Time To Take It Outdoors!

Summer has just come to an end and Fall is upon us and If you haven’t taken your yoga practice outside yet you are missing out! There are only a few more weeks of my twilight yoga class so please take advantage of it while its here and the weather is nice! There is nothing more therapeutic than practicing yoga as the sun is setting and the day is unwinding!

Even if you can’t make it to my twilight class you should consider taking your own practice outdoors. Studies show that when compared to indoor exercise, outdoor exercise led to increased mental benefits with greater feelings of revitalization, increased energy and decreased stress and depression. They also report that outdoor yoga can lead to an improvement in spiritual, emotional and psychological well being, as opposed to studio yoga or indoor exercise.

Benefits of Outdoor Yoga:

-      It’s a challenge. Anybody can practice yoga inside on a mat but it adds a completely different element when you put your feet on the sand or on the grass. The uneven ground and the wind in your face require you to make adjustments to your asanas and can add new life to your practice.

-      Vitamin D! Get it the natural way. Vitamin D can have a profound effect on mood; so if you are feeling down, take your mat and practice outside for the day. There is just something to be said about doing a sun salutation outside.

-      The best free soundtrack ever. Next time you do yoga outdoors take time to listen to the wind, the bird, or the waves on the beach. There is nothing more relaxing than tuning into nature!

-      Improves your focus and mindfulness. Taking your practice outdoors will help you get out of the same routine that you have been doing. By allowing yourself to experience something new, you are able to really focus on your experience at hand.

-      Meditate and cultivate gratitude. Nature helps facilitate a sense of peace and reminds us to be still. It is the perfect place to quite the mind for meditation. It can remind us that we have everything that we need: air to breath, the sun for warmth, flowers for beauty, fruit and vegetables to eat. Contemplating on these things and finding stillness can bring much peace.

Namaste

www.gobodiyoga.com

Children's Yoga: Discovering the World Through Yoga!

One class that I plan to add to my schedule in the near future is a yoga class for children.  In the past few years, there has emerged a growing number of  children yoga classes being taught in schools and studios all over. For some, this might seem strange, but in this post I will tell you how yoga can benefit not only adults but children of all ages.

Our children are growing up in an extremely fast paced world. Their schedules are often packed with rigorous school curriculums, music lessons, and competitive sports; not to mention family responsibilities such as chores etc. The bustling pace of our kid’s lives can have a profound effect on their happiness—and sometimes not for the better.

Introducing a yoga practice can help counter the pressures of every day life. Yoga can help children to learn techniques for relaxation, inner fulfillment, and self-health, which can result in them being able to navigate life’s challenges with less stress.

Some surprising benefits of kid’s yoga are:

-       Improved fine motor skills

-       Improved mental acuity and focus

-       Improved hand—eye coordination

-       Improved mind/body developmental awareness

-       Improved coping skills

-       Increased awareness and sense of self

-       Lots of Fun!!!

 Yoga also encourages self-esteem and body awareness in an activity that is noncompetitive.  Now I don’t see anything wrong with a little healthy competition, however kids seem to get more than their healthy dose of it these days.  By incorporating noncompetitive hobbies into our children’s lives we encourage cooperation and compassion, instead of opposition—which is a great gift to give to our children.

Yoga also has physical benefits for children. It enhances strength, coordination, body awareness, and flexibility.  In addition it can improve their ability to concentrate and relax. No wonder schools across the world are starting to incorporate yoga classes into their curriculums!

Yoga classes for children are very different than your traditional yoga classes. Yoga classes for kids integrate storytelling, games, music, language and other arts into each asana or pose.  It provides a creative environment and a way to learn and discover the world through a non-traditional way.

Stay tuned for some children’s yoga and “mommy and me” classes to be added to my schedule!

Namaste

www.gobodiyoga.com

Finding Peace: 5 Steps to a Better Meditation

I've been thinking about the value of meditation a lot lately. Probably because I have two babies under the age of two, am in the process of building a house, am packing up for our move in month, am playing on two softball teams each week, and did I mention teaching yoga? Needless to say, I am very busy, and sadly a little too stressed. It's my meditation that all too often gets me through the week.

It's no longer a big secret that meditation is good for us. In fact science can even show neurological changes in the brain that occur when we meditate. Studies show that the areas that are associated with stress slow down significantly, and the parts of the brain that are associated with feelings like joy, peace, and compassion become more active. There is unquestionably no doubt that meditation triggers positive changes.

I try to incorporate meditation time into each of my classes, however I find that a lot of my students wonder if they are "doing it right." They worry that they might fall asleep or perhaps that they might be too alert. Some may experience visual sensation while others don't. They hear of others experiences and wonder if they are doing something wrong. It was these questions that let me to write this post.

In this post, I am going to give you five "tricks" to a better meditation. Try them out, see what works for you, and be on your way to more peace and less stress.

1. The first tip is to find a quiet place. Meditation doesn't come easily for everybody, but noise and distractions can make even the most seasoned meditator feel frustrated. Find a place where you know there will be no distractions or interruptions before beginning your practice. And yes, this means turn off that cell phone!

2. Establish a simple protocol that you can come back to again and again. It really doesn't matter what it is, and you will get a lot of different advice on what works best; but the truth is, everybody is different and things may work better for some and not for others. I recommend something simple such as focusing on your breath or rehearsing a mantra. I personally like to close my eyes and gently shift my gaze from right to left. Finding a "trigger" that you can start your practice with, and come back to throughout your practice if you feel yourself getting distracted can be a huge help during your meditation.

3. Find a sensory trigger. For me, I have specific essential oils that immediately help me to go deeper into my practice. Find something that stimulates one of your senses such as music, light, essential oils or candles, or even eye bags or head wrapping (see tip below). Practice it each time you meditate until you associate that trigger with your meditation practice. 

(Head wrapping is a practice used by many to help them to relax. To achieve it, take a scarf and wrap it over your eyes around your head. Secure it tightly, yet comfortably in a knot. Its almost like a "hug" for the mind. Then let yourself relax.)

4. Don't think too much, but still allow yourself to think. Sounds contradicting doest it. What I mean by this is simply, don't be too hard on yourself. People focus too much on "quieting the mind" and "not thinking" during meditation. Instead, don't ignore thoughts that come to your mind but rather acknowledge them and move on. Don't dwell on them. I've found that the more I try to force my mind to be still, the less I get out of my meditation practice. 

5. Finally, establish a regular practice. The more you practice your meditation the easier it will come to you. Set time aside each day, even if it's just five minutes, for you to put these tips to use. You will find that with time you will have less stress and more balance in your life.

Namaste

www.gobodiyoga.com

Reclining Hero Pose in Prenatal Yoga

This is a pose for all my prenatal yoga students.  It is called reclining hero pose and it has been shown to be effective in easing symptoms of morning sickness, constipation, and heartburn (all those fun side effects of pregnancy). I usually incorporate this pose into our class by using our bolsters but if you cant come to class and don’t have bolsters it works with a few pillows as well.

To accomplish this pose, start by kneeling with your knees hip distance apart. I usually tell my students to have their feet just at the edge of their bolster (pillow) or just slightly straddling it.  Next lower your bum to the ground and recline backwards until you are resting on your bolster. Let your hands fall out to the side or up overhead. Relax in this pose for 1-3 minutes. When you come out of this pose make sure to come to the side and use your arms to sit up (don’t put any stress on the belly). Counteract this pose by coming and resting in child’s pose afterwards.

For more tips and poses that help alleviate pregnancy side effects come to my Monday night prenatal yoga classes!

-Namaste

www.gobodhiyoga.com

Yoga: A Pathway to Emotional Honesty

Yoga is more than mere exercise. In fact, I would say that yoga can be a pathway to discovering and freeing different emotions within yourself. There have been several times during my personal practice where I have become overwhelmed with emotion. This is not uncommon. Yoga is a cleansing practice. These emotions that are brought to the surface during your practice do so because you are ready to face these feelings. You are ready and strong enough to see and feel these feelings without unneeded blocks or mind/body distractions.

Emotions can be suppressed in our bodies for several reasons:

* Because at the time when they were originally experienced it was not "safe" to feel or express those emotions 

* Because they were taken out of context and the maturity and or ability to understand them was lacking

* Because there was some sort of overwhelm to the system at the time that they would have originally been experienced 

Suppressing emotion can lead to many different outcomes. It can manifest itself in mental distress such as depression or post-traumatic stress, or physical distress such as disease, including fibromyalgia and other chronic health problems.  It also can manifest itself in a wide range of addictions as a form of self-soothing or distraction over cover-up. Finally, it can manifest itself in a form of "zoning-out" also known as dissociation. This can be as small as a momentary daydream and as severe as becoming completely dissociated with reality (DID-Dissociative Identity Disorder).

Emotions, generally, are made to be experienced and felt. Sometimes in our culture, we are taught that it is not always appropriate to express how we feel. Sometimes we are unsure of what is deemed appropriate expression and "guidelines" for such are sometimes contradicting. For example, as young children we are told, "not to cry" and that "you are ok" when something is wrong. Instead of letting children experience that emotion, we are asking them to mask it.

Yoga can be a very therapeutic outlet in expressing these emotions. During yoga, the emotions that are behind held in the body begin to move. As we begin to move and feel more comfortable in our body, we are more able to feel, say, and do what we honestly feel.

I personally have felt this with my own practice. My decision to get certified as a yoga instructor came shortly after the unexpected death of my dad. Needless to say, I had a lot of emotion, both being expressed and withheld. There were several times during savasana that I found myself in tears or otherwise overwhelmed because of the intense feelings that were surfacing and that I was allowing myself to feel. I know that my yoga practice has been a catalyst in helping me cope and adjust to my fathers passing. It has been a huge blessing in my life and a way for me to live as honestly as I can. It is for this reason that I am so excited to be able to teach others as they embark on their yoga experience and journey and help them be able to express themselves through the movement of yoga.

-Namaste

www.gobodhiyoga.com

Just Breathe

This week in my classes I wanted to really break down and focus on the breathing techniques that we use during yoga. All too often I find my students retaining their breath, and as a result not getting as much out of their practice as they could. Breath is the foundation behind every movement, every extension, and every asana (pose). Essentially breath is the foundation of yoga. As I was taught, "The breath holds both the basis and the potential for your practice in the melody of movement through each inhale and exhale."

UJJAYII BREATH:

The main breath that we use during our yoga practice is called the Ujjayii breath. Ujjayii is a Sanskrit word that means victorious. It is a warming breath  that retains heat in your body during your practice.  This retention is what helps to deepen into your poses and facilitates movement. It is the key to any vinyasa practice.

HOW TO:

When teaching the Ujjayii breath I first tell my students to hold their hand in front of them and pretend they are trying to fog up a mirror. I draw their attention to the heat that they can feel on their hand. This is the foundation of the breath. In yoga, that heat is retained in the body. With this breath you inhale through the nose, with a slight throat restriction (like fogging a mirror) and exhale through the nose doing the same thing. To accomplish this I then tell my students to relax the jaw and rest the tip of their tongue gently on their upper palate just behind their front teeth. The lips then gently close and you turn the corners of your mouth up slightly. The noise made during this breath is similar to the sound of a wave.

This breath is not only beneficial during yoga, but has been found to lower blood pressure, reduce stress and anxiety, and alleviate symptoms related to asthma, depression, insomnia, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia. Also this breath is pivotal in prenatal yoga seeing as this breath can help during labor and birth.

So now that you have a better understanding of the breath behind yoga, you can take your practice to the next level!

Namaste

www.gobodiyoga.com

Benefits of Prenatal Yoga

This past week I started teaching a prenatal yoga class in addition to the other classes that I teach. It was  a beautiful experience. There isn't anything quite like prenatal yoga. It not only is a great exercise to help pregnant women get more prepared physically and mentally for the birth of their child, but it also helps them to bond with their unborn baby.  It is so amazing to watch and facilitate women as they go through this bonding.

For anyone who is interested in starting a prenatal yoga routine here are a few (of many) benefits of doing yoga while pregnant.

•  Helps improve sleep
•  Reduces stress and anxiety
•  Increases the strength, flexibility and endurance of the muscles needed for childbirth
•  Decreases lower back pain, nausea, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches, shortness of breath, and other common complaints of pregnancy
•  Decreases the risk of pre-term labor, pregnancy-induced hypertension and intrauterine growth    restriction-- a condition that slows a baby's growth
•  Balances hormones
•  Increases self-esteem and helps relax body and mind
•  Increases circulation for both mother and baby
•  Encourages bonding with unborn child

Now before you go and jump right into yoga, make sure that you find an instructor that has been trained specifically in prenatal yoga. There are several poses that should be avoided during pregnancy such as inversions, backbends and many twists unless they are supported or otherwise modified. Prenatal yoga is recommended three times weekly during pregnancy. Also, typically practice is suspended during weeks 8-12 of pregnancy because, in general pregnancy statistics, most miscarriages occur during this time frame.

For information as to when my prenatal classes (as well as other yoga classes) will be taught, see the following link: http://www.facebook.com/groups/100826750095616/

www.gobodhiyoga.com