Fix Your F*ckin’ Feet
The Shala Daily

Fix Your F*ckin’ Feet

Stronger hips. FASTER race times.

DEEPER leg behind the head. Well, it all starts at the feet.

Below is an easy-to-follow Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) sequence focused on ankle stability that pulls heavily from Ashtanga Tech’s Range‑Conditioning material and standard FRC practice (PAILs / RAILS, CARs, end‑range conditioning). I’ve given step‑by‑step cues, timings, equipment options, regressions/progressions, and a ready-to-run 15‑minute version. Where possible I point to the Ashtanga Tech pages (note: many study‑guide pages require membership) and to open FRC references for the protocols.

The Shala Daily

Vairagya and Variables: Seeing Clearly in Practice

Just Because Two Things Happen Together Doesn’t Mean They’re Connected (Or: Why Sarah’s New Shoes Aren’t a Scientific Discovery) In systems thinking, causal independence means: if one thing doesn’t cause another, they’re not truly connected—no matter how often they happen together. Like Sarah. She grew taller and started school at the same time. That doesn’t…

The Shala Daily

Finding Your Practice Rhythm Year-Round

Many of you have asked about structuring your practice around trips to Mysore—or more importantly, how to create sustainable training cycles when annual trips to India aren’t part of your reality. Let me share how I’ve applied basic athletic training principles to organize my own practice year, and how you might think about doing the…

The Shala Daily

CSF, Glymphatics, and Brain Health

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the glymphatic system are central to how the brain clears metabolic waste. Emerging research links efficient CSF circulation and glymphatic clearance to better cognitive health, and shows that sleep, cardiovascular rhythms, posture, movement and certain breathing patterns influence those flows. For teachers and experienced practitioners, understanding these mechanisms helps you design…

Lotus in the Snow
The Shala Daily

Lotus in the Snow

Below is a focused, safe, evidence-informed 25‑minute session you can do twice a week to build the mobility, end‑range control, and tissue resilience needed for Padmāsana (Lotus). Before you start: check for any knee or hip pain (especially inside the knee). If you have prior knee/hip surgery or current pain, get clearance from a clinician…

Kundalini and Cerebrospinal Fluid
The Shala Daily

Kundalini and Cerebrospinal Fluid

Metaphor Meets Mechanism Kundalini imagery—an ascending current of life force rising the length of the spine—has long been a central motif in classical yoga. For teachers and senior practitioners who work with breath, bandhas, and spinal mobilization, a compelling modern question arises: can some aspects of the kundalini narrative be read as a metaphor for…

The Shala Daily

What is Insight?

There’s a moment in every yoga practitioner’s life—usually somewhere between your third attempt at Marichyasana D and your first truly calm Savasana—when something clicks. It’s not a stretch, not a pose, not even a breath. It’s a flash of understanding that doesn’t come from reading or reasoning but from seeing. That’s what we call insight.