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Do You Have a “Triage Yoga” Routine?
In catastrophes and medical emergencies, caregivers rely on a process called triage. Stemming from the early 1800’s, triage is a method of prioritizing the care of many people based on the severity of injuries and conditions. Triage allows doctors to make very difficult decisions in the moment, so they can do the most good. If […]
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“People aren’t broken. It’s our society:” An interview with Felicia Savage Friedman
I rolled out my mat and gathered yoga props for Felicia Savage Friedman’s class at the Kingsley Association Center, a community organization in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood. The class operates with different rules than I’m used to; people can come and go as they please. We are about 15 minutes into the practice when the last […]
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Being a Big Baby
Why is it a good idea to let babies play with blocks? It’s a mostly neurological one. Stacking blocks, creating new shapes, seeing how gravity works; this all adds variety to the baby’s world and fuels development of their interactions in it. Toys allow babies to develop their motor control. Playing with objects increases their […]
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“Acknowledgements” from the Frameworks 300 manual
Too often I had assumed that others knew the intensity of my appreciation for them, only to discover otherwise. —Marshall Rosenberg, Nonviolent Communication My journey as a yoga teacher was picked for me by a random series of fortuitous events. My first class was at the X Shadyside, which, back in 2003, had the foresight […]
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Life Half-Dead: A Valentine’s Day Post
I turned 40 last year. Even if I’m lucky and try to keep myself in good health, I’m halfway done. This Valentine’s Day post begins with the Pali Canon, the earliest collection of Buddhist scriptures. It starts with the most evocative description of death I’ve ever read. Buddha is speaking to the king and describes […]
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Teach Yoga Effectively; Avoid these Seven Phrases in Class
As yoga teachers, we want to make the practice as clear as we can. But there are several common ways of speaking in a yoga class that make the instructions confusing. I’ve identified seven phrases we can toss out to make our teaching more effective. This list comes from the ‘Vocal Communication’ chapter in my […]
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Is your yoga teacher a wanna-be cult leader? Ask this question.
It’s reasonable to assume there are no simple answers when it comes to self-inquiry. Each of us has our own unique experience. Teaching and sharing our experiences in a yoga class isn’t easy. Some teachers rise to the challenge and become dynamic, thoughtful teachers. These teachers are dedicated to self-study, which means they are also […]
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Frameworks 300 reading list
Frameworks 300 is dedicated to both offering a broad educational experience and providing resources for trainees to go deep into subjects that interest them most. Below is the list of the required and recommended books. What do I mean by recommended? Simply, I recommend them! Many of the books are being used as reference material […]
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Empathy on World Kindness Day
Today is World Kindness Day, which for 19 years has been suggesting we explore the question “What does kindness mean to us?” It comes in many forms. For me, the most intriguing is empathy. It started with a conversation my wife and I had over the defintion. We realized we had different notions of what […]
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Fall Sequence for Warmth and Grounding
Autumn: It’s hot, cold, windy, calm, clear, and rainy all in one season. It’s a time where the fiery summer gives way to dry, airy elements. In Ayurvedic terms, Autumn is vata, the air/ether quality. When in balance, vata tendencies include lightness and adaptability. Too much vata results in light-headedness, irritability and ungroundedness. I’ve designed […]
Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga 