Translating Yoga Lingo 101

Translating Yoga Lingo 101

If you're familiar with the Upper West Side yoga scene in Manhattan, you probably hear a slew of confusing yoga phraseology every day. Words like Iyengar, Bikram, and Vinyasa flow are either part of your daily vocabulary or the reason you haven't ventured into a yoga class yet. It's intimidating enough to put on those spandex pants and wander into a room full of super fit UWS yoga aficionados, but add in Sanskrit and you'll find your new Lululemon pants never make it inside a studio. Here's a little guide to help you translate your way into a yoga class. 

Sprains and Strains

Sprains and Strains

We've all been there. You're playing tennis in Riverside Park one Friday after work and you are about to send a glorious backhand sailing over the net, when out of nowhere a tennis ball makes its way under your foot and you crash, in all your glory, to the ground. You know before you even try to stand up  your ankle has twisted and you see crutches in your imminent future. 

The Geometry of Running

The Geometry of Running

Once you're comfortable with that idea (running is falling forward!) you can start to take a look at stride angles. The stride angle is the angle of opening between the legs, measured from the hips to the knees. The larger the stride angle, the more ground a runner can cover. Studies have shown that for every one degree you increase you stride angle, you increase your stride length by two percent. It doesn't sound like much, but when you're running a race and your stride angle is six degrees larger than your opponent's, that means you're covering twelve percent more ground than the guy next to you. Good luck keeping up with that.

Physical Therapy for Hip Labral Repair

Physical Therapy for Hip Labral Repair

When bones break they begin to bleed and clot, which then starts to slowly calcify and turn to bone itself until the break is completely healed. Unlike bone, cartilage has almost no potential to begin a self-healing process. To heal a tear in the cartilage, like a hip labral tear, you either need to undergo surgery or, in certain cases, a comprehensive physical therapy program. 

Achilles Tendon Physical Therapy

Achilles Tendon Physical Therapy

A tear in the Achilles can feel like a shot up your calf as the connective tendon snaps and releases the tension it creates between the base of your muscle and top of your heel. As with a meniscus tear, you might be able to address this injury with a carefully thought out physical therapy plan and avoid surgery altogether. Which is, as always, where Sloane Stecker Physical Therapy comes into the picture!

Three Tips to Master Bakasana

Three Tips to Master Bakasana

Everyone loves the elusive bakasana (crow pose) that seems to regularly appear during your standard Vinyasa yoga class. And who would blame them? Crow pose is a challenge, builds stamina and strength, helps the practitioner engage bandhas, and it just looks really, really cool.

Unfortunately sometimes the vision of your perfect bakasana is easier to dream up then it is to manifest and you wind up with buckling arms and a face full of your mat. With these three tips you should be able to skillfully make your way into a firm, graceful bakasana with just a little determination and consistent practice. 

Meniscus Tears and Physical Therapy: To Operate or Not to Operate?

Meniscus Tears and Physical Therapy: To Operate or Not to Operate?

At a certain point it seems like no one is exempt from a certain amount of knee pain. Whether you're older, younger, an athlete, or just a regular Joe-- you'll likely have an issue with your knees at some point in your life. The damage can be from a sports related accident, even stepping down the stairs wrong could do it, or the damage could be unavoidable degenerative effects of your day to day activities. The question then becomes: To operate or not to operate? Ultimately the decision is one you should carefully ponder with your specialist, but we do have a solid argument for physical therapy sans surgery to consider as you're weighing your options.

Physical Therapy for Shoulder Damage

Physical Therapy for Shoulder Damage

Rotator cuff repairs are another relatively common injury and studies are showing that great physical rehab programs are just as important as a great surgeon. Getting you back to sport, the daily grind, and basically back to your active and happy life is always our focus. There are a variety of reasons you might be experiencing shoulder pain and while you might not always need surgery, you always need physical therapy. Our physical therapy programs for frozen shoulders, shoulder repair, arthritis and rotator cuff repair are all supported by one thing you won't find at just any physical therapy office in New York-- our amazing Noraxon technology. 

Sunset Stretch Yoga Thursday's 6:30 to 7:30 PM

Sunset Stretch Yoga Thursday's 6:30 to 7:30 PM

Check out our new Sunset and Stretch classes at Sloane Stecker Lincoln Square on Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. Early bird gets the worm when you pre-register: $35 two-for-one. This class is guaranteed to have you sleeping better, operating more smoothly, and generally radiating happiness in no time. See you there!

Yoga for Mobility

Yoga for Mobility

Yoga for runners. Yoga and Chocolate. Foam and Flow (beer+yoga). You name it, there's a yoga practice for it. What happened to yoga for health and mobility? There's almost never going to be a reason in your life to execute a perfect Surya Namaskara A, but you are going to have to get a cup out of a high shelf on the daily for many, many years to come and that's where the perfect Surya Namaskara A comes into play. You can do yoga cause it's a killer workout or because the tops are super cute, but here's three unexpected ways a yoga practice will keep you in your best body for the rest of your life.

New York Loves Acupuncture (...and so do we!)

New York Loves Acupuncture (...and so do we!)

Acupuncture is also effective in pain management, weight management, aiding in neurological disorder treatments, and at least 148 other therapeutic implementations. Here's the other thing they don't usually tell you about acupuncture; it is actually pretty painless and is truly an effective line of treatment for a massive range of ailments. 

Total Knee Replacement Recovery: Three Keys to Post-Op Success

Total Knee Replacement Recovery: Three Keys to Post-Op Success

First of all, there is probably some fear surrounding how soon you can get back to your usual routine. The good news is everyone's goal is to get you moving again and in a better place than you were before the surgery. Maybe you were given a pre-surgery therapy routine and it's likely you weren't released from the hospital until you were moving around on your own pretty well, so now you know that being active is at the root of your TKR recovery. The sooner you can get up and moving, the less pain you'll have for the duration of your post-surgical recovery