Pose of the Week: Half Moon Pose

In this week’s Pose of the Week, Claire Missingham demonstrates Half Moon Pose or Ardha Chandrasana. Step by step, learn the essentials on taking your warrior II into standing half moon. Develop greater strength and focus while practicing counter balancing between your upper and lower body.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/pose-of-the-week-half-moon-pose/

5 Ironclad Ways to Be A More Genuine Friend

“Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant.”’ – Socrates Before we begin, let us first understand why becoming a genuine friend is important at all! The answer is pretty simple. It not only makes all your personal and professional relationships stronger, it also gives you that boost […]

source http://wealthygorilla.com/5-ironclad-ways-more-genuine-friend/

3 Mindfulness Stories to Kick-Start Your Week

This week in wellness news, a new study finds that eight weeks of meditation can significantly alter the stress response in people with generalized anxiety disorder, and this is evident in the levels of stress hormones and inflammatory markers.

Read that and these other great stories yoga, health & wellness stories from around the web.

• Mindfulness Meditation May Help Treat Anxiety Disorders: “Mindfulness meditation training is a relatively inexpensive and low-stigma treatment approach, and these findings strengthen the case that it can improve resilience to stress,” said lead author Elizabeth A. Hoge, who’s studied the connection between MBSR and anxiety reduction in the past.”
• New research reveals kids should be taught mindfulness: “In recent years, mindfulness has been extolled as the remedy for stress, exhaustion and poor concentration. But while it has been predominantly practised by adults, new research has shown that quietening the mind also brings significant benefits for children. Not only does it help with students’ sleeping habits, but it also boosts concentration, lowers stress levels and can even have a knock-on effect of lowering disruptive and bullying behaviour in schools.
• How to Be Mindful at Your Desk: “The workplace is constantly demanding and distracting, making it a challenge to remain mindful. Stay centered and focused without being frazzled by the mental noisiness that crowds into a typical workday.”

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/3-mindfulness-stories-to-kick-start-your-week/

5 Yoga Classes to Reset Your Mind & Body

Have you ever had one of those days where you wish you could hit a rest button and just start over again? Maybe your New Year’s resolutions aren’t going as planned or maybe you just had a crummy week? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. The good news is that even though there is no magical button you can press, there is yoga and yoga can help “reset” you on those less than stellar days.

This week’s featured classes will help reset your mind and body so you can meet the rest of your day with clarity and ease.

• Reset After a Time of Stress & Anxiety with Mary Taylor: When the demands of daily life leave us with the residue of stress and anxiety, practicing yoga can be effective in resetting the tone. Through a smooth short practice, beginning on the back and connecting with your breath, then from sitting and then mindfully moving through Sun Salutations, we work to get grounded through breath and movement while learning to monitor change so that anxiety and stress can be transmuted.
• Reset Your Energy with Kia Miller: A meditation accompanied by live music for self regeneration and healing whenever you need to reset your energy and take a moment for yourself. Meditation includes the mantra Ra Ma Da Sa Sa Se So Hung: one of the most powerful mantras. Please tune in with Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo. Music with Jaya Lakshmi and Ananda.
• Reset After Difficulty & Move Forward with Tara Judelle: Get back to yourself from whatever challenging or charged situation you may be encountering. A short well rounded practice of pranayama breathing and asanas so that you may reset and move forward into the rest of your day or night.
• The Answer is Yes with Claudine Lafond: Reset yourself and see your own reality in a different way. Find balance on two limbs, whether it’s your hands or feet. Expect to be challenged with poses like eka pada galavasana and handstand. Wild thing within your vinyasas helps you flip your perspective. Re enter your life with more ease, grace and a touch of humor.
• Reset Your Entire Body with Jason Crandell: This practice will reset your entire body. It’s not a sweaty massacre of a flow practice, but it may be exactly what you need. You will proceed through all of the major muscle groups of your entire body, beginning with the ball of your feet and finishing with your neck. To name a few, you will unravel tension in your calves, hamstrings, quads, and hips before proceeding to your spine and shoulders. This is a thorough, complete class that will leaving you feeling more than 60-minutes better. Props Needed; Block

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/5-yoga-classes-to-reset-your-mind-body/

New Year’s Resolutions: Hit the Reset Button

It’s nearly February. January was a blur. You had the best (the best!) of intentions. You were going to do #allthethings – get organized, workout, spend more time with friends, start that magical project you’ve always wanted to start, eat clean, practice yoga regularly, be more healthy, more mindful, more zen.

It was going to be SO good. And it all went sideways.

As February approaches, take heart in these easy steps to hit the rest button on your new year’s resolutions.

• Revisit that list of goals – Was it too long? Too ambitious? Too vague? Pick three things from your list you want to re-commit to now. Simplify them. Get clear about them. Document them.
• Get started today – What can you do today for each of your resolutions that will help you achieve a small incremental step towards achieving your goals?
• Buddy Up – Studies have shown that meeting a wellness goal is a lot easier when you have a friend to keep you accountable. Let a friend or family member know what you want to tackle in February and ask them to help.

If practicing yoga regularly was on your big list of new year’s resolutions and you haven’t found a way to make it stick (or start at all!), three ways to get your yoga resolutions back on track:

• New Year, New Perspective Yoga Classes – We curated a list of yoga classes for the new year that focus on all the ways a new year can be a refresh and a reset. Just because you didn’t take these classes in January doesn’t mean they aren’t the perfect way to reset in the new year.
• Start a Yoga Program – Need a little yoga guidance? Our programs for strength, flexibility and getting calm help guide you through three weeks of yoga classes designed to help you meet a specific goal. When you’re resetting your yoga resolutions, a little help goes a long way. Think of our programs as your buddy – pick your schedule, get emails when your next class is up, track your progress and complete your goal!
• 30 Days of Glo Challenge – Last year, we got a group of yogis to do 30 yoga classes in 30 days. That’s a big commitment but if you want to practice more yoga in the new year, our 30 days of yoga challenge is a great place to start.

Let’s treat this week like it’s the first week of January. Reset, renew, take back those goals and make them true.

We’re here for you every step of the way.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/new-years-resolutions-hit-the-reset-button/

4 Yoga Poses to Help Cultivate Flexibility

Want to get more flexible? We’ve got the yoga poses for you! These poses will twist, bend and stretch your body while working on major muscle groups such as hamstrings, hips, back and shoulders. Whether your focus is to release body tension, gain greater range of motion or be less suseptible to injuries, these poses will help you be and feel more flexible.

• Triangle Pose: Build strength in your legs, length in your spine and a release in your hips and neck with this popular pose. Through an Iyengar lense, move safetly into and out the pose, feeling for subtle alignment and of course, lots of breath!

• Cow Pose: Access both your hips and shoulders with this great seated pose. Perfect for all levels, learn a few modifications and arm variations so that no matter what your level, you will feel the release in your upper and lower body.

• Downward Facing Dog: Access your hamstring length, arm strength and shoulder rotation as you review the foundations of this pose. Reach your hips high and you create both power and ease in your body and mind.

• Head to Knee Pose: Access your hips, hamstrings and low back with this great seated forward bend. After discussing a few adjustments to make the pose effective and safe, take a seat and play!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/4-yoga-poses-to-help-cultivate-flexibility/

7 Overlooked Tips to Help You Become More Expressive

We are in an era where we seem so busy and drained to technology such that it is easy to forget the simple things that make life interesting. Life is the best thing we could ever ask for and it is worth spending the best moments doing pleasant things with people we love. Sometimes it […]

source http://wealthygorilla.com/7-overlooked-tips-become-more-expressive/

Ask a Yogi: What are some suggested postures one can practice to improve flexibility?

You’ve practiced with them on YogaGlo. You’ve followed them on Facebook. You might even take their classes in person once in awhile if they travel to or live in your city. But how well do you know our YogaGlo teachers? Ask a Yogi is back so you can learn more about our teachers by asking questions you’ve always wanted to ask.

From favorite poses and tips for beginners to deeper questions about how their practice has changed their worldview, our teachers will collectively answer a new question each week. If you have a question you’d like to “Ask a Yogi” let us know in the comments and we’ll add your questions to the list.

What are some suggested postures one can practice to improve flexibility?

Alex van Frank: In my opinion laughter and curiosity are the most important factors in determining flexibility. When the mind is relaxed with laughter then the body tends to open up in beautiful easeful ways:

Downdog:
A pose that does the upper body and lower body? While also strengthening you?! Yes, please! That’s the humble downward dog. When first starting out in this pose the inverted V will feel like a wonky shaped inverted U. However, over time as you get more comfortable, the V will appear. Another bonus to this one is that it can also be considered an inversion because the hips are higher than the heart.

Viparita karani aka legs up the wall:
This pose can be fantastic for bringing the shoulders and head back into alignment, stretching tight hamstrings, low back and helps calm anxiety. The more flexible you become the closer your bottom can come to the wall. This pose is subtle and allows the body time to come into the pose rather than allowing the mind to push the body.

Amy Ippoliti: All of them! But Supta Padangustasana is great, downward facing dog pose, forearm stand, and urdhva dhanurasana. Any of the thigh stretching poses are helpful such as anjaneyasana, pigeon pose, or ardha bekasana.

Carole Westerman: When I’m looking to address flexibility in my body, I love to practice Yin poses.  My favorite multi-tasker pose would have to be Twisted Roots.  I love the suppleness it brings to the spine, in addition the the yummy hip stretch.

Chris Chapple: Surya Namaskar and Mayur and the sequence of Dhanur, Shalabha, Cobra one, Cobra two, and Sphinx connect with the strength of earth, water, fire, air and space. Forward bends to the left, right, middle, followed with Bhadrasana, sole to sole, knees toward the ground, empower one with strength, non-attachment, knowledge, and Dharma. The headstand and shoulderstand bring renewed energy to the throat, home of importance endocrine glands.

Darren Rhodes:

Hamstrings: Triangle and revolved triangle.

Hips: Agni Stambasana: logs of fire.

Inner thighs: Baddha Konasana: bound angle.

Spine: Cobra.

Shoulders: Vrksasana (tree) palms together, garudasana (eagle), Bridge pose.

Elena Brower: ​I love Parsvottanasana, lifting my back heel up and down to lengthen Hamstrings. The Shoulder sequence that I’ve offered on YogaGlo is super effective for upper body flexibility.

Giselle Mari: Meditation. If you aren’t flexible of mind, doesn’t matter what you can do with your body.

Kathryn Budig: I would pick three shoulder openers and three forward bends and do them daily. Think postures like Eagle, Cowface and Prasarita Padottonasana C arms for shoulders and Straight Leg Forward Bend, Wide Leg Forward Bend and a hip opener like Thread-the-Needle or Double Pigeon.

Noah Maze: Depending on what muscles I want to lengthen, I will turn to different poses. Every pose shortens some muscles (agonists) and lengthens others (antagonists). For example, if I want to stretch my hip flexors, backbending (hip extension) poses are best. Backbends will strengthen (aka tighten) the hamstrings and gluteus maximus, even as the hip flexors get a good stretch, so if I want to stretch my hamstrings then forward bends and hip openers will be most effective. A well rounded sequence should give you an overall balance of stretching and strengthening, but If it’s something more specific I am looking to accomplish, then I will go after a certain type of pose.

Steven Espinosa: For most of us, the tightest areas in our bodies are hips, hamstrings and thighs. So if you’re crunched for time and need to target specific areas quickly, I suggest Pigeon for the hips. From there you can quickly bend the back knee and catch the foot to open the thigh muscle. For the hamstrings, a good old fashioned “runners stretch” does the trick. And if you want to get deeper into the hammy then sliding out towards Hanumanasana is available from there.

Tara Judelle: I like all the seated floor postures for long periods of time.  Janu Sirsasana (head to knee pose) and Upavista Konasana are particular favorites for stretching the hamstrings, groins, and hips.

Taylor Harkness: Low lunge with the back knee dropped is my all-time favorite, especially after being seated for a while (and you can pad under the knee with a blanket for comfort). For upper body, try lacing the fingers behind the back and straightening the arms behind you. Another good one is a simple standing side stretch with one arm reaching overhead. For yogis aiming to really kick it up, try supported splits with a bolster under the hip of the front leg and blocks under the hands so you can control how deep you go by lowering your weight into the pose. Don’t discount the more simple postures, though as they are often really effective and highly modifiable.

Tias Little: Sukhasana folding forward. If it is not possible to do as forward bend because of vulnerable knees/tight hips then do supine.

Tiffany Cruikshank: In my opinion this really is a individual question.  The body is a tension distributing system and so what’s most important is finding the areas that are uniquely tight on your body and focusing there.  The unfortunate thing is that most of us gravitate toward the poses that are easy or more comfortable for us.  The first step is noticing this and then looking for the areas that are resistant to focus on.  The best way to apply this in a group class is to simply allow yourself to linger in the pose (or side) that feels more resistant, the beauty of practicing on yogaglo is that you can simply pause the video to do this.  This simple concept is really crucial to applying the practice to the individual in order to feel good and move more efficiently.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/ask-a-yogi-what-are-some-suggested-postures-one-can-practice-to-improve-flexibility/

Advanced Flexibility Yoga Classes

Are you an advanced practitioner looking to cultivate more flexibility? These classes from our flexibility program are specifically designed to twist, bend and stretch your body while working on major muscle groups such as hamstrings, hips, back and shoulders. Whether your focus is to release body tension, gain greater range of motion or be less suseptible to injuries, these classes from our flexibility program will help you be and feel more flexible.

• Open Your Heart: Backbends with Dice lida-Klein: This practice is all about backbends! Navigate through surya namaskar C variations with inversions like pincha mayurasana (forearm balance). Weave in backbends like salabhasana (locust), danurasana (bow), ustrasana (camel), setu bandha sarvangasana (bridge) and urdhva danurasana (upward bow). Discover eka pada rajakapotasana 1 (king pigeon) with a strap as your peak pose. Counter all of this heart opening with a few forward folds and twists. Props Needed: Two blocks and a strap.
• Leg Release with Felicia Tomasko: We’ve Got Your Back… of the Legs – Release the body’s habitual tightness in the backs of the legs through this deep yin practice. Whether you spend your days standing, sitting, walking, or running, the backs of the legs (calves and hamstrings) become habitually tight. You will feel greater overall freedom when you are supple in the back of the legs. The advanced nature of this practice is found in the depth and subtle awareness cultivated in many of the poses. Props Suggested: A block or a blanket.
• Tortoise Pose with Claire Missingham: Getting into kurmasana, tortoise pose, gracefully can be an amazing feeling, but it can leave you feeling awkward and bound up in all the wrong ways. Careful step by step sequencing will get your body to the point where you are stable and open to get into the pose with strength, poise and grace, as you work on three variations to the pose. Then take the most delicious counterposes. Come out of your shell. Props Needed: A block.
• Flip the Grip with Kathryn Budig: A flow helping you to ‘flip the grip’ for full shoulder revolved backbends such as king dancer and one footed king pigeon. Open your heart with a block to start, then a few side bending poses to further open your torso. After wild thing and a shoulder stretch, use the strap to assist with big back bends. Finish with a twist and a brief savasana. Props Needed: Two blocks and a strap.
• A Flexible Mind with Chelsey Korus: In everyday practice, you flex and stretch your muscles, but can overlook the potential to do the same with your mind. Work on your mind’s flexibility as you activate your whole body with this flow that brings extra attention to your drishti. Jump right into asanas and practice body awareness by activating your muscles in new ways with strength based movements. Experience a class inspired by challenging your mind by way of your body.
• Enfold & Invert Yourself with Noah Maze: Progress slowly and steadily into deeper forward bends, from standing to seated. Forward folds span poses like parsvottanasana, dandasana, baddha konasana, janu sirsasana and paschimottanasana, with variations included. Gain extensive alignment and breath instruction for all parts of the forward bend practice. Sirsasana (headstand) is also included. Effectively use your props to support where needed. Finish with counter poses purvottanasana and sarvangasana (shoulder stand). Feel more grounded and perhaps more introspective from this class. Props Needed: Three blankets, two blocks and a strap.
• Compass Pose Flow with Taylor Harkness: Dive into your hips, hamstrings and shoulders in order to explore four different variations of compass pose. Play with a mandala style flow that will have you facing North, South, East and West to prime your body for stretching in all four different variations of compass pose including standing splits into standing compass, reclined compass and kneeling in compass. Fun transitions are included in your flow after you warm up with traditional sun salutations. Props Needed: A block and a strap.
• Turn Toward Your Intention with Stephanie Snyder: In times of change we sometimes aren’t sure which way to turn. In this twists class, remember to consistently turn toward your intention. There is space for you there. And if you are still unsure, you can be still and wait for the insight. A playful sequence with some pretty deep twists, get right into it. Enjoy!
• Hippity Hoppity with Kathryn Budig: Build heat in your chest and shoulders, gain mobility in your hip flexors and develop power in your legs to give you the foundation to flip your inversions over and back again. Also known as the ‘tick – tock’, flip back and forth in urdhva dhanurasana (wheel pose) and headstand in an advanced front body opening practice. Props Needed: Wall space and two blocks.

 

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/advanced-flexibility-yoga-classes/

Intermediate Yoga Flexibility Classes

Are you an intermediate practitioner looking to cultivate more flexibility? These classes from our flexibility program are specifically designed to twist, bend and stretch your body while working on major muscle groups such as hamstrings, hips, back and shoulders. Whether your focus is to release body tension, gain greater range of motion or be less suseptible to injuries, these classes from our flexibility program will help you be and feel more flexible.

• Get the Kinks Out with Annie Carpenter: Try this practice when you’ve been sitting a lot. Whether your chair time is due to work or travel, you’ll move a little in every direction to unwind and rejuvenate yourself, body and mind. Move slow and in rhythm with your breath as you open through your hips and hamstrings. Build strength in your legs and side body to complete this very complete but brief practice.
• Hamstrings on the Go with Dice Iida-Klein: Yogis looking to open their hamstrings in a time crunch should look no further. Using 5 breaths in each asana, we open up the low back, hamstrings and calves. Props Needed: A blanket. Props Suggested: Two blocks.
• Give and Glo with Giselle Mari: You’ve got nothing to lose, plenty to give and the end result is all glow. An option for tri pod headstand is snuck in there for a quickie inversion. Includes several opportunities to take asanas a bit deeper. Props Needed: Two blocks and a blanket.
• Rinse and Repeat with Steven Espinosa: Doing a pose more than once can enhance a deeper understanding of your body and how it changes from pose to pose. Mindfully move slowly through a brief meditation and then into a warm up of downward dog and push ups on your knees. A series of standing poses will continue to build your strength and flexibility. Finish with hip openers, backbends and twists. Observe how your body changes as you repeat.
• Deep Release for Flexibility & Grace with Taylor Harkness: To cultivate fluidity and grace, flexibility and a liberated range of motion are essential. Lengthen and release the often tight and bound up places within your body with longer, yin-style holds. The sequence works to decompress and bring space into your hips, shoulders and spine. Savasanas are sprinkled throughout and you will leave your mat feeling open and relaxed. Props Needed: A bolster, one or two blocks and a strap.
• Go-To Hip & Hamstring Openers with Jason Crandell: The outer hips and hamstrings are strong muscles that often require additional attention. This practice provides a balanced, effective way to release tension in these muscle groups. For those of you that struggle with these regions, this sequence will provide you with a regular supplement to return to time and time again. Challenge yourself to repeat it a few times each week for a month or two and see what a difference 20 minutes can make. Prop Needed: A strap. Prop Suggested: A block.
• Yin for Yangsters with Carole Westerman: You like your yang! You want vinyasa heat, handstands and arm balances, and you haven’t quite caught the Yin bug. Sound like you? If you’re a card carrying “Yangster,” get ready for 2 minute holds in poses such as sleeping swan, anahatasana and twisting child’s pose; chosen to give you a full body “stretch” while awakening your body’s meridian lines. Warning: you may like it.
• Strong & Open Hips and Hammies Flow with Amy Ippoliti: This creative steady flow will take you on a hip and hamstring opening adventure. How to open up? Tone and strengthen the hips and quads first followed by juicy stretches. Short on time but still want the feeling of the yoga buzz? Look no further. You have arrived. Props needed: A Blanket. Optional props: Strap, Two Blocks
• Spreading the Banks of the River with Tias Little: If the torso is a river, in yoga we aim to widen its banks in order to create space and slow down the sometimes torrential flow of stress. Stretch and release your waist, ribs and side trunk through side bending postures. Start slowly with soft internal work then build in intensity and complexity. Props Needed: A blanket and a strap.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/intermediate-yoga-flexibility-classes/

Get More Flexible with Gatekeeper’s Pose

Looking to cultivate flexibility? Join Claire Missingham while she demonstrates Gatekeeper pose or Parighasana. Find a glorious stretch through your side body and hips as you move through a few stages of gatekeeper pose. A great intermediate pose that packs a lot of flexibility into your entire body.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/get-more-flexible-with-gatekeepers-pose/

Yoga Gives Back: The Power to Serve

Join us on January 28th at 10am for a very special Radiant Body Yoga with Kia Miller yoga class to benefit Yoga Gives Back.

YGB Ambassador Kia Miller will teach this very special class to support mothers and children in India. This class will be all about yoga and celebration of the power of service, emphasizing the importance of finding ways to serve that are sustainable and nourishing for yourself and others and to help Yoga Gives Back which so beautifully serves others.

There will be a short YGB Film presentation, an amazing raffle, and delicious refreshments will follow. Meet and mingle with like-minded yogis and give back together. Everyone receives one raffle ticket!

We can’t think of a better time to be of service to our communities of women both near and far.

Join us for a magical, meaningful morning of yoga and strength and service.

Event Details:

Saturday, January 28th at 10am at the YogaGlo Studio: 1740 Stanford St, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Event includes a yoga class, refreshments, a short film, a raffle and freebies from Yoga Gives Back sponsors. 

Proceeds will tremendously help nearly 900 mothers and children in India with micro loans and education funds.

Space is limited. Online pre-registration recommended, $40. We cannot wait to see you at the YogaGlo studio for this special event!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/yoga-gives-back-the-power-to-serve/

Beginner Flexibility Yoga Classes

Are you new to yoga and looking to gain greater flexibility? These classes from our flexibility programs are specifically designed to twist, bend and stretch your body while working on major muscle groups such as hamstrings, hips, back and shoulders. Whether your focus is to release body tension, gain greater range of motion or be less suseptible to injuries, these classes from our flexibility program will help you be and feel more flexible.

• Gentle Beginners Flow with Steven Espinosa: A gentle thirty minute class perfect for beginners, containing a variety of seated poses and forward bends like upavistha konasana and janu sirsasana. Explore a few hip openers (agnistambhasana) and twists to create more flexibility and space in your entire body. Ends with brief savasana. Optional Props: A blanket and a block.
• Light Movement Refresher with Jo Tastula: A practice that flows between light movements to get things flowing and deeper stretches to open your body up. Beginning with your shoulders and thighs, you then move into a gentle flow which is perfect for the beginner wanting an introduction to the vinyasa flow style of yoga. Expect a well rounded flow including, lunges, backbends, hip openers (like supine pigeon) and of course, a nice rest in savasana to conclude.
• Oil for Tin Men & Tin Women with Amy Ippoliti: By popular request, this practice is now available in a 20 minute duration for slow risers, those who feel creaky or just sore from a workout the day before. Take 20 minutes to lube your joints, get re-calibrated, and more present for your life. Have a strap and two blocks available. A blanket is helpful.
• Working With Seriously Stiff Shoulders with Jason Crandell: This practice is designed for students with seriously stiff shoulders. The sequence includes accessible postures that will help you restore range of motion and facilitate circulation. It includes a combination of chair work, standing and reclined postures. Props Needed: Strap and chair. The information contained on YogaGlo’s website is of a general nature and cannot be a substitute for the advice of a medical professional. We urge you to consult with a physician or other health care professional before engaging in any physical activity, regimen, routine, program or exercise that may be presented in these materials. YogaGlo does not give medical advice or engage in the practice of medicine.
• Stiff Person Yoga with Richard Freeman: Learn how to breath along with leg, hip and spinal patterns. An accessible form of sun salutations, this practice can be done by the stiff, the old or the slightly unstable practitioner.
• Everyday Hips & Hammies with Kathryn Budig: Our legs hold us up all day long so it’s time to give them some love! This sequence is safe for everyday use for either maintenance or helping in flexibility. props: blanket and optional strap.
• Remove Stagnation with Felicia Tomasko: Ever have days where your body feels like it’s full of lead, or cement, or you’re stuck in a swamp? And you’re exhausted? This Ayurvedically-inspired practice can encourage the body to excavate what is no longer needed. This mix of gentle heart-openers, shoulder openers and supported backbends help to remove stagnation and address any build-up of the kapha dosha, the elements of water and earth.
• Fun Low Back Maintenance with Alex van Frank: The art of low back health maintenance in an easy to follow slow flow. Great for those days when you feel a little stiff either physically or mentally. Start standing, doing movements to loosen up your hips and unwind your spine. Then, come down to your mat for seated and supine poses, like twists and forward folds. Rejuvenate the back and recharge your mental focus. Props Needed: Two blocks.
• Find Calm & Unwind After A Long Day with Steven Espinosa: This calming 15 minute segment is perfect to unwind and relax at the end of a long day! Consisting of a variety of reclining and restorative poses, including supported bridge and half shoulder stand. Also includes several inner and outer hip openers to release lower back stress. Using a block is recommended for some poses while others can be done at the wall. Props Needed: A block and wall space.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/beginner-flexibility-classes/

Develop Flexibility with Yoga

It’s Flexibility week here at YogaGlo as we highlight our three new Flexibility Programs (Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced) to help you meet your goals in the new year.

Looking to gain greater flexibility? These programs are specifically designed to twist, bend and stretch your body while working on major muscle groups such as hamstrings, hips, back and shoulders. Whether your focus is to release body tension, gain greater range of motion or be less suseptible to injuries, this program will help you be and feel more flexible.

This week, we’ll be steeped in flexibility and we will be sharing tips and tricks on how to cultivate flexibility on all our social channels. If you’re thinking about joining a short, quick program to kick-off your year with releasing stress and finding inner harmony, start a yoga for flexibility program now and join in the fun this week by sharing your story with us!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/cultivate-flexibility-with-yoga/

3 Yoga Stories to Kick-Start Your Week

This week in wellness news, research has found that mindfulness training alters our brains and how we engage with ourselves, others, and our work. When practiced and applied, mindfulness fundamentally alters the operating system of the mind. Through repeated mindfulness practice, brain activity is redirected from ancient, reactionary parts of the brain, including the limbic system, to the newest, rational part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex.

Read that and these other great stories yoga, health & wellness stories from around the web.

• Giving Kids Some Meditation With Their Vacation: “To help children feel more relaxed and less anxious when they travel, hotels are offering meditation sessions and therapies developed for younger guests.”
• Neuroscience: Meditation Is A Great Workout For Your Brain: “Thinking about your breath is also sensation and thought, but it is a more complicated exercise because you can control your breath. I don’t recommend breath exercises for beginners. Focus on things you don’t need to control like the sounds you hear or the feeling of your hair tickling your face. That’s much easier.”
• Spending 10 Minutes a Day on Mindfulness Subtly Changes the Way You React to Everything: “Research has found that mindfulness training alters our brains and how we engage with ourselves, others, and our work. When practiced and applied, mindfulness fundamentally alters the operating system of the mind. Through repeated mindfulness practice, brain activity is redirected from ancient, reactionary parts of the brain, including the limbic system, to the newest, rational part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex.”

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/3-yoga-stories-to-kick-start-your-week-2/

10 Easy & Natural Ways to Reduce Stress

We are busy, our lives are busy, and the world is busy. With hectic schedules, to-do lists that never see an ending and striving to improve ourselves each and every day, it’s so easy to be stressed out. Whether your stress is related to an issue at work, a conflict with a significant other or […]

source http://wealthygorilla.com/10-easy-natural-ways-reduce-stress/

6 Yoga Classes to Increase Flexibility

5 Calming Yoga Classes for Parents

They say that being a parent is the toughest, yet most rewarding job in the world. It comes with more responsibility and stress than any other occupation, so that’s why it’s sp important that we have the ability to cultivate mindfulness and presence, acceptance and awareness, compassion and gratitude so we can be the best we can be; the greatest gift we can give to our kids.

This week’s featured classes will help you navigate the road of parenthood through breath, body and mind awareness.

• Mommy/Daddy Emergency Meditation: A deep five minute reset meditation especially for busy overwhelmed parents and caregivers.
• Relax the Struggle: When you’re a parent, combined with having a stressful job, have a lot on your emotional plate or all of the above, this brief guided meditation practice gives you a moment to step back from the chaos and let go of the struggle. A little goes a long way, and can be practiced at any time of day. Props Suggested: One or two blankets.
• Midnight Meditation for Mamas: Are you finding yourself up in the middle of the night? Do you have trouble going to sleep at night or falling back to sleep after getting up? A meditation that will help you turn your mind off, tune into your breath and inner wisdom and find your happy place. You can practice this meditation anywhere, even in your be.
• Meditation for Stressed Parents: Parents: so often we’re tasked to respond to volatile external circumstances, and we lose touch with our own internal states. This practice takes us inside through layers of our body to help us be present at deeper levels of our being. With this presence, we’re more forgiving of our own parents and of ourselves; the greatest gift we can give to our kids.
• Meditation for Parents: Clear the deck by using this end of the day meditation to brush away accumulated energies and get clear. Connect to the classical seven energy centers or chakras to notice and release tension and built up stress. This class is especially for parents with young kids in the house. While rewarding, parenting can also be stressful. Gain relief for the minds and hearts of those caring for little ones.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/5-calming-yoga-classes-for-parents/

6 Restorative Yoga Classes to Calm Your Energy

Restorative is the application of yoga practice using props and postures held for longer periods of time to initiate deep relaxation of the body, mind and spirit. Slow, restorative yoga is beneficial to balance a more active practice or to just decompress after a stressful day.

Need to calm your energy? This week we’re  featuring deep, quieting, and nurturing restorative classes that are designed to rest your body and soothe your mind.

• A Liquid State of Being with Giselle Mari: Yogic sleep is a very effective form of practice that provides deep relaxation, develops our witnessing skills, revitalizes our entire being and potentially helps unravel long standing habits. The aim is to transition from the awake state (Jagrat) and dream state (Swapna) to finally residing in the deep sleep state (Sushupti) while remaining conscious. This is a great practice to put on daily repeat. Props Suggested: Blankets and a bolster.
• Deep Release for Flexibility & Grace with Taylor Harkness: To cultivate fluidity and grace, flexibility and a liberated range of motion are essential. Lengthen and release the often tight and bound up places within your body with longer, yin-style holds. The sequence works to decompress and bring space into your hips, shoulders and spine. Savasanas are sprinkled throughout and you will leave your mat feeling open and relaxed. Props Needed: A bolster, one or two blocks and a strap.
• Unwind & Restore with Tara Judelle: A Restorative practice good for unwinding from travel, a long day, or stress. Includes many cues to tap into the organ and endocrine system in order to enhance the restoration process. Props Needed: A bolster, two blankets, two blocks, a strap and wall space.
• Calm Your Nervous System for Sound Sleep with Felicia Tomasko: Get ready for a sound sleep with this Ayurvedically-themed practice that focuses on calming the nervous system and reducing the vata dosha that may be in excess or out of balance. We use circular motions of the joints, including the shoulders, chest and hips to release pent-up tension in the joints before a supported forward fold, bridge moving the breath and ending with legs up the wall to calm the nervous system.
• 5 Minutes to Maui with Jason Crandell: Press play if you want to do one pose for five minutes and experience an instant vacation. This simple, deeply relaxing version of savasana will relax your lower back, open your chest and restore your legs. A chair and 2 or 3 blankets will really make this class feel like a sweet mini vacation. Props Needed: A chair and two blankets.
• Restorative Backbends with Annie Carpenter: Super tired and feeling tight? This yummy practice will open your entire front body: shoulders, chest and hips with almost no effort. Grab all your props and relax into a sweet opening. Props Needed: Two blankets, a block and a strap.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/6-restorative-yoga-classes-to-calm-your-energy/

Ask a Yogi: How and why does yoga calm you down?

You’ve practiced with them on YogaGlo. You’ve followed them on Facebook. You might even take their classes in person once in awhile if they travel to or live in your city. But how well do you know our YogaGlo teachers? Ask a Yogi is back so you can learn more about our teachers by asking questions you’ve always wanted to ask.

From favorite poses and tips for beginners to deeper questions about how their practice has changed their worldview, our teachers will collectively answer a new question each week. If you have a question you’d like to “Ask a Yogi” let us know in the comments and we’ll add your questions to the list.

How and why does yoga calm you down?

Alex van Frank: Yoga helps me slow down enough pay attention to breath, body and mind and enter into what I call ‘yogi time’ where time seems suspended. I find that I can better come into a state of flow and ease after a practice so, I try to integrate practice into life and vice versa. Yoga has been a tool that has allowed me greater ease in life.

Amy Ippoliti: Without yoga it’s much easier for me to misdirect anger. Irritations roll of me like water off a duck’s back if when I am practicing a lot. It’s always been a bit of a mystery as to why that is. Of course there are all sorts of theories about the parasympathetic nervous system, brain waves, etc. but the simple truth is that when you do something caring for yourself, and you pay attention to your body, mind, and spirit, it’s like filling up your tank. When we are fulfilled and our needs are met, it’s calming – we no longer need to strive or be in flight or fight mode.

Carole Westerman: Yoga helps calm me down by creating space.  Space in my physical body.  Space in my emotional body.  Space in my mental body.  That combination of space helps me to remember to “pause” and slow down. And when I have the opportunity to pause, it helps me bring things into perspective.  And the big things don’t seem so “big” anymore…

Chris Chapple: Day by day, everyday, Yoga allows the mind to focus and ascend.

Darren Rhodes: Hatha means to strike or to force. Yoga forces me to slow down. Holding pose after pose for 30 seconds is a much slower pace than most aspects of our fast pace lives. Focusing on alignment is a way to stop thought. Becoming conscious of my breath gives it room to breath. Each of the poses I practice are designed to stretch away stress.

Elena Brower: ​I’m actively studying Yin, Restoratives and Savasana now. ​I’m sleeping VERY well…

Giselle Mari: Yin yoga is my go when I need to down regulate. Due to the passive application of both the postures and breath. This creates a calming effect that is visceral as well as it is intellectual.

Kathryn Budig: Yoga calms me down because I know I’m making a conscious request to feel better. A huge part of discomfort for me is sitting in it —refusing to take the steps to take better. Yoga (and meditation) are amazing tools, but only when utilized regularly.

Noah Maze: In asana practice, as with most physical exercise, as the body heats up (you start sweating) the mind calms down. Yoga poses and practices can effectively calm the sympathetic nervous system and stimulates the para-sympathetic nervous system. Calming the sympathetic nervous system decreases adrenaline and the fight-flight-freeze responses that often are associated with stress. Meditative and mindfulness practices can be very effective to facilitate further calming.

Steven Espinosa: We live in a very fast paced, stressed out society. As a result, we are in a constant state of “fight or flight” mode and will have a tendency to get harder both physically and emotionally in order to protect ourselves. The process of practicing yoga allows us to soften around those hard edges and to reconnect with our deeper source of inner strength and well being.

Tara Judelle: Yoga brings my entire body online and moves the energy of thinking mind into the energy of body-mind.  By motorizing thoughts, thought-sphere becomes fuel for movement.  You can’t get rid of energy, you can only transmute it, and the alchemy of yoga is the thing that since the first class I stepped into over 20 years ago has inspired me to continue.

Taylor Harkness: Growing up, I had horses and I loved the feeling of snuggling my face into their thick coats in the winter time. With my little arms wrapped around my horse’s belly, ear pressed to her chest, the feeling of these huge animals taking a full, deep breath was always comforting and calming. I think some part of loves the sensation of a big sigh; then combine that with movement that makes sense and feels good and you have a pathway to equanimity.

Tias Little: When the fascia stretches the tiny nerve receptors open. This induces feeling of well being. Also blood infuses the tissues supporting greater ease. Central to yoga, the central nervous system in and around the spinal column expands.

Tiffany Cruikshank: We’re still learning more and more about this and many other ways yoga affects us, but the simple and obvious answer is the parasympathetic nervous system.  We see this really clearly with pranayama and its capacity to induce a pretty immediate relaxation effect by focusing more on the exhalation and its connection to the parasympathetic nervous system(for more info see this article).  I like to begin &/or end my yoga & meditation practices with a short pranayama practice for this reason.  Calming the body prior to practice helps reduce muscle tension and compensation to move more efficiently and more clearly see what’s happening in the body.  When we grip and push through we use the larger muscle groups to compensate and cover up any inefficiencies that might exist in the smaller, deeper stabilizing muscles.  When used at the end of a practice this pranayama practice of lengthening the exhalation calms the nervous system to prepare us for a busy day ahead.  To try it out for yourself just lie supine in a comfortable position and add a minute or 2 of pranayama with a 5 count inhale and an 8 count exhale just prior to or at the end of your practice.  

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/how-and-why-does-yoga-calm-you-down/

Advanced Calm Classes

Are you a seasoned yogi looking to calm your body and mind? This advanced program specifically designed to help you release stress and focus on stillness and breath, while invigorating your body and finding your inner harmony. Whether you’re looking to boost mental clarity, unwind after a long day or rejuvenate your mind and body, this program will help you be and feel more calm.

Check out all of our advanced calm program classes:

• Stoked & Still with Rod: An asana prep for meditation – Get the most out of meditation by physically preparing yourself with this class. Calm and steady your body while opening your hips and lower back muscles, preparing yourself to support a tall, straight spine. On another level, prepare yourself energetically. Address your body, energy, and mind as you prepare to meditate or to simply move into life balanced and prepared.
• Reframe Your Day with Tiffany: Shift your mindset and reorient your day whether you’re feeling tired, uninspired, tense, frustrated or otherwise in need of change. A nice combination of mindful movement and held postures to help you reframe your perspective. Begin by preparing your practice with pranayama work, progressing into some timed inversions, self massage, core work and surya A’s and B’s to reorient and ground you. Experience a personalized shift that you can use over and over again. Props Needed: Two blocks.
• Unlocking the Intelligence in Your Hips: Ground and uplift yourself. Open your shoulders, hips and groin through standing, seated and hip opening postures designed to usher you into lotus pose and into a sacred internal space. Props Needed: One or two blankets.
• Grounding Inversions with Jo: Inversions can be grounding, especially those with a wider base. Ground any mental stress with a highly effective sequence, going from down dog to dolphin to forearm balance. Continue going upside down in headstand with variations, followed by shoulderstand. Bring calm to your mind and refresh your body. Savasana on your own. Props Needed: Two blankets, a block and a strap.
• Restorative Backbends with Annie: Super tired and feeling tight? This yummy practice will open your entire front body: shoulders, chest and hips with almost no effort. Grab all your props and relax into a sweet opening. Props Needed: Two blankets, a block and a strap.
• Short, Intermediate Series Flow with Mary: A flowing short form of the Intermediate Series from the Ashtanga system. This practice is ideal for balancing the mind and nervous system, in particular on days that you find yourself with extra energy that needs taming. Most appropriate for intermediate to advanced students.
• Precisely Peaceful with Chelsey: Drawing your attention inward towards your center makes poses like vrksasana (tree pose) satisfying and peaceful for your mind. As you know life is not predictable or stationary and you are asked to find your stability within the flow. Practice this as you transition from standing straddle to tree. Catch your drishti, commit and calm your mind. Keep that same peace as you explore leg variations in tripod headstand before a nice savasana. Props Needed: A bolster.
• Rewire Your Nervous System: This is the sequel to the first Get Your Head in the Game class with less information and more steeping yourself in the process. This practice will ebb & flow like the first one to rewire the nervous system and help you get to the core of the practice with brief meditations along the way.
• Relax, Unwind, Rejuvenate: Relax, unwind and rejuvenate from your day with this grounded sequence of deep forward bends and hip openers. Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Sodhana Pranayama) balances and calms the energies of the mind and body. Seated postures variations of Head-to-knee pose (Janu Sirsasana & Parivrita Janu Sirsasana), Pose of the Sage Bharadvaja (Bharadvajasana), Seated One Leg Folded Forward Fold (Triang Mukha Eka Pada Paschimottanasana), Cobblers Pose (Baddha Konasana). We open the wrists and feet then enter into a wee little flow stretching quads, hamstrings and spinal twist. Inversions are Dolphin followed by a delicious Headstand with variations (Sirsanana)! Finish with hip openers Cow faced Pose (Gomukhasana) try the headstand transition and Reclining Cobbler’s Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana) to finish.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/advanced-calm-classes/

5 Meditation Classes to Remain Calm

When the demands of daily life leave us with the residue of stress, meditating can be effective in resetting the tone. Through a smooth practice, we work to get grounded through breath and movement while learning to monitor change so that anxiety and stress can be transmuted.

This week’s featured classes will calm your nerves and help ground you to the earth to rebalance.

• Pranayama to Quiet a Busy Mind with Annie Carpenter: A short and sweet sitting meditation practice with ujjayi and viloma 2 breath to shift your active or distracted mind into a calm, grounded peaceful state. Props Suggested: A bolster and a blanket.
• Calm Your Heart with Kia Miller: This meditation induces a feeling of calmness. If you are feeling emotionally challenged at work or in a personal relationship then practice this meditation before deciding how to act. Practiced daily it helps to develop your concentration and promotes rejuvenation at a deep level. An essential tool to keep in your back pocket!
• Deep Relaxation Meditation & Pranayama Practice with Felicia Tomasko: This 15-minute class combines meditation and pranayama practice; we utilize seated and supine positions with a bolster and blanket. To support getting grounded and entering the meditative space with ease, we incorporate traditional Hatha and more subtle Raja Yoga practices of alternate nostril breathing with and without the hands. Be prepared for deep relaxation and calm as a result of this led class. Props Needed: Bolster, blanket.
• Meditation Nugget with Amy Ippoliti: Touch into the calm, centered core of your being with this brief but right-to-the-point meditation. Find a comfortable seat, focus your awareness on your breath and drop right in. It might be short, but it packs a punch of grounded goodness. A great practice if you are looking to incorporate meditation into your daily life, if you’re new to it, or have trouble finding time for meditation everyday. Props Needed: A blanket. Props Suggested: A bolster.
• Seven Wave Sat Nam Meditation with Kia Miller: Chanting can cleanse your mind as the ocean waves wash the sandy beach. Open yourself up to a new experience and cultivate a state of calm and relaxation through this mantra practice. Begin in a comfortable seated position and experience a guided chant of the mantra “sat nam.” Vibrating this mantra can activate the energy of your mind that erases and establishes habits, cleansing and washing away what was there before. Props Suggested: A blanket.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/5-meditation-classes-to-remain-calm/

Intermediate Calm Classes

Are you an intermediate yogi looking to calm your body and mind? This intermediate program specifically designed to help you release stress and focus on stillness and breath, while invigorating your body and finding your inner harmony. Whether you’re looking to boost mental clarity, unwind after a long day or rejuvenate your mind and body, this program will help you be and feel more calm.

Check out our intermediate calm program classes:

• Hit the Restart Button with Chelsey: A quick restart button for the active yogi and hyper thinker. Calm your mind with held supported inverted postures, detox twists and a gut release to instill inner harmony. You will land in supportive shoulder stand and give your hips and low back a moment of reprieve. Full five breath cycles will leave you feeling grounded and peaceful. Props Needed: Two blocks and a blanket.
• Meditate at the Core of Meditation with Rod: A simple four step process will give you the experience of seeing beyond your mind and ultimately resting in your higher self, the goal of all meditation practices. Walk through the various dimension of awareness, body, breath, and mind on the way to accessing Spirit. Leave feeling more focused and aware. Props Suggested: A bolster.
• Resting in Stillness in Rod: Discover the power of pure breathing. Practice the approach to your breath in which, in a matter of minutes, you can change the way you think and feel. Feel the long lasting effects of a rich and supported meditation practice. Walk away feeling more connected to self. Great to do if you are looking to take your meditation practice to the next level. Props Needed: A blanket. Props Suggested: A bolster.
• Yoga Nidra for Self-Awareness: Step by step relax your body, mind and intellect until you come to rest in pure essence. This is the place where the seer (your source) sees itself. The seat of the infinite is where the journey of your mind ends and the journey of your soul begins. Props Needed: Blankets and a bolster.
• Unwind with Stephanie: Using the floor as your prop, be guided as you glide through a floor sequence designed to help you release both surface and deep seated tension. Deep breaths and supported movement will help you feel clear, light and balanced. Specific poses include supta padangusthasana and a nice easy twist. A great class if you have been on your feet all day or if you need a little extra grounding energy for your day or night.
• Evening Wind Down Yoga with Felicia: Release tension with this sequence of gentle forward folds, twists and seated and supine hip openers that allow the body to release pent-up tightness before setting down for a nap or a deep night’s sleep.
• Smooth It Out with Elena: For the rough edges and the tough moments, this brief but potent practice will bring breath to hips and your legs into the splits. The perfect blend of prep, practice and play.
• Calming the Turbulent Waters: A spacious and compassionate flow including specialized breath and sound work, twists and hip openers with the aim to move stuck energy and to find your center. Props Suggested: Two blocks.
• Meditation on Waves of Breath with Mary: Observe and gradually deepen your breath as a means of centering energy, calming your mind, and tapping into the natural intelligence of your body to serve as a springboard for grounding and restoration. Find something comfortable to sit on and establish a shape so you can drop in. The goal of this meditation is to reveal the unifying quality of your breath. Props Needed: A blanket. Props Suggested: A bolster.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/intermediate-calm-classes/

6 Steps for Calming: Grounding Forward Bends

Forward bends are the introverts of the asana spectrum. While backbends have a spacious, majestic quality, forward bends turn us inward and create the conditions for greater calmness and ease. These postures even have a grounding effect for students whose hips, hamstrings, and spine present resistance. As teachers and students, it’s important to return to the foundational actions of these postures in an organized, clear way in order to ensure that we are getting the most from our practice. Here’s a primer for some and a reminder for others:

• Ground your thighs

Grounding your thighs provides you with a deeper, more focused stretch in the hamstrings. Even more, this action helps you lift and lengthen your spine in postures. In order to do this, bring your awareness to the top of your thigh-bones and pull back toward your hamstrings. If you’re in a seated forward bend, this means that you’ll be rooting down into the floor near your sitting bones.

• Spiral your thighs—internally, externally or both

Internally rotating your thighs helps tilt your pelvis forward. Externally rotating your thighs helps lengthen and your spine. Of course, different forward bends focus on one or more of these actions. For example, paschimottanasana emphasizes internally rotating your thighs while baddhakonasana focuses on externally rotating your thighs. Practice becoming aware of the primary rotation of your thighs in each of your forward bends and use these actions to deepen your posture.

• Rock your pelvis forward and fold from your hip creases and groins

Tilting your pelvis forward toward your thighs is the most essential action in forward bends—in fact, it’s this action that defines forward bending. By focusing on this action you will be less likely to round your lower back too much. When emphasize folding from your hip creases and groins, you create a hinge-like movement and increase the depth of the posture. Emphasizing this fold also spreads your awareness more thoroughly in the posture. Rather than focusing exclusively on the stretch of your back-body, folding from your hip-creases and groins will help bring attention to the front of your body. To emphasize this movement, you can press your thumbs or a belt into this crease while you do your forward bends.

• Lift your lumbar

Lifting your lumbar spine creates a greater feeling of space in your entire spine and lessens the tendency to round your lower back. Lengthening your lower back also intensifies the stretch in your legs and hips. To do this, focus on lengthening your back, bottom ribs away from the top of your pelvis.

• Gently arc your spine

Don’t confuse lengthening your spine with trying to make it straight or becoming rigid. If you are managing lumbar or sacral issues you may have to maintain the natural curve of your lower back. However, most spines will benefit from moderate, balanced rounding. After-all, spinal flexion is one of the normal, natural ranges of spinal movement. Allowing your back to gently round once you’ve engaged all of the previous actions will provide your spine with a nice stretch. More importantly, this action is calming to your mind, body, and nervous system. To do this, allow your back to round forward in your forward bends with the same degree of intensity as you allow your spine to round in child’s pose.

• Soften your sensory organs

Relaxing your muscles and softening your sense organs are both subtle actions. Relaxation and softening comes from letting go of tension. In fact, you may not be aware of how much tension you have until you let it go—just like you may not notice how annoying the hum of your refrigerator is until it turns off. Since forward bends turn you inward and decrease the amount of stimulation your senses perceive, they are the perfect poses to release accumulated tension in these areas. To do this, focus on relaxing your forehead and temples, releasing your inner ears, letting go of your jaw, and bringing a steady, relaxed focus to your eyes.

Jason Crandell was recently named one of the next generation of teachers shaping yoga’s future by Yoga Journal for his skillful, unique approach to vinyasa yoga. Jason’s steady pace, creative sequencing, and attention to detail encourage students to move slowly, deeply, and mindfully into their bodies. Jason credits his primary teacher, Rodney Yee, teachers in the Iyengar Yoga tradition such as Ramanand Patel, and ongoing studies in Eastern and Western philosophy for inspiring to him bring greater alignment and mindfulness to Vinyasa Yoga.

Jason is a contributing editor for Yoga Journal and has written over 13 articles for the magazine and website – many of which have been translated internationally (including Japan, China, Italy and Brazil). His integrative and accessible teachings support students of every background and lineage, helping them to find greater depth, awareness, and well-being in their practice – and in their lives. Follow Jason on Facebook and Twitter.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/6-steps-for-calming-grounding-forward-bends/

Beginner Calm Programs

Are you a beginner yogi looking to calm your body and mind? This beginner program is specifically designed to help you release stress and focus on stillness and breath, while invigorating your body and finding your inner harmony. Whether you’re looking to boost mental clarity, unwind after a long day or rejuvenate your mind and body, this program will help you be and feel more calm.

Check out our beginner calm program classes:

• Yinstant Zen with Carole: A time efficient sequence designed to address each of the major meridian lines in your body. Sleeping swan, child’s pose with a twist, sphynx and a belly down savasana are included. The result is a full body “tune-up and tune-in”, leaving you feeling completely zenned out. Props Suggested: A blanket.
• Before Bed Meditation with Amy: A short & sweet-before-bed meditation practice to help get into a state of appreciation. All that’s required is a blanket or cushion to sit on and an open heart and mind.
• Relax the Struggle with Giselle: When you’re a parent, combined with having a stressful job, have a lot on your emotional plate or all of the above, this brief guided meditation practice gives you a moment to step back from the chaos and let go of the struggle. A little goes a long way, and can be practiced at any time of day. Props Suggested: One or two blankets.
• Gently Revitalize Body, Mind & Senses: This short practice is ideal when you need to unplug for a moment and connect in. The practice consists of a guided meditation with breath focusing on each part of the body. This is an ancient technique to gently revitalize the body, mind and senses. Props Suggested: A blanket to sit or lie down on.
• Reclining & Restorative Poses: In this short but sweet class, Steven leads you through a series of Reclining and Restorative Poses well suited for beginning and intermediate students alike. Using minimal props (with options) to create a supportive, relaxing and rejuvenating experience to help restore our bodies for a restful night’s sleep! Props: Blanket, 2 Blocks, strap
• Low Back Love: Encourage decompression of your low back through supine bridge with a block. You spend more of your day engaged in activities that create compression in your spine. Through bridge with a block, you’ll hit the reset button and allow your low back to decompress through simple held traction, relaxation and ease. Props Needed: A block.
• Recharge Your Batteries: This is a great immune system booster. A perfect weekly self care and rejuvenation practice. Take this time for yourself so you can truly show up and be as radiant as possible in your life. Props: 3 blankets, 2 blocks, A strap, A chair or wall
• Increase Awareness: Done completely on your back in a supine position, explore a simple series of sleeping pigeon and hip oriented stretches combined with body scan imagery and awareness techniques to connect with the inner intelligence of your body. Use savasana to cement this intelligence and affect your mind, body, heart and spirit. Props Suggested: A blanket.
• A Piece of Peace with Giselle: Treat yourself to a little peace. Sit down for a guided meditation that will help develop your witnessing skills and calm your mind and body. No experience necessary, just a willingness to sit and be led. Props Suggested: A blanket

 

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/beginner-calm-programs/

Achieve Calmness with Yoga

It’s Calm week here at YogaGlo as we highlight our three new Calm Programs (Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced) to help you meet your goals in the new year.

Looking to calm your body and mind? Our Yoga for Calmness Programs are specifically designed to help you release stress and focus on stillness and breath, while invigorating your body and finding your inner harmony. Whether you’re looking to boost mental clarity, unwind after a long day or rejuvenate your mind and body, this program will help you be and feel more calm. Pick your level, do the quick assessment to measure your starting point, and let’s get practicing.

This week, we’ll be steeped in calmness and we will be sharing tips and tricks on how to get calm on all our social channels. If you’re thinking about joining a short, quick program to kick-off your year with releasing stress and finding inner harmony, start a yoga for calmness program now and join in the fun this week by sharing your story with us!

 

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/achieve-calmness-with-yoga/

4 Yoga Stories to Kick-Start Your Week

This week in wellness news, most things in our life are outside of our control. We cannot control the world around us, or what other people say and do, but through meditation and hard work, we can control our own minds. A trained mind can be the best friend you’ve ever had, and with it, you can accomplish things you never thought possible.

Read that and these other great stories yoga, health & wellness stories from around the web.

• What You May Not Understand About Meditation: “The only wrong way to do meditation is by not doing it at all. One of the most important ideas of the practice is that you don’t judge yourself, your thoughts, or your meditation. Not judging oneself is a tall order, but meditation is where you can practice, and you begin by not judging the way you do it. The basic idea is to take some time to try to be present in the moment. If you sat down and you tried to do this, consider yourself successful.”
• How Meditation Can Transform Your Business: “Most things in our life are outside of our control. We cannot control the world around us, or what other people say and do, but through meditation and hard work, we can control our own minds. A trained mind can be the best friend you’ve ever had, and with it, you can accomplish things you never thought possible.”
• How Mindfulness Helps To Get You Through Tough Times And Increase Resiliency: “There are many reasons to meditate and practice mindfulness. Decrease stress and anxiety, increase focus and productivity. However, it’s perhaps misplaced to see mindfulness practice simply as another “self-help” gimmick. All of these benefits of mindfulness and meditation are actually side effects. Humans naturally strive to understand their existence, and meditation is a way to increase self-awareness and gain clarity about why we’re here and what our missions, values and goals are.”
• Use Mealtime to Practice Mindfulness: “How often do you sit down to eat, completely distracted? Perhaps you’re checking your email, Twitter, Facebook, or just spaced out. Try this: when eating, simply eat. No digital device, book, newspaper, etc. Try eating alone. Pay attention to what you’re eating, the sensory experiences — taste, smell, and texture. Notice the color of the food. You can even spend a moment being grateful for the food you’re consuming.”

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/4-yoga-stories-to-kick-start-your-week/

6 Calming Yoga Classes

Feeling stressed out or frazzled lately? Not to worry. Yoga to the rescue! When we calm our breath, we calm our mind settling our central nervous system, allowing us to be more at peace within our own heart.

This week’s featured classes will help settle a stressed out mind and will bring more peace and calm to our lives.

• Strong, Calm & Steady with Kia Miller: Practice this powerful kriya and meditation designed to release stress and create the strength, resilience and grace needed to thrive in these times. Sequencing includes warm up surya namaskars and engaging mulabandha and bahir kumbhaka (hold at end of exhale). Charge the magnetic energy of your body with this strengthening, rejuvenating practice. When your nerves are strong you are resilient, calm and capable, having the capacity to turn challenge into opportunity. Props Suggested: A blanket.
• Breath Calm Down with Marla Apt: Take a moment to find your breath again with this exhalation focused practice done from a relaxed supine position. Calm your nervous tension with a few good smooth breaths. When you are plagued with worries, your breath and body respond and you can feel trapped in the physical and mental loop of anxiety. When you can catch a smooth breath, your perspective can shift completely. Props Needed: Three blankets and eye cover.
• Precisely Peaceful with Chelsey Korus: Drawing your attention inward towards your center makes poses like vrksasana (tree pose) satisfying and peaceful for your mind. As you know life is not predictable or stationary and you are asked to find your stability within the flow. Practice this as you transition from standing straddle to tree. Catch your drishti, commit and calm your mind. Keep that same peace as you explore leg variations in tripod headstand before a nice savasana. Props Needed: A bolster.
• Slow Breath, Calm Mind with Rod Stryker: Experience first hand how your breath is the key to shaping your mind. The poses will be simple but the focus on breath will be constant throughout. Use asana to improve breath and your breath to improve mental focus. Emphasize the calming and grounding power of lengthening exhale with forward bends and twists. Close with pranayama to leave you feeling balanced and stable.
• Calm Your Mind for Sweet Dreams with Kathryn Budig: Ever find yourself exhausted, lying in bed at the end of the day and unable to calm your mind? This class is for you. A sweet 10 minute restorative sequence to wring out your body and mind so you can rest peacefully and drift off into sweet dreams. Props Needed: A bolster, block and strap.
• Reset Your Mind: Calm with Tara Judelle: In this short practice to reset your nervous system for calm and ease we use pranayama, forward bends and an inversion to prepare you to meet the rest of your day with clarity. Props Needed: Bolster and Strap

Be sure to check out all of our Yoga for Calmness Classes.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/6-calming-yoga-classes/

Are Prescription Hormones Making You Cold, Fat or Tired?

As a medical intuitive healer, I empower my clients to understand why they have been feeling cold and tired and getting fat for no obvious reason. Feeling constantly chilled may be your first sign that your thyroid function is dropping, but other common signs include low libido, poor stamina, memory problems, infertility and fluid retention.  […]

source http://unlimitedenergynow.com/are-prescription-hormones-making-you-cold-fat-or-tired/

source http://unlimitedenergynow.blogspot.com/2017/01/are-prescription-hormones-making-you.html

6 Yoga Classes for Athletes to Build Strength

From running and surfing, to dance and rock climbing, it’s hard to find a sport where yoga isn’t suggested to help enhance an athlete’s overall performance and strength. Did you know that integrating a yoga practice into your training regimen can help you reach new levels of fitness, inside and out?

These classes will help you gain strength, flexibility and stamina for the sports you love.

To see all of our strength classes, click here.

•  Yoga for Rock Climbers with Taylor Harkenss: Rock climbing is an adventurous, adrenaline pounding, very challenging sport. As good as it is for the soul to be out in nature and for the mind to overcome fears and challenges, it can give the body a real beating. This practice will work on core strength and balance (essential components for climbing) and then release all of the tight spots climbers run into: forearms, wrists, shoulders, and hips. Practice yoga and ‘climb on’. Props Suggested: Two blocks and a bolster.
• Yoga for Athletes with Stephanie Snyder: This class is designed for athletes. We will work on the different aspects of the practice that will enhance your performance in athletics. In addition, we will focus on lengthening hamstrings, quadriceps, and psoas muscles. I hope this class helps bring balance and ease into your body.
• Cross-Training for Runners with Felicia Tomasko: Focus on postures to create strength and suppleness, flexibility and stability to unwind tension in the neck, back, shoulders, hips and legs after running. Long floor sequence to stretch hamstrings and musculature of the hip and low back while encouraging healthy joints. Techniques throughout the practice were used to stimulate the lymphatic and immune system and enhance the ability to take a deep breath.
• Yoga for Dancers – Lower Back & Upper Body Alignment with Steven Espinosa: In this segment of Yoga For Dancers we focus on Lower Back and Upper Body Alignment. Such as the tendency for dancers to have a “hyper flexible” lower lumbar spine and how to protect the lower back when doing yoga. We also focus on the difference between Arms/Shoulder/Upper Back alignment i.e., port de bras. This class includes a strong Standing Pose Flow and several Shoulder Openers. Suitable for non dancers as well.
• Raise Power on Your Bike with Amy Ippoliti: When you address lower body tightness and learn to integrate lower body muscle function through specific stretches for the hips and lower back, you make strides toward more power on the pedals. This 30 minute practice will lift you there. – Props: Chair, strap.
• Balance Muscles Post-Surf with Tara Judelle: A short sequence, for post surfing to open up the upperback, shoulders, neck, psoas and hamstring to balance muscles for fluidity and strength.
• Cross-Training for Hockey, Soccer & Boxing with Tiffany Cruikshank: This class is specifically aimed at hockey & soccer players as well as boxing or other sports that involve side to side movement & rotation. We look at the tension in the outer thighs and hips and the rotational component of these sports as well as the fatigue of the quads. This is meant to be used between trainings as a cross training or can be used in post sport if needed.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/6-yoga-classes-for-athletes-to-build-strength/

Ask a Yogi: What are your go-to poses to help build strength?

You’ve practiced with them on YogaGlo. You’ve followed them on Facebook. You might even take their classes in person once in awhile if they travel to or live in your city. But how well do you know our YogaGlo teachers? Ask a Yogi is back so you can learn more about our teachers by asking questions you’ve always wanted to ask.

From favorite poses and tips for beginners to deeper questions about how their practice has changed their worldview, our teachers will collectively answer a new question each week. If you have a question you’d like to “Ask a Yogi” let us know in the comments and we’ll add your questions to the list.

What are your go-to poses to help build strength?

Alex van Frank: First I’d like to say a little something about strength. The most important place to start your strength training is in your head. Determination and dedication will take you where you want to be with your strength both in mind and body. However, please remember to balance it all so that it is a joy to come to your practice and not a burden.

My go-to for strength:

1. Kapalbhati pranayama – Shining skull breathing. The forceful breathing that happens in this breath work helps to condition the stomach muscles in a very deep way. This is also fantastic for circulation and in preparation for other strengthening poses.
2. Plank on forearms – The abdominals, arms, and legs all working in this relatively simple looking pose. Stay in it without collapsing the bottom down and you really begin to feel the strengthening aspects of the pose (sometimes trembling too)
3. Handstand – Arms, upper body, abdominal. I love the feeling of strength in the upper body that a handstand gives. Another great benefit is that it helps to improve you outlook and perspective when feeling a little sluggish in the head. A few handstands and I’m ready to tackle my projects!
4. Side Plank- Done right the side plank really helps the torso stand taller and stronger. It can be challenging on wrists so feel free to do it on forearms. When I was a few months from recovering from a c-section I found that I needed the extra help of using my leg as a support until my abdominals were strong enough to do it without support.

Amy Ippoliti: Handstand and forearm stand – I time myself and hold the pose as long as possible!

Carole Westerman: My go-to pose for strength is plank, because it just never gets easy!  I love the way it hits the upper body, core, and even some leg.  To me, it’s a full body strengthener.  And, if I’m looking for more challenge, I may hover a foot above the floor.  It’s crazy how much extra focus, strength, and balance that takes!

Chris Chapple: Surya Namaskar and Mayur and the sequence of Dhanur, Shalabha, Cobra one, Cobra two, and Sphinx connect with the strength of earth, water, fire, air and space. Forward bends to the left, right, middle, followed with Bhadrasana, sole to sole, knees toward the ground, empower one with strength, non-attachment, knowledge, and Dharma. The headstand and shoulderstand bring renewed energy to the throat, home of importance endocrine glands.

Darren Rhodes: Warrior 1, 2, and 3, Sets of Plank to Chaturanga Dandasana (push up). Power Pose and variations (Utkatasana). All Locust variations (belly down back bends) for low back. Half Boat for core.

Elena Brower: Plank for arms. Well-wrought Uttananasana for legs, with slightly bent knees, with knees in armpits, and palms under heels; lifting sitting bones and stretching while grounding.

Giselle Mari: Static plank and static standing postures.

Kathryn Budig: Modified chaturanga is my go-to as I heal a torn labrum. You can practice them standing against a wall, and progress to using a countertop, and then a bench. Great way to build strength an prepare yourself for solid vinyasas.

Noah Maze: Depending on what muscles I want to strengthen, I will turn to different poses and practice strategies. Generally speaking, if I want to build strength, I will work on longer timings and repetitions in poses. Here are a few of my go-to poses:
To strengthen my scapula stabilizers and deep core muscles, Plank Pose and variations are my go-tos. To strengthen my feet, legs and hips, standing poses accomplish that well. To strengthen my abdominal muscles, Navasana (Boat Pose) variations are my favorites. To get an overall strengthening, I do 108 Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) and/or 108 Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow or Full Wheel Pose) pushups.

Steven Espinosa: When I want to build greater upper body strength my preference is Ardha Chaturanga Dandasana or “half push ups” with my knees on the floor. I generally stay away from doing too many classic chaturanga’s because of the potential to strain your rotator cuff if done improperly. But doing half chaturanga’s allows me to control the weight bearing and focus on isolating and strengthening the pectorals, biceps, triceps and upper back muscles. I also love to flip upside down in Handstand and/or L-Pose with feet on the wall. For the lower body, it’s all about Warrior poses. Specifically Warrior 2 with maybe a few Utkatasana (chair) poses thrown in to feel the thigh burn.

Tara Judelle: I am having a love affair with Plank pose.  Plank and catturanga have traditionally been difficult for me as a long limbed flexible person, but I like to stay in plank and call on different resources to assist, like my lungs, my skeletal system, My bandhas.  Trying to find different ways to approach a familiar posture is one of my favorite pastimes.  I also love to handstand against walls or in doorframes and try to time the posture for minutes at a time.

Taylor Harkness: One legged plank (hovering a leg for 5-10 breaths while maintaining the integrity of plank pose, then switching legs), crescent lunge and taking the back knee to a hover above the mat, and salabhasana (locust) with a heavy block in my hands, reaching forward. Phew! I’m sweating just typing this. Handstand against the wall is another fave, but be sure you have some experience before throwing yourself into that one.

Tias Little: The first is supta dandasana (lying on back with legs up in air). Beginning students must hold a strap looped over their feet. If possible stretch arms over head. Legs stay vertical!
Ado Mukha Dandasana (people call Plank, but ’tis a bad translation, dana is the sacred staff)

Tiffany Cruikshank: Right now I’m loving playing with new & unique variations on plank & tabletop and everything in between, the weirder the better to challenge my core in a more functional & realistic way.  I believe its really crucial to the health & hydration of our tissues to move in different ways and I love exploring new movements!  I’m not really as interested in playing with fancy things that don’t make me feel better, I prefer finding fun variations on simple movements in ways that help my body get stronger and feel better off my mat.  I also love half moon for core strength.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/ask-a-yogi-what-are-your-go-to-poses-to-help-build-strength/