Tune Up Fitness® Self Care Blog

I lead a double life.  That may be slightly dramatic, but I work as a building contractor before slipping on the spandex on to teach or practice yoga in the evenings. During the day, I am either behind my desk or…

A new student approached me with soreness in the low back and sacrum.  She had previously dealt with a sciatic pain and recognized that this was not the same. She was very dedicated to her health and fitness and routinely exercised…

If I had a nickel for every time I heard “sore lower back” when asking students about injuries or limitations I would own a small island in the Caribbean! In our modern lives, most of us are in near constant hip…

According to YogaJournal.com Iyengar Yoga teacher Aadil Palkhivala, “‘Nama’ means bow, ‘as’ means I, and ‘te’ means you. Therefore, Namaste literally means ‘bow me you’ or ‘I bow to you.’” But not all yogis say Namaste. The Kundalini yogis actually say “sat nam,”…

The first time I took a live yoga class, at age 12 or 13, I remember hearing some strange, prayer-like, exotic word come out of my teacher’s mouth. Everyone echoed it back, and it made me uncomfortable. It didn’t stop me from…

During my weeklong Yoga Tune Up® Teacher Training with Jill in Hamilton, Ontario this summer, I experienced an awakening of my obliques.  I think of it as my “aha, hello obliques!” moment. I consider myself an active person.  I go to…

The obliques are a part of our abdominal muscle group, which also includes the rectus abdominus (the six pack muscles) and the transverse abdominus (Elvis belt).  The obliques are comprised of the internal and external obliques.  Our abdominal organs rely on…

Peep into any of the thousands of yoga classes across the globe and you will find that students are donning more than just yoga outfits. In addition to the latest leggings and tank tops by Zobha, Gaiam and Alo, you’ll also find students of every…

I once got a dream job thanks to the latissimus dorsi muscle. I kid you not. It happened during a beginner inversions class that opened with the mechanics of downward facing dog and ended with a fun, partnered half-handstand at the…