All posts tagged: yoga

Beating the Yoga Blues

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Yoga is a journey that has it’s peaks and valleys, to be sure. Sometimes, we leave a practice feeling on top of the world. In fact, yoga is famous for the euphoric high that comes after a ridiculously grueling session. Maybe science hasn’t nailed down exactly why yoga is so magically healing and emotionally satisfying, but any regular to yoga will swear by its powers. Speaking of science, we do know that yoga, which incorporates tons of back bends and twists, causes the body to release a high level of neurotransmitters like serotonin (which is directly responsible for happy feelings). The spine of course is connected to the brain, and both are big control centers for neuro activity and hormonal releases. While yoga usually leaves us feeling oh so blissful, sometimes it also stirs up deep emotions and can leave us feeling like we’ve been hit by a Mack truck. It’s not uncommon to feel emotionally drained after a big influx of neurotransmitters, hormones, twists and bends…but it seems hard to shake at times. From a …

Review: Cody App & Kino MacGregor’s Handstand Series

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Kino MacGregor is truly a yoga sensation; perhaps it’s more accurate to call her a yoga rock star, because she’s mastered the art of garnishing fame and marketing yoga. She uses this skill to spread the message of Ashtanga, and she has an incredible gift for explaining how to do yoga. Her teaching abilities parallel her own practice, because she herself is a committed yoga practitioner. In addition to being an insanely talented 4th Series Ashtangi, she’s also one of the few certified teachers sanctioned by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois himself. I’ve had the incredible opportunity to train with Kino extensively via several yoga intensives, and most recently a 100 hour Ashtanga course. In the words of Shakespeare, though she be but little, she is fierce. Seriously, training with Kino is a butt kicking experience, but it transforms your practice. There are endless ways to learn from her. And learn we certainly can, because she clearly breaks down not just how to master poses, but all the steps along the way. Kino has teamed up with Cody App to provide detailed, step …

The Breakdown: Budokon Yoga

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Today, my shoulder girdle and arms are feeling the workout it got in yesterday’s Budokon workshop. Never heard of it? I hadn’t either, actually. Budokon yoga is a relatively new and highly dynamic form of yoga that’s one part Karate Kid, one part The Matrix, and the rest is pure yoga. It is a fluid, incredibly athletic martial arts discipline that was intentionally meshed with an Ashtanga style yoga. The result is both very powerful and beautiful. Compared to most forms of yoga, Budokon is new territory, but it’s built on the ancient foundations of Martial Arts and Sun Salutations. It literally translate to “the way of the Spiritual warrior” and nothing could more perfectly describe this practice. Cameron Shayne is the creator of Budokon, and it’s gained followers all over the world. Budokon as a living arts system that provides the beneficial aspects of Yoga, Martial Arts and Meditation all in one practice. Budokon teaches a graceful, fluid and controlled way do Yoga, while also providing the strength, agility and animal like movement Martial Artists. …

The Case for Chaturanga Arms: Learning from Expert Jennifer Martin

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Chaturanga is one of the primary moves we learn from day one in yoga. It’s like our basic corner stone, but we often need assistance truly getting this asana (pose) correct. I went to an awesome arm balance and inversions workshop presented this past weekend by the amazing Jennifer Martin. I don’t know if she has any bones in her body, because she’s ridiculously flexible, but her strength is beyond inspirational as well. The east coast as a whole as obviously displeased the weather gods. We’re being constantly brutalized by a barrage of ice storms and snow, and while I love a good over sized sweater as much as any other #basicbitch, there’s only so many layers a girl can wear before looking like that waddling kiddo from The Christmas Story. I personally wear about twenty thousand layers when it’s cold outside, because my Texas blood cannot handle the cold. Creatures who dress cute when it’s negative degrees outside are some kind of ice demon and are not to be trusted. Seriously. They aren’t normal. …

Natural Beauty: Do Essential Oils Work?

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If you’re anything like how I used to be, when you open up your bathroom cabinets, you probably have tons of supplies that you bought to enhance your face, hair, and skin. I used love trying new beauty products until I realized: they weren’t so beautiful after all. Instead of being beneficial to my body, I was basically slathering myself in a lab experiment that was neither healthy for me or the environment. For people who are dedicated to yoga, asanas (yoga poses) are just one part of our lifestyle. Seeking a simple, gentle, and natural living has a gravitational pull for us. We want not only to be strong and flexible, but to have healthy bodies, minds, and souls as well. Using natural beauty products not only is kinder to the environment, but it’s better and more effective for our bodies. I now have a simple but highly effective skin care regimen that uses zero chemical ingredients, and while I’m not one of those lucky people who has a naturally perfect complexion, I can honestly …

The Quest for the Perfect Mat

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Some girls obsess over finding the perfect shoe. It’s been ingrained in women since the dawn of time…or the telling of Cinderella at very least! But for the average yoga practitioner, finding the perfect yoga mat is like a search for the Holy Grail. We research, discuss, evaluate, analyze and generally lust over any and all mats that seem like they can help our journey onward. And trust, when it comes to our mats, Goldilocks has nothing on how picky we are. It must be slip free, grip tight, cushy but not too comfy, and of course relatively easy to carry around. There’s good reason for our mat love. In yoga we believe all the energy from our sessions gets stored into our mats. Whether or not that’s true, any yoga practitioner will swear by our personal mats and our attachment issues we develop for them. Finding the right mat can truly help your practice, so I’m taking the guesswork out of finding the right fit for you by reviewing different yoga mats I’ve tried …

New Leaves & Trees (and Other Thoughts)

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New Years in the time when we set lovely intentions (we mean to live by), resolutions (we often break) and lofty goals (we can’t always achieve). Change can come. Sometimes, all we have to do is turn over a new leaf, but other times we must plant a whole new tree. Prana yoga honors the seasons as a powerful influence on our lives, and I actually was in a Prana class on New Year’s Day and found it truly inspiring. My teacher said the New Year is a time of cold and dark, and it’s easy to hybernate both physically and mentally. But, she added, this is an amazing time to start planting seeds of potential. We will reap the harvest later. We must set our goals and intentions now, and if we’re faithful to tend them, we’ll see incredible results. It’s not impossible to teach an old dog new tricks, and I am learning one of the most empowering ways to truly reach and keep our goals is to frequently ask ourselves: how, what, …

Inversion Workshop with Marie Belle

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Workshops are an amazing and frustrating experience. They’re a phenomenal way to learn new tips and tricks, but at the same time, there are some yoga skills that you simply cannot ever ever ever learn overnight. Yoga forces us to be patient and persistent. You might be able to conceptually understand how to do an asana, but your body will demand you work to obtain the strength and flexibility to get there. Time is our friend when it comes to learning yoga. We can look back and see great growth, even if it doesn’t feel like it while we’re marching on. District Yoga recently held an incredible inversions workshop by internationally renowned Marie Belle. Not only is she a phenomenal yogini and teacher, but she has the most intelligent and beautiful approach to life. Over 100 people crammed into the studio to learn from her, and she still made it feel like a group of friends just hanging out to do some intense yoga. I’m personally tremendously inspired when someone has a rare combination of …

How to Do Vasisthasana |Side Plank

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Vasisthasana is one of those fabulous asanas that’s a one stop shop arm balance. Not only will you get an intense ab workout that targets those often neglected obliques, but it tightens the entire core. It’s such a great pose, that it’s been borrowed by non-yoga workouts as a secret weapon for keeping abs tights and the waist small. It primarily strengthens entire core, but it also targets the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus in the hips, as well as the adductor muscles located in the inner thigh. But wait! There’s more! The secondary the side plank also works several other muscles that provide additional stability as you hold the position including the gluteus maximus, the quadriceps on the front of your thighs and the hamstrings on the back of your thighs. TIPS: Keep your shoulders, hips, knees and feet in one straight diagonal line, Important: make sure your neck and head continue the line of your spine. Keep obliques pulled up up up at all times to avoid hips collapsing. HOW TO: From downward facing down, come …

Just Be Present: Part 2

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What happens when we pursue our goals, when we dedicate ourselves to them every day? We stretch, we grow, we even begin to fly. And one day, we start soaring. “Your wings already exist. All you have to do is fly.”  We have the power to do that which inspires us, we must simply devote the time, energy, and effort to make it happen. Remember the scene at the end of the Wizard of Oz when Dorthy asks Glenda how to get home? She said, “You always had the power, my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself.” Stand firm. Don’t let life shake you, break you, or remake you into something that is untrue to yourself. The stronger a tree’s roots are, the more it flourishes. How do we grow stronger? By walking on a good path, following principles of truth and what is right. “Blessed is the man [who walks in goodness]. He will be like a tree, planted by rivers of life giving waters.” Psalms 1:3 Set goals and stay …