promo code LYTYOGA

  • 576. Wednesday Q&A: Breathing Patterns & Weightlifting

     

    Welcome to Wednesday Q&A, where you ask questions and we answer them!

     

    In this Wednesday Q&A, we answer your questions about breathing patterns and weightlifting. 

     

    Your questions:

    • My dad died last week. I sat with him the three days before he passed. As he lost responsivenes halfway through the first day, he began a labored breathing. The hospice nurse called it breath starvation. He was gurgling on inhaling like a wet snore. He worked steadily with each breath, as you can imagine, someone bailing a sinking boat. He had no choice but to keep at it. Whereas for a healthy person, the diaphragm descends on inhale, pushing the belly out, and rises on exhale and the belly collapses. Dad’s reversed its action. His chest rose with each struggle to inhale and his belly expanded with the exhale. The next morning, they gave him a medicine to dry him up and his breathing became less labored. And the movement of his diaphragm was less obvious. Do you know why the diaphragm reverses its movement when someone struggles to breathe? 
    • When doing abdominals work, why breathe out as you lift up?
    • Is weightlifting still important to do, even if you do LYT? 

     

    To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: lytyoga.com/blog/category/podcasts/

     

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  • 575. Where English and Yoga Unite with Annemiek Dunhof

    575. Where English and Yoga Unite with Annemiek Dunhof

     

    Join Lara for a chat with Annemiek Dunhof, founder of Engaunite, which combines speaking English and teaching yoga. Annie has a background as both an English teacher and a yoga instructor. She discovered a niche in combining these two skill sets to help people who speak other languages teach yoga in English in order to maximize their reach in the world. She has developed both in-person and online courses to guide people to become more comfortable with teaching in English so they can have more freedom in where and who they teach. 

     

    In this episode, you’ll learn:

    • About teaching English to multilingual yogis 
    • About learning business skills
    • About finding courage in being yourself as a yoga teacher

     

    To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: lytyoga.com/blog/category/podcasts/

     

    Resources:

  • 574. Wednesday Q&A: Knee Pain from Cycling, LYT Love, & Dowager’s Hump

     

    Welcome to Wednesday Q&A, where you ask questions and we answer them!

     

    In this Wednesday Q&A, we answer your questions about knee pain from cycling, LYT love, and dowager’s hump.

     

    Your questions:

    • I took up cycling in February of this year and LOVED IT, so had cycled most days since then as I use it to commute across London to my classes. This was up until about a month ago when I started to experience tenderness in what I believe to be my quadriceps tendon. Initially, the pain wasn’t so bad and I noticed that my bike seat had slipped down slightly. So assuming this was the problem, I shifted it back into place and continued to cycle. However, following that, the pain suddenly worsened in my right knee and I’m now taking time away from the bike to let the tendon heal; at one point, I couldn’t bend the knee more than 90 degrees. It felt like a tight pressure right above the knee being squashed. The pain seems to be easing now, although definitely doesn’t feel linear. I’m working on strengthening the muscles around the knee, the glutes, the hip flexors, the hamstrings, and trying to work out why this happened. I know it could be my bike positioning, so that is something I’m going to take a look at once it feels safe to get back on the bike just to see how I’m riding. But I’m wondering if there are mechanics elsewhere in the chain that I should be looking at. I have pretty good ankle dorsiflexion and hip flexion, but maybe I’m lacking strength in one of these areas. Any help on how to rehab the knee as well as how to tell where the imbalance is coming from would be massively appreciated. 
    • LYT has changed my life. How do you all keep giving so much?
    • What are the best poses for dowagers hump?

     

    To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: lytyoga.com/blog/category/podcasts/

     

    Do you have a question?

     

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