• QUOTES:
  • Leslie Kaminoff: “There are correct ways to do techniques. There is no one right way to breathe.”
  • Leslie Kaminoff: “What we are after in our Yoga practice is freedom. One of the first things to get free from is the idea that there is a *right* way.”
  • Leslie Kaminoff: “The benefit of learning a new breathing technique is unlearning your old way of breathing.”
  • Leslie Kaminoff: “Yoga is not about doing the asanas; it’s about undoing what’s in the way of the asanas.”
  • Amy Matthews, paraphrasing Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen: “Alignment is a clear pathway of weight passing through balanced joint spaces.”
  • Amy Matthews, paraphrasing Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen: “Healthy movement is well-distributed: a little bit of movement from a lot of places.”
  • Conversely, Leslie Kaminoff says “Unhealthy movement is too much movement coming from too few places repeated too many times (repetitive stress).”
  • Leslie Kaminoff: “In yoga we’re not looking to add anything that is missing from the system. It’s to focus on what is still going right in the body and help unblock what is in the way.”
  • Leslie Kaminoff on teaching bandhas: “If you’re going to ask someone to engage a muscle, you better make sure they can release it first or it’s just tension on top of tension.”
  • T.K.V. Desikachar: “Your yoga practice must always be a little more clever than your habits (tapas).”
  • T.K.V. Desikachar: “Yoga is relationship.”
  • T.K.V. Desikachar: “The recognition of confusion is a form of clarity.”
  • T.K.V. Desikachar: “Without the breath it’s not Yoga.”

• WATCH/LISTEN:
  • Prana chant video
  • The Warrior Series: Upwardly Mobile video and article on Yoga Journal website
  • Tom Myers’ Deep Front Line dissection video
  • Gil Hedley’s YouTube channel
  • Breath-Centered Yoga with Leslie Kaminoff (DVD from Amazon)
  • Freeing the Breath: Health, Relaxation, and Clarity Through Better Breathing with Leslie Kaminoff (audio CD from Amazon)
  • Yoga Anatomy YouTube channel
  • Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing DVD (from Amazon)
  • Yoga Alliance’s Yoga Talks with Leslie Kaminoff on Regulation

• RECOMMENDED READING:
  • ANATOMY:
    • Yoga Anatomy, 2nd edition
    • Yoga Journal article: Anatomy 101: Understanding Your Tailbone by Amy Matthews and Leslie Kaminoff
    • More Leslie Kaminoff content on Yoga Journal
    • Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists by Thomas W. Myers
    • Cross-section comparison of the upper- and lower-abdominus:
      
  • HISTORY / BIOGRAPHY / PHILOSOPHY:
    • Sri T. Krishnamacharya’s history of classical alignment in the Yoga Makaranda, part I (PDF) and Yoga Makaranda, part II (PDF)
    • Religiousness in Yoga: Lectures on Theory and Practice by T.K.V.Desikachar
    • Claude Marechal’s article describing some of the teaching of Professor Krishnamacharya: Teachings
    • Health, Healing, and Beyond: Yoga and the Living Tradition of T. Krishnamacharya by T.K.V. Desikachar and R.H. Cravens
    • Yoga Yajnavalkya (PDF) or book, by A. G. Mohan
    • “Seizing the Whip: B. K. S. Iyengar and the Making of Modern Yoga” by Eric John Shaw, California Institute of Integral Studies, Asian and Comparative Studies
    • Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham
    • The “Yoga Sutra of Patanjali”: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books) by David Gordon White
    • Leslie’s original post on providing certificates. DOWNLOAD YOUR OWN CERTIFICATE HERE
    • Yoga Alliance “Statement on Yoga Therapy”
    • Leslie’s blog post from 2008: “I’m Not a Yoga Therapist Anymore“
    • Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice by Mark Singleton

  • SCIENCE / PAIN / MEDICINE:
    • John E. Sarno’s Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection
    • Spine research on Chirogeek.com
    • Paul Grilley’s Bone Photo Gallery
    • The Body Electric: Electromagnetism And The Foundation Of Life by Robert Becker and Gary Selden (Author
    • Scoliosis: Ellen Kiley’s story, LinkedIn (I can’t find a direct contact link)
  • YOGA PRACTICE:
    • The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice by T.K.V. Desikachar
    • Yoga for Wellness: Healing with the Timeless Teachings of Viniyoga by Gary Kraftsow

Leslie performing kapalabhati on a bathroom scale

Leslie Kaminoff performs kapalabhati on a bathroom scale, illustrating Sir Isaac Newton’s law: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Should We Keep Mula Bandha All The Time?

Have you heard advice about maintaining mula bandha all the time? Have you heard advice about maintaining any body position all the time? Join Leslie and students as they examine well-meaning advice, habits, and practices you can follow to honor the balance into your system.

Soma / Psyche – Introduction to a Talk by Frances Sommer Anderson

What is Flexibility, and How Much Do We Really Need?

Do you do yoga to live a better life, or do you live to do better yoga? Your answer may surprise you, and it will help you learn where to set healthy limits in your own practice.

Honesty in Yoga Credentialing

If you’re ready for a learning experience that will make you a more sought-after teacher, re-charge your personal practice, and change the way you think about yoga, breath, and movement, join our online community.