Living Yoga

With the content on the world wide web getting larger every second, it’s easy to get lost and easily distracted while surfing for yoga info.  I searched and found a few cool sites with yoga shops, forums, blogs, articles, even dating so you can get all your yoga fixin’ without a lot of time wasted.

Yoga Basics
A very comprehensive site with articles on everything yoga related, blogs, forums & more.  There is a charge for the premium content but it’s very affordable.

Wellsphere
A wellness community with people, blogs, goal setting, articles on many topics ranging from yoga to general medicine.

The Yoga Site
The ultimate yoga resource for finding information, teachers, classes, and shopping!

Yoga Passions
Might as well spice it up with this free dating & social networking site for singles with a passion for yoga.

Those are a few to get you started and I’ll be sure to add more later on.  Please email me if you know any awesome yoga sites that I haven’t mentioned.  Have a blissful weekend!

If your lower back is sore at the end of the day, give the hips a little lovin’ with this awesome stretch.

In yoga you often hear the gentle reminder to “let it go,” “be present,” and to “remain unattached” to outcomes.  Yet last weekend I attended an acting seminar with Robert & Michelle Colt and they put these phrases into the best term I’ve heard yet, be “hootless.”  Meaning if you don’t give a hoot about the outcome, your goals and dreams will happen naturally.  Also, I just like to say hootless because it sounds funny.

Of course, I don’t want this to be mistaken as an endorsement for passivity.  Hey, if it all doesn’t matter then I’ll just gulp down my mochalattefrappis and stay home all day in front of the tube.  No, it’s about releasing dependency on outcomes to give you the freedom to go after all of your dreams.  Release the hoot and just go for it.

This applies to yoga practice as well.  Be hootless about practicing scary poses, crow, headstand, forestand, or pretty much anything with “stand” in the name.  Just go for it, holding back lowers the probability that you’ll ever get into it.  Being hootless and doing it isn’t a guarantee but you’ll be likely to get there.

Robert & Michelle give coaching and seminars that are empowering not only for actors, but entrepreneurs, artists, teachers, and well, anyone who dreams big.  If interested in more information on Robert & Michelle’s coaching, visit actingsuccessnow.com

Last week after one of my spin classes a woman asked me a most unusual question, “How can I work out without building muscle?”  Hmm.  I had to think about that.  For a while. Wait, why would you not want to build muscle?  She said she builds muscle very easily (indeed some people do) and has a hard time fitting into her clothing.  I must point out that she was beautiful and had a fantastic, athletic body.  So…why would you not want to build muscle again?

I googled “how to not build muscle” and didn’t find a single thing on it.  I found a lot on “Build more muscle, burn more fat,” “Lose weight, build muscle FAST,” etc.  So I have to go on my own experience in yoga and fitness.  If you do physical activity, you will build some degree of muscle because there isn’t a way to not use your muscles, even in yoga.  However, if you are going for a leaner appearance, I recommend concentrating on endurance-based exercise (long distance running, elliptical machines, yoga, spinning) Think marathon runners here.  The muscle fibers used for endurance don’t “bulk,” but are ever present indeed.  The stretching in yoga class will help by lengthening the muscles, but you will still firm them up in some of the postures.

My other thought about this was to love what you have!  Like I said, this woman had a wonderful body and she’s asking me how to not build muscle while we stand amongst sweaty gym folk pushing weights at the machines.  People who build muscle easily tend to have very strong and powerful muscles.  Think softball and soccer players.  Last time I checked people work very hard to make their muscles stronger and more powerful.  Embrace your wonderful qualities and even though we can admire what other people look like, it’s impossible to be like them.  Why would you want to?  Get the next size up in jeans to be more comfortable (it’s just a number), or squeeze into the snugger size and make heads turn everywhere.  Either way, you win!

Do exercise you love and makes you feel good.  Trust me, you’ll be healthy and hot.

If you take yoga classes one of the closing statements you made have heard from an instructor is, “Thank your inner teacher.”  I don’t know the source of this statement and it can be taken in many different ways but it was brought to my mind while visiting with a friend the other day.

My friend wants to begin teaching lessons in an artistic skill that she excels at but was having doubts about people accepting the method she instructs in because it isn’t a known method.  However, she is very passionate about this method and has seen a world of difference in herself and the few others that practice this.  She knows that this is how she wants to teach.  This is her inner teacher telling her that she has to bring this new method to the broader public and I told her so.

Your inner teacher is never wrong.  This isn’t to say that we don’t make mistakes but your gut feeling that is guiding you through life, telling you what feels right to you must be listened to and acted upon.  And you don’t have to defend your “way” or try to explain yourself and most certainly you don’t have to apologize for it.  My friend expressed concern that she wouldn’t be able to find work if she didn’t instruct in a popular yet less effective manner.  I asked, “But would you and your students be happy if you taught somebody else’s way?”

I can’t tell her what to do but it reminded me about the closing of a yoga practice that says, “Thank your inner teacher.”  Thank it, listen to it and act on it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

If you partied too hard, you can still exercise the next day with this restorative twisting posture.

A few weeks ago I was subbing a “sculpt” style group fitness class. This class includes light hand weights for some basic strength exercises, ab work and some yoga mixed in. It was a small, friendly group and we were chatting throughout. When I suggested a certain exercise one of the attendees said, “I’ll do whatever you ask because I want your ass and your stomach.” Ego boost for me, yes, big time. A shot at her own self image, yes. She may have only half meant it, but I don’t think this is a good attitude to have because from what I could tell she had a nice ass and stomach!

Do you find yourself constantly comparing your body parts to other women around you? If so, you’ll notice that this gets exhausting very quickly. Especially if you live in a place like New York City where the women out number the men and tend to dress fashionably to show off their assets. If this sounds like you, it’s time to recognize and show off your own assets. Exercise and a healthy diet are part of making your assets look the best they can, but you can’t change your body type. Tall, short, big boned, petite, curvy, athletic, leggy are ALL beautiful assets but you can’t be all of those at once. Recognize yours and love them but don’t make catty remarks about yourself or other women. That will only make your “faults” become more apparent.

Three tips to boosting your body image:

1) Learn how to dress to flatter your body type and show off your best features.
2) See the beauty in your body and others, without make disparaging remarks about yourself or other women.
3) Exercise doing something you enjoy and that feels good for your body type. You knew it was coming to this but exercise has been shown to boost confidence.

Very simple changes in attitude can result in a world of difference and you’ll notice heads turn when you walk by!  Have fun.

If you have a desk job and are experiencing lower back pain, tight hips & glutes may be one of the culprits.  This video from Expert Village demonstrates a very simple yet effective hip opening stretch you can do without even leaving your seat.

For women aging has normally been a sensitive issue.  Some may lie about their age or feel embarrassed if the topic is brought up at all.  However, I’m seeing a new trend happening…that a mature woman is hot and sexy!

I was inspired to write this blog post after teaching a class at the gym this morning.  There is a beautiful and extremely fit woman that regularly comes to my classes.  I always admired how fit she looked for what I guessed to be her early 50’s or so age.  Two weeks ago I discovered that not only does she look great but she has an extremely handsome and very much younger husband.  Okay, now I’m seriously admiring this lady.

We got to chatting after class today and I, in the most polite manner I could, asked her how old she is.  She replied that she’s 60.  60!  I couldn’t believe it.  She also volunteered that her husband is 20 years younger than her and that they’ve been married for 20 years!  In addition, she always has a smile on her face and kind to myself and others in the classes.  I then told her that she is my inspiration to age, and live life, so beautifully.  She credits exercise for keeping her so young but I think her wonderful attitude also adds to her youthful exterior.

So it isn’t necessary to lie about your age or artificially maintain a youthful appearance.  Find a hot, mature role model to be your inspiration.  Be proud and take the best care of your natural beauty with exercise, a healthy diet, and a joy for life.

And hey, if a younger, hot man is in the picture as well, that’s a bonus!

One of my regular attendees in my beginner yoga class always reports to me after to say how thrilled she is when she can do a particular pose that she was unable to do before.  She is overweight, had back and shoulder injuries and was very reluctant at first.  Each time she is able to accomplish a new pose it gives her more and more confidence in her practice and in her self.  It’s very exciting to for me to be a first hand witness.

This made me think about my life and the changes I’ve gone through, and it’s similar to this slow progress in yoga class.  First, I try something new and I may or may not get it right the first time.  Then it gets easier and becomes part of my routine so now I have to try something more challenging.  Then that gets easier and becomes part of my new routine.  I don’t ever stop this cycle because the whole point is to keep learning and become stronger, right?

Keep trying new exercises, poses and skills and remember that it’s all like yoga class!