Meet Dagmar Khan, a member of our international teaching team who leads weekly Yoga Tune Up® & Therapeutic Yoga classes throughout Ireland (Waterford, Dublin, Cork, Limerick) and YTU trainings in Europe.
How did you discover Yoga Tune Up® and why did you decide to become a teacher?
I came across YTU after purchasing Jill Miller’s Shoulder Shape Up DVD. The sequences and techniques intrigued me as years of chronic shoulder tension and despair began to vanish. The deeper I dove into YTU, the more I realized how smart this work is and how profound of an impact it has on the lasting structural health of my body. This was my fuel to bring YTU to my area and my community, to empower my clients to become “masters” of their bodies and learn Self-Care Health Care first hand.
What advice would you give a new student just starting a YTU practice?
No matter where you are right now- whether you are someone who has suffered with pain for a while, are yogi interested in learning smarter ways to practice your asanas, or are an office jockey who ‘’kneads’’ to take care of your back- have trust in yourself, this practice, and its lasting effect on your body.
The change you will see and experience with YTU may or may not be swift, but that is not where it ends….the more you engage with YTU and make it part of your movement practice, the more health, wellness and balance you will experience in your life. YTU is a skill that lasts for a lifetime.
The Yoga Tune Up motto is “Live better in your body”. What does that mean to you?
Living better in my body is place of ease, pain-free wellness, balance in my body and steadiness in my mind. It is a process which continually helps me to soothe my aching soul, unravel emotional trauma, conquer physical and emotional roadblocks and build body that is joy to live in.
If you could only choose one YTU movement or therapy ball technique to take with you on a desert island, what would it be?
My ‘’must-have’’ thing is bridge based uddiayana bandha (upward abdominal lock). Stretching and mobilizing my diaphragm helped me to unlock years of tension, emotional abuse and food addiction which resulted in serious IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). Uddiayana is my ‘’personal safe island’’- no matter how busy, demanding or packed my schedule is, upward abdominal lock gives me access to more suppleness and enhanced pliability in my gut. My core has never felt so alive and my digestion has never been better. Goodbye indigestion pills!
In the video below, Dagmar offers one of her favorite moves to release tension in the inner thighs to help with happy knees:
More information on Dagmar Khan and her teaching schedule can be found here and at www.dagmarkhan.com.
@Megan- well done on your embodied journey. Can not wait to hear how your journey unfolds……
I think its fairly common that the adductors are weak, yes? As we mobilize the tissue, we are relieving the tension of the muscles that are weak, yes? Is the idea that releasing this tissue will help to rebalance the seating of the femur on top of the tibia?
As as much as this helps, strengthening is probably the next step?
I do want to say, Dagmar, I love that you shared your story, reading these transformation pieces always make we well up with emotion and I feel as if I can truly connect through compassion and relation. I, too, am feeling more steady in my mind as my body awakens and sheds it’s baggage in all bodies I embody 🙂
Yes, knee traction is terrific for easing knee pain, and your warriors will be singing praises as well!
Does the knee traction excise helps with knee pain or is it mostly to release tension on the inner thighs? And will this help to improve posture in yoga posses like Warrior 1, 2 and 3?