“Jump for Joy” Yoga Music Playlist with Link to itunes PING Playlist

August 31, 2011October 6, 2011 | kukhahnyoga

Music for vinyasa yoga!

Here is a music playlist I used for my “Jump for Joy” yoga sequence last sunday at Yogis Anonymous! To get the mix on itunes click here for the PING playlist!

Check out this photo of my talented yoga friend of The Hot and Healthy Blog Marysia Weiss in Eka Pada Bakasana. the photo is by photographer Jim Knowles.

Here is a short description of the class that goes with this playlist…

Buckle up yogis and get ready for some fun transitions! Float from Eka Pada Bakasana (One legged crow) to Tripod headstand and later learn to glide from Marichyasana I (Seated forward fold wrap) into Eka Pada Bakasana. Jump start your handstand practice with some explanations on pikes and one legged entry methods. Complete your adventure with kicking over from Urdhva Dhanurasana at the wall. Enjoy!

Initiation (Change)Adam Plack & Johnny (White Ant) Soames
Devil May Care euphoria
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi Radiohead
This Heart’s On Fire (Wolf Parade) Jacob Ruefer
Blues From Down Here TV On The Radio
Conversation 16 The National
Rome Phoenix
Where Do You Run to? Vivian Girls
All a Them a Do Noiseshaper featuring Juggla
Make You Mine Best Coast
Mystery of Life (Featuring Andrea Monteiro)Nickodemus featuring Andrea Monteiro
Entre (feat. Kormac) Simon Resoul
Into My Blues (feat. Pegah Ferydoni)Eva Be
Still? Yes! Nightmares On Wax
Shh Frou Frou
Fader The Temper Trap
Fireworks (Album) Animal Collective
Pink Bullets The Shins
Watching You Well The National
Kettering The Antlers
Everywhere I Go Lissie
Shavasana Sound Bath Therapy – Deep Healing Through the Power of Sound (Feat. Ann Malone)Music for Deep Meditation

“For The Love of Kurma” Yoga Music Playlist with Link to itunes PING Playlist (kukhahnyoga.wordpress.com)
“Let’s Get Get Funky” Yoga Music Playlist No. 16 with Link to itunes PING Playlist (kukhahnyoga.wordpress.com)
Yoga Inspiration ~ Never Stop Lifting! (kukhahnyoga.wordpress.com)

Heart and Core Via K.O. Yoga Blog

August 29, 2011October 4, 2011 | kukhahnyoga

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 Clothes: What Sea Turtles Wish You Were Wearing

August 27, 2011October 4, 2011 | kukhahnyoga

I Love Yoga + Turtles Tank Top by Honu Yoga Designs by Nicole Sherman

When's Savasana? Tank Top by Honu Yoga Designs by Nicole Sherman

Yogi Tank Top by Honu Yoga Designs by Nicole Sherman

Live, Breathe, Yoga Burnout T-shirt by Honu Yoga Designs by Nicole Sherman

I Love Handstands Tank Top by Honu Yoga Designs by Nicole Sherman

If a giant sea turtle (Honu) was responsible for dressing you in the morning what sort of clothes might he or she pick out? Before you answer with “wetsuit” or “flippers” consider that these giant peaceful creatures are an endangered species.

Nicole Sherman is a Hawaii native. She grew up swimming with the dolphins and giant sea turtles. Out of her deep affinity for these majestic creatures sprung her passion to create a line of clothing to benefit and honor the majestic sea turtle. Honu Yoga Design was born!

When you get dressed in your stylish new Honu Yoga gear you can feel great knowing that a percentage of all proceeds go directly to www.kurmalliance.com an amazing charity helping to save our beautiful sea turtles from extinction.

Nicole Sherman is no stranger to difficulties of her own. Her love for yoga began as a way to understand and heal her scoliosis. Now Nicole shares the transformative benefits of yoga teaching locally both to groups and private clients.

Above are a just a few of the fun T-shirts and Tanks from Honu Yoga Designs. My red “I Love Handstands” Tank never fails to start interesting conversations with perfect strangers wherever I go.

When you consider all the different messages people send off via the text on their shirts I consider wearing these shirts as a way of spreading the yoga gospel. Why not send out a positive message while rockin’ some threads that directly benefit some of nature’s most vulnerable creatures?

Yoga Inspiration ~ Never Stop Lifting!

August 25, 2011October 4, 2011 | kukhahnyoga

Crow To Handstand Yoga Transition with Angela Kukhahn in Brock Cahill’s Class at Yogis Anonymous!

“Never Stop Lifting!” is the advice my teacher Krista Cahill gave me what felt like a million times as I attempted (and failed) at this seemingly impossible transition from Crow Pose (Bakasana) to Handstand.

Physically its all about shifting your weight forward by moving your pelvis up and forward and bringing your knees towards your chest.

Mentally it is all about never giving up, even when something looks and feels impossible!

This transition serves as a great reminder to never ever, ever give up!

What poses inspire you? What have you learned from them?

What Happens? ~ A Love Poem by Hafiz

August 23, 2011October 4, 2011 | kukhahnyoga

What Happens?

What happens when your soul

Begins to awaken

Your eyes

And your heart

And the cells of your body

To the great Journey of Love?

First there is wonderful laughter

And probably precious tears

And a hundred sweet promises

And those heroic vows

No one can ever keep.

But still God is delighted and amused

You once tried to be a saint.

What happens when your soul

Begins to awake in this world

To our deep need to love

And serve the Friend?

O the Beloved

Will send you

One of His wonderful, wild companions ~

Like Hafiz.

~ Hafiz

“Let’s Get Get Funky” Yoga Music Playlist No. 16 with Link to itunes PING Playlist

August 21, 2011October 7, 2011 | kukhahnyoga

Music for vinyasa yoga!

Here is a music playlist I used for my“Let’s Get Funky” yoga sequence last sunday at Yogis Anonymous!

To get the mix on itunes click here for the PING playlist!

This practice will open your hips as we explore creative transitions in our flow. Expect to sweat, twist, turn and fly! Plenty of opportunities to invert and arm balance if you so desire or not, you’ve got options!

Little Man Little Dragon
Cooler Couleur (feat. Yelle) Crookers
Can’t Stop Now (feat. Jovi Rockwell and Mr. Vegas) Major Lazer
Luv ‘n Liv (Dub Gabriel Roots Rewind Mix) [Alternate Mix] Dub Gabriel
Burning The Whitest Boy Alive
Big Coat Wiretree
Lies The Black Keys
Ghostwriter RJD2
Chez Roger Boite Funk Troublemakers
Blue Moon Moby
Come Talk to Me Bon Iver
I’m Not The One The Black Keys
How You Like Me Now The Heavy
Close To Me Jahcoozi
Bizness tUnE-yArDs
Beat the Devil‘s Tattoo Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala Arctic Monkeys
The Devil’s Tears Angus & Julia Stone
Corpse Pose Bill Laswell

“For The Love of Kurma” Yoga Music Playlist with Link to itunes PING Playlist (kukhahnyoga.wordpress.com)
“Jump for Joy” Yoga Music Playlist with Link to itunes PING Playlist (kukhahnyoga.wordpress.com)

Resources For The Sanskrit “Yoga Speak” Newbie

August 20, 2011September 8, 2011 | kukhahnyoga

When I first found myself in a yoga class figuring out how to actually do Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) was a challenge enough,… let alone trying to learn the ancient language of Sanskrit. (the language of yoga)

To say I found Sanskrit intimidating is to put it mildly. All I knew is that all the names of the poses sounded alike since the name of each pose ends in the word asana. (asana means pose, so Trikonasana is Triko which means Triangle followed by asana which means pose.) All I have to say is Yogi rappers have a huge advantage, but I digress….

After deciding I wanted to become a yoga teacher I was a little distraught when I learned I was going to have to learn this ancient language of rhymes whether I liked it or not.

I must admit, at first I didn’t really see the point, however, as a teacher it has become essential for me to have a good grasp on both the Sanskrit names of the poses and basic Sanskrit terminology.

Click below for a few great online resources to acquaint yourself with the Sanskrit names of poses, and commonly used yoga terms from the Sanskrit language.

I found these websites extremely helpful for you “new to Sanskrit” yogis!

This one www.tilakpyle.com is great because it has audio. The guy recorded his voice pronouncing the names of the poses in Sanskrit. If you click on the name of the pose it takes you to a page with photos of the pose and a description.

Also try www.YogaJournal.com for pronunciation and great photos and descriptions as well!

Also check out www.YogaDancer.com which gives you the all of the poses (even ones I’ve never heard of! ) and when you click on the pose it shows you all the different variations as well,…very cool!

Also for the meanings of a lot of commonly used Sanskrit terms check out Yoga Glossary.

Good Luck on your yoga journey!

3 Hormones That Make You Skinny and How To Make Them Work For You!

August 16, 2011October 4, 2011 | kukhahnyoga

3 Hormones That Make You Skinny! (drum roll please!)

So what are these super hormones? How do they make you skinny? Most importantly though, how can you make them work for you?

The good news is that these hormones are already being produced by your body, all you need to do is to give them a little boost!

With a little help your hormones you will turn your body into an amazing, efficient, fat burning machine!

These 3 fat-melting hormones are, Testosterone, HGH (Human Growth Hormone), and Prostegene.

Testosterone Fat Burning Hormone #1:

Testosterone is responsible for making it possible for men to lose fat and retain muscle more easily than women. The good news is that women’s bodies produce it too, and there are many ways in which we can increase its production. I know what you are thinking, “I don’t want to have a hairy chest and a deep voice”. Never fear, that is only a problem if you take synthetic hormones like steroids.

Testosterone Benefits:

Builds muscle
Burns fat
Boosts energy
Increases sex drive
Strengthens bones
Lifts depression
Increases optimism.

Testosterone Boosters:

Vegetables
Fruits
Nuts
Meat
Eggs
Fish
Must eat some fat (even saturated fat) Testosterone relies on the right balance of fat in the diet.
Watch consumption of caffeine and alcohol.

HGH (Human Growth Hormone) Fat Burning Hormone #2:

Human Growth hormone is a fat burner. Your body usually uses glucose before burning fat, but HGH forces your body to use its fat reserves first! Yippee! This turns you into a fat burning machine even when you are sleeping! It also helps your body make new muscle cells. Usually your body stops growing new muscle cells after your teen years due to inadequate HGH in your body.

HGH Benefits:

More energy
Higher sex drive
Silky Hair
Youthful glowing skin
Fat Loss
Muscle Gains
Better sleep
Body repairs itself more quickly

HGH Boosters:

Cut back on carbs at night. Your body pumps out more HGH when your blood sugar is low. This way you will boost your metabolism while you sleep!
Eat foods high in B vitamins (Avocados, Beef, Bananas, Tuna, Potatoes, Oats, Brazil Nuts, Legumes, Kefir. ect.)
Zinc (Chocolate, Peanuts, Oysters, Pumpkins seeds, Sesame seeds, Tahini ect.)
Proteins
Go organic
High intensity exercise triggers HGH release
Get a good nights sleep (deep sleep is when your body produces HGH)

Progesterone Fat Burning Hormone #3:

Progesterone is useful in shedding fat stores as it facilitates the utilization of stored body fat as energy. When your body produces enough Progesterone it helps you burn an extra 100-300 calories a day! (That’s two of my favorite organic chocolate truffles,…but who’s counting…) When your body does not produce enough of it you overeat. Poor liver function suppresses Progesterone production. Progesterone also helps you to correct estrogen dominance as it does the following:

Helps use fat for energy
Natural diuretic
Normalizes blood sugar levels, thus reducing food cravings
Is a natural anti-depressant
Essential for proper thyroid function and thus fat burning
Delivers more oxygen to the cells
Restores sex drive
Helps prevent cancer
Stimulates bone building

Progesterone Boosters:

Reduce stress. Stress greatly reduces Progesterone production in the body. (slow down, do yoga, meditate, breath deeply ect. all are beneficial when it comes to stress reduction.)
Avoid products like soy, tofu and soy milk. According to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, these foods contain natural plant estrogen. More estrogen in your bloodstream enhances estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance causes fat storage and a slow metabolism.
Foods containing B vitamins, Zinc and Magnesium boost the body’s ability to produce Progesterone. Eat Yams, Walnuts, Whole Grains, Red Meat, Chicken, Shellfish, Turkey, Turmeric, Thyme and Oregano.
Drink warm water with the juice of one organic lemon upon rising to boost liver function. Do this before consuming anything else.
Watch processed foods, high refined carb intake, alcohol, medications (Tylenol, Aspirin ect.) and environmental pollutants (household cleaners, perfumes, air fresheners ect.) as they suppress the liver.

Happy Fat Burning!

Watch for my next article on the hormones that make you fat….