Saturday, March 5, 2011

Yoga Works!!!


When I first started doing Yoga six years ago, I actually took an intensive yoga class at a local community college. I had a phenomenal teacher, and he made yoga at a community college feel like a class at a yoga studio. After two quarters, I got a gym membership that offered yoga classes, however, I felt like their classes were like a "boot-camp" yoga, and for me that wasn't a preferred environment to practice yoga. It is hard to keep your concentration in standing tree with some drill instructor yelling at you to breathe!!

I think that there are different types and levels of yoga and one is bound to fit your style and preference! I'm fortunate that I live in Portland, OR which happens to have an insane amount of yoga studios and classes, but since the birth of my daughter getting out is a bit more difficult. So, I discovered "exerciseTV" on OnDemand from Comcast.

For the first month I did the "10lb Slimdown" yoga with Chris Freytag. Mainly because it was 26 minutes which was about the length of my daughter's afternoon naps, and I was a little intimidated to do a whole hour of Yoga. I enjoyed this, but when the afternoon nap went from 30minutes to an hour I decided it was high time to step it up into high gear. In the Yoga&Pilates section they have a yoga series called "Yogaworks". Since, I've practiced Yoga before I went for the Bodyslim class taught by Jesse Schein.

I have been doing this class for about 3 weeks now, and am loving it. It has 3 cardio sun salute and 3 slow-burn sequences with a great core warm up and a nice cool down in 51 minutes! The instructor, Jesse Schein, is great and breaks down the positions and adds tips for best postures for safety. There are also Modified poses explained and shown for beginners. There are a small number of moments that you might get annoyed at Jesse talking through poses, but I suggest just focusing on what you are doing and tuning out the video for a moment. After two or three times of doing this class those 51 minutes fly by!! Which is great and means I'm building up stamina and strength! YAY!!

One thing I love about yoga is that it brings awareness into your body. It makes you aware of how to engage the muscles in your body and brings balance to your core. The breathing and movement of breath also brings awareness to your breathing through out the day, and teaches you stress and pain relieving techniques that can be applied to so many other areas of your life, including labor and childbirth. I think that for anyone looking to get back into shape, yoga is a great place to start.

Another side effect of yoga is the gaining the value of the moment. Some moments are super hard and those moments make you appreciate the easier moments, and this can be taken into other areas at your life and allow you to enjoy the moment, whether good or bad because we need one to appreciate the other! Please share with me your experiences with yoga, good or bad!! Like I said there are many different types of yoga, so maybe you haven't found one that works best for you!

Soo, how can you do this?
  • Well if you have Comcast digital cable you already have access to this video!
  • >>OnDemand > Sports & Fitness > ExerciseTV > Yoga&Pilates > YogaWorks SlimClass
  • If you don't have Comcast, then you can purchase the DVDs at http://www.yogaworks.com
  • Target also sells some of the videos from this series as well.
Still not convinced? Then here is some more food for thought:

83yr old yoga super granny!!:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1172810
/The-yoga-supergran-bend-backwards-age-83.html

77 Surpising health benefits of Yoga:
http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/24/77-surprising-health-benefits-of-yoga/


One Love,
Laura

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