Foundations

Transform envy into a positive practice for finding—and fulfilling—your greatest potential with these six steps from Sally Kempton.

A onetime lawyer shares how yoga can help sustain human-rights advocates and workers.

Twisting poses are a top cause of SI joint injury. Learn how 
to safely anchor yourself before moving into your next twist.

How do you know if you've been in a pose too long? When you start to "sag," says Eddie Modestini, who will lead Yoga Journal's upcoming Vinyasa 101 course.

When it comes to injury prevention, what 
you do between poses may be as important as the poses themselves. Here’s how 
to flow safely through tricky transitions.

Yoga teacher Maggie DiPasquale say music is essential for setting the tone in teen yoga classes and offers tips for choosing songs that move teens.

Some students equate a good yoga class with a fast one, but moving too quickly can lead to injuries. Here, master teacher Eddie Modestini offers three signs it's time to slow down.

The yoga we practice today wouldn’t exist without 
these 14 pioneers, whose work first made yoga 
accessible to 20th-century Americans.

Take a look through 40 years of American yoga and how the practice has transformed our culture.

Every yogi, it seems, has a tale of a bum knee, shoulder, or hip. But getting injured in practice often means something is out of alignment.

Come celebrate yoga and the history of YJ with us this summer. We're kicking off a 40-day countdown to our big anniversary with the best of our archives and so much more.

Kathryn Budig wants to introduce you to her new love: Karate. Here, two kicks to get you started, paired with the perfect poses for the flexibility and strength required.

NASA rocket scientist/yoga teacher Scott Lewicki balances a highly technical day job with creativity on the mat. Use this innovative practice to find new space in often forgotten muscles.

Yoga’s hand expressions, mudras, are said to shift energies from what we might be experiencing to how we want to feel. Learn three you can use today.

Western research is now proving what yogis have known all along: Breathwork can deliver powerful mind and body benefits. In this three-part series, learn how and why to take better advantage of it both in practice and in life.

Using an aerial silk or hammock allows gravity to help the back leg relax and the spine to curve naturally. You’ll stop fighting gravity, and allow the support 
of the hammock to help you lengthen.

Aerial yoga combines 
acrobatic arts and anti-gravity asana, but
 it’s also an accessible 
practice that can help you find more length 
in your spine and safe 
alignment 
in your poses.

Advanced asana doesn't translate to advanced yoga. A longtime teacher explores both the relevance of advanced poses in practice and the potential risks of a purely physical pursuit.

Do you have open hips? While that might let you get into advanced postures, too much range of motion can actually work against you. Here are 3 steps to go from hypermobility to stability.

Learn more about the personal journey and vision of Melody Moore, PhD, RYT, who founded the Embody Love Movement in 2012 to use yoga as a transformational tool for embracing inner beauty.

Check out YJ Editors's author page.

Think you don't have time for yoga? Add this vinyasa right into your next workout, between sets of any exercise, to keep things interesting.

If you have questions, confusion, or general discomfort with chanting, San Francisco bhakti yoga teacher Janet Stone can answer them.

YJ LIVE! presenter Rolf Gates walks us through the nuances of designing a 7-part yoga sequence that touches on each of the seven chakras.

Master teacher Sianna Sherman created this short sunrise sequence integrating the physical and spiritual to take your practice to another level.

Get inspired by stories of yoga's power to heal the wounds of grief, physical disability, emotional trauma, and disease.

Turn to this pranayama practice in times of transformation to invoke Kali and free yourself from anything that's holding you back.

New research shows Bikram Yoga can lead to potentially dangerous high core body temperatures. Learn how to stay safe.

To outsiders yoga appears to be all about flexibility, but teacher Alexandria Crow says it’s so much more. (And yes, there is such a thing as too flexible.)

The name Bobbe Norrise might not ring a bell, but to the yogis of Oakland, CA, she’s been a cornerstone of the community for four decades. And today, we celebrate her.

Practice mindful anger management and open the door to better relationships with author Lama Surya Das’s “six Rs of intentional responsiveness.”

Anger is not synonymous with aggression and violence. It is merely an internal, organic energy and emotion. Learn how to simply experience it.

Use these five practices invoking Lakshmi to ignite your inner spark, find your radiant power of grace, and feel the ocean of abundance within you.

Your intuition is your innermost GPS and one of your greatest allies in life. Sianna Sherman teaches you how to cultivate it.

Worried you're not getting enough cardio? Research has found yoga has just as many heart-healthy benefits.

Try these three pre-and post-workout yoga practices from Sage Rountree’s new book to balance strength and fitness daily.

Recover from your workout with these six restorative poses from Sage Rountree’s new book that marry hip release and inversion to sweetly calm your nervous system.

The scandals that beset gurus John Friend and Bikram Choudhury continue to ripple through the yoga community, socially, financially, and ethically.

Try this floor-based Viniyoga Sun Salutation 
that takes weight-bearing out of the picture and pressure off your joints.

Try the Ashtanga sun salutation for a physically demanding practice that involves synchronizing the breath with near-constant movement in a series of postures.

This Kundalini Sun Salutation is tied to reverence and prayer and likely looks more like the Sun Salutation the rishis of old might have practiced.

Celebrate summer solstice with three 
innovative and inspiring Sun Salutation practices.

Healthy movement in your tailbone may 
influence your whole spine.

Rising yoga star, scholar, and our June Home Practice teacher Chelsea Jackson talks about her work with teenage girls in Atlanta, and the importance of diversity and embracing who you are.

Sianna Sherman introduces you to Durga and teaches you how to summon her strength in practice and in life.

California court ruling is big news. Charles Barkley shows off his vinyasa. And yoga for bigger bodies garners attention. Here, our YJ's picks for top-trending stories.

Discover your inner deity as you deepen your physical, mental, and spiritual practice with knowledge of mythic feminine power with master yoga teacher Sianna Sherman.

Prana Vinyasa founder Shiva Rea has an Earth Day eco-challenge for you: 10 body mudras and eco-actions to help you connect to the Earth.

Chad Dennis, yoga instructor to Maroon 5, created this soothing practice playlist to help bring you back to center anywhere.

Use these heart-opening poses to synchonize your yoga practice with the energy of the special pink full moon and lunar eclipse.

Your wrists bear weight in so many yoga poses—not to mention every time you do a vinyasa. These 8 poses can help you keep your wrists pain-free.

Here, insights and 
evidence from academics, yogis, and other experts in the fields of 
conscious living, social criticism, and neurology for the answer.

For a long time, just being involved in yoga made 
you a rebel. Now, these teachers are challenging the norms and changing the practice.

Wireless headphones meet asana. And it’s more than the next fad—it’s a pretty smart fix for a variety of teaching challenges.

A yoga and Buddhism teacher reveals ways to transform your personal struggles into an opportunity for healing others.

Practicing the principle of non-harming can trigger dissonance in omnivores. Here, thoughts on reconciling your diet with your practice.

Want to mix up your yoga practice? Try this Iyengar yoga class that focuses on correct alignment through ropes and anchors.

In honor of Brain Injury Awareness month, former pro snowboarder Kevin Pearce talks about how key the practice is to his ongoing brain injury recovery.

Why try Acro? In short: Fun. This hybrid style mixes acrobatics and healing arts like Thai massage with a practice that helps connect you with others.

During this 10-minute guided meditation, you’ll practice a visualization exercise designed to help you develop care and compassion for yourself.

Have an anxious or traumatized pet? Some say chanting yogic mantras helps dogs and cats feel safe and soothes their frazzled nerves.

Positive emotions can alter your inner chemistry from stress-fueled adrenaline and cortisol to oxytocin and other healing neurochemicals.

Although standing orients your spine into proper posture, standing for too long can cause back pain. Incorporating a yoga routine can help relieve pain.

Does Downward-Facing Dog lead you straight to the devil? It can, according to a priest in Northern Ireland. Here's why that's ridiculous.

No energy to set up for restorative yoga? Plug yourself into a wall and reboot with Kathryn Budig's simple poses.

Consciousness is tied to life force (prana). Both are tied to motion and stillness. Linking the breath with movement creates a healing meditation in motion.

Allow our yoga advice to fuel your love life. Let your practice deepen your knowledge of love and enrich your ability to share it with your partner.

Alexandria Crow says she owes all of the tools she has to use and teach with today to regular practice. Skipping it is just not an option.

Feel antsy every time you chant Om? Learn from writer Yelena Moroz Alpert's experience with this how-to guide and demo video.

Bringing her Hispanic roots, love of ancient yogic texts, and passion for creative movement, this Miami native has rocked the yoga world.

It’s not likely to get an infection from a yoga mat, but that doesn’t mean those studio mats are clean.

This five-part series explores the insight "American Sniper" offers into the yoga of war, the mind of a veteran, and the practices crucial to finding the next mission.

A Nebraska-based yogini finds her groove bringing rock ‘n’ roll to yoga.

Writer Heidi Hillman suspects her daughter is a Zen master in disguise. Could the key to the practice of parenting be maintaining a curious, student's mind?

If your knees don’t touch the ground, your hips are not ready for lotus pose. Learn how to protect your ankles and prep for the pose.

Integrate your entire being from head to toe to experience a vast connection between your innermost self and all things.

Use this practice to open and build awareness in your ajna chakra to begin to see everything in your life more clearly.

A well-tuned asana practice can free up energy and stimulate imbalanced chakras, paving the way for that wonderful internal shift for which yoga is known.

Work with the visuddha chakra to create spaciousness around the throat and neck, through which profound spiritual truths can flow.

Pose, sequence, and wisdom highlights from internationally renowned Yoga Journal LIVE! presenters in San Francisco, CA, Jan 15–19, 2015.