Are you sitting in a chair right now? Have you been in one for more than an hour today? How about your bike? 1 hour? Run? Everything I do as a mother or as an athlete involves my hip flexors. They are seriously tight. TIGHT. You (and me) need to make serious efforts to practice having a balanced body and to open the areas of tightness in our bodies. For most of us, that means we need to work on the REVERSE of what you do daily. I believe that we need to work on opening the hip joint area with stretches for the hip flexors, backbends and twists.

Yoga is also about paying attention- to the little things that are happening in your body. And iit’s about listening to your body and learning when to back off. Looking at these poses now, I know exactly what is happening in my body during the poses are where I need to do work, do you?

Please check with Yoga Journal for instructions!

Why? It opens the entire body from the fingertips to the toes. Opens the hamstrings, shoulders and strengthens the quadriceps. It is technically an inversion and it will strengthen the entire shoulder girdle area. Important to remember to hug the biceps and triceps to the bone.

Cobra. This pose is deceivingly hard! Roll the shoulder blades down the back, press evenly into the hands, scrape the elbows close to the body and lift the sternum away from the navel. If you have tight hip flexors this is also beneficial. I think this is one pose that gets overlooked but is highly valuable to athletes because it is a strengthening pose as well as an opening pose for the hip flexors!

High Lunge or also preparation for Crescent (which would have the arms extended overhead). Massive hip opener for the extended leg. The hardest part for me in yoga is teaching my body how to be “on”! For me, this pose is learning how to engage the inner thigh of the standing leg and get it to spin up towards the ceiling. Also, to remember to engage the quadriceps of the extended leg.

Camel or Ustrasana. For those of you with tight hip flexors this pose is wicked hard! In talking to my teacher about backbends the other day, she suggested I work on this pose daily rather than the full backbend. Camel pose opens the hip flexors, thighs and abdominal muscles and it opens the shoulders and chest. Looking at him, he makes the pose look easy! But, for us athletes, this pose is massively hard! It’s important to remember to send the sternum to the toward the ceiling and keep the inner thighs releasing back towards the wall behind you.

Finally! A rest pose. Viparita Karani (legs up the wall pose). Lovely. All athletes should do this daily. Why? Because it will release fluid in the legs- it is the exact opposite of what we do all day every day. There are many benefits of this pose- it’s an inversion, it’s restorative, according to my Yoga Works manual, it will stimulate the adrenal glands and kidneys and circulation to the lungs!

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The following link is a story about a girl who left her position at Morgan Stanley to teach yoga.

I am inspired by this as she is following her heart to teach what she loves.

Image Taken From Here.

And, I will end with a quote by Marianne Williamson.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God (of the Universe). Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

What is your dream for yourself and the world?

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Runners and cyclists spend all their time in the sagital plane. That is moving forward and back and not side to side. We spend our time flexing our hip flexors to do the desired activity: run or bike. These types of activities can lead to incredibly TIGHT hip flexors. Tight hip flexors can inhibit your performance on the bike or on a run and over time, tightness in the hips can lead to injury. {I hear Coach Al in my head! Had an ongoing issue with tendonitis of my right knee last fall} So, even doing 5 poses a day can benefit your sport- and I mean any sport whether you are an active mom or a gym rat or an endurance athlete- yoga can do wonders for the body!

What are some of the general benefits of backbends?

1. Strengthens the legs, back, arms and shoulders

2. Stretches the front of the body: chest, belly and hip flexors

3. Opens the abdomen, chest, upper back, shoulders, arms and hip flexors

So, how do I do a backbend?!

I’m here to demonstrate some of the ways you can work on your backbend. And, I am referring to Upward Facing Bow Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana). There are lots of poses that are backbends- but this it the big one. And guess what? I am still working on it!

Position A: Work towards the hand position by standing close to the wall and working your triceps in towards your ears and place your hands on the wall. This is harder than it looks!

Position B: Bridge pose with a block between the thighs. I need to retrain my inner thighs to do work. You can also see that my feet are turning out and they should be parallel.

Position C: Feet on block with feet parallel, crown of the head on the floor, elbows hugging in, palms pushing into the floor.

Position D: Feet parallel, elbows hugging in, hands on blocks, crown of the head on the floor.

Positon E: Blocks are tipped up against the wall, start with the crown of the head on the floor, then push up. Feet should be parallel.

This final pose for me felt the best! Also, it took us (kids were photographers) at least fifteen times to get the pictures right, so the more I worked on it, the higher my head was coming off the ground! Backbends are serious work. Baby cobra or low cobra is also a backbend, so pay careful attention when moving through that pose in a yoga class.

A Big Thank You!

Thank you to Lucy Sportswear for providing me with this outfit for purposes of review. I love the outfit and will plan on wearing it to my teaching jobs in the future!

Also wanted to let you know that if you are near a Lucy store this week (starting August 12th) they are giving away hot pink sweatbands FREE to all customers. Click here to download coupon {will be ready on Aug.12}.

P.S. If you are new to yoga, I strongly urge you to find a good teacher to guide you through your yoga practice. These pictures are for demonstration purposes only and should not be done unless you can be responsible for your own body.

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Happily, I am finally getting my groove back!  My training ended at the end of June and I was exhausted- mentally, physically and emotionally.

That was a massive training, people.

I think my mind was just in a daze for the whole month of July- just do what you have to survive and that’s it.

But, I am coming alive now!  I positively love trail running and just recently signed up for the Wine Country Half Marathon in Calistoga (Oct. 31st) to do just for fun.  No time goals and no pressure- just for FUN!  There are a few bike races left in the season and I will likely drag my feet and do them…I love bike racing but, am not feeling the love for it at the moment. And yoga.  Lots of it as much as possible.  Haven’t lifted a kettlebell in months?! Yikes. What’s got into me on that? I can only be passionate about a few things at a time, ha ha ha.

So many goals, so little time!

Since becoming a stay at home mom, all I’ve ever wanted was to earn money doing something I love.   If you love it, then, it won’t feel like work.  It’d be like play.  I also think then when you are going in the right direction that the doors will open for you and when you’re not, the doors will close.  My doors started opening when I was granted that partial scholarship to Yoga Works. And, then, I got hired to teach yoga at my kids’ school!  And, I am happy with all that.  And, if I could just squeeze in a few classes a week in my community, I would be thrilled!

So, I will leave you with a playlist of my most favorite songs, at the moment! Enjoy!

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On Tuesday, I actually had to take a private yoga lesson! Ha Ha Ha. The word had is used in jest. Anytime yoga is involved it is a joy. Yoga Works does not allow you to receive your completion certificate until all hours are made up. This private session was a make-up on INVERSIONS. Cool!

My Yoga Works TT had two senior teachers, Thomas and Carmen, and two teacher trainers, Michelle and Sarah. My trainers were more like my “sisters” there to help us achieve what the teachers were requiring. They were on our side, so to speak. Both my trainers teach at the Yoga Works studios if you take one of their classes: be prepared… They are freakin hard!

It was cool to have the opportunity to work on the three “big” inversions in a private session because all three poses are seriously challenging. What are the big three: Headstand, Handstand and Pincha Mayurasana. Phew! Inversions can benefit the body in a variety of ways- namely, it builds self confidence, empowering, strength building, they increase circulation and can prevent edema in the feet, ankles and legs and it benefits your digestive, respitory, and eliminatory systems…

Two Major Things I learned:

Don’t look at your feet! When moving into handstand, look between your hands. This is a big deal, people!! In preparation for Pincha, again, look at your hands. Pincha is SO hard that you need to focus on something other than “how will I get up?” cause as soon as you think you can’t, you can’t.

Pelvic Tilt: Imagine that your pelvis is a bowl of water. If you are standing with a sway back, your water will pour out the front. If you stand with your pelvis tucked in, it might want to pour out the back. So, when in inversions, keep you pelvis neutral. From me, since I have an extra amount of sway in my back, I really need to tuck in my pelvis in an inversion.

What’s the goal of inversions?

Working on a longer hold. I’m on the 30 seconds in headstand, handstand and 10 seconds in Pincha! The idea is to work towards a five minute hold. Little bit by little bit.

How many of you have an inversion practice? It’s worth it to find a good teacher to help you learn the techniques! I love them.

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Raise your hand if you have the opportunity to do yoga at lunchtime at a studio?  Yoga Works offers a 55 minute Vinyasa Flow yoga that I had the amazing opportunity to try yesterday.  It has a completely different theory behind it than a regular 90 minute class.  It is ALL FLOW.  Very intense, but super fun.  If I lived in Orange County, that would be the one I’d go to daily, if time allowed.

We had a sub, and still, the sequences were UNIQUE.  I loved the flow sequences right from the beginning.  For those of you who don’t know, a “flow” is a series of movements that are supposed to be connected to the breath.  This class gave me the opportunity to go from Down Dog to Dolphin, to One Legged Dolphin, to Side Plank and then returning to Down Dog.

Or try this lovely sequence:

Crescent to Twisting Crescent

to twisting chair (without dropping the foot)

to a one-legged twisted chair!

Phew!!

{Note: This pictures were taken very quickly and I have a long way to go in these poses…But, it’s nice for me to see where I am going in each pose.}

And, she’d say things like, you are almost done, there is a Down Dog in your future! Funny.

What a fun class!  None of the poses were held for any length of time, we just kept moving through lots of poses in a short amount of time.

Do you have a favorite exercise class? If so, what is it?

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Friends, I am in love with yoga. So in love, that I am willing to do the kid swap thing just so I can go to yoga. Yes, I can practice at home. Yes, I am now a subscriber of Yoga Today. Yes, I am still riding my bike in the garage to get some cardio. But, no, I can’t really do yoga unless I go to a class. When I’m at home there is something called distractions- the ones on the computer table that resemble bills, the unread books piled on my desk, the toys in the other room…When you are trying to find your “drishti”, it would be nice if it didn’t fall on a “unfinished project!!”

We now have three yoga studios in my town and I’ve tried all three. And, although, there are good things about all of them, NONE compare to the yoga I was taking at Yoga Works. NONE. It makes it hard for me to be a student cause now I am always thinking about the way my teachers taught me- shoulder stand should never be done without blankets and firm instructions, for example. Yes, I’d like to teach yoga in a studio. I’ve always wanted to do that. Just haven’t figured out the “how” yet.

Anyway, so what is so great about a Yoga Works sequence that is different from other kinds of yoga?

1. Theme/plan/peak pose. Each class will generally have a sequence based on one pose- such as headstand. And all the poses will lead up to that one pose.

2. General warm-up period- this will usually resemble Sun Salutes with modifications.

3. Targeted warm-up. If you are working towards loosening up the hip flexors for a full backbend, then Crescent and Vira 1′s will be addressed.

4. A YW sequence will include a warm-up, to standing poses, to inversions, to backbends, to seated poses, to relaxation/mediation.

5. Finally, it makes sense. Your body will feel good after a good class. When one pose flows from one thing to the next.

Do you have any questions about yoga? Any particular poses you have questions about? If you are new to yoga, I suggest looking for classes labeled beginner or level 1. And, try LOTS of teachers before you completely blow it off!

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This weekend was my last training session with Yoga Works. Only, this one was Yoga Playgrounds. Strangely titled; how the teacher thought yoga should be for kids- more like a playground and less like yoga. Funny, I kept staring at her wondering where I’d seen her before…took me 12 hours to figure it out. She is the teacher in the Yoga Fitness for Kids videos that I have. (Amazon)

One of the main things that I took from this training, was to have a greater intention before walking in to the classroom. Such as teaching one of life’s universal principles like patience, commitment, non-violence through yoga. It’s actually a really good idea and gives me lots of ideas on how to structure a yoga class. An idea of this would be to teach inversions on a day when I want to focus on empowering or confidence. Because when you do a headstand or handstand or walk up the wall, you feel really good! We also learned partner poses and I’ll model this later in the week. Thank God these training sessions are over- oh, how I have loved, but very thankful that they are over!!

The training was in Pacific Palisades but I stayed in Santa Monica. PP is up the coast from Santa Monica overlooking the ocean. It’s a cute little town with lots of money, it seemed to me. And Santa Monica is a big city next to Los Angeles- famous eating choices, farmer’s markets and home of the original Hardtail store on Third Street Promenade. Open any Yoga Journal and the first page is an ad for Hardtail. Lovely, edgy, colorful yoga clothes. The store was the size of a grocery store and packed with massive quantities of product in every color of the rainbow. Loved it all. Each piece I’d pick up was perfect. I honestly couldn’t find anything I didn’t like. But, it was more fun to hunt down the store, run my hands through every rack then it was to buy anything. Left empty handed and am proud of it!

Then on to a unique farmer’s market- one block from Hardtail. This farmer’s market sold everything from raw milk to freshly harvested chickens to cheese to eggs to mushrooms. Now, that is buying local. Whew. We do not have this in our town yet. Do you? Also amazing kinds of tomatoes, herbs, lettuces..trying not to be jealous *sniff*, *sniff*. Next time, I’ll take more images of the produce!

Now, off for a family weekend! Hope you all are having an amazing weekend!

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The practice of yoga is one of the best things you could do for yourself. I love it. And, now that I have a practice, the use of certain props have become mandatory. Props include a mat, towel, bolsters, straps and blocks. I am partial to my Manduka Mat but have discovered certain issues with it- namely slippage or dirt, neither of which is conducive to a yoga practice. Yes, the Manduka mat is a “non slip” mat, but with the heat cranked up and me working extra hard, I slip. And, with the slippage there is the problem that my mat has been used for other things (when I wasn’t home) that included eating bluberries while watching TV. When it’s time for the seated poses, having my sweaty body lie on a dirty mat doesn’t feel all that good.

So, let me introduce you to a wonderful company, called yogitoes. They were kind enough to send me their solution to the slippery mat situation. “The original super absorbent tool that prevents slipping and puts a hygienic layer between you and your mat.”

They have come up with a way to help you stay on your mat throughout your practice. You can use it in a variety of ways depending on your sweat level. If you are one of those who sweat from the first Sun Salutation, then, you are going to want to put your yogitoes down on top of your mat immediately. If you are a non-sweater, you might wait to use your mat till you are doing the seated poses and you don’t feel like having your body stick to a dirty mat. Or, if it takes you a while to get sweaty, you would gradually add it on to your mat and into your practice.

The way I used it was this; I kept it folded in a rectangle just above my mat and at first drip, I mopped up. Then, when my hands start to slip, I would unfold it by 1/3 for just my hands. Then, as the practice got deeper, I’d extend it the length of the mat. It was always fully extended by the time we’d get to seated poses.

Loved it! I loved how nice and clean the towel feels when it’s time to lay down. Love the fact that I can wash it after every class. I absolutely do not slip when I used this SKIDLESS towel. Although, it takes a certain amount of flexibility and skill to lift your foot when going from Down Dog to a Lunge. It took me several classes before I was able to move through vinyasas without causing wrinkling of the towel.

Would I recommend it? YES. For sure. I don’t practice without it now. You can purchase one on yogitoes website or elsewhere on the net for between $40-$65.

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When I started this training, I thought I knew what yoga was.  What I knew was nothing!   Completing DVD’s or going to an occasional mediocre yoga class does not compare to a 200 hour teacher training course offered by Yoga Works.  It probably would have been appropriate for me to at least attend a Yoga Works class before I took the TT, but, that still could not compare to what my teachers taught me in the last 12 weeks.  For your reference, my teachers were Thomas and Carmen and they seriously seriously KNEW THEIR BUSINESS.  Carmen and Thomas both train with teachers who trained under Mr. Iyengar and Carmen’s teachers were Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty, and Lisa Walford (founders of Yoga Works).  The lineage is really short from the founders of modern day yoga to me now.  I am incredibly blessed to have had this opportunity.

Every single one of the students in the class are now my close friends.  Even though maybe we didn’t connect on any other level as yoga, they are still going to be thought of as my best friends and I already miss seeing them 4 days a week!

What’s next for me now?

I’d really like to have some opportunities to teach adults yoga in my town.  The last two weeks, I taught yoga to my teachers at school and got a lot of satisfaction out of it.  The more I teach, the less I feel I know.  And teaching yoga is more about presentation than it is about the alignment points.  It is an ART.

Practice.  In order to be an excellent teacher, I need to have a practice- under a teacher’s supervision.   And a daily practice.

Continue my studies in yoga.  It’s like with everything else, one training isn’t going to make me a good teacher or student.  My husband didn’t earn a black belt in one year, it took twenty years!! So, here I am making a commitment to always seek out opportunities to learn more.

Running and Cycling? Who the heck knows!!  Yoga will need to be the main dish and the cardiovascular training will be the side dish for now.

Shanti.

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