counterpose yoga

When I lived in NYC , I spent a year doing work study and taking Leslie Kaminoff’s Yoga Anatomy course. Kaminoff and his fellow Breathing Project colleague, Amy Matthews you may know from their  illustrated book on postures, movements and breathing techniques called, Yoga Anatomy. 

Kaminoff has been deemed the “accidental anatomist” by Yoga Journal. And I can attest that after some traumatic injuries from bike accidents, my body work sessions with him made clear that his tens of thousands of hours of experience have given him a deep understanding of breath & anatomy. In his anatomy course along with the community of practitioners and other teachers in attendance like Eddie Stern and Sadie Nardini, formed a learning environment that was instrumental to a shift in my understanding of a breath-based yoga practice.

In this snippet, he makes the point that often what makes sense choreographically and looks prettiest in the “flow” often is not the best next step to reset ourselves anatomically.

Kaminoff continues to conduct the course, and offers it online for those who can’t make it to New York.

Tags: Amy Matthews, Asana, breath, breath-centered practice, Breathing Project, counterpose, Eddie Stern, Leslie Kaminoff, NYC, Sadie Nardini, sequencing, shoulderstand, Yoga Anatomy