Yoga Starts With a Good Foundation; the Benefits of a Yoga 101 Workshop

Yoga Starts With a Good Foundation; the Benefits of a Yoga 101 Workshop

Shiva Rea is coming to Yoga Tree!

The one and only Shiva Rea is coming here to our humble Yoga Tree home this weekend.  With Los Angeles as her home base and a non-stop traveling and teaching schedule, we are fortunate to host Shiva for an 8 hour intensive this weekend at the Castro studio.  Read more →

How to Make the Kitchen Your Friend

How to Make the Kitchen Your Friend
By Darshana Weill

Food Freedom Coach and Yoga Teacher

Growing up with a stay at home mom I had mixed feelings. On one hand it was awesome to have mom around all the time, helping me with all the little things, dedicating herself to my interests and hobbies by bringing me to dance classes and friends houses and being the support a young girl needs to navigate the world.

On the other hand I saw that the life of a stay at home mom included a lot of laundry, cleaning and worst of all cooking. Read more →

Pose of the Month: Goddess Pose

Pose of the Month:
Goddess Pose
By Chrisandra Fox Walker

This month’s Goddess Pose honors the sacred feminine through embracing wholeness and the many life-giving aspects of the divine.

Goddess Pose, also called Victory Squat and Utkata Konasana (Fierce Angle Pose) strengthens the lower body, activates the core, releases the breath in the abdomen and helps to integrate the upper and lower energy centers of the body.
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Confessions of a Yogi: This was easier when I was skinny!

I didn’t realize how much weight I’d gained until I attempted to move into a bind in class a few weeks ago. I thought at first that my alignment was off, but, as I attempted to rebuild the pose, it hit me: I couldn’t work my way into Badda Uttihita Parsvakonasana because it wasn’t physically possible. It’s straight up math. I’ve put on 25 pounds, and as such, the circumference of my body now exceeds the length of my arms. Read more →

Yoga Tree Supports Pregnancy Awareness Month in May

Yoga Tree is thrilled to be a part of  Pregnancy Awareness Month this coming May 2012. To commemorate the month-long celebration, Yoga Tree is offering classes and special workshops for the entire month. Workshops are being taught by the Director of Prenatal Programming, Jane Austin, Britt Fohrman, Gingi Allen, Kat Atkinson and Katie Louderback, both in San francisco and the East Bay. Read more →

Tuning Into the Present Moment through Sensory Experience

by John Rettger

Yoga and mindfulness practices keep us grounded and centered amid the ever-changing conditions of the world around us. In this article, I offer a meditation practice exploring the five senses as anchors for present moment awareness and experiencing. Read more →

Marichyasana III (Pose dedicated to the sage Marichi)

Sweet April showers
Do spring May flowers.

 —Thomas Tusser, A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry

Where Spring is blooming, all of nature is hinting at renewal.  Fruit trees burst into bright pink and white blossoms, birdsong awakens the early riser and the light of day stretches longer toward night. Rain showers quicken to heavy storms, followed by sunshine and more bursts of vibrancy. With so many twists and turns in the rhythm of this season, Spring is an ideal time to cleanse, purify, and renew the body, heart and spirit. Read more →

Are You A Conscious Eater?

As a yogi are you searching for something? What are you looking to cultivate? Why do you get on your mat each month? Each week? Each day? Why do you keep coming back? I wonder, is it to become conscious?  I have been thinking about this word, consciousness, a lot lately and to be honest I’m a bit confused.  Is the aim to be conscious? Or is consciousness like a boat ride we go on to change states of being?

My mission in life is to help women bridge the gap between yoga and food. It seems that while ON the mat many people get behind the notion of being self-aware.  They then go to their kitchens and forget to stay present with themselves. Read more →

Pincha Mayurasana: Feathered Peacock Pose (Forearm balance)

Pose of the Month: Pincha Mayurasana: Feathered Peacock Pose (Forearm balance)
By Chrisandra Fox Walker

The month of March is a natural dawn for sloughing off the dark and heavy of winter and embracing the light and radiant color of early Spring. With growing warmth and light-filled days, we tend to feel active and playful, especially after a long winter’s slumber. This month’s pose will help revitalize you physically, emotionally and mentally and awaken you to a lighter, clearer and more vital sense of well-being. Read more →