Redefining Movement

Today I’m answering the question, what time of day should I exercise? People often ask me whether it’s better to exercise in the morning or evening. I cover the advantages of both then tell you what I think is the most important thing to consider. To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: movementbylara.com Resources: Check out: movementbylara.com Instagram: @lara.heimann Facebook: fa...

Kristin Williams and I are both physical therapists which means that our approach to teaching yoga is quite different. Kristin actually got into yoga because she had so many PT patients coming in injured from yoga and decided that she needed to learn more about it.  In today’s podcast we talk about how modern work and life can make people pretty rounded in the spine and how the answer to many...

I love that so many of you reach out to me asking questions every week. Really, being able to connect with you and see how your lives are changing is one of the best parts of this job. But I know that if one person has a question, a dozen more people will want to know the answer too — so I’m going to start answering them every Wednesday! This week, I answer your questions about yoga, PT, scia...

The serratus anterior is such an important muscle because an undeveloped or weak serratus can cause shoulder pain, rounded shoulders and even breathing problems. In this episode I cover exercises to help you strengthen your serratus.  To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: movementbylara.com Resources: Check out: movementbylara.com Instagram: @lara.heimann Facebook: facebook.c...

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: movementbylara.com Resources: Check out: movementbylara.com Instagram: @lara.heimann Facebook: facebook.com/movementbylara Redefining Yoga is a production of Crate Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As it’s almost Halloween, today I’m talking about the scariest yoga poses that I see being taught. Scary poses are ones which carry a lot of potential risks, especially when they’re taught in a class consisting of people with different experiences, histories, body shapes, sizes and conditions - pretty much any class! I’m particularly talking about poses which put a lot of stress on joints and pose...

We are a month into autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Here in the northeast of the U.S., the leaves are changing colors and falling. It’s a time of beauty, transition and renewal. The bareness of the trees is this kind of clearing for the next phase of seasons or change. This can be metaphorical for the shedding of our layers, getting rid of feelings or ways of being that do not serve us and gett...

Ergonomics is the study of designing the working environment in a way that makes people safe and more productive. Six to eight hours is a lot of time to be sitting in a position where the instrumentation is not really skillfully placed in accordance with how our biomechanics work. Use the tips in this episode to avoid carpal tunnel and other workplace hazards. To learn more, and for the complete s...

Lesley Murphy is a travel journalist and former Bachelor contestant. She hosts adventure retreats in places like Patagonia and Bali for people who crave community, movement, purpose, exploration and change for the greater good. After traveling for a long time, Lesley recently bought a house in Los Angeles. In this conversation we talk about the wonders of the world, finding your roots, furniture s...

Today's podcast is called, should we be looking back or forward? Sometimes whether people are talking about movement or pain or stress, there's a lot of energy that is being held in the past. Even happy memories might weigh us down because we might be stuck comparing our present lives to the “glory days”. Look forward to what else you can do for yourself and for others. And look back on the lesson...

Today my guest is a wonderful human being, MJ Grant. She is best known for her viral video ‘Dementia Can Be Beautiful’. In the video MJ’s mother, Carmen, realizes that she’s speaking to her daughter. MJ says she would never want to embarrass or belittle her mother by telling her she’s forgotten what her daughter looks like, and lets her make the connection herself.  MJ is a proud CODA (Child...

We’re so lucky to have modern medicine, but we also need to be advocates for our own health and remember that one person’s point of view, even if they’re a doctor, may not always be right for us. For example, I was offered treatment options with harsh side effects for my hyperactive thyroid. But I tried some alternative medicine treatments, and my thyroid returned to normal.  To learn more, a...

Today's podcast is all about the power to do good. What often comes to mind when we think about power is the alpha male standing tall, having lots of money and having lots of ability to make an impact. But powerful leaders can operate by creating fear or by commanding respect. I think of power as the ability to do good things for others and invite us all to reframe power and check that we are assi...

When we cleanse we’re giving our digestive system a break so it’s not overloaded with the work of digesting, metabolizing and excreting all the stuff that we put in there. If our digestive system has less to deal with, it frees up energy that can be used in other parts of the body. Cleansing is also a great time to reframe our ideas about food and make sure we’re really seeing it as fuel. In this...

Greg Berzinski is a full-time producer and cameraman for Movement By Lara. He also manages my podcast and updates my website and people love seeing him on my Instagram. Listen to this conversation to hear all about why it’s so important to find something you love and make it happen. Plus hear Greg explain how he creates videos and live broadcasts for Movement By Lara. To learn more, and for the co...

Today I’m talking to Amelia Barnes. Amelia is a yoga teacher. She also is the creator of PranaVida, an eco-friendly clothing brand, a passionate vegan and a pioneer of the no waste lifestyle. And she's doing it all while raising two young children. In this episode we chat about how we are sold the idea of convenience, but producing unnecessary waste is going to cause a lot of inconvenience in the...

How do you help someone, for example a family member in pain who doesn't want to listen to you, do yoga, move their body or eat differently? This is a tough one because pain can cause resentment and anger and make it more difficult for people to take advice. It’s very easy to think, gosh, I have so many things I could help this person with. I could tell them about movement, about how they should b...

Today I’m talking about a crisis of confidence in teaching. It doesn’t have to be about teaching yoga, it could be about anything. But yoga teachers often experience times when they lack confidence. It doesn’t mean you should stop teaching or that you’re an imposter, but perhaps that you’re standing in a void of confidence believing you can't do what you need to instruct in the way you'd like to....

Jen Pastiloff travels the world with her unique yoga workshops. She is also the author of On Being Human , a memoir and celebration of happiness and self-realization over darkness and doubt. In this episode we talk about how yoga helped her fight depression and anxiety, how becoming a yoga teacher enabled her to quit waiting tables and how to quiet your inner asshole.   To learn more, and for the...

Can we live without an agenda? I started thinking about this after I was reading from a Buddhist book of philosophy released by Shambhala Pocket Classics. I think that we can all benefit from holding your tongue and not saying what’s on your mind just because you want your opinion to be stated. When you're on the right path, you don't need to prove to somebody else what you're doing. And you don't...

In this episode I cover what causes a crick in the neck, how to avoid getting one and how you can help your neck to recover. When people say they have a crick in the neck it’s usually because they’ve woken up to find their neck is stiff and sore. Sometimes they can't turn their head. One reason it can happen is that you slept weird. But there's also underlying factors. Many people spend the most t...

Transitioning between seasons can be challenging. In the Northern Hemisphere we’re currently transitioning from summer to fall, and that can be really hard, especially for people who don’t like the cold. In this episode I cover some ways to make weathering the change in seasons easier.   To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: movementbylara.com   Resources: Check out: movementbylar...

Today’s podcast is about creating more vitality in your life. I’ve come up with six words beginning with S to make my top tips for vitality easy to remember: sweat, shower, stillness, silly, sustenance and sleep.   To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: movementbylara.com   Resources: Check out: movementbylara.com Instagram: @lara.heimann Facebook: facebook.com/movementbylara Redef...

Today's podcast is about how to create a new habit. Habits are an an action we have done so many times that it becomes unconscious. We don't even realize we're doing it. It could be a good or a bad habit, but the thing about habits is that they never truly go away. So creating new habits is really about creating better habits rather than entirely getting rid of the old ones. Listen to the episode...

At any age, it's important to have muscular strength. It's going to protect your joints, it's going to help you function more optimally with movement and it's important for your bone and heart health. In this episode, I talk about the best exercises to do to build strength even if you’re older and haven’t done much strength building before.   To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit:...