Kino MacGregor

Yoga Poses

Tripod Headstand Blog

Yoga Poses

Top 10 Yoga Postures for Strength

Yoga is more than just stretching and relaxation. Daily yoga practice includes a comprehensive system that builds strength in the body and mind. My journey in yoga has been from weakness to strength in every sense possible. There are some key postures that helped me access the deep reservoir of inner fortitude that every person…

Yoga Poses

Balance in Your Center | Utthista Hasta Pandangusthasana (Extended Hand to Big Toe Pose)

Balance is first and foremost a state of mind. Once the mind is balanced and calm that state of inner calm is expressed through body in ease and flow through movement. In the balancing postures of the Ashtanga Yoga method both the physical limits of your muscular capacity and the mental limits of your sense…

Yoga Poses

The Perfect Hip Opener To Boost Your Yoga Practice

Watching some yogis put their leg behind their head is a little bit like a circus trick. Attempting to put your own leg behind your head is more like a mysterious journey into the center of your being. In order to fully access the full movement of your hips the yoga practice presents a series…

Yoga Poses

Have Faith and Jump Through

The mystery of lifting your body off the ground in the yoga practice is both seductive and elusive. When you can hold your body weight off the ground in powerful arm balances your confidence increases. But when you cannot find the way towards strength you hit a wall that feels insurmountable every time you practice. Rather than…

Yoga Poses

Flatten Your Back Like a Tortoise: Kurmasana

Kurmasana The Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series is a demanding full body cleanse that takes a little over 90 minutes to fully practice. Halfway through the series is a challenging posture that many students get stuck at for years called Kurmasana position. Kurmasana means tortoise posture and in order to get fully into the posture you have learn how to…

Yoga Poses

Twisting for Beginners

Twisting postures cleanse the body from the inside out. By building both the strength and flexibility to twist your torso all the inner organs get to be more limber. Flexible organs are healthy organs that function at their best capacity. Part of the powerful detoxification that happens in yoga is through twisting. For beginners to the…

Yoga Poses

Core Strength in Navasana

Whenever I teach a Guided Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series class, there is one posture is almost universal in its ability to test the limits of strength: Navasana, Boat Posture. It demands so much core strength that when repeated five times, it feels like a mini-marathon right in the middle of a very long practice. In…

Yoga Poses

Core Strength and Legs in Tittibhasana By Kino MacGregor

Many people think that arm balances are all in the arms, but every part of the body is responsible for lifting itself. When working on the strength postures in the Ashtanga Yoga Second Series remember to utilize the whole body and integrate the core with the strength of the arms. In the posture called Tittibhasana, or Firefly, a strong…

Yoga Poses

A Cheap Trick: Handstand, Backbends & the Deeper Dimension of Yoga.

Magic trick or true spiritual practice? Stuck on a transit train in Dallas airport during a tight connection I found myself staring anxiously at the time above the monitor. I boarded the train at Terminal D and was going to Terminal C. If I remembered my alphabet correctly C and D should be right next…