Frequently Asked Questions:

Resources & Advice

Teaching Tools

Where do Leslie & Amy’s teaching tools come from?

Where do Leslie & Amy get the cool tools & toys they use for demonstrations in class?

Here’s a short list of specific tools we get asked about all the time, and some general website recommendations at the bottom...

Flexible Spine
Real Bones
Keystone Arch Puzzle
Balance Ball

When in doubt, this is where we shop:

http://www.a3bs.com/
http://www.sawbones.com/

Education

“Leslie, what Teacher Training Program do you recommend?“

Leslie believes that one of the most important components in your growth as a yoga educator is your relationship with your teacher. For this reason, Leslie does not recommend specific programs, but instead recommends thinking about these questions while you’re choosing a program:

Rather than looking for a perfect fit, ask whether the training program’s philosophy resonates with you enough so you feel comfortable absorbing the knowledge being offered, while leaving enough space to question that knowledge when it doesn’t resonate.
Does this philosophy seem to tell you what you should be thinking or feeling? Whatever the answer, is that okay with you?
Do the instructors seem to be open to critical feedback, or do they appear to require unquestioning compliance?

“Everyone needs a starting point, and ‘teacher training’ should really be named ‘instructor training’ in my opinion. The most important thing is to graduate with the tools you need to begin leading classes, so you can start to gain the experience that will eventually result in you developing your own voice. Then, you will be a teacher.”
- Leslie

Aches & Pains

“Help! Here’s my condition, please tell me what to do...”

Leslie loves to help out. In fact, he is also a bodyworker and helps people out with all kinds of challenges.

In service of teaching, there there are many kinds of information that can be effectively shared online.

Unfortunately, though, the internet is not conducive to offering specific advice on individual conditions.

It’s difficult enough to diagnose and trouble-shoot an issue in person. Over email, it’s dangerous at worst, and irresponsible at best. Thanks for understanding why we respectfully decline to offer medical advice online.

We do encourage you to reach out to your local community of yoga therapists, bodyworkers, physical therapists, etc. And do take the time to get multiple opinions, particularly if someone is recommending surgery.

We wish you luck and hope you’ll find ease with whatever is challenging you.

“How can I manage my scoliosis with yoga?”

First I’ll mention that from basic anatomy studies it’s not possible to offer a sophisticated therapeutic plan - and that scoliosis manifests differently in each person. Even if two people have the same degrees and kinds of curvatures, their bodies will develop very different patterns around those curvatures.

I’d suggest (as I almost always do) that people start by finding the pathways of weight through the spine (which is still possible when there’s curvatures), then through the lower limbs and upper limbs.

Then look for balanced joint space in those pathways of weight . . . As we get to know how our bones relate to each other, they (the bones) often have their own contribution to the conversation about what needs to happen! And then you might be able to feel for yourself when it’s helpful to practice asymmetrically, and when symmetrically.

- Amy Matthews, Leslie's co-teacher on YogaAnatomy.net Fundamentals, and lead teacher at EmbodiedAnatomy.net

“How can I fix a repetitive stress injury?”

When there’s injury from repetitive movement, knowing the anatomy is just a starting point, though the process of learning and embodying can be very helpful in understanding and changing un-helpful patterns!

There’s a million (or more) ways that a joint or muscle could be injured from repetitive movement, and so many many kinds of asana practice...

I would start from looking for at how the weight is traveling through the bones, and where balanced joint space is clear, and where it’s more challenged.