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Rachel Ishiguro Yoga

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Rachel Ishiguro Yoga

Rachel (she/her) is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) in San Diego. She teaches people with chroni

I'm a C-IAYT certified yoga therapist who supports people with chronic pain and other health conditions to reduce symptoms and thrive. My work focuses on improving movement patterns, building mindful awareness and a loving (re)connection to the body, and nurturing rest. I support my clients to:
- Reduce chronic pain and tension
- Become more responsive and resilient under stress
- Recover from or adapt to illness or injury
- Get more restful sleep
- Return to activities that are important to them
- Improve their strength, stability, and ease of movement
- Improve their energy and wellbeing

For more information, visit rachelishiguroyoga.com or book your free online consultation at rachelishiguroyoga.as.me/FREEconsultation.

03/03/2026

As you may have seen in my Stories, I'm going to be posting about Ayurvedic gunas this month. While this topic may be unfamiliar at first, it's very intuitive once you dive in. I also find it very useful for yoga therapy as it helps us answer the question, "What do I need to support my health?"

What are the 20 gunas?

The 20 gunas in Ayurveda are qualities that can be observed in people (body and mind) and in the world around us. These are qualities you'll recognize (although some of the ways they're applied when it comes to health may be surprising for Westerners). They're arranged in 10 pairs of opposites:
⚖️ heavy/ light
🔪 sharp/ dull
🌡️ cold/ hot
🧴 oily/ dry
🪨 smooth/ rough
💧 dense/ diluted
🛏️ soft/ hard
⛰️ stable/ mobile
💨 obvious/ subtle
☁️ cloudy/ clear

Why learn about the gunas?

The 20 gunas give us a valuable framework to answer the questions "am I in balance right now?" and "what do I need to move towards health?"

Each of these pairs can be thought of like a slider on a sound board. You can be at one extreme or another, but often you'll be somewhere in between—and this will change frequently over time, influenced by both internal and external factors.

When you notice you're out of balance in one of these dimensions (ex. I feel really heavy right now.), you can apply the opposite (lightness in this case) to move towards a healthier equilibrium.

This gives us such a simple way to adapt our yoga practice for how we're feeling on any given day. While this might feel rather vague at the moment, I'll be giving examples for each of these pairs over the next month with practical tips for how to apply them so be sure to look for those posts.

What strikes you when you look at these 10 pairs of opposites? What questions do you have?

02/26/2026

Join me for Gentle Yoga this March, a weekly practice to gently reawaken your body as winter begins to loosen its grip.

🗓 Wednesdays in March
⏰ 10:00–11:00am PT on Zoom
✨ Recordings included so you can practice live or on your own time

These classes combine quiet meditation, slow and supportive movement, and restful poses that encourage circulation, ease, and a sense of lightness without pushing or forcing. Think thawing, not rushing.

All bodies and experience levels are welcome.

If you’re starting to feel a little more energy and want to move with it thoughtfully, this hour is for you.

👉 Join us and step into spring with steadiness and care. [link in bio]

02/23/2026

Ever wonder why we do the same movement in so many different positions in yoga therapy? For example, you can take your arm alongside your ear on your back, side, front, seated, or standing.

Whether you're doing yoga poses for pain or tightness, or you're working on moving more so you can feel better in other ways, your position matters.

If you're trying to figure out where to start or where to go next, here are a few things to think about:

💥 EASE - When you're starting out with a movement that's challenging, you want the most ease. You're doing a lot of mapping in your brain, creating connections between brain & body, and making the movement feel good. As you move into other variations, try to take a lot of that ease with you.

💥 ABILTY TO FEEL - I often start people lying on the floor because your body is supported & it's easier to feel tension or gripping. The floor also gives feedback because you can feel your body shifting against it. Once you have a good felt sense of what's happening, you can take that awareness into other positions.

💥 GRAVITY - Your orientation to gravity can make a big difference in how easy or hard a movement feels, and how you're using your muscles to execute it.

💥 WHAT'S MOVING - You can do the same shoulder movement with your rib cage still & your arm moving, or you can keep your arm still & move your rib cage. We need both, but they're a little different in terms of ease, ability to feel, and how they affect your body.

💥 LOAD - Similar to gravity, some positions are a lot more work for your muscles. Sometimes, that actually makes it easier to feel & coordinate. However, it can also make it hard to control if you lack the strength to do the movement well in a certain position.

This isn't about right or wrong, it's about recognizing what variables you can change so you can find the movement that works for you right now, and then add variety as you go.

Need guidance? We do a lot of this work in private yoga therapy. Use the link in my bio to set up a free call or send me a DM & let's discuss!

02/13/2026

Suffice it to say I'm not a big fan of this weekend's holiday.

But I am, and will always be a fan of self-love. Yoga shows us experientially that we are always whole and worthy of love. No Hallmark card needed.

One of my favorite poems about learning to show up for yourself this way is Derek Walcott's Love After Love. I'm including it below for your enjoyment.

Whatever else your weekend holds, may you feast on your life. 💜

════════

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

02/11/2026

Arms alongside ears is a commonly cued position in yoga asana, or poses.

Virabhadrasana/ Warrior 1 comes to mind, as well as Utkatasana (Chair/ Fierce Pose) and other standing postures.

Flip this position, and you'll find much the same arms in other common postures. Say, Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog). Or Adho Mukha Vrksasana (handstand). Or some versions of Salabhasana (Locust Pose).

If you're bringing your arms into this position & feeling great doing it, you may not need to give this position much thought.

However, you may find this position creates pain, strain, or compression in your shoulders, neck, or back. If that's the case, here are a few things you should know that may help you have a more comfortable yoga practice—and happier, healthier shoulders.

⚠️ Bringing your arms up alongside your ears requires your shoulder blades to move. As the blades rotate, they help clear space for the arm to move into this position. If your shoulder blades don't move well, you may:
🙋🏻‍♂️ Feel discomfort in your shoulder
🙋🏻‍♂️ Compensate using your spine. This could feel fine, or it could contribute to pain.

💡 Your body is clever, so you may already be bending your elbows, holding your arms wider, back bending, or using other strategies to do what you want. 👏🏼 This may be fine, but if you have symptoms, read on!

✅ SHORT-TERM SOLUTION - Do versions of these poses where you don't bring the arms into this position. If standing, you can bend your elbows and/or bring your arms wider. Look for poses to be COMFORTABLE and EASY.

✅ LONG-TERM SOLUTION - if you have ongoing pain or tension, or you'd just like to have better shoulder movement to prevent future issues, here's how to get started.

Learn to recognize what you feel when you move outside of your range of motion. Work on getting your shoulder blades moving. Use a ball (or get a massage) to loosen up the muscles between your shoulder blades before you practice this movement.

For ideas, check out my other posts this month or visit the Yoga for

Shoulders playlist on my YouTube channel (link in bio).

02/09/2026

Got shoulder tension?

Tension around the top of the shoulder or between the shoulder blades is a super common complaint. So is shoulder mobility limited by pain or sensations of tightness.

Sometimes stretching or massage can help, but more often than not, the symptoms return again and again.

Here's what I tell my clients about tension:

👉 All tension is functional. In other words, it's there for a reason. (You're not just a disaster! 😘) Often, tension is helping to create stability where the body isn't getting it in other ways.

👉 This means that a whole-body approach to stability can be really helpful, as well as working on coordination at the shoulders. It also means that your shoulder blades can be a major player.

👉 Although stress and posture can play a role, these usually aren't the (sole) cause of tension.

👉 Using small, intentional repeated movements can help your brain "re-map" the area, making it more likely that you'll stay tension free for longer.

Yoga therapy can take a multi-pronged approach to tension. This might include:
🔹 Stretching
🔹 Self-massage
🔹 Increased movement variety
🔹 Better coordination and control
🔹 Strengthening
🔹 Improved breath patterns
🔹 Relaxation and rest

Has yoga helped with your shoulder tension? What practice(s) have helped the most?

02/02/2026

Because I’m a yoga therapist, people tend to ask me for certain kinds of advice. It usually goes like this.⁣
⁣
𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰?⁣⁣
⁣
The bad news is I can’t give you a list of 3-5 poses that will help your shoulder, in spite of what many websites & social media pages would have you believe. The poses in those articles were chosen because they helped somebody, but because every person with shoulder pain is different, there is no single set of poses that will help everyone.⁣
⁣
The good news is there's a lot you can do about shoulder pain. Because I'm not a medical provider, I always recommend that you get evaluated by one. A diagnosis doesn't tell you everything about how your healing will go, but it can be a turning point for many people—and it provides important information about what you can & can't do.

Besides that, here are some things that can really help. These are general ideas and not medical advice; working with someone who can give you specifics for your situation is always best.
🔹 Learn about the different movements your shoulder can do and gently introduce more variety.
🔹 Work on keeping other body parts still when you use your shoulder, and keeping your shoulder still when you move your body.
🔹 Especially, get your shoulder blades moving well.
🔹 Strengthen the muscles around your shoulders.
🔹 Support your shoulders so the muscles can learn to relax.
🔹 Troubleshoot your sleep set-up.
🔹 Practice relaxation and cultivate joy.
🔹 Evaluate your breath patterns.
🔹 Rest more during day-to-day activities that stress your shoulder (but move more with intention).
🔹 Put your phone down and go outside.
🔹 If you're still struggling, see what's going on with your hips & spinal movement. It's all connected!

If you've seen your shoulder pain improve, what helped you the most?

01/29/2026

Join me for Gentle Yoga this February, a weekly pause to move, breathe, and settle into your body without pressure or expectations.

🗓 Wednesdays in February
⏰ 10:00–11:00am PT on Zoom
✨ Recordings included if you want to revisit or catch up later

These classes blend quiet meditation, slow and supportive movement, and deeply restful poses that meet your body where it is right now. Nothing fancy. Nothing forced. Just steady, thoughtful movement and space to land.

All bodies and experience levels are welcome.

If winter has you feeling stiff, tired, or a little disconnected, this is an invitation to take one hour for yourself each week.

👉 Join us and make February feel a little more spacious. [link in bio]

01/28/2026

"I'd love to try yoga but I'm not flexible enough."

Time for some myth busting. There are a couple of different misconceptions underlying this statement that I'd love to do away with.

1️⃣ Yoga is about flexibility.

It really isn't. It's not even about poses! Yoga practice can include poses, meditation, breathwork, chanting, hand positions, community service, philosophical study, and ethical living, among other things. When we talk about a yoga therapy practice, we're including all of those things plus lifestyle changes that we can use to support health and wellbeing. Even when we're working in the body, there are a lot of other aspects than just flexibility. People are often surprised to hear that I rarely do conventional stretching in my yoga programs.

2️⃣ You have to already be a certain way in order to do yoga.

Come as you are. Especially in a yoga therapy practice, it's all about adapting to what you need in any given moment. I've done yoga with people with mobility limitations, including people who can't get on the floor or even get out of bed. I've done yoga with people who are too anxious to sit still. There's a yoga practice to meet you where you are—and yoga therapists are trained to help you find it.

No flexibility, focus, chill, or special abilities required. I've done some seriously creative workarounds with my clients, and the beauty of yoga is that it still WORKS, even when it looks pretty different.

If you're worried about something that feels like a barrier to doing yoga, I'd love to talk to you about it. Use the link in my bio to set up a free call, or send me a DM if you prefer.

01/26/2026

Back & neck pain are among the most common symptoms I encounter in my yoga therapy practice. For some of us these symptoms can become chronic & seriously disruptive to quality of life.

Chronic pain often comes with fear of movement. It makes sense that you'd avoid things that can put you in agony, sometimes for days at a time. However, avoiding movement can also contribute to worsening pain, putting you in a vicious cycle.

I'm not saying to move with disregard for your symptoms. Move intentionally & respect what your body's telling you. Still, movement is still the best practice in most cases of pain—and moving our spines in a variety of ways can help us avoid pain too.

✱This seems like a good place to say that if you're experiencing pain, have been injured, or had surgery, you should see a doctor & confirm what movement is safe for you. You might also benefit from some personalized advice as this post is intended for general information only.✱

If you're ready to move your spine more, here are some things to try:

✅ Avoid movements a medical provider has told you are inappropriate for you.

✅ Incorporate twists, side bends, forward bends, and backbends in a way that feels good in your body.

✅ Get all the segments of your spine moving in ways that feel good. We structurally have some parts of the spine with more limited movement; however, it's helpful to get these moving, too, within the range we do have.

✅ Twists & side bends are often missing in daily life so add them in.

✅ Learn to isolate parts of your spine, as well as having them work together.

✅ Pay attention to how your hips & shoulders work with your spine. Sometimes back pain is really more about what's going on in these other joints. Again, it can be helpful to be able to isolate the individual parts AND have them work together.

Need ideas for how to do this in practice? Use the link in my bio for my YouTube channel, and check out the Yoga for Shoulders playlist.

01/21/2026

I know, we're all getting older, but a lot of what we think of as "aging" is more about how we use our bodies than it is about how long we've been alive.

This isn't about denying the reality of our circumstances or pretending everyone can do everything if they just put their minds to it.

Your pain, stiffness, symptoms, and limitations are very real.

AND this is also true: your body (and mind) have enormous potential for change. We get good at the things we do regularly—especially when we're intentional, honest, and kind to ourselves in the way we approach learning new skills.

If you want your body to move better or feel better, most of the time it helps to move your body in lots of ways. Starting where you are is important. You'll improve faster and feel better if you're both realistic and intentional about how you challenge yourself.

Not pushing through pain. Not trying to force your body to be the same as it was 20 years ago.

Just being curious and exploring movement that feels good.

Want a guide? Use the link in my bio and join me for a class series, workshop, or private program. Let's move, in lots of ways, together.

01/20/2026

Got shoulders? Wish they came with a user's manual?

Human shoulders are beautifully made to move, not to hold your hands over a keyboard all day.

Shoulders that don't move much can get cranky. You might experience:
➜ pain or tension between your shoulder blades
➜ pain or tension on the top of your shoulders
➜ elbow pain
➜ wrist issues
➜ even neck or low back pain

✱If you're experiencing pain, or have been injured or had surgery, please get checked out and confirm what is safe for you in terms of movement. You might also benefit from some personalized advice as this post is intended for general information only.✱

If you're ready to move your shoulders more, here are some things to try:

✅ Get your shoulder blades moving! In towards your spine, out wide on the rib cage, up and down, and participating in arm movements... Try both blades or one at a time in lots of different positions.

✅ To bring our arms up overhead, we need to have good shoulder blade movement. Sometimes doing some self massage with a ball along the inner edge of the shoulder blades before working on this movement can help.

✅ Rotating your upper arm bone in different positions can also reveal some missing movements.

✅ Working up to hanging can be really helpful for your shoulders.

✅ Work on isolating different shoulder movements AND having your shoulders work together with the rest of your body.

✅ Explore the edges of your comfortable range of motion. Move S L O W L Y, especially where it feels more challenging, and you might apply some gentle effort as you feel into those edges.

Need ideas for how to do this in practice? Use the link in my bio to find my YouTube channel, and check out the Yoga for Shoulders playlist.

Address

3517 Del Rey Street, Suite 108
San Diego, CA
92109

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 3pm
	5:30pm - 7pm
Tuesday	9am - 3pm
Wednesday	9am - 3pm
	5:30pm - 7pm
Sunday	9am - 3pm

Website

http://rachelishiguroyoga.com/

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