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Frik-Shuhn Yoga & Coaching

200, 300 & Continuing Ed Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga trainings and Retreats🩷 | Inclusive & safe🌈

21/07/2025

Standing Forward Fold (Uttanasana): Functional vs. Aesthetic

Let’s break down Standing Forward Fold — a pose that’s often taught to look deep instead of feel supportive.

Done with awareness, this pose decompresses the spine, stretches the entire back body, and soothes the nervous system. But when alignment is sacrificed for appearance, it can cause strain — especially in the hamstrings and low back.

❌ Aesthetic Yoga says:  ✔️ Keep the legs straight at all costs  ✔️ Pull your head to your knees  ✔️ Fold from the spine, not the hips  ✔️ Prioritize depth over integrity  ✔️ Push through discomfort for flexibility

✅ Functional Yoga says:  ✔️ Add a generous bend in the knees to support the low back  ✔️ Focus on lengthening the spine instead of rounding it  ✔️ Hinge at the hip joints, not the vertebrae  ✔️ Let the upper body drape, not force  ✔️ Soften the neck and jaw, breathe into the back body

What we often see:  ⛔ Overstretched hamstrings → leads to injury  ⛔ Rounded spine → pulls on the low back  ⛔ Tight neck from trying to “go deeper”  ⛔ No breath awareness → nervous system stays tense

The truth: A forward fold isn’t about touching your toes — it’s about meeting yourself where you are.
  A long spine and a deep breath will always serve you more than a forced shape ever could.

Functional yoga supports your nervous system, your fascia, and your actual lived experience — not just what a pose looks like on Instagram🧘🏼‍♀️

Ready to re-learn yoga in a way that’s kind, safe, and rooted in science? Come practice with us inside the Inclusive Yogic Path App — where every class is built for every body🩷

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17/07/2025

Camel Pose (Ustrasana): Functional vs. Aesthetic 🐪

Let’s talk about Camel Pose — a beautiful heart-opener that often becomes a low-back
cruncher when alignment gets sacrificed for aesthetics.

❌ Aesthetic Yoga says:
✔ Tuck the toes to bring the heels closer
✔ Reaching for the heels is the goal
✔ Lean all the way back and hang the head
✔ Arch the back as much as possible
✔ Use momentum instead of intention

✅ Functional Yoga says:
✔ Keep the tops of the feet flat on the mat → this engages the core naturally
✔ Progress slowly into the posture — don’t chase depth
✔ Begin with hands on the sacrum, fingers pointing upward
✔ Squeeze the elbows toward each other to activate the upper back
✔ Engage the abdominals to prevent dumping into the low back
✔ Neck stays neutral or slightly lifted — no collapsing
✔ Expansion comes from the thoracic spine, not the lumbar spine

👀 What we often see:
⛔ Toes tucked and back arched → causes sacral compression
⛔ Head thrown back → collapses cervical spine
⛔ Obsession with touching the heels → disengages the front body
⛔ No engagement in the glutes or core → invites injury

💡 The truth: Backbends are not about “going big”
— they’re about going deep with integrity.

Camel Pose, done functionally, strengthens the spine, opens the chest, and improves posture — without sacrificing the nervous system.
🌿 In functional yoga, we don’t force the shape — we build it from the inside out, with
breath, muscle tone, and presence.
🌀 Learn how to backbend safely and intentionally inside the Inclusive Yogic Path App —
where we break down every pose to meet your unique body.

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safe backbends, trauma-informed yoga, yoga for every body, yoga core engagement, yoga without pain

15/07/2025

Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana): Functional vs. Aesthetic 🐍

Cobra and Up Dog are not the same pose — and treating them like they are can lead to
compression, not transformation.

Let’s break down what this backbend is really meant to do.

❌ Aesthetic Yoga says:
✔ Cobra = just a low version of Up Dog
✔ Legs zipper together
✔ Glutes should stay soft
✔ Push through the hands to lift as high as possible
✔ Neck strains back to “look up”

✅ Functional Yoga says:
✔ Cobra is a low spinal extension — not a full backbend
✔ Legs stay hip-distance apart
✔ A tone in the glutes supports sacral stability — not squeezing, not flaccid
✔ Lift the chest primarily with back-body strength, not arm push
✔ Elbows stay bent, shoulders away from ears
✔ Press into the tops of the feet to activate the legs and float the knees
✔ Gaze stays forward or slightly down for neck integrity

👀 What we often see:
⛔ Arms doing all the work → creates tension in shoulders and wrists
⛔ Legs zipped and glutes off → dumps into the lumbar spine
⛔ Neck cranked upward → compresses the cervical spine
⛔ Confusion with Up Dog → leads to improper transitions and risk of injury

💡 The truth: Cobra is a subtle strength-builder.
It targets the paraspinal muscles, glutes, and posterior chain to support long-term back health — when done with care and presence.

🌿 Functional yoga honors that not every backbend needs to be big — sometimes, low and strong is the most therapeutic choice.

🌀 Want to explore how yoga can heal, not just look good? Join us in the Inclusive Yogic Path App, where we guide you through intelligent, anatomy-informed yoga for every body.

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cobra and up dog, glute tone in yoga, functional yoga practice, yoga core and spine, inclusive
yoga cues, trauma-informed yoga, sustainable backbends

11/07/2025

Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana): Functional vs. Aesthetic

This pose often looks impressive — but when practiced for aesthetics over alignment, Upward Dog becomes a source of compression instead of expansion.
Let’s change that.

❌ Aesthetic Yoga says:  ✔️ Straighten the arms completely  ✔️ Hang the head back and look up  ✔️ Keep thighs resting on the ground  ✔️ Push high through the chest using arms only  ✔️ Aim for the deepest backbend possible

✅ Functional Yoga says:  ✔️ Press through palms and tops of feet only — thighs lift off the floor  ✔️ Engage the core to support and lengthen the low back  ✔️ Keep shoulders over wrists and arms slightly bent if needed  ✔️ Lift through the chest, not the neck  ✔️ Keep the gaze neutral or forward — long neck, no crunching  ✔️ Focus on elongation and stability over depth

What we often see:  ⛔ Arms used as a “tripod” → upper body hangs without support  ⛔ Thighs grounded → leading to lumbar compression  ⛔ Neck overextended → strain in cervical spine  ⛔ Lack of core engagement → dumping into joints

The truth: Upward Dog is not a passive pose.  It’s an active, full-body engagement that builds strength, spinal mobility, and breath awareness — when done with intention.

Functional yoga honours what the body needs, not what it “should” look like.

Learn safe, strong, and sustainable yoga inside the Inclusive Yogic Path App — where we teach every pose from a place of science, inclusion, and respect for the nervous system🩷

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09/07/2025

Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana): Functional vs. Aesthetic

It might be the most well-known yoga pose — but Downward Facing Dog is also one of the most misunderstood.

Let’s shift from what it “should look like” to what it’s really meant to do.

❌ Aesthetic Yoga says:  ✔️ Heels must touch the floor  ✔️ Legs locked straight  ✔️ Chest pressed to the thighs  ✔️ Feet walked forward to shorten the distance  ✔️ Spine rounds or overarches to “go deeper”
✔️ Let the head hang to deepen the shape

✅ Functional Yoga says:  ✔️ Start from Plank — hands and feet stay where they are  ✔️ Lift hips to form an upside-down V  ✔️ Keep a soft bend in the knees to lengthen the spine  ✔️ Let the heels float — they don’t need to touch  ✔️ Focus on spinal integrity, not hamstring flexibility
✔️ Crown of the head reaches for the thumbs → lengthens neck & supports alignment

What we often see:  ⛔ Rounding of the spine → due to tight hamstrings or shortened stance  ⛔ Chest collapsing down → leads to a concave spine and shoulder strain  ⛔ Obsession with heels → leads to compensations that create tension, not ease

The truth: Down Dog isn’t a flexibility test. It’s a resting, transitional, and therapeutic pose when practiced with your anatomy in mind — not someone else’s ideal🩷

Functional yoga invites you to bend the knees, support your nervous system, and reclaim the purpose of the pose🧘🏼‍♀️

Want to practice Down Dog (and every other pose) in a way that supports your real body? You’ll find all-level, anatomy-informed classes inside the Inclusive Yogic Path App🖤

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07/07/2025

Low Plank (Chaturanga Dandasana): Functional vs. Aesthetic 🧱

Let’s talk about one of the most misunderstood and injury-prone postures in modern yoga: Chaturanga Dandasana — aka the shoulder shredder when done through an aesthetic lens.

❌ Aesthetic Yoga says:  ✔️ Elbows at 90° — no matter what  ✔️ Chest hovering low, butt high  ✔️ “Make it look strong”  ✔️ Push back through heels  ✔️ Muscle your way down  ✔️ The lower you go, the better

✅ Functional Yoga says:  ✔️ Lower in a straight line from heels to crown  ✔️ Wrists below shoulders  ✔️ Elbows draw in toward ribs  ✔️ Heels stacked over the balls of the feet  ✔️ Use your whole body — not just your shoulders  ✔️ Lower only as far as you can maintain integrity

🧠 What we often see in class:  ⛔ Butts lifted above shoulder height → causes dumping into the rotator cuff  ⛔ Arms doing all the work → no support from the core or legs  ⛔ Pose too short → creates unnecessary strain and compensation patterns

Truth: The “perfect Chaturanga” isn’t a deep hover — it’s the version where your nervous system feels stable, your joints feel supported, and your alignment distributes the work evenly across the body.

Functional Yoga is about support, not struggle🧘🏼‍♀️

Inside the Inclusive Yogic Path App, we teach you how to move safely and strongly through Chaturanga and beyond — with real anatomy, somatics, and nervous system support behind the cues🩷

Let’s stop sacrificing shoulders for aesthetics.

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Wanting to deepen your functional yoga practice?✨ Check out my classes — available on my app🌸 “Inclusive Yogic Path” on iOS and android!!

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The true question is, when does your story really begin? At birth? 5 years ago? Or 1.5 years ago? Anyway it goes, I am going to start with last August. I had been a nurse for 17 years in the ER mainly, I owned my own home, had 2 beautiful children and had a decent relationship with most people in my life. Yet, I was still unhappy. Even worse, I felt super guilty about being unhappy when I had everything I had ever “wanted”. I was going to Medical School, teaching yoga, received a promotion at work and was just about to run my first successful international yoga retreat.

I asked for assistance, from the Universe. LOL... really. I literally said in my head, if you are real, help me find happiness, and bing an email. It was an email from a coach for retreat leaders. I had my own opinion about coaches, but at that moment vowed to take all of the chances I could get at feeling happy. The session with my coach was very impactful and she asked if I was interested in meeting again. I said yes and we did. The conversation was about sales. When she told me her prices, I panicked. And then laughed. Her cost was the same as my yearly income. Yet, somehow I said yes. I paid her a down payment and immediately my income doubled. Don’t ask me how. I had all of my same bills and her payment. I started to search. For the money, for happiness, for more out of life. AND.... I found it. I paid her in full in less than 3 months, put the balance remaining on my Line of Credit. Yes, with debt. It scared the s**t out of me, but all I knew is that if I kept doing more of what I had been doing, I was going to get more of what I had been getting.

I chose to quit nursing at the end of December and quadrupled my income. No joke. Quadrupled. I quit Med School as well and life has not been the same. I quadrupled my income with yoga alone. Not only that, I have maintained that income and even exceeded it a few times (yes 5-6x). I made the decision to be part of a teacher training in September and loved it so much that I chose to no longer teach yoga to students, except online. So that is what I do. I teach yoga teachers and other spiritual entrepreneurs to run successful businesses, to bring in serious money, to do things differently than they ever have, BUT... that means you need to do things differently. And it’s not cheap or easy or always fun. I am looking for serious people that are serious about changing their lives.