Yoga for the New Year: Try Something New this Time!

January 7, 2012

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Mackenzie Miller of The Hot and Healthy Blog doing anti-gravity yoga!

Try something new this time

by guest blogger  Allison Brooks

Every time around this year, it never fails.  You hear people talking about their New Year’s Resolutions and how they are going to stick to them this year. It is the same ole same, but why not try something new for a change. Instead of hitting the gym daily, and depriving yourself of chocolate and carbs, why not grab a friend and go to a yoga class. I know, I know, you are probably thinking, “but I can’t even do the splits” but that is why yoga is perfect for anyone. There are so many types of yoga that there is one out there for you. Trust me. Below I listed three alternative forms of yoga to help get the ball rolling.

One fun alternative is AcroYoga. This form of yoga combines acrobatics, healing arts, and traditional yoga poses to create a fun and balanced class. Since the poses are based on the effort of two people, it is a great way to set a goal with a friend or significant other. A “base” and a “flyer” perform aerial poses to rejuvenate the body’s energy and build/tone muscle mass. It fun class to take at the end of busy week when you want to let loose and have fun, while getting a good workout.

Another great “end-of-the-workweek” yoga is laughter yoga. Though there is not much traditional asanas associated with it, the mental and spiritual effects are compared to the mainstream yoga. Laughter yoga is a great stress reliever and core-toner. It is sweeping studios and nursing homes by storm because it helps a person “let-go” or issues and boosts morale. Many elderly patients have adopted laughter yoga as well as people with aggressive cancer diagnoses, like a non-hodgkin’s lymphoma or mesothelioma prognosis.

AntiGravity yoga is another form that is a fun twist to traditional yoga practices. Students get to perform poses hanging and stretching from a silky hammock attached to the ceiling. It is a very physically intense yoga and is a great way to really work that upper body, get tone and reenergize the mind-body connection. AntiGravity yoga combines Pilates, dance, calisthenics, and acrobatics with traditional asanas to create a fun alternative yoga.

So as the New Year creeps up, try and set a goal that is not based on the gym. Yoga studios are always welcoming to new students. You will reach your goals while becoming a better you, inside and out.

Related articles

Who is in Charge?

September 23, 2011

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I am reposting this article with permission from My Life Yoga blog on the ego and our illusion of reality, enjoy!

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Pettry amzanig huh?

The above paragraph illustrates that we do not read by assembling letters into words from left to right. Instead we use forecasting to predict what a jumble of letters means. This allows us to read fast and correct for errors.

The key idea here is that forecasting is central to how we function. This is not limited to just reading but pretty much everything we do. The central aspect of forecasting is that it needs a model. A model is an idea of how something works. Once the model is in place we can input a limited number of details and simulate the rest. When we read the words in the first paragraph we are able to simulate the words in the original sentence through the model of English Language in our head. Somebody who is not a native English speaker may find it hard to read the first paragraph because the English model in his head may not be very good.

When sight is restored to somebody who has been blind since birth, he does not immediately begin to “see”. All he sees is fuzzy formless light. It may take months, if not years before normal seeing commences. This is because the person has no model for vision. Only once this is built can normal sight work. When we look around the room we do not scan every part of the room starting with the top left corner zigzagging down. Instead we take in the details of a few spots and simulate the rest using our in-built model for sight.

So here are some details of the models in our head:

1. Our models may not be perfect but they work.
2. Our models may work but they are not complete.

Some philosophers have suggested that since our perception of reality is based on simulation of imperfect models that all reality that we perceive is merely illusory. This may be not be an appropriate way of interpreting this discussion. The models in our head are pretty good because they work and reliably allow us to navigate the world.

However, we must not go to the other extreme. Just because these models work, in the current context, we must not assume that these model represent reality completely. These models are just good enough for our species to survive and get by. For example we do not see in the ultra-violet or infrared spectrum. We are completely oblivious to that portion of reality. In fact the model of reality in our head is like the tip of the iceberg. What we know and perceive is vastly undermined by what we are ignorant and oblivious of. For example, who knows how a whale percieves the world?

Similar to the models of the external world we also have a model of our internal selves. This model of ourselves is termed as an ego. Just like we think that the model of external reality is complete we are fooled into believing that we are our egos.

Our ego is not our complete self. It is at best a very incomplete model of ourselves in our head. The journey of yoga is a journey into a deeper dive into ourselves. It is a journey of discovery of that portion of us that lies beyond the ego. In fact the root of most of our problems lies in the subtle belief that we are our ego and the interest of our ego and our deeper selves is the same. We spend every moment of our conscious experience as captives of our ego-identity. We think, emote, and act on behalf of our ego, little knowing that we are spending our lives at the service of a wrong master.

The journey of discovery of our identity beyond our ego is not an easy one but it may be the most important journey we may undertake. After all who wants to spend a lifetime as a slave of something only to realize that it was all in vain?

Heart and Core Via K.O. Yoga Blog

August 29, 2011

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Angela Kukhahn in Handstand. Photo by Leelu Morris

Props to handstanding yogini Kristin Olson of the K.O. Yoga Blog for writing this amazing post on handstand….

While working on handstands in Brock Cahill‘s Flight Club class at Yogis Anonymous, I was chatting with other students about handstand tips. We were talking about how hard it is to manage simultaneously two of the tricks to finding balance in a handstand: engaging your core while opening your heart. Thinking about it after class, I was pondering about how these two principles apply in life. Read More…

Yoga for the Athlete: Excellent Tips for the Yogi Runner

August 8, 2010

kukhahnyoga Anatomy & Injury Management, Articles, Guest Blogger, How To Tips & Tricks, Lists, Sports and Fitness, Yoga , , , , , 1 Comment

running
Here is an excellent article on yoga and running I found over at Daily Cup of Yoga blog.

This article has a complete sequence of yoga poses specifically for runners along with pictures (always helpful) With running yoga is especially helpful as it helps to prevent injury, increase stride length, and loosen the pesky IT band that tends to be particularly troublesome for athletes!

Yoga is the perfect compliment to running as it loosens the hips, hamstrings and lower back muscles which will improve your posture while you run. Improved posture also means improved breathing, which of course means better athletic performance! Yoga is to Running as Yin is to Yang

How do we know our Chakras are opened? (via Tirisula Yoga’s Blog)

July 11, 2010

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This article on the Chakras really helps to simplify a rather hard question. The Chakras may seem very esoteric and foreign at first, but this article really helps you to explore your own inner landscape with a few simple inquiries. Enjoy!

The word Chakra comes from an ancient Indian language known as Sanskrit, chakra means vortex, spinning wheel or circle. Chakras are the major centres of spiritual power in the human body and are circles of energy, which balance, store and distribute the energies of life all through our physical body along the subtle body. The subtle body is the non-physical body or also known as our soul or spirit, which overlays our physical body. The belief in … Read More

via Tirisula Yoga’s Blog

Translating Our Feelings: Are You Excited Or Scared? (From The Daily Om)

June 9, 2010

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jumping for joy

This is an excellent bit of goodness that gets delivered to my e-mail daily The Daily Om. Thought I would share this bit of wisdom….

Translating Our Feelings
Are You Excited Or Scared?
From the Library:
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
by Stephen R. Covey

Often times when trying something new, we feel scared when in actuality we may be excited. Reframe your thoughts.

When new challenges and opportunities show up in our lives, we may diagnose ourselves as feeling scared when what we really feel is excited. Often we have not been taught how to welcome the thrill of a new opportunity, and so we opt to back off, indulging our anxiety instead of awakening our courage. One way to inspire ourselves to embrace the opportunities that come our way is to look more deeply into our feelings and see that butterflies in our stomach or a rapidly beating heart are not necessarily a sign that we are afraid. Those very same feelings can be translated as excitement, curiosity, passion, and even love.

There is nothing wrong with being afraid as long as we do not let it stop us from doing the things that excite us. Most of us assume that brave people are fearless, but the truth is that they are simply more comfortable with fear because they face it on a regular basis. The more we do this, the more we feel excitement in the face of challenges rather than anxiety. The more we cultivate our ability to move forward instead of backing off, the more we trust ourselves to be able to handle the new opportunity, whether it’s a new job, an exciting move, or a relationship. When we feel our fear, we can remind ourselves that maybe we are actually just excited. We can assure ourselves that this opportunity has come our way because we are meant to take it.

Framing things just a little differently can dramatically shift our mental state from one of resistance to one of openness. We can practice this new way of seeing things by saying aloud: I am really excited about this job interview. I am really looking forward to going on a date with this amazing person. I am excited to have the opportunity to do something I have never done before. As we do this, we will feel our energy shift from fear, which paralyzes, to excitement, which empowers us to direct all that energy in the service of moving forward, growing, and learning.

Sex, Mental Health and Losing Weight the Right Way

April 30, 2010

kukhahnyoga Articles, Guest Blogger, Nutrition , , , , , , 1 Comment

Beautiful woman measuring her waist - high key shot in studioThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that at any given time two-thirds of all American adults are on a diet to either lose weight or prevent weight gain. Of those, 29 percent are men and 44 percent women. Yet only 5 percent of these dieters will be successful at keeping the weight that they lost off.

What are the typical goals of weight loss? Ask many people that question and you will hear things like upcoming wedding or bikini season. Check back with those people in a month and see how they are doing with their weight loss efforts. Usually, they will have fallen off the rails and quit, opting to either skip the wedding, reunion or other event and either wearing a sensible, black one-piece or never going to the beach again. Using a singular event for motivation for a weight loss goal is never going to work for long term, healthy weight loss especially when you look at how unmotivated you have been up to this point. The goals of weight loss actually have to go a little deeper and they must be a little more meaningful. And no, I do not mean that you should be trying to make your old high school rivals green with envy.

Goal One: Better Health

When you think of your excess weight in terms of your general health and well being, it should scare you to death. Are you aware that your excess weight could be killing off your heart, choking out your brain cells and smothering your lungs? Do you realize how hard your pancreas must work to continually pump out insulin to your body because you are flooding it with high glycemic foods? And, have you ever stopped to think that your creaking, cracking and aching bones and joints would probably creak, crack and ache a lot less if they did not have so much to carry?

Losing weight to gain better health should be your first priority, goal one. Think about it this way: You would lose weight to look good for people you see once a year at most, but you do not want to lose weight so that you can feel good around the people you see every day?

Goal Two: Better Mental Health

How many times have you stood in the mirror and literally burst into tears? Is it more than a couple? Or, you how many times have you gone to the mall and tried on clothing only to come home feeling more miserable than you thought possible because you are nowhere near your ideal size? Depression is a real disease that can be exacerbated by excess weight, and one that can be brought on by it as well. Simply put, you can become depressed if you are overweight or if you already depressed, being overweight can make you feel even worse.

Goal Three: Better Sexual Health

You do not have to be thin to enjoy sex; however, if you are feeling self-conscious about your body, then you may not relax enough to enjoy intimacy. You are not going to lose all of your weight in a matter of a few days and you cannot deny yourself or your loved one the pleasure of skin contact. Relearning to enjoy each others company can be a very big ego boost, and can help you reinforce the goals of one and two. And think of this: Sex counts as exercise too.

Article written by Don Porter of Ultimate Fitness Gear, Getinsanity and get insane results.

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