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Stepping out of the studio: Unique DFW flows

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Alpaca’s & Disco & Skylines, oh my!

As we bid adieu to summer, it’s time to find new ways to stay engaged as schoolbooks, conference calls and carpool schedules threaten to impede on our fitness resolutions.  We’ve highlighted a few of the many upcoming events in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to get both beginners and experienced yogi’s creative juices ‘flow’ing.

With Labor Day upon us those without travel plans can follow their mat to a slew of cool local events, including starting the holiday weekend off with live music yoga on Friday evening (8/30, 7 pm local time) at Indra’s Grace studio (http://indrasgrace.com) just a stone’s throw from the bustling Magnolia Ave strip in Fort Worth. Texas natives, The Cush, will accompany Indra instructor Kasey Bell in an energetic flow sure to set the stage for a festive weekend. Follow that up the next day by attending the 13th Annual Dallas Yoga Festival (http://dfwfreedayofyoga.com/) in Main Street Garden Park in downtown Dallas. Not only can you join the largest free community yoga class in the DFW area, but this family friendly event also boasts music, food, and shopping vendors as well as giveaways to sunset. Partnering with over 20 yoga studios, including North Texas Bikram Yoga and City Yoga, you can find inspiration and guidance from local instructors and explore new options for your weekly practice.

If you’re in search of other outdoor options for Labor Day weekend, head to Uptown for a barnyard bonanza at The Rustic on Saturday August 31st at 9 a.m. Not only can you partake in the goat yoga craze that’s sweeping the nation, but “It’s for Charity” has taken this experience to the next level with celebrity appearances, alpaca’s Jolene and Rita! Proceeds to this event benefit local non-profit and mental health advocates via The Reminder Project (@heresyourreminder). For additional furry friend facetime, head over to Flea Style (https://fleastyle.com) the first Saturday of September (9/7) for an all-level bunny and piggy practice that boasts plenty of post vinyasa playtime and selfies. Following your flow, snag a complimentary hard cider and peruse the 80+ vendors of local jewelry, décor, clothing, and culinary finds that the store has to offer. If retail therapy is your go-to Saturday activity, make sure you’re in Plano on the 7th to catch a 9 a.m. Yoga Sculpt class at the Fabletics in Legacy West before your shopping spree. Head over to the Dallas Observer event page to RSVP, and bonus, it’s free to attend so all your budget can be spent on that new pair of yoga pants you’ve had your eye on.

If balancing adorable pigmy goats on your back isn’t your scene, you have each Wednesday in September to get yo glam on. Sweet Tooth Hotel (https://sweettoothhotel.com) and Dallas Fitness Ambassadors have partnered to bring you GLOW, a silent disco fitness series celebrating “music, movement and art.” Each week you have opportunity to not only partake in a 45 minute yoga practice with the co-owner of Class Studios (@class_studios), but each admission also includes access to the DISCOTECH art installation, a post sweat sesh cocktail at Reign, the hotels Prince themed bar, as well as a full glitter and glam area to get you fully decked out in glow paint and body jewels for that perfect ‘grammable moment. Snag your tickets on Eventbrite before the series concludes, and while you’re there check out Dallas Fitness Ambassador’s (@dallasfitnessambassadors) FAME Fest happening later in the month (9/27 & 9/28) for more boutique classes, arts and music fun. Studio partners include sexy up and comer to the Dallas area, TruFusion (@trufusion_dallas), which is a multi-class studio concept popularized by the likes of Jennifer Lopez and boyfriend investor A-Rod. In addition to power, flow & vinyasa practices you can box, spin, squat and plié in a variety of heated and non-heated class options.

Silent disco flow at Sweet Tooth Hotel, by Kathy Tran

Patio season is also upon us, so whether you’re looking for a view or something new to do there is a flow for that! Not far from the Stockyards you can flow al fresco on September 14th at Topgolf, which is launching their new brunch menu with a practice on their terrace overlooking the downtown Fort Worth skyline. What better way to open your hubby’s heart chakra than an hour of complimentary gameplay and free Topgolf swag?? Or for those downtowners looking for something within walking distance, on September 28th yogis can flow in Sundance Square at 9 a.m. All levels are welcome and it’s free to boot!

Sundance Square, Fort Worth, TX

If you’ve spent time in Lower Greenville, you already know that it boasts some of the best brunch spots in Dallas. Take your hair of the dog up to the rooftop of HG SPLY CO and practice with CorePower Yoga on Saturday the 14th. Ticket holders get a chance to win a free month of yoga and HG gift card for your next night out! CorePower Yoga is a nationwide staple and will be opening its 6th DFW location soon in the West Village. Each location boasts a wide variety of classes for those looking to try hot yoga, learn new inversions, or even unwind with a meditative candle-lit yin experience. Rounding out the month, DALLASITES101 (https://www.dallasites101.com) has brought back their rooftop yoga series in Deep Ellum. You even have time to sneak in a lazy Sunday morning before heading over to Bottled Blonde (@bottledblondetx) for an 11 a.m. free flow. Nothing says downward facing dog like bottles of Dom Perignon after, am I right?

So come on DFW, get inspired, and we’ll see you on the mat!

On Living Your Best Life

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It’s funny as I sit here writing this I have in the background manifest affirmations playing and I am really contemplating my own life and am I truly living “my best life?”

I am currently working toward finishing off my first year in fitness! I have been teaching a variety of classes beyond yoga. These have ranged between mat pilates, myofascial release, cycle, and now cardio HIIT classes. I had to add additional certifications to teach these classes and even then I have not stopped growing! I am currently, along with my chemistry class, working on my certifications in personal training and corrective exercise. If you had told me a year ago this is what I would be doing before I started my YTT I would’ve laughed at you and said that would be crazy!

A year ago I was far from “living my best life,” I was a special education teacher in a private high school that specialized in working with severe social and emotional disabilities. I was doing something I liked, educating. However, despite my amazing group of coworkers, I was going home stressed and in tears every night. Sometimes I would barely make it to the car! I felt I was not making enough of an impact on my students and that as much as I wanted to help I wasn’t. This was the sign that I officially drove myself to total burnout. I was going on to finish my 4th year in education and had just dealt with the trauma of having my first miscarriage. Let’s just say it was the universe forcing myself to really reflect as to where I was going and what truly was going to make me happy.

Often times we want to settle for what is comfortable. We bite our tongue or try to shut our brains up thinking, “hey, I am ok with this. This will pay the bills and leave my family comfortable.” We stick with what is easy and what we have been doing because there’s a safe feeling that covers us like an old blanket.

It’s not only in just our minds but also when we talk to people in our surroundings as well. My parents for example pushed me to continue the school year. They told me going part time right now would be foolish and irresponsible despite how unhappy I was. It wasn’t until I called my mom in tears and explained everything in my job and what was going on where she finally agreed for me to put in my notice. We reach out to people in our support systems to either “talk sense” into us, or to reinforce what we are thinking. My family’s favorite statement to me was “you only speak to us about these things once you’ve made up your mind, why do you want us to fight your decision?” At which point I laughed, because in all reality this is what we do. We like bouncing things off of each other to hear every part of our choice because our brain can’t possibly do it all at once on its own. Despite making a decision already, because you never know…maybe they say something you haven’t thought yet. Sometimes your supports reinforce that blanket because they think that is the best way to make sure you are safe and supported. So they tuck you in further into your comfort blanket and you get settled in.

Here’s the best advice I can give, the life lesson I gained from all this:

Sometimes it’s when we let the blanket go that we really start to thrive!

I made the decision to try working part time as a special education teacher and was denied working the hours at the school so I gave a months noticed and signed up for another prerequisite so I could finally work towards my doctorates in physical therapy. This is something my mom had been pushing for because she knew I had wanted this since high school, but life happens and sometimes you go with a shorter path because you want to be that independent woman right away instead of grinding it out for what seems like eternity to then gain success.

In those 4 years of my “independent” life I was upset, stress, anxious, and overall unhappy. I did not feel I was living the life I was meant to. Though teaching had its happy moments it wasn’t over 60% of the time. This should’ve been the sign to go. When March rolled around I started working as a fitness instructor and dog walking part time to really focus on my studies. The concern that I wouldn’t be able to make it? Well guess what? I did well!

The fitness hustle is real, but I was enjoying teaching yoga and then mat pilates, and now cycle too. I began falling in love with what I did. I would find myself getting excited  having discussions with friends about fitness. I would talk about the types of exercises and what they can do to aid with certain tight muscles, how the body moves and other life stuff. I for the first time ENJOYED talking bout the work and didn’t find myself complaining 100% of the time about how tough and hard my job was. I was even told it looks like I lost 20 lbs, even though it had only been a week away from teaching!

That’s when I knew I was on the right path. But how does this all apply to you? How can what has happened for me so far make any meaningful change in your life?

The start to living your best life is simple – ask yourself with everything you do:

Does this light me up? 

  • Yes – do it!
  • No – toss it!
  • Eh? Maybe?  – reflect and set it aside for some time. It’s like the love bird analogy, if you come back to it, it is meant to be!

This is the first part to slowly remove the choke hold the “comfort blanket” has over you. If you can categorize your life into these three categories you’ll start to find a pattern in the things that do light your fire and slowly start to go down that path.

Of course, there are always things we hate, like bills, that just need to be a part of life, but that doesn’t mean you cannot work in an area that lights your fire. I have slowly found that even working part time I am able to make ends meet because I am happy to work more hours teaching these fitness classes then when I was working an easier schedule teaching. I am happy to drive around and hustle the way I need to because it is something that lights my fire.

When you’re doing something you love, you don’t work a day in your life and that is true. This is the definition of living your best life.

A day, a Week, and a Month – Life of the Fitness Instructor

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Going on a year in the fitness industry I definitely have mixed reviews from other instructors and my previous impressions of what working in the industry would entail. I guess this is my way of giving the – so you’re certified in group fitness, now what? explanation by providing you with a day, week, and month in the life.

I find it is always best to start at the beginning and my journey started with finishing my 200 hr YTT in August of 2018 and trying to apply for a part time job to supplement my teaching schedule. I applied to numbers of jobs and there were some jobs where I applied knowing I wouldn’t get the position because they wanted 1-2 years of experience. This is when I realized fitness, like some industries has that, chicken or the egg, type experience where you may need to start working there as a desk attendant or just a sub with not set hours before you can build into having a more set schedule. Before giving up I received my first job from a boutique studio that was just starting a yoga program. And I lucked out that they would take a chance on me.

Before going into fitness as a career the week was like – teach 8 hours M-F, volunteer teaching yoga to the fellow teachers two times after school, go home, complete IEPs and grades, then on Saturdays teach 2 yoga classes to try and make some extra money. And for those who are looking for fitness as a supplement this may just be your week! Most people choose to keep their full time and teach maybe an evening class or two, maybe classes on the weekends to force themselves to get a workout in because who can do that with a busy schedule, AND you get paid to do so.

Now, I have transitioned in working in fitness and I can dissect a little more just what the day/ week/ month is like.

Day – Week Day (BTW this is a somewhat template. Other days there are more subbing than showed, or less classes and more free time. The schedule changes depending on what hours the gyms you work at have available. And yes, gyms, because unless you find the unicorn of gyms you will have to travel between 2/3 if you are making this more of your job)

Alarm goes off – 7:00 am (4:00 am for those that choose the 5 am/6 am classes, not me, YET!)

Sometimes you’re up even earlier! This is the time to work on your personal practice or work on some moves for the days classes!

7:15 – out of bed, form my to do list. I use the app – Daily To-do List because it crosses thing out for me so I can make sure I get stuff done. I have 3 lists made M/W/F, T/Th, Weekend, and Daily because I try my best to not make EVERYTHING a daily task.

7:30 – in the car – driving and playing my mindfulness practice using the meditation app – Happy Not Perfect. Once that is done its on to Spotify (by the way a Premium purchase, ~$10 a month, will be the best bet for making playlists) to try and find good new songs that I throw into a playlist labeled either: yoga, mat pilates, yin, or cycle, to later review for the following week’s classes.

8:00 – 30 min before my first class get a strength or cardio workout in so you have a moment to get yourself worked in. I know I had mentioned about getting paid to workout. This is not entirely the truth. In class you should be focused on your class. So giving these 15 min to get that sweat in for you either before or after is always good. Depending on how much time I have between classes I may even try to swim to bring back the old feeling of the pool. I swam competitively for 10 years.

8:15 – Set up the class. You should arrive 15-20 min early to every class because it gives you time to say hi, get to know your clients and make the connections you need. It also allows you to have any props or equipment set for your clients so there isn’t time used getting everything.

8:30 – class start

9:45 – subbing second class or personal workout time along with coffee or protein shake to keep going

11:00 – subbing third class – if not subbing it’s a one hour break to either workout or get lunch.

Starbucks studying chemistry, personal training, and trying to get some mindfulness reading during a free hour

12-4 walking dogs, class prepping, positing on social media about your schedule and future classes, applying for other fitness instructor jobs (because the schedule is never full), instacart work, or part time retail. This is where I explain that in fitness there is for the most part this huge gap between classes. You will work opposite the 9-5 because everyone is at work during the middle of the day. You may an the off chance get a noon class for those who try to get their fitness in during their lunch break, but it’s seldom. This being said this time block is where odd jobs come in. I personally do the shopping, dog walking, and tutor to fill the time. Right now this is filled with my summer class.

4:15 – prep for class

4:30 – class

5:30 – prep for class, chat with clients on some soreness that they have and what poses can be used to stretch the muscles, and foam rolling techniques to allow for

5:45 – class

6:45 – class

7:15 – class

8:00 – driving home ~30-40 min depending on the day

9:00 – dinner if hungry, and studying, class prep, chores, and setting up for the next day.

Rinse, lather, repeat

Day – Weekend (again somewhat of a template based on real life)

8:00 – alarm (I don’t have super early Saturday or Sunday classes…YET)

9:15 – prep for class.

9:30 – class

10:35 – class

11:35 – reach out to friends about brunch, if not go home. Study, class prep, post to social media about the upcoming week, provide some fitness information to clients to aid with frequent issues that you saw arise during the week.

Rinse, lather, repeat

I choose not to work 7 days a week. No one should, and this is where before I give a week and a month info explain this. In fitness part of the job has really taught me how to have the strength to say no. Often times you will get texts, hourly, if not daily about needing subs for fitness classes. Also people will ask if you work on weekends and if you’re will to work one or both days. It is important for you to take care of yourself, not just for you, but now in fitness you are a model of what people see for good health. You want to set the best example.

A week in the life – with the dissection of the weekday and the weekend day I feel this covers it with the rinse, lather, repeat, because this is how it will get to feel once you are more accustomed with having the ability to make your own schedule and set your routine. I will let you know that there is an adjustment period to this. You get so used to school and more traditional jobs which are 9-5 and your done. This is not the case with fitness. You will find yourself with super early or late dinners, asking people if they can meet for lunch or on weekends (if that day is free for you) and napping. My week is usually filled with trying to make sure I have my schedule set and written down in 3 different places because there’s 3/4/5 different places I am going to in one day. I live a bit out of my car with a change of non-fitness clothes, protein bars, yoga props, 3 different pairs of shoes, and shower stuff. Be prepared – girl and boy scouts are right about this one!

A month – by the end of the month, I will honestly say you have felt accomplished looking back at your schedule. I try to take either the end of a month or the beginning of the month to look back and really finalize what I could have done better, what I need to fix, what classes are and are not working for my schedule and trying to see if I am working at the right places as I get more and more in tune with the drive time (and there will be a lot!) and distance between places.

Going on to a year in fitness – wrapping up.

Ok, this was a lot to digest and process. I will say going on a year of doing this, your first year will be rocky, and bumpy. You may ask yourself why you are doing this type of schedule and why you are working mini part time jobs to make ends meet. But looking back, I am so much happier from when I was teaching. I have the ability to make my own schedule and do things I never thought I would have time to do!

Take away tips:

  • Give yourself ample time to drive between gyms. You think 20 min may be enough for a 15 min drive. 99.99% of the time it won’t be. Double it!
  • Take a day off – I mean it! A full day!
  • Don’t underestimate contract work – this could be dog walking, grocery shopping, blog post writing, aiding with social media at the yoga studio you work at. This will help pad the hours and pad your wallet as well.
  • Don’t stop learning – find your modality and stick to it, but if you notice there is an area you’re interested in or another class you would like to teach, learn how to teach it! Gyms love people with multiple certs, because you become their go to person when they need help, and if they decide to add classes you then become the person they ask to add to the schedule
  • Say no when you want to – this is important. The first 2 months of my fitness journey was Yes, Yes, and YES! This led to a really quick and very painful burnout that I needed an immediate vacation to recover. Don’t do this. Know your limits and set them a little before that boundary so you’re kept in a healthy safe position for work.

 

What to Do When You Hit an Exercise Plateau

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Ah, the well known exercise plateau… It’s just the worst isn’t it? Well, maybe not. It may be the perfect opportunity to look at your exercise habits and ask yourself “what’s working and what’s not?” Plateaus are extremely common to those who exercise regularly.

First off, how do I know that I’ve hit a plateau?

Are you measuring or tracking your progress?

There are endless options to track your progress. Whether it be devices or apps, there are so many great options to monitor and track your fitness goals. If you’re not using tools like timing, heart rate monitoring, or tracking calories burned, it’s almost impossible to know the rate at which you’re improving.

Do you feel sore?

Soreness can mean a few things… it could mean you haven’t been stretching enough, or possibly you worked out without a warm-up, or maybe you’re pushing your muscles to a higher velocity and the muscles fibers are tearing. The last option is what you are ideally trying to do when you strength train. The muscle fiber tears are what cause the increase in size and strength of the muscle as it repairs. If you’re not feeling sore, your muscles may not be growing and this could mean you hit a plateau.

How are your clothes fitting?

I like to ask this one instead of focusing on weight. Your clothes are a great indicator of how your body is reacting to the type of exercise you’re doing. If you’re feeling uncomfortable in your clothes (i.e., they aren’t fitting as well as they did when you began training) this may be a red flag!

Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash

Okay, I think I’ve hit a plateau… what do I do now?

  • SWITCH IT UP

I get it, it’s so easy to get addicted to one type of workout. Maybe it’s cycling, running, yoga, barre, pilates, you name it. Unfortunately, though, sticking to only one type of training can get you stuck. Your body craves movement in a variety of ways. Challenge yourself. Try that dance class you’ve always wanted to try and see how open your body feels afterward. Try a mat pilates class and notice how deeply engaging your core can make you feel just as strong as weight lifting does.

  • BACK TO BASICS

This can be a great opportunity to go back to your fundamentals. Are you engaging your core when you squat? Are your shoulders pulled back and down as you bicep curl? Are you accidentally tipping forward and overextending your knee in a lunge? These minor adjustments can be huge change-makers in the quality of your results.

  • LOOK LOCAL

Notice the community around you. What are other people doing? Can you get involved in a local running club or a free yoga class at the park? Connecting with others in your local community can be a simple way to reconnect with why you exercise in the first place. Making a “workout date” with a friend will leave you with double the endorphins!

Photo by dylan nolte on Unsplash

Hitting a plateau is a great place to be. You can now look towards your goals and reassess your fitness strategy. Just like you have to constantly balance your work, lifestyle, and relationships, you also have to realign your exercise routine to make it the best use of your time and energy. Use this plateau as a learning experience and get out there – try something new!

Sensation and Repose: Yin and Restorative Yoga

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Consider a curious bystander, strolling by the window of a yoga studio.  He or she may see a group of students on the floor, head down in surrender. There are many props scattered around the mats and the bodies lie slumped in stillness, in what looks like a comfortable position. They are straddling a bolster, perhaps.  Naturally, anyone not actually experiencing the class may assume it was on the Restorative side.  This is not your usual flowy Power Vinyasa with standing poses and sweat.  And when this anonymous prospective yogi decides to pick up a schedule at the door, the bubble font reveals the words: Yin/Restorative.

Yin and Restorative yoga are quite often described interchangeably in class descriptions.  Anyone looking to begin or deepen their practice can be left scratching their head when they enter a labeled Yin class expecting some R & R and are called upon to become aware of their deepest physical, and oftentimes emotional layers, in a given asana (pose).  That is because Yin yoga targets the connective tissue of the body– the bones, ligaments, and joints–through passive stress, in often supine positions.  Restorative yoga uses props to physically support the body so that a yogi can exert minimal effort in a position, and find the greatest state of ease.  This encourages the parasympathetic nervous system to switch on and promote relaxation. 

clouds over a curving mountain road at sunset

The Yin in the modern Yin yoga tradition can be seen through the lens of the classical Taoist principles of Yin and Yang.  Yin is the feminine aspect of the two, and is associated with the moon (cooling poses) while Yang is considered a dynamic, masculine qi or chi energy (life force) inducing practice, and is associated with the sun (heating poses).  Although the roots of Yin and Yang yoga have blossomed out of the principles of Chinese medicine, it is the western appropriation that has cultivated this tradition.  In Yin yoga, the body is put into positions that are designed to strengthen and mobilize the joints in order to release the sensory depth of the stagnant, tight and uncomfortable parts of the body such as hip flexors and knees.  Poses are held for an extended period of time so that they may give way in the body, bringing sensations to the surface (physical and yes, some emotional).  In these poses of surrender, in a state of passivity, we cannot avoid our inner life. How we treat what comes up is apparent in the quality of the ease we find in our practice. The sensations of Yin can even be described as a volcanic opening of prana (chi), extreme sensation, and, well, the opposite of the relaxation we come to expect when we see the word “restorative” in a class description. 

Here’s where the confusion ultimately lies.  It is in that word “restore,”–which many of us take to mean “soften” or “ease”–that plays an integral part in how we define and practice Yin yoga.  In this case it does not exactly equal comfort.  In Yin yoga to restore means to rebuild, re-experience, re-lease, which leads to the stretching of the fascia, or deep muscle tissue.  When you’re in a Yin pose, like Pigeon for instance, for a long period of time–that is, several minutes–our experience of the pose can cause sensations to volley up and down like a strongman carnival game.  The vitality and vulnerability that a Yin pose can exhume into awareness can be healing nonetheless, which is also the prime goal of Restorative yoga, as we know it. To heal.

Restorative yoga comes from the ancient Indian tradition of Hatha Yoga, and most recognizable in the teachings of BKS Iyengar, author of Light on Yoga, among others.  He was an instrumental figure in spreading knowledge of the yoga sutras and his own teachings to the world.  When he was developing his practice, he would use objects he encountered, such as trees, chairs, and even boulders to wrap himself around, in an attempt to find that ease so sought after while sitting in meditation, and to improve his overall health.  The assistance of props provides added support for the spine and the surrounding muscles, especially for those recovering from injuries.  In an aptly named Restorative class, props are used to assist in opening rather than stretching the body, and in a way that is aimed at achieving a sense of relief rather than deepening a posture to arouse a physical responsiveness.  Restorative yoga activates the (parasympathetic) rest and digest system, slows the heart rate, conserves energy, and releases the muscles in the gastrointestinal tract. 

On the outside an asana assumes the same outward shape no matter what the class is labeled. Poses crossover all the time across the many categories of yoga classes and traditions.  You will often hear poses being called by different names in a Yin verses a Restorative class because although the pose bears the same shape, the activity in the body is observed through a different perspective, and oftentimes elicits an entirely different response in the body.  For example, in the Hatha tradition Cobra pose, the legs as well as the arms are activated, anchored to the floor, pressing down.  The muscles are contracted.  In the Restorative version of the same name, a rolled blanket can be placed underneath the pelvis, elbows on the floor, or a chair can be used with the hands wrapping back on the seat or resting on the knees.  In Yin’s Seal pose, the legs are soft, pelvis sinks into the mat and the arms support the chest while the energy reaches towards the sky from the crown of the head, both elongating the upper back while releasing the tail bone towards the floor.  The sensation becomes isolated as the weight from your center of gravity sinks down. 

clouds in the sky and trees over a lakeshore

Some believe these two types of yoga, since they have elements of each other that overlap, they are the same, and it simply is not true.  What is true, is that the student goes into a position mindfully, slowly.  Poses are held for a lengthy amount of time.  Yet while there are similarities, the intention, the inner work, the energetic experience and mental roller coaster that Yin can catalyze, tells a very different story.  Both practices, however, bring us back to ourselves, and, as in all types of classes, aim to facilitate a control of the mind toward allowing what is true for the yogi to come into awareness, to realize their own power as well as their tenderness and receptivity. Yin Yoga and Restorative are practices much needed in today’s predominantly Yang society. It gives us a chance to return to our center, focus on our breath and rest the mind in order to allow vital healing to take place and gather some of our hidden strength along the way.

When it comes to definitions, it makes sense that the semantics are intertwined when their intentions and origins are what isolates them.  Although both practices were largely cultivated and exploited here in the English speaking world, calling them by the same name (even separated by a hyphen or slash) does a disservice to them both, and can discourage and confuse a student who has a particular physical need, injury, or intention.  This is like saying that wading in a river and jumping into the ocean waves are alike because you can call them both swimming.  Yet the blunder is understandable, especially since they have components of one another within each of them and are equally essential to a healthy and complete yoga practice.  

Diana Benigno

The Realities of Practicing Yoga – Yogis Are Still Everyday People

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From social media, to magazines, TV ads, and more, it seems that those who practice yoga are portrayed as people who are permanently at ease, always consumed in love, peace and happiness, and practically floating on air. In reality, this is just unrealistic.

I can speak to this misconception first hand. Recently, I had an anxiety attack, and me being a yoga instructor, people were surprised and maybe even a little confused to learn that anxiety is something that I still have to manage. To that I say, just because one practices yoga, does not mean that person will be in a complete state of bliss for the rest of their life. Sure, yoga can change how you think and can create a shift in your life, and yes, the practice has been proven to be beneficial for ones physical and mental health, but yoga is not a magical wand that you can wave and will miraculously erase all of your problems.

I think because of the way yoga is portrayed in the media people sometimes forget yoga instructors and practitioners are still just regular people, who, more often than not, were drawn to the practice because of certain issues or circumstances that they were and may still be trying to work through.

Yoga has brought me a long way. I found the practice when I was at a low point and when anxiety consumed me. Once I started seeking help and I accepted yoga into my life, I felt more in control of my anxiety and I learned how to manage it. That being said, I’m still human and I will still come up against certain obstacles that will trigger the anxiety, because that is simply the way of the world. Life has its ups and downs, and no one is completely immune from its low points. I liken it to having a common cold, which can be brought on or triggered by numerous factors like germs or the weather. You will have to take some medicine and get some rest in order to recover, but there’s always a chance that you’ll catch a cold again, even if you are taking proper care of yourself. The same goes with my anxiety. I can do all the yoga and meditation I want, but there will be days that I’m feeling low and will need a time out, just as others who are not of the practice. After all we are all human and we should keep that in mind and treat each other accordingly.

Everyone Can Meditate – Here’s Why

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When I tell people that I am a meditation coach, often I get the response: “Oh I’ve tried meditation, I can’t do it – I just can’t get myself to have an empty mind or to focus”.

I am always perplexed by that statement. Meditation is literally just breathing and noticing that you are breathing. It is that simple. Everyone breaths – how can people not breathe. One thing is if you tell me: “I’ve tried burping the alphabet and I can’t do it” or “I’ve tried rolling my tongue and I can’t do it”. Those are actually difficult things – but meditating is something we all do, you just may not know it.

The problem is many people believe meditation is this state where you can sit for hours, cross legged on the floor, saying OM and not having a thought in the world. That – to be honest – does sound nice and a little bit painful. It’s like running – most of us can walk, some of us run, and others run marathons up a hill. Meditation is the walking part.

The whole premise of meditation is about being present. About being there in the moment with yourself and learning to accept your thoughts and feelings to the point where they don’t distract you from simply breathing. That’s it. And we can all do that.

We all do it, you might not notice. It’s when you are watching a scary movie and to calm yourself you breathe deeply. Or when you are at the dentist trying to breathe and take your mind off what’s going on in your mouth. Its when you are eating a piece of dessert, and you focus on scooping it up in the spoon and enjoying each bite. So much of everyday life is meditating. Don’t make it a new task or new objective – you have enough of those. Be aware of the moments where you take a step back from just functioning and focus on yourself. Tell yourself “huh – I am meditating”. You just might come to realize you are a pro.

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Mindfulness For Decision-Making

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Mindfulness is everywhere. You can’t read a magazine or website without it showing up in one way or another. There’s a reason for this and it’s fantastic that the western world is embracing this incredibly important mental health tool, but it always seems to be described the same way: “Being present in the moment” or “Create better focus”, when really it’s so much more than that.

beautiful woman brunette with eyes closed

Photo by Luciana Sena one Pexels.com

Did you know that when you sit and bring your attention to your breathing, being present, focusing on something specific, you’re really shutting down the chatter in your brain? You’re really taking control of what your brain is doing instead of letting it do what it naturally does when there’s free time, which is think about things and stuff and more things and then more stuff.  When you take over control and make your brain quiet down, you’re creating space inside yourself for your intuition to take the lead and guide you to what your inner being knows to be true. You’re removing the logic of your thoughts and letting what your heart wants to come to the surface. It’s your “gut feeling” all the way.

This is a hugely important tool for making decisions that you just can’t seem to settle on.  What direction should I go with _____? Which job should I take? What do I believe about _____ deep down? Why do I let certain behaviors make me so angry? This works for anything from what to eat for dinner to unveiling what childhood experience shaped the way you think about something.  

While there are tons of excellent guided meditations for this, you can do it yourself in just a few minutes.

1.Sit or lie down quietly and comfortably and close your eyes.

2.Take a few big, deep breaths and sigh them out while you let all of your muscles relax; feeling your body get heavy.

3.Then ask yourself a question and let it go.

4.Bring your attention to the air coming in and out of of your nose. Just feel yourself breathing.  

5.If you start to think about things, just be aware of it and bring your attention back to your breath. Stay there, breathing, just for a few minutes.

You may get an answer immediately or it may just come to you later on, but you’ll answer from your authentic self and you’ll know what to do or what it is you truly want in a situation.   So give it a shot! Keep doing it and it may soon become your go-to guide for everything you do.

Photo by Luciana Sena on Pexels.com

A Little Yoga Goes a Long Way

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Woman practicing yoga in tree pose during sunrise
How did it get so late so soon? Dr. Seuss

We have all felt the crunch of time snapping at our heels; demanding deadlines, frantic last minutes, looming workloads. In today’s modern world, time has become a precious jewel coveted and protected, how many times have you said, if I only had more time? It is understandable why you may find a thousand excuses to skip your yoga practice. But the truth is when you are the busiest you need yoga the most. Carving out a practice amid the mayhem will keep you balanced and connected to your mat. When life is pulling you in a thousand directions, stay steady with your practice by modifying; a short practice is better than none.

If you can’t take a full class or do your regular hour home practice, rather than skip it all together modify. Decide what it is you need. Maybe you were able to sneak in a walk at lunch, when you go home, find a quiet space (that may mean pushing a bed over to make room) and lay your matt down. Perhaps you do a few sun salutations, a few standing poses, and then settle into legs up the wall. Fifteen or twenty minutes of yoga and pranayama can have profound benefits to your nervous system, restoring your ability to walk through the busy days calm and centered.

Get up while the rest of the family or roommates rise before the bedlam begins. Set your alarm and take twenty or thirty or ten minutes even to do a practice. Start in Tadasana (mountain pose), move through forward folds and back to mountain a few times to warm up your spine. If you like to flow with your asanas, create a short Vinyasa then allow enough time to do a few seated poses and final rest.  Or hold a few poses breathing slowly, and again, always leaving enough time for corpse pose. Remembering to focus on your breath and or intentions. This is a wonderful way to set the tone for your day.

Maybe mornings are not your thing, you feel too rushed, too stiff, too sleepy. Try taking a few minutes in the evening to practice, to dissolve tension, to let go of the day. If you have children, make it a family affair. Establish twenty or thirty minutes before dinner, as yoga time, put on soothing music, breathe, and reconnect to your practice. When you build yoga into your life, it is like eating healthy. You may not always have time for an elaborate sit-down meal, but you can afford time to nourish yourself with something delightful like an apple, an avocado, a bowl full of brown rice and veggies. An evening practice is a soothing farewell to the day. It doesn’t have to be a long to reap the benefits yoga imparts; improved digestion, serener nervous system, soothing sleep.

If you have a space at work or a studio nearby that you can walk to at lunch, maybe this is the time you take for your practice. Or close your office door, turn off the lights, and throw your mat down for a few moments of yoga. You will be astounded how this clears your mind and makes you more efficient for whatever work is waiting for you. It has been scientifically studied that students and workers who do yoga on a regular basis are able to navigate through the workload more efficiently, it stimulates creativity by waking up your chakras (energy centers) and allowing your body to tune inward. Pushing through deadlines without giving your brain a break is like trying to drive a car with no gas.

Imagine not talking to your partner, lover, spouse for days on end.  Soon tension builds, you begin to feel disconnected from the relationship, perhaps even resentful. It is the same for a yoga practice. Touching base, checking in communicating with your inner self does not have to is important to keep connected. It doesn’t have to consume you. Give yourself permission to honor your practice, Click off the screens, rather than scrolling Facebook or handing your precious time over, set up boundaries for your practice, create a sacred space for it. Be clear, make it a priority, even if others inadvertently try to derail your efforts, simply get back to the mat and know that a little yoga goes a long way.

Does Yoga Work for Weight Loss?

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It depends how you use it.

            Yoga, as a discipline, is chameleon-like in its adaptability to whatever you desire to gain from it. It also has several unique benefits and requires its practitioners to develop skills that can be found nowhere else in fitness.

            Its roots go back thousands of years ago in an era when many health and beauty ideals were very different than they are today. It was meant for wellness in all of its forms, and versatility became built-in.

            Therefore, if weight loss is your goal, yoga has several mechanisms that can be harnessed to achieve it.

            Is it the best way to lose fat? Again, it depends. Yoga lends itself to a practice in which devotees can enjoy its benefits for many years, including weight loss. As a weight loss modality, it isn’t fast, but it is sustainable. And, if you use it in keeping with its original goal of total wellness, it can be highly effective.

            For example, recent studies are debunking the concept that different aspects of fitness, such as cardio, have compartmentalized benefits and should be developed in separate workouts. For several decades, cardio has been considered to be the best way to burn fat. And while it is an essential element of fitness and certainly can be a great way to get rid of excess calories, strength training is now beginning to be recognized more and more for its major role in weight loss.

            Almost all of yoga’s asanas involve static, or nonmoving, strength training. Muscles can be challenged by range-of-motion exercises, and by nonmoving ones such as planks or wall sits. While the specific benefits of these two types of exercise differ slightly, they both build muscle. And while yoga is typically thought of as a stretching workout, a major element of each class is static strength training. In order to support yourself and keep from falling over in Extended Side Angle, you have to use almost every muscle in your legs while you are in the long lunge, and to keep your upper body still as you fight gravity.

            How does this affect fat loss? More and more, it is being found that a faster metabolism, rather than immediate calorie burn, has much more impact on weight loss than was previously thought. And the most effective way to increase it is through strength training.

            The rate at which your body burns through the food you’ve immediately eaten, and then starts looking around for more fuel, is affected the most by how much muscle mass you have in proportion to everything else. If you’re concerned about bulking up, don’t worry—it takes a specialized training and nutrition program to do that. However, what more muscle will do is allow you to burn more calories per minute, even when you’re not exercising. You could literally be losing weight in your sleep!

Again, you might not burn as many calories during an hour-long yoga class as you might if, say, you went for a jog for the same amount of time. But, if you take into account the extra muscle you’ll build and how much your metabolism after the class will increase, a strength-focused yoga workout can be a very effective weight-loss tool.

yoga instructor in dancer pose

The only fine print is that the intensity level has to be fairly high as far as the amount of strength your workout requires. You don’t need to have dramatic amounts of flexibility to benefit from this kind of workout, but you do need to challenge your muscles in order to reap that metabolism boost.

Another way that yoga can assist with weight loss is through variety. If you do the same workout for too long without changing it up every once in a while or mixing it in with other forms of exercise, your body is going to get bored. This is true for both strength training and for cardio, both of which assist with weight loss through different mechanisms. That’s when the dreaded weight-loss plateau tends to set in, and it can become discouraging for your time and effort not to accomplish what it did before.

How can you use yoga to prevent this from happening? One selling point of yoga is that it is very easy to weave it in to your fitness regimen without slowing down what you’re trying to get out of your other workouts. For example, the exercises in conventional strength training usually require that you keep the movements within a certain range of motion where the joints are the least likely to give out under a heavier load. A strength-training program is the most efficient when you have a balanced range of motion. Too much mobility, and you’re prone to hyperextension and injury; too little, and you may not be able to move completely through an exercise and thus end up sacrificing some of the benefit.

Many of yoga’s asanas increase your gains in range of motion without requiring you to put weight on certain joints. For example, Natarajasana, or King Dancer, encourages extension and mobility in the lumbar spine, and is, of course, a weight-free exercise. The ability to control and preserve the lumbar curve is essential in weightlifting exercises such as deadlifts, and losing that skill paves the way to a herniated disk.

Also, many forms of cardio are, by their nature, repetitive. To some extent, this is a good thing, as this leaves you free to focus on the intensity of the workout and getting your heart rate to where you want it. However, once again, it is easier for a weight-loss plateau to set in after weeks of the same workout, even if you increase the intensity. Also, a common belief is that in general, cardio is easier on your joints. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

Cardio is incredibly important for systemic health and for your heart’s ability to function properly, and is a crucial part of a balanced fitness program. Many of the potential drawbacks can be counterbalanced through yoga. Critics of cardio for weight loss often point to the loss of effectiveness due to the repetitive movements in the muscles. A muscle is going to stop growing as quickly and requiring as many calories to sustain itself if it is only asked to do the same movements over and over again without novel stimulation. Yoga’s asanas require the joints to stretch and support the body in a seemingly endless number of directions, which can easily be adapted to offset a plateau effect from jogging or the elliptical.

Also, yoga eliminates many muscle imbalances, focuses on healthy range of motion, and improves posture, thus taking much of the pressure off the joints. Also, adaptability is built into many yoga routines. It is rare to find two yoga classes that are exactly the same, and just about any yoga sequence can be modified to fit your needs. Many posture problems and muscle imbalances can be directly addressed through yoga, preventing uneven pressure from being put on the joints through unhealthy movement patterns. Cardio requires continuous motion, and if healthy movement patterns can be established, problems with shock absorption or uneven wear and tear can be prevented before they can become a problem.

Yoga’s history and benefits are vast. Its adaptability gives the practitioner an incredible versatile skill set for addressing a variety of health problems or fitness goals. If used properly, it can be a powerful asset in a weight-loss program. For those who practice it for its preventative benefits or who may simply enjoy it as its own discipline, these are some of the many ways yoga can enhance total wellness.

Clarisse McLeod, M.A., C.P.T., is a certified personal trainer, yoga, Pilates, and barre instructor specializing in weight loss, corrective exercise, and strength training. She is also the creator of Abili-Barre, a revolutionary exercise program that combines corrective exercise and modified ballet. A long-time resident of Ventura County, she believes that fitness should be fun, and creates safe, doable workout programs that build upon each client’s individual strengths to accomplish their goals. To get to know her and to understand a bit more about her training style, visit her website at www.personalbarre805.com.