Amidst Chaos, Find Peace

In this week’s Pose of the Week, Chesley Korus encourage us to reset our minds and return back to more kind and loving thoughts.

Take this class with Chelsey: https://glo.yoga/2o9LCJD

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/amidst-chaos-find-peace/

5 Wellness Cookbooks to Read Right Now

We’re all about nourishing our mind, body and spirit and one of the best ways we can honor our temple is to eat mindfully. We can’t get enough of these amazing cookbooks with recipes for healthy living and eating! There are lots to choose from out there, so to narrow down the great selection, browse through our list of the 5 must-haves.

• Aim True: Love Your Body, Eat Without Fear, Nourish Your Spirit, Discover True Balance! Yoga teacher and inspirational speaker Kathryn Budig is known for her ability to encourage others to set their intentions and goals, no matter how lofty, and work towards them while staying true to oneself. In Aim True, Budig extends her empowering message beyond the mat. Life is an adventure that is meant to be explored, challenged, and fully lived. The best part? When you approach life with an open mind and heart, the possibilities are endless. Whether your goal is to love who you are right now, reshape the way you view food, develop a meditation practice, or discover new ways to embrace the great balancing act that is life, this holistic approach to yoga, diet, and mindfulness has something for you. Filled with vibrant photographs and whimsical illustrations, this guide is as beautiful as it is life-changing.
• The Moon Juice Cookbook: Since Amanda Chantal Bacon founded Moon Juice in 2011, it has evolved into one of the nation’s fastest growing wellness brands, and in The Moon Juice Cookbook, she artfully distills her powerful approach to healthy living, sharing over 75 recipes for the brand’s most popular healing beverages and provisions. Amanda’s recipes harness the healing properties of adaptogenic herbs, raw foods, and alkalizing ingredients to create potent drinks, snacks, and sweets that deliver a multitude of benefits, including sparked libido, glowing skin, and boosted immunity. She begins by guiding readers through the fundamentals of the Moon Juice kitchen, teaching them how to stock the larder with milks, juices, cultured foods, and “unbakery” doughs and crèmes—all of which can be mixed and matched to create nutritionally turbo-charged meals with minimal effort—and the essential time- and money-saving strategies they’ll need to make their new kitchen practices stick. With recipes for healthful, delectable indulgences like Strawberry Rose Geranium Bars, Hot Sex Milk, Savory Tart with Cheese and Tomato Filling, Pulp Brownies with Salted Caramel Sauce, Yam Julius Milk, and Chocolate Chaga Donuts, The Moon Juice Cookbook is the stylish yet pragmatic roadmap readers need to achieve optimal wellness in a natural and delicious way.
• Oh She Glows Everyday: Quick and Simply Satisfying Plant-based Recipes – Angela Liddon’s irresistible and foolproof recipes have become the gold standard for plant-based cooking. Her phenomenally popular blog and New York Times–bestselling debut, The Oh She Glows Cookbook, have amassed millions of fans eager for her latest collection of creative and accessible recipes. Now, in this highly anticipated follow-up cookbook, Liddon shares wildly delicious recipes that are perfect for busy lifestyles, promising to make plant-based eating convenient every day of the week—including holidays and special occasions! Filled with more than one hundred family-friendly recipes everyone will love, like Oh Em Gee Veggie Burgers, Fusilli Lentil-Mushroom Bolognese, and Ultimate Flourless Brownies, Oh She Glows Every Day also includes useful information on essential pantry ingredients and tips on making recipes kid-, allergy-, and freezer-friendly. A beautiful go-to cookbook from one of the Internet’s most beloved cooking stars, Oh She Glows Every Day proves that it’s possible to cook simple, nourishing, and tasty meals—even on a busy schedule.
• The Wellness Mama: 200 Easy-to-Prepare Recipes and Time-Saving Advice for the Busy Cook – With six kids, a popular blog, and no free time, Katie Wells, creator of the incredibly popular Wellness Mama website, knows firsthand how difficult it is to cook a healthy, homemade dinner every night. Faced with her own health challenges, and also concerned about the frightening statistics on the future health of her children’s generation, Katie began to evaluate the foods she was eating and feeding to her family. She became determined to find a way to create and serve meals that were wholesome, easy to prepare, budget-friendly, and family approved. The Wellness Mama Cookbook is a compilation of all that she has learned, with 200 simple, delicious recipes using all-natural ingredients; meal plans; time-saving tips; and advice that will take the guesswork out of dinner.The recipes and practical advice Katie offers will help you eliminate processed foods and move toward more healthy, home-cooked meals that are easily prepared—most in thirty minutes or less. The recipes focus on whole foods that are free of grains and refined sugars and without harmful fats, but are still delicious and full of flavor. With a variety of slow-cooker and one-pot meals, light lunches, dinners, and desserts, you’ll be eating better in every way in no time at all. Recipes include Sesame Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas, Sweet Potato Crusted Quiche Lorraine, Beef and Zucchini Stir Fry, and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, as well as recipes for bone broths, fermented foods, and super food drinks and smoothies. Katie also shares pantry-stocking advice, two weeks of meal plans for at home and on-the-go, shopping lists, and more. This is the ultimate cookbook that readers need to incorporate healthy eating knowledge into their daily practices.
• One Part Plant: Wellness advocate and podcaster Jessica Murnane is the friend you never knew you had. And she’s here with a cookbook to help you make a change you never thought was possible. In One Part Plant, Jessica has a friendly request: that you eat just one meal plant-based meal each day. There’s no crazy diet plan with an anxiety-inducing list of forbidden foods. Or pages filled with unattainable goals based on an eating philosophy that leaves you feeling hungry and deprived. Instead, Jessica offers you the tools to easily and deliciously make plants the star of your plate–no matter how much junk food occupies it now. Jessica knows what it’s like to have less than healthy eating habits. Just a few short years ago, her diet consisted of three major food groups: Sour Patch Kids, Diet Coke, and whatever Lean Cuisine had the most cheese. But when her endometriosis — a chronic and painful condition — left her depressed and desperate for help, she took the advice of a friend and radically overhauled her diet. Within months, her life dramatically changed — her pain started to fade and she felt like herself again.With a unique style and playful tone, Jessica shares what she’s learned on her way to healing her body through food. She keeps it simple and, most importantly, delicious — with 100 allergy-friendly recipes like Creamy Mushroom Lasagna, Easy Vegetable Curry Bowls, Triple Berry Skillet Cobbler, and Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Featuring her top ten pantry basics, practical advice, and colorful and bold photography, One Part Plant is an inspiring and educational guide to eating real and feeling your best.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/5-wellness-cookbooks-to-read-right-now/

Ask a Yogi: How Do You Shake Up Your Practice

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 do you shake things up when your practice becomes stagnant?

• Alex van Frank: When I find that my practice becomes stagnant I do a variety of things such as: visit other teachers, change where I practice, vary the style I practice, use unconventional props (for example a tricycle). If I feel that the stagnation is more mind-centered I will either sit with that feeling (because it will pass) or I revisit my practice with the eyes of a beginner, “how does it feel rather than what do I think of my millionth downward facing dog.”
• Amy Ippoliti: The best way for me to shake it up is to find others to practice with, adjust each other in poses, and challenge each other to try new poses or poses we haven’t done in a while.
• Carole Westerman: when I’m feeling stagnant I like to take classes on YogaGlo with a variety of teachers, I find a fresh voice brings a new perspective and appreciation to my practice. And taking beginners and Level 1/2 classes is always refreshing too, as it makes each pose seem so full of possibility.
• David Wagner: This may sound superficial, but I go shopping. I get new stuff. A new journal, a new meditation cushion, a new candle. Or rearrange and beautify the stuff that I already have. Sometimes it’s as simple as cleaning the area where I practice.
• Giselle Mari:  I take a YogaGlo class from one of my colleagues.
• Jo Tastula: Try something different! It’s so easy to settle into a routine that is comfortable but no longer challenging. Consider taking class from a different teacher and even a style that you wouldn’t ordinarily choose.
• Noah Maze: When my self practice gets stagnant, I go to a yoga class.  In just one class, my creative juices get going again, I feel super inspired, I get sore in different places than usual, and my habitual practice routines are reset.
• Steven Espinosa: Usually when my practice becomes stagnant it’s because of too much repetition and routine. Hearing the same instruction, doing the same sequences, etc. So when that happens, the best way for me to shake things up is to go take a class in a different style. Such as Kundalini, Iyengar or Ashtanga. If you really want to get crazy find a friend and go take an Acro Yoga class. That will really shake things up! Any one of those styles are guaranteed to give you a fresh, new perspective on the same old, same old.
• Taylor Harkness: Do other things besides yoga. Hike, climb, read, go to the beach, take a kickboxing class. If you’re only ever doing one thing– you’re going to get bored.
• Tiffany Cruikshank:  I like to try new teachers & classes, I often hop on YogaGlo myself.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/ask-a-yogi-how-do-you-shake-up-your-practice/

Rise & Reset with Stephanie Snyder

Start your day with Stephanie Snyder and her daily morning program designed for a positive and proactive start to each day to set you up for your best week ever!

Track and notice each day how the power of intention through the lens of yoga philosophy can alter the way you interface with the world. We will support this philosophical inquiry with a physical asana practice that will address those of us who work and live in a hectic, busy yet often sedentary environment by focusing on opening the front body and strengthening the back body.

Start Stephanie’s Rise & Reset program today to have your best week ever!

If you aren’t a YogaGlo member, sign-up today so you can access Stephanie’s new Program along with a dozen more that will help guide you to meet your wellness goals.

If you are a YogaGlo member and you haven’t taken a Program yet, what are you waiting for? Log in, select the Programs icon from the left navigation and get started!

 

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/rise-reset-with-stephanie-snyder/

Pose of the Week: Firmly Rotated Pose/Revolving Abdomen Pose

In this week’s Pose of the Week, Marc Holzman demonstrates firmly rotated pose/revolving abdomen pose or Jathara Parivartanasana. Fire up your core with this powerful but accessible abdominal twist. Focus on the oposing motion between legs and shoulder blades. Don’t forget to do both sides!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/pose-of-the-week-firmly-rotated-poserevolving-abdomen-pose/

Weekly News in Health & Wellness

This week in wellness news, looking ahead, when we are not mindful, we speak without thinking. We allow our emotions to get out of control. We are worrying about the future or regretting the past. We feel the victim of circumstances, events, and others. Without mindfulness, we are a two-year-old child. We cry when our needs are not met. We don’t understand cause and effect. We expect others to take care of us. We can’t see past obstacles. We are powerless and overly emotional.

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

• Essay: Using yoga to find the same freedom I took from ballet: “Somehow, over the years, I’d lost touch. I’d made a decision that last year’s obstacles would bear fruit. This year, I would work to be centered. This year, I would find my way back into a space of calm resistance.”
• Yoga Beats Drugs for Depression: Study: “There are multiple studies that suggest the benefits of yoga in people suffering from depression,” she says. “Exercise has also shown to have significant benefit in alleviating depression as well as meditative practices. Since the practice of yoga combines both physical exercise and meditation, in my opinion, it should be considered as an adjunct treatment for depression.”
• What does it mean to be mindful?: Mindfulness is being aware in each and every moment. How often do you go about your day without really being present? Have you ever driven to work and not realized how you got there? Have you found words coming out of your mouth without realizing it? When you are mindful each action, word, and thought are conscious. Being mindful means taking responsibility for what we are thinking, saying, and doing – and if it is not the experience we want, we change it.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/weekly-news-in-health-wellness/

FREE Class Thursday March 30: Yoga to Eliminate Back Pain

You’re invited to a FREE class on how to eliminate low back pain taught by Catherine Carrigan, yoga teacher, medical intuitive healer and Amazon No. 1 bestselling author. When: Thursday, March 30, from 8 to 9:15 a.m. Where: Georgia State University sports arena building, 125 Decatur Street, Atlanta, GA 30303 What: Learn Catherine Carrigan’s top 7 exercises for […]

source http://unlimitedenergynow.com/free-class-thursday-march-30-yoga-to-eliminate-back-pain/

source http://unlimitedenergynow.blogspot.com/2017/03/free-class-thursday-march-30-yoga-to.html

Don Tigny Mobilization

One of the most important steps you can ever take to eliminate low back pain is to unlock your sacroiliac joint with a Don Tigny mobilization exercise. What is your sacroiliac joint and why should you even care about it? Your sacroiliac joints (also known as S.I. joints) connect your sacrum and your right and left iliac bones. These […]

source http://unlimitedenergynow.com/don-tigny-mobilization/

source http://unlimitedenergynow.blogspot.com/2017/03/don-tigny-mobilization.html

Scissor Twist

You can increase the flexibility of your spine and alleviate back pain with this simple twist you can do anytime, anywhere. All you really need is a wall! Every vertebrae in your spine is supposed to rotate 2 degrees. Sometimes our vertebrae simply get stuck out of place, often due to poor posture or improper […]

source http://unlimitedenergynow.com/scissor-twist/

source http://unlimitedenergynow.blogspot.com/2017/03/scissor-twist.html

5 Yoga Classes to Help You Reconnect to Your Practice

We all get in ruts – with our jobs, relationships and even our practice. There are times where we just don’t want to roll out our mats. We all get there sooner or later, but the trick is to get out of it.

Reconnecting to your practice is all about exploring the new. Try getting out of your comfort zone and revisit a beginners perspective or check out that new studio – bring a friend or go alone. Go to that other teacher’s class, try a different style. If you practice at home, take your mat outside.

Looking how to to re-inspire your yoga practice? We’ve got the classes for you! In addition, Jason Crandell offers simple tips for reconnecting your practice so you can get back what matters most!

• Amidst Chaos, Find Peace with Chelsey: Reset your mind and return back to more kind and loving thoughts. Practice free-flowing seated movements in a sequence that will be sure to warm your spine in all directions. Move through the sequence several times to get deeper into your heart. Tune in to your breath, moving into deep forward folds, concluding with meditation. Add this to any morning or evening routine to calm your busy mind and reset your intentions.
• Move Your Practice Forward with Jason: Stuck in a yoga rut? A challenging practice that will move it forward by tackling less common posture variations. Integrate handstand work into your sequence, explore less common backbends and arm balances and work on binds and twists. Move at a steady, mindful pace that will keep you moving, but won’t feel rushed. If it’s time to do something just different enough, then this one’s for you.
• Awaken a New Level of Mastery with Kia: This great all-around practice offers an experience of awakening and elevating your energy. Class includes a kriya that builds the rejuvenating force of your body, strengthens your aura and works your magnetic field, heart and shoulders to help create mental calmness and strength. This kriya also includes exercises that set the navel point, bringing a sense of centeredness. Consider practicing this regularly to keep your body feeling cleansed and more at ease. Props Suggested: A blanket.
• Subtle Body Training with Tias: By listening to sensations in your body, you can bring heightened awareness to any and all poses in your yoga practice. Through tracking sensation and pulsation in your body, begin to train yourself to attune to the ancient nadis of the yoga system. Move through a series of mostly supine poses focusing on your hips and lower body. As all poses are guided toward deep inner listening, the pace is slow and methodical. Props Needed: A blanket and a strap. Props Suggested: A block.
• Spring Cleaning with Noah: Shake off the cobwebs, shed the winter, put a spring in your step and a sparkle on your smile in a quick and potent practice of hip openers, core strengthening, spine strengthening (for you snow shovelers and gardeners), handstands, twists, and some deep breathing. Come ready to move and breathe and clean the temple of your body and mind. A quick all around practice to get you ready for the new season. Props Needed: Wall space.

 

 

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/5-yoga-classes-to-help-you-reconnect-to-your-practice/

Learn How to Skillfully Add Meditation Into Your Yoga Classes

We are thrilled to announce we’ve just launched a new teacher training course with David Wagner to help yoga teachers include meditation in their yoga classes.

Have you been meditating for years and now feel it’s time to share that knowledge with others? If you are a yoga teacher, this course will help you incorporate meditation into your classes. If you are a longtime practitioner, this course will help you meaningfully share meditation techniques with your friends, loved ones and colleagues.

Yoga is more than just performing poses correctly — the physical practice of yoga is only a small portion of the practice itself. Yoga is steeped in the tradition of meditation and you will greatly enhance your student’s experience of the yoga practice by introducing meditation into their lives.

This is a course for yoga teachers who want to incorporate meditation into their classes. It covers the basic yoga philosophy behind meditation and trains you how to practice and teach a variety of basic meditation techniques.

What’s In This Course:

Practical tips to guide you, the yoga teacher, on how to approach meditation, both for yourself and your students. This course includes practical advice and training about best practices and the pitfalls of teaching the inner aspects of meditation.

In the Course You Will Explore:

• Meditation Philosophy
• The Four Bodies
• Basic Relaxation Meditation
• Mantra Meditation
• Meditation on the Subtle Body
• Bhavana Meditation
• Best practices for your own meditation practice
• Practical Guidance for teaching meditation and avoiding common pitfalls
• How to create a meditation of any length to suit the needs of the student
• How to tailor your practice to the needs of your group
• How to simplify broader philosophical concepts
• How to keep your student’s attention during a meditation session
• What NOT to say during meditation

Level:

This course is designed for all levels. It is designed specifically for yoga teachers who are looking to incorporate inner yoga and meditation into their asana classes.

To learn more, please visit David’s course for yoga teachers: The Yoga of Meditation.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/learn-how-to-skillfully-add-meditation-into-your-yoga-classes/

Connection with God Within

In this week’s Overheard in Yoga Class, David Wagner encourages us to cultivate a grounded spirituality and no-nonsense approach to the Sacred. Connect to your beating heart and embrace what it is like to take a break from your everyday roles and responsibilities.

Take this class with David: https://glo.yoga/2nprVgk

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/connection-with-god-within/

YogaGlo Programs Now on iPhone & iPad!

So many YogaGlo members have been loving our new Programs and you can now take them with you wherever you go! We just added Programs to iOS so you can stay on track with your Programs on your mobile devices and never miss the next class.

Our latest release for iOS is a significant update to the platform and should make Glo-ing with us even easier and more convenient than before. Here are all the improvements we’ve made in addition to adding Programs:

• Improvement: My Practice has a new top navigation system so you can easily swipe or tap through the different sections more fluidly.
• Improvement: We’ve removed the Body/Heart/Mind categories from the bottom navigation and added a new section dedicated to Collections. You can now easily find and browse our curated collections of yoga and meditation classes all in one place.
• Improvement: We’ve moved Search into the bottom navigation for easier access.
• Improvement: You can now Follow a Teacher directly from the teacher list view.
• Updated: The “Find a Class” feature has been removed.
• Updated: New transitions and animations have been added throughout the app.

Haven’t taken one of our new Programs yet? We have four new ones that we think you’ll love:

• Foundations of Flow with Jason Crandell – A foundational program for people who have active lifestyles. This program is for people who want to learn how to practice yoga safely, strongly and effectively, but want to do a relatively active program.

• 7 Days to Total Flexiblity with Amy Ippoliti – This 7-day program is designed to systematically open the different areas of your body and bring more mobility into all your muscles and joints. One of the most common objections I hear about practicing yoga is “I’m too tight to do yoga”. And that of course is THE reason to get on the mat!

• Power, Skill & Breath with Taylor Harkness – Build strength and power without spending time in the gym. Taylor designed this program around his private client training sessions so you build strength, skill and become attuned to your breath in just 9 classes. This program will leave you feeling strong and confident in your body and mind.

• Yoga for Strength & Stamina with Tiffany – Do you want to build strength and be challenged without a lot of fancy yoga poses? This program offers fun sequences that will help you get stronger and feel better whether you are a new or seasoned yogi.

Download the updated YogaGlo iOS app today to start a YogaGlo Program today!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/yogaglo-programs-now-on-iphone-ipad/

Ask a Yogi: How do you increase 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 is the one thing/pose/stretch you can do daily to help increase flexibility?

• Alex van Frank: My recommendation for increasing flexibility is quite simple: expand and change you mind often. Often the greatest barrier to flexibility is the state of your mind. If you find that one pose is too difficult, irritating or not for you then seek out a different ways of approaching and doing it. By letting go of the story, “I’m not flexible” and instead focusing on the ways in which you are flexible you’ll find that you start to increase your capacity to adapt and bend.
• Amy Ippoliti: For me, stretching the pecs and front of the chest is critical especially with how much time we spend on devices hunched over. I use a resistance band or a yoga strap and hold it about a meter apart above my head and then slowly pull the strap backwards behind my head until I feel a nice stretch in the chest. It’s pretty miraculous!
• Carole Westerman: I practice mindfulness everyday, because I find it helps me with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual flexibility.  It’s also a practice I can literally take with me anywhere.
• David Wagner: Because I teach inner yoga and work with consciousness, my suggestion is for flexibility of attitude and mind – which is very important. To keep my mind and attitude flexible, I try to maintain a sense of unconditional contentment as much as possible. When my practices like meditation help me stay connected to satchitananda – then the little stuff changing or coming or going doesn’t ruffle my feathers so much. It’s easier to go with the flow.
• Giselle Mari: Meditation. If I had to pick a pose – a supine twist.
• Jo Tastula: Sun salutations are a great daily practice for strengthening and opening. In particular surya namaskar C series which includes deep lunges, back bends and forward bends.
• Noah Maze: This depends on what muscle/muscle group I am targeting, what feel tight, what things will complement and counter pose my life on a given day. My daily stretch routine includes: all sorts of shoulder stretches, Adho Mukha Svanasana to stretch my calves, hamstrings and shoulders; Uttanasana to stretch my hamstrings and paraspinals; Supta Virasana to stretch my quadriceps,  Anjaneyasana to stretch my hip flexors, Ujayii Pranayama to stretch my breath, Meditation to stretch my mind.
• Steven Espinosa: I always go back to the basics. For me, the most essential pose is Downward Facing Dog. Primarily because it hits all the bases at once. Upper body strength (arms/shoulders/chest), spinal length (neck/upper & lower back), lower body (hips/hamstrings/calves/feet). In my opinion, if you do just one 5 minute down dog on a daily basis you can maintain and increase your flexibility.
• Taylor Harkness: Gentle, bent knee standing forward fold. Great way to lengthen and chill.
• Tiffany Cruikshank: Pick the pose that’s the most challenging for you and do it daily. I recommend finding a way to support yourself, possibly using props, so you can relax there and not have to tense and grip. This will make it easier for the tissues to adapt. I recommend staying in the pose for 2-4 minutes so that you can feel the changes happening.  Simply be still as you investigate the changes over that period of time without any expectations.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/ask-a-yogi-how-do-you-increase-flexibility/

Pose of the Week: Perfect Pose

In this week’s Pose of the Week, Kia Miller demonstrates Perfect Pose or Siddhasana. A perfect pose for meditation, this seated asana sets you up to sit in complete stillness. Grab a blanket if you have one, take a seat, and drop in.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/pose-of-the-week-perfect-pose/

Get Class Recommendations the More You Practice

Your YogaGlo experience just got even more tailored to your yoga and meditation needs!

We’ve added a powerful new recommendation feature that will look at all the classes you’ve taken (as well as yogis with practices similar to yours) to put together a daily class recommendation. This class will be tailored to your favorite styles, teachers, levels, durations and more. You can add these classes to take later or take them each time they are recommended, but we promise to always have 3 new classes served up for you every 24 hours to enhance your practice.

To see your tailored class recommendations, select Find A Class from the navigation. Your recommended classes will be at the top and you can easily click through them.

The more classes you complete, Favorite and Namaste, the better your recommendations will be – so roll out your mat and start Glo-ing for a more tailored YogaGlo experience.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/get-class-recommendations-the-more-you-practice/

This Week in Wellness News

This week in wellness news, looking ahead, mindfulness will take on a new sense of urgency in the struggle to keep children’s brains firmly anchored to the real world. While Boomers, Xers, and first-wave Millennials remember life before smartphones, last-wave Millennials and Homelanders will not. They’ll never have that idle “do-nothing” moment. Unlike their ancestors, children will need to be taught how to connect to the present moment—a skill that ancient sages say was once as natural as breathing.Read that and these other great stories yoga, health & wellness stories from around the web.

• Not My Mother’s Yoga: “I wore my mother’s mala beads on my first day of teaching a yoga class. It was hard, harder than anything I’d done before. And yoga has changed since my mother’s time. There was no Instagram when she practiced, no bendy and perfect bodies on display with 4,000 likes wrapped in scorpion pose without the help of a wall. But, as yogis might say: Be here now. And here I am.”
• How Generations Meditate On Mindfulness: “Looking ahead, mindfulness will take on a new sense of urgency in the struggle to keep children’s brains firmly anchored to the real world. While Boomers, Xers, and first-wave Millennials remember life before smartphones, last-wave Millennials and Homelanders will not. They’ll never have that idle “do-nothing” moment. Unlike their ancestors, children will need to be taught how to connect to the present moment—a skill that ancient sages say was once as natural as breathing.”
• Mindfulness 101: How to Pay Attention to the Patterns in Your Life: “Your goal should always be to get the lesson and get out as quickly as possible. Once you get the lesson, the lesson stops beating you up and life gets better. But the longer it takes for you to grasp these lessons, the harder they get. But how many of us know that? We’re much better at repeating patterns and mindlessly blaming “coincidence” when patterns repeat themselves. You’re not a victim of what’s happening to you. If it’s happening to you—and especially if it’s happening repeatedly—you need to address it and work through it, not repeat it.”

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/this-week-in-wellness-news/

Find Your Flexibility with Yoga

Flexibility is essential for our overall health and well being. As we age, our muscles naturally lose elasticity and become less supple, which can lead to poor posture, poor circulation (which can be linked to kidney and cardiovascular disease) and injury. Increasing our flexibility decreases our risk of injuries when performing physical, everyday, activities by helping our joints move through their full range of motion and enabling blood flow to our muscles so they work most effectively.

This week’s featured classes will increase your range of motion and will create more flexibility and space in your entire body.

• Find Your Flexibility with Tara Judelle: Hold asanas for 30 seconds to increase hip, hamstring, and back flexibility. Starting supine and working up to seated forward bends with janu sirasana and baddha konasana, this class is good maintenance for flexibility as well as to increase flexibility. Great to do upon waking to loosen up or before bed to prepare for a restful night. Props Needed: Two blankets and a strap.
• Cross Referencing with Mary Taylor: Throughout your body there are interconnected patterns of movement, breath and form that, when ignited, give you a deep connection to your core strength, revealing the path to your maximum flexibility and sense of balance. Work with traditional postures and variations that emphasize muscular and energetic connections side to side and head to toe as you explore your inner landscape. Unfold feelings of being open, integrated and grounded as you practice. Props Needed: A block.
• Posture Perfect with Jason Crandell: Improve your posture by focusing on creating more flexibility, openness and range of motion in your chest while strengthening your upper back and core. Move your body with a flow of vinyasas as you build strength and stretch in this critical area of your body. A backbend finishes your practice, then take savasana on your own. Lots of counter poses for the work you do on computers and devices! Props Needed: A strap.
• Deep Release for Flexibility and 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.
• Increase Flexibility & Strength with Stephanie Snyder: You will need 2 blocks and a blanket for this flow class. This may be challenging for you but a good effort will bring progress in your practice. This sequence will increase flexibilty and strength through standing poses, some twisting and a heart/shoulder opener.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/find-your-flexibility-with-yoga/

The Immune System & Yoga

The fact that yoga confers some serious benefits, right down to the most minuscule levels of our bodies, isn’t really contested anymore. From all the research that’s been published in recent years, we know that yoga and related practices can change our hormones, our neurotransmitters, and even how our genes are expressed – with some work suggesting that it can also affect our immune systems. Though doing yoga may not ward off major disease all by itself, it may well reduce inflammation and boost the immune system in ways that really do benefit us and are just starting to be mapped out by science.

Let’s look at a couple of recent studies that explore the connection. One from UCLA a few years back wanted to see what molecular changes underlie the reduction in stress response, which yoga and meditation are known to bring about. So they looked at chronically stressed individuals – those caring for family members with dementia, which is one of the most stressful “jobs” there is. They assigned the participants to Kirtan Kriya Meditation or to listen to relaxing music for eight weeks, and for just 12 minutes per day. The team measured a number of different markers of immune function before and after the respective treatments, and found that the expression of 68 different genes was shifted over this period. Some genes were up-regulated – generally those that bolster the immune system in fighting disease. And some were down-regulated, like those that contribute to inflammation. In other words, a huge number of genes serving all different functions in the immune system roles were shifted in beneficial ways by the practice, just over the very short term of the study.

In another study, a review by teams at Tufts and UCLA, also found that various “mind-body interventions” had significant effects on measures of inflammation. The meta-analysis included studies that looked at the immune systems of people who had done one or more of several different practices – Tai chi, Qi Gong, yoga, and meditation – for at least four weeks. There were some beneficial changes in the well-known markers of inflammation, like reductions in C-reactive protein (CRP), and a small reduction in IL-6. There was even some evidence that people who engaged in the practices had a slight boost in the effectiveness of their immune system in response to vaccination.

And this is not the only study to look at the vaccine connection – other research has found the same thing. In one of his earlier studies, Jon Kabat-Zinn working with brain researcher Richard Davidson, found that mindfulness meditation had a significant effect on how well a flu shot worked in the study participants. This was one of the early studies to lay out how meditation could shift brain function, with the additional finding that it also seems to boost a person’s immune response to vaccination.

Finally, other studies have looked at yoga’s role in immunity in different sub-groups of people – for instance, those dealing with health or other issues. One study found that in women who’d recently undergone breast cancer treatment, doing yoga twice a week for 12 weeks was linked to reduced markers of inflammation, including reduced IL-6 and IL-1β.  Another study found that in overweight and obese men, doing yoga for just 10 days let to a reduction in IL-6, and an increase in a protein that helps regulate blood sugar and controls fatty acid breakdown.

Again, yoga is not a panacea for staying healthy or warding off disease. But it definitely seems to play some role in reducing the stress and inflammation that contribute to it. Doing yoga alongside all the other things we know contribute to reducing our risk is probably the way to go. And the science will almost certainly continue to map out just how yoga contributes to the health, on the tiniest levels, of body and mind.

Alice G. Walton, PhD is a health and science writer, and began practicing (and falling in love with) yoga and meditation five years ago. She is a contributor at Forbes.com, and writes for the University of Chicago, as well as other publications. Of all the areas of health she covers, she’s particularly interested in how yoga and meditation affect the brain and behavior. You can follow her on Twitter @AliceWalton and Facebook at Facebook.com/alicegwalton.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/the-immune-system-yoga/

7 Days to Total Flexibility with Amy Ippoliti

“I’m not flexible enough to do yoga!” How many times have you heard it? How many times have you said it? Amy Ippolito’s new 7 Days to Total Flexibility YogaGlo Program will change all that for good.

Amy’s 7-day program is designed to systematically open the different areas of your body and bring more mobility into all your muscles and joints. One of the most common objections Amy hears about practicing yoga is “I’m too tight to do yoga.” And that of course is THE reason to get on the mat!

Some of the most flexible yoga practitioners started out unable to even touch their toes. If you’re stiff, this program will help you gain more flexibility than you ever imagined. If you’re already pretty flexible, this program will help you stretch more safely, with more stability and strength!

 Each day of this program focuses on a different part of the body including:

• The hamstrings, calves, and Lower back
• The shoulders and arms
• The side body and twists for the spine
• The hips
• The quads and hip flexors

We’ll also pause along the way to check in on your progress.

After completing all 7 days, you’ll have a clear understanding of your own body’s anatomy and a deeper awareness of your thresholds so you can keep yourself safe but still challenged in regular group classes.

It’s most ideal to practice daily for 6 days and then take a rest, so we’ll have a rest day toward the middle of the week. Then on the final day we’ll put it all together in a potpourri practice.

With 7 days of this program under your belt it’s not uncommon to experience:

• increased levels of happiness
• a release of tension
• a spring in your step
• a tingly feeling (prana) in your body
• and a feeling of accomplishment

Start Amy’s 7 Days to Flexibility today!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/7-days-to-total-flexibility-with-amy-ippoliti/

Overheard in Yoga Class: You Are Enough

In this week’s Overheard in Yoga Class, Steven Espinosa encourages us to focus on stepping into this year with a positive and healthy outlook about ourselves and our future. Although there is always room for personal growth and improvement, it’s important to remember that we are already enough, just the way we are!

Take this class with Steven: https://glo.yoga/2nFHOvF

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/overheard-in-yoga-class-you-are-enough/

Foundations of Flow with Jason Crandell

Have a friend who invites you to the yoga studio all the time but you’re too intimidated to go? Jason Crandell’s Foundations of Flow class will help you get quickly and safely up to speed so you know what to expect and can enjoy your time practicing yoga instead of worrying about how to do it.

Jason’s Foundations of Flow is a foundational program for people who have active lifestyles and who want to learn how to practice yoga safely, strongly and effectively, but want to do a relatively active program.

Take just three yoga classes a week for three consecutive weeks to learn how to practice yoga safely and effectively so you can join your friends in vinyasa yoga class without being intimidated.

Join Jason’s Foundations of Flow program today!

 

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/foundations-of-flow-with-jason-crandell/

7 Techniques for Dealing With Stress That People Often Ignore

Ever struggled in dealing with stress? Being successful and constantly improving yourself while striving to be the best is hard work and very often it comes with a fair bit of stress. While having a constant state of urgency and alertness might be quite beneficial while perusing your ambitious goals, it can really wear you […]

source https://wealthygorilla.com/10-techniques-dealing-with-stress/

Chromecast YogaGlo

You’ve asked – we’ve added it! You can now Chromecast YogaGlo!

Chromecast is a media streaming device that plugs into the HDMI port on your TV. Simply use your mobile device and the TV you already own to stream YogaGlo into your home so you can roll out your mat whenever you want.

As of today, you can Glo + Cast on the web and use Google Chrome Browser on your desktop.

For Android users, you can use the Google Home app to stream YogaGlo.

For iOS users, our Apple TV (4th Gen) app or AirPlaying from the iPhone/iPad to an older Apple TV is the most reliable YogaGlo experience, but if you want to ‘cast & Glo, we’ll be adding Chromecast support to our iOS app in the next release which will be available early April.

For YogaGlo members who have had a tough time lately streaming YogaGlo into your home on Samsung TV, this is an excellent alternative that will deliver a better experience for you. The quality of that experience continues to be challenging for our members, so we will be ending support for the Samsung TV app on April 15th.

We’re thrilled to offer another alternative to help you stream YogaGlo into your home and to your devices to help you practice yoga whenever you want, wherever you are.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/chromecast-yogaglo/

Pose of the Week: Puppy/Heart Melting Pose

In this week’s Pose of the Week, Kathryn Budig demonstrates Puppy Heart Melting Pose or Anahatasana. A posture that offers up your heart space as well as releases your upper back, set yourself up for a beautiful and simple backbend. Feel some newfound space in your shoulders, upper back and maybe even lower back as a bonus!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/pose-of-the-week-puppyheart-melting-pose/

News You Missed This Week

This week in wellness news, when it comes to recovery days, gentle yoga is a smart, low-impact way to unwind. But if you’re a regular runner, your practice likely won’t look the same as that of the super-pliable person on the mat beside you—you know, the one whose off-the-charts flexibility makes you curse your tight hips and hamstrings.

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

• Hold That Pose: Yoga May Ease Tough Depression: “Researchers found that weekly sessions of yoga and deep breathing exercises helped ease symptoms of the common condition. They believe the practice may be an alternative or complementary therapy for tough-to-treat cases of depression.”
• If You Want Toned Muscles Before Summer, Skip The Gym And Head To Yoga: According to a study done by the University of Wisconsin’s Human Performance Laboratory University, in which subjects practiced Hatha yoga for 55 minutes three days a week for eight weeks, researchers noticed an improvement in their subjects’ strength and endurance.
• 6 Reasons Your Yoga Instructor Needs to Know You’re a Runner: “Rather than make flexibility the aim of your practice, your focus should be on improving overall range of motion to boost your running economy. Here, yoga teachers share six reasons why you’ll benefit from telling them you’re a runner long before you say “Namaste.”

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/news-you-missed-this-week/

6 Yoga Classes to Help Build Immunity

While everyone is bound to suffer from the occasional cold, the practicing yogi is less likely to come down with it and if they do, their recovery time is a lot quicker. Yoga can help strengthen your immune system, making you less susceptible to those crummy colds. They say that the best treatment is prevention, so make sure you give a little extra love to your mat during this time of year.

This week’s featured classes will help regulate and boost the immune system, keeping it strong and healthy.

• Immunity for Fall with Dice: This class is focused on ridding the body of toxins and impurities via deep twists, a good amount of folds and a nice dose of inversions through handstands. We venture through postures like twisted lunge (knee up and down), twisted half moon pose, twisted triangle and ardha matsyendrasana. For folds we incorporate seated fold, standing fold, seated wide legged fold and standing wide legged fold. We finish with a supine sequence from the floor. Enjoy my fellow yogis and stay healthy this fall/winter!
• Balance Your Systems to Support Your Immunity with Elena: Informed by Lori Batcheller’s April 2009 article in FitYoga, this sequence clears the pathways to and from your organs to balance your systems and support your immunity. In each pose, you’ll learn the benefits and intentions that will optimize your wellness.
• Stimulate Circulation & Boost Immunity with Felicia: This slow-moving class incorporates a variety of moving twists specifically sequenced to stimulate circulation through the lymphatic system and enhance the body’s natural immunity. This practice has a Restorative gentle feel to it.
• Linking the Five Most Vital Poses with Rod Stryker: The 5 most essential poses in yoga? Find the answer in this practice. Some hints: they are not standing poses, although standing poses help prepare you for them; handstand is not one of them; each one of the five is tri-dosha–meaning they are good for everyone’s constitution. This delicious practice builds immunity, improves sleep and internal organ function, stokes gastric fire and releases muscular tension, in other words, it tones the entire body and mind. Includes ending meditation.
• Ashtanga for Immune System with Jodi: This is a traditional full primary series class where you learn about the many many ways that a yoga practice positively impacts your immune system. Focus is placed on discussions of how the postures affect your circulatory, endocrine, respiratory and nervous systems.
• Shake Up Your System with Kia Miller: This energizing kriya focuses on the lymph glands, which are guardians of health. It is a wonderful tonic for your immune system. Class includes dancing, active arm movements, frog pose and a meditative ending. Let your funky side out! Props Suggested: A blanket.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/6-yoga-classes-to-help-build-immunity/

Join Us for a Love Your Brain #MindfulMarch Donation Class

Join us for a special yoga class to support Love Your Brain’s #mindfulmarch — the largest global fundraising initiative during brain injury awareness month.

When: Thursday – March 30, 2017  6 – 7 pm

What: Hatha – level 1/2 with Marc Holzman
This special class will include light asana, mantra, pranayama and meditation. It will be a merging of the heart (our first brain) and the mind, tapping into the potential that lives within us all as individuals and collectively. Prepare to be soothed by Kevin’s calming voice and guitar playing, as Marc lovingly guides you through this wonderful, healing practice.

Suggested Donation: $21 – YogaGlo will match each $21 donation for those that attend class.

Where: YogaGlo Studio | 1740 Stanford St. | Santa Monica, CA  90404

What is Love Your Brain? Professional snowboarder Kevin Pearce, sustained a traumatic brain injury while training for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Together with his brother Adam, they have created the LoveYourBrain Foundation, a non-profit organization that is working to connect, educate and empower people to live a brain healthy lifestyle. Love Your Brain aims to improve the quality of life of people affected by traumatic brain injury—from concussion to severe injury—through programs that build community.

Parking available on Stanford or Nebraska Ave.

We look forward to having you join us on March 30th to raise funds for this important cause.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/join-us-for-a-love-your-brain-mindfulmarch-donation-class/

Kathryn Budig’s Quinoa Egg Power Bites Recipe

Looking for a quick protein packed snack that will help you refuel after a yoga or fitness class? Give Kathryn Budig’s Quinoa Egg Power Bites a try! These little bites are a perfect combination of protein and healthy fat, giving you the energy to take on the rest of your day!

*Preheat oven to 350°

This recipe, along with many others, can be found in Kathryn’s book, Aim True.

Photo: Lesley Unruh

Styling: Cynthia Groseclose

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/kathryn-budigs-quinoa-egg-power-bites-recipe/

Overheard in Yoga Class: Stand in Your Dharma

In this week’s Overheard in Yoga Class, Marc Holzman explains how yoga can help us become firm and clear on our life’s purpose (dharma).

Take this class with Marc: https://glo.yoga/2lFRudd

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/overheard-in-yoga-class-stand-in-your-dharma/

Self-Care Through Yoga and Ayurveda: Ancient Techniques for a Modern Problem

Do you give your energy, resources and time so generously that you often have little left for yourself? Taking care of ourselves is vital and allows us to thrive, which in turn allows us to show up in our lives in a far more impactful way. Without self-care, we can easily feel run down, unsupported and overwhelmed. With proper self-care tools and a regular regimen for honoring ourselves, we can fulfill our highest purpose and give generously without depleting our resources. If you are ready to make a change, Felicia Tomasko’s Self-Care Through Yoga and Ayurveda course will give you all the tools you need to be the best “you” you can be.

This course is for anyone who is stressed, who is in a life transition, who needs balance and who wants to learn how breathwork, yoga and Ayurveda combine in a powerful way to help you approach each day from a place of balance, self-love and self-care. In this course you will learn what environmental stressors are causing you to be out of balance and how to use ancient self-care techniques to find both physical and mental health.

Finally make time for yourself and learn these incredibly valuable tools that will help you practice self-care not just for the few hours of the course and beyond, but in every moment, day, week and year of your life. Start your self-care journey today!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/self-care-through-yoga-and-ayurveda-ancient-techniques-for-a-modern-problem/

Ask a Yogi: 3 things for someone new to YogaGlo to keep in mind as they take their first class at home?

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.

3 things for someone new to YogaGlo to keep in mind as they take their first class at home?

• Alex van Frank: 1. Be kind to yourself. While we look at other people teaching and practicing to model poses and we hear the instructions about where to place our body externally, yoga really is an internal practice. The poses and shapes and practices guide us into an internal experience. So as you are practicing, be kind to yourself.
  2. Practice with the body that you have right now. I often say this in class and remind myself of this instruction every time I do my own practice. Don’t practice with the body you had in your dreams last night, the body on your vision board, the body you had in high school (unless you are in high school but still practice with today’s body). When you practice with this body, in whatever state it is in right now, with kindness, then the practice can support you, where you are right now in this moment. 3. Do less when you need to do less, do more when you need to do more. This builds on my other two pieces of advice and relates to practicing with the body you have right now. The instructions we receive from a yoga teacher are a guideline, not an absolute. It’s always okay to back off and do less in a pose, to come out of the pose, to shift a pose, or to do “more,” whatever more means in the moment. Just adjust the instructions of the pose to fit the needs of your body.
• Amy Ippoliti: Taking your first class can be intimidating. But rest assured, you belong! Nothing about you—not your ability to afford yoga or yoga gear, not your color, not your body type, not your preconceived notions of what a yoga student looks like—should limit your willingness to take up the practice. The fact that you showed up means you are qualified to be there! Remember, you will be guided through the practice and you’re not alone. If yoga is meant to accomplish anything, it’s the ability to connect more deeply with the world around you and to do something good for yourself. So be confident! Everyone is welcome. To make your experience on YogaGlo more enjoyable, try these tips:
  1. Be patient. For some it can be challenging to focus and pay attention when practicing yoga on your own verses with a group in a studio. But if you can stay focused and stay with it, you will reap all the benefits of the practice and teachings from our YogaGlo faculty! 2. Start out with shorter duration practices (5-20 minutes) until you are naturally craving longer practices (30-90 minutes). 3. Create some ambiance in the room where you do the practice so you make the practice feel like a special time in your day. You could dim the lights or light candles.
• Carole Westerman: Our personal situations are so different. It’s much easier in some cases to take a yoga class at a studio.  There’s a teacher there and a community of other yogis to support you. But for some of us, it’s much easier to do it at home if you have childcare issues or transportation issues or schedule issues. In some ways it’s much harder to take a class at home when nobody is there to keep you on track, or keep an eye on you and push you to your limits.  It can be easy to hit “pause”. Not to mention, you have your everyday life there to distract you; laundry, kids, cleaning, emails, pets, etc. Believe me, I know all about this. But, you know what. I think there is value in learning how to tune all of that out, and to learn how to practice at home. When I practice at home I hide my phone.  I put my own needs as a priority.  I give myself at least 30 minutes to not be distracted by anything. I teach my kids and partner about the sacredness of that time. From my own personal experience, I hate to admit, but I took some extended time off yoga due to an injury from a car accident. And I was so afraid to take a yoga class because I didn’t know if what they did would hurt me. Thankfully, I had YogaGlo. Because I could take classes in the comfort of my own home, without worrying about anything else. I could literally choose classes that fit my needs, time constraints, and preference of teacher. And I could give myself space to take breaks and heal my injury. And while I still pinch myself to think I’m part of the teaching faculty, I also thank my lucky stars that I have this resource for my personal practice. I remember the days of spending thousands of dollars to study with the teachers on YogaGlo. And now they are available at the touch of a button. We are truly blessed!
• Darren Rhodes: Start with a class duration that you can do on a regular basis; one that fits into your schedule. Sample a wide variety of teachers and styles so you find the optimal fit for you .
• Elena Brower:​ ​Turn your phone off, relax your mind and allow your teacher to guide you. I love taking class with my teacher on YogaGlo and find great strength in learning there. ​
• Felicia Tomasko: Three things to keep in mind as you take your first class on YogaGlo at home: 1. Remember to use the pause and rewind as many times as you need. This is your practice and you can take it at your speed. 2. Be more concerned with how the movements and poses feel rather than how they look. The same posture can have many variations because of the many variations of the human body. 3. Accept yourself as you are in this moment without judgment of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ –it just is. When in doubt take a gentle approach to your mind, body and spirit because in the end this is really about creating a positive space in both your body and life.
• Giselle Mari: 1) TRY ALL the teachers. We all have our favorite people and things in life, but nothing teaches you more than expanding your circle. 2) Distractions can and do happen while practicing at home. Try and minimize them as best as you can (turn off the phone, computer -anything that can “ping” you out of the practice. Wait until child(ren) are napping or in bed for the night. Ask spouse and other family members to give you this time or join you. 3) Practice like no one is watching.  Let go, have fun and enjoy the process that is your practice and listen, listen to your body and sensation.
• Kia Miller: You are in for a treat! Yoga in the comfort of your home! 1) Try a few different teachers and styles 2) Try practicing every day for one week, getting in a rhythm will be helpful 3) Have fun!
• Steven Espinosa: Do the best you can. Rest when you need it. And most importantly, have fun. Yoga is supposed to an enjoyable experience and should feel good. The rest will come with time.
• Tara Judelle: Learning anything for the first time, or adjusting any learning to a new environment takes time.  Let yourself have time to figure out where you place your “home studio”, enjoy assembling your props, and taking into your own hands the creation of your home studio. Even if that studio has to be rolled up and put away. Let go of making sense of each thing at the moment you meet it. If the words or actions are unfamiliar, remember learning any new language takes more brain cells when it is new and unfamiliar than when you know it. As your mind adapts to practicing in this way, you will notice that the intimacy and flexibility become incredibly personal and that you actually have available to you a super studio at your fingertips.
• Taylor Harkness: Make it sacred. Turn off distractions, light a candle, do whatever you have to in order to honor this time you’re setting aside for yourself. Don’t let it be interrupted.
  Props are your best friends. Use them to modify poses and support your practice. Blocks, a strap, a blanket, a bolster– they’re all there to help you. Explore their countless uses.
  YogaGlo has so many classes. Use the filter option to select the right one for you. Explore different styles, various teachers, and gauge your energy. Feeling chill? Wind down with some restorative. Feeling upbeat? Play in some Vinyasa flow. Enjoy.
• Tias Little: Three things to keep in mind as you take your first class on YogaGlo at home: 1. Remember to use the pause and rewind as many times as you need. This is your practice and you can take it at your speed. 2. Be more concerned with how the movements and poses feel rather than how they look. The same posture can have many variations because of the many variations of the human body. 3. Accept yourself as you are in this moment without judgment of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ –it just is. When in doubt take a gentle approach to your mind, body and spirit because in the end this is really about creating a positive space in both your body and life.
• Tiffany Cruikshank: 1- don’t wait, just find something you can do now that you can commit to whether that’s 10mins a day or 60mins a week, 2-  find a teacher you click with, we have so many excellent teachers to choose from, each with their own unique talents. 3- Just do it! And have fun!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/ask-a-yogi-3-things-for-someone-new-to-yogaglo-to-keep-in-mind-as-they-take-their-first-class-at-home/

Ask a Yogi: What advice do you have for new yoga teachers teaching their first class?

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 advice do you have for new yoga teachers teaching their first class? 

• Alex van Frank: My best advice is to ask yourself why you are teaching. Answering that question and reminding yourself of the ‘why’ as you teach will ultimately lead you on YOUR path. The first steps are always the most exciting and full of infinite potential… Oh, and always breath –it doesn’t look good if you pass out from lack of breathing!
• Amy Ippoliti: Congratulations on this milestone! Before you teach your first ever class, make sure you’ve given yourself plenty of time to plan your class with a theme you love and poses you are excited about. Practice the sequence one or two times through to make sure it works well for your body (if it works for you, chances are it will work for others). Arrive at the studio early and immediately take the focus off yourself (your nerves, your plan, your clothes, etc.) and place your focus onto the people coming! Set up the room so it’s inviting – light candles, chant some mantras in all the corners of the room, or put out a fresh flower or bouquet – it’s a celebration after all, your first class with great people! When the students arrive, ask questions and get to know them. It will break the ice and help you get out of your own bubble of anxiousness and right into the great gift of teaching yoga: helping and serving others.
• Darren Rhodes: Keep it simple. Focus on instructions that get students into and out of the basic shapes of each pose. Memorize your sequence ahead of time. Practic that sequence many times prior to class so you can target the key alignment for each pose. As for alignment, for each pose in your sequence write down what’s most at risk so you know which safety cues to give for each pose.
• Elena Brower:​ Pay attention to detail, connect with your students best your can, and stay present for yourself. Let the plan help you, but not hinder your ability to intuit what your students might need.
• Felicia Tomasko: Know if you are nervous, that’s okay, just go with it. Enjoy the process. Remember that teaching is different from your own practice, so treat it differently. One of the things that my teacher trainer emphasized was that when you demo, do less, because students will mimic you and often push themselves to try to copy you. So do less.
• Giselle Mari:Keep it simple and enjoy the process. When you’re having fun and not stressed out about how it will turn out and (cliche alert) in the “moment” – your offering will be a solid one.
• Kia Miller: Breathe with your students. Keep it simple. Speak from your heart to theirs. Smile and engage with everyone.
• Steven Espinosa: Try to remember it’s not about you. It’s about the yoga. Too many times new teachers try to impress the class with their technical knowledge and ability. And as a result it becomes all about them. To me, our main job as teachers is to provide a general overall structure, instruction and hopefully some inspiration. So just keep it simple and let the yoga lead the way!
• Tara Judelle:    Find what excites you about yoga and offer that.  Your authentic enthusiasm about what you are sharing will convey more than anything the undercurrents of yoga.  People are there to move, and to do so in community.  Let yourself have fun, and be yourself.   Know that any offering, done with interest and curiosity will automatically convey the teachings.  The rest, any techniques or skills can be developed over your lifetime.
• Taylor Harkness: Just have fun with it. No one is going to remember your flow, your playlist, your cues. They’re going to remember the way you made them feel. So ask yourself, “how do I want them to feel?” and then do your best to create that space. Throughout your career, you’re going to forget poses so many times, get your left and right screwed up constantly, and knock over so many water bottles with clumsy feet that you’ll lose count. The point is the attention, effort, and love you put into the class, not how it looks.
• Tias Little: My best advice is to ask yourself why you are teaching. Answering that question and reminding yourself of the ‘why’ as you teach will ultimately lead you on YOUR path. The first steps are always the most exciting and full of infinite potential… Oh, and always breath –it doesn’t look good if you pass out from lack of breathing!
• Tiffany Cruikshank: Remember that your students are there to learn from you. We all get nervous but you have to keep remembering your purpose, whatever that is- to inspire people, to connect, to help alleviate their suffering, to educate or to have fun.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/ask-a-yogi-what-advice-do-you-have-for-new-yoga-teachers-teaching-their-first-class/

How to Access Your Inner Genius With Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming is not easy, but is it worth while; Once you learn to lucid dream is becomes easier, and the benefits are outstanding. One of the most amazing aspects of lucid dreaming is being able to interact with renowned personalities. When lucid you can talk to the most enlightened people in history. Although this […]

source https://wealthygorilla.com/access-genius-lucid-dreaming/

Pose of the Week: Eight Angle Pose

In this Pose of the Week, Amy Ippoliti demonstrates Eight Angle Pose or Ashtavakarasana. Fire up your core and find your power with this fun arm balance. Discover perhaps a new way to access this asana that you may not have known before!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/pose-of-the-week-eight-angle-pose/

Olivia Hsu Yoga for Climbers on YogaGlo

We are thrilled to announce that we’ve just launched a ton of great yoga classes for climbers, taught by world-class climber Olivia Hsu!

An elite level climber who has spent over half of her life defying gravity, Olivia Hsu found yoga to be the perfect compliment to climbing, cultivating focus and flexibility on both the mental and physical levels. She has studied Ashtanga for nearly two decades and has been studying continuously with Richard Freeman and Tim Miller for over a decade. Being an elite level athlete she has been able to find the delicate balance between practice and training and understands the myriad ways in which yoga complements doing what you love.

Olivia has appeared on the cover of magazines such as Yoga Journal and Rock and Ice, and written about yoga for climbers in publications such as Yoga Journal, Climbing, Back Packer Magazine, and featured in Mantra Magazine and Elephant Journal, among others. She has climbed and practiced yoga with some of the best in the world including Chris Sharma and Jimmy Chin and is passionate about bringing yoga to the next generation of climbers.

Olivia’s classes are rooted in cultivating mindfulness that flows from a focused and continuous asana practice be it in the yoga shala or climbing on the crag. Her unique understanding of the nuances within both disciplines enables her to build flexibility, stamina, strength, and awareness in her students while reaching new experiential summits and full body freedom. Olivia travels extensively throughout the year leading classes, retreats, and intensives in dozens of countries all over the world, bringing her unique combination of experience and perspective to both dedicated yoga practitioners and professional climbers alike.

If you are a rock climber, you have to check out these classes (and all her yoga for climbers classes) NOW:

• Flexibility Flow for Climbers – Build a baseline of flexibility and mobility for climbers. Work on increasing your flexibility and range of movement which will translate to the rock. Warm up with sun salutations and learn the basics of poses like triangle, side angle, butterfly and bridge that target the areas that generally get tight for climbers – shoulders, neck, hips, and legs. A great way to open up and bring more freedom to your climbing.
• No More Belayer’s Neck – A practice to help climbers counter the strain that climbing places on your neck. Designed to increase awareness in neck positioning while belaying, this class helps give your neck and scalenes a little love. A great way to keep your neck muscles functioning well for a lifetime of climbing. Props Needed: A strap or a belt.
• Killer Heel Hooks – Engage in your legs and build awareness in your hamstring sit-bone connection. Hamstrings are often overlooked in conditioning, and this class helps you bring strength to those muscles, so you can heel hook with more ease. Sequencing includes forward folds, pulsing lunge exercises, lengthening leg stretches and bridge pose.
• De-pump Your Forearms – Stretch out between climbs with this sequence that will give you the perfect amount of prep for your next sending burn when climbing. Work it with arm exercises and forearm stretches that help get that lactic acid moving out of your pumped arms. Sometimes stretching too much can cause muscles to not fire as well, but this class will help you stretch just the right amount for your send burn.
• TLC for Climber’s Hands – Give your hands some attention with this quick class designed to bring relief to your overworked wrists, hands and forearms. Improve mobility in your wrists and fingers with exercises that also engage your upper body. Begin seated with poses that work your side body, then move into creative, fluid movements that stretch out and lengthen your hand’s ligaments.
• Creating Durable Shoulders for Climbing – This mindful practice helps you engage and stretch your arms and chest for better functional movement, building more durable shoulders. Work on broadening your collarbones and activating your shoulders with exercises that build greater range of motion and upper body awareness. Shoulder mobility and durability means more days at the crag! Props Needed: A strap.
• Climber’s Hips & Hamstrings – The importance of the lower half of your body is often undervalued in climbing. Legs and hips often get tight during climbing and become less mobile. Increase flexibility and range of motion in your hips and hamstrings to access more power and efficiency when moving across the rock. Practice poses like half pigeon, lunges and ardha matsyendrasana to loosen up your hips and hamstrings, giving you more freedom for high stepping. Props Suggested: A towel, a pillow or a block.

Please join us in welcoming Olivia Hsu to YogaGlo!

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/olivia-hsu-yoga-for-climbers-on-yogaglo/

Yoga & Meditation to Begin Your Week

This week in wellness news, getting and maintaining the attention of students is a core area of struggle in many classrooms. Students are continuously told to pay attention, but who teaches them how to pay attention?

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

• Twice weekly yoga classes plus home practice effective in reducing symptoms of depression: “People who suffer from depression should participate in yoga and deep (coherent) breathing classes at least twice weekly plus practice at home to receive a significant reduction in their symptoms.”
• Crisis at Work? Time to Meditate: “It may be the last thing you would expect, but there’s evidence that people who meditate regularly are more likely to act effectively when things go wrong. Let’s take a look at why this might be and look at a quick technique that you can use to help out at those times when a crisis in the workplace (or anytime in your life) requires you to perform at your best.”
• Mindfulness, meditation helping elite athletes on and off the field: “Like a lot of young men you get tipped upside down and turned inside out and I didn’t really know which was up,” he said. “I found it was really comforting for me and also allowed me to deal with some anger and different other stuff that was going on inside me.”

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/yoga-meditation-to-begin-your-week/

6 Yoga Classes for Athletes

From running and cycling, to boxing and rock climbing, it’s hard to find a sport where yoga isn’t suggested to help enhance an athlete’s overall performance. Integrating a yoga practice into your training regimen can help your body recover from the demands of cross-training, improving your recovery, performance and comfort.

This week’s featured classes will help you gain strength, flexibility and stamina for the sports you love.

• Prepare for Snowboarding with Stephanie Snyder: Strengthen your legs, fine-tune your balance reflex, and get your core online. Practice keeping your mind laser focused but also release into the flow to support you for a great season. A combo of floor, core and standing pose work that will not tax your body but awaken your innate intelligence for a great day on the mountain!
• Hips and Hammies for On the Go Athletes with Dice Iida Klein: An accessible practice designed for athletes who want to build strength and mobility. Open your anterior and posterior chain of your legs and pelvis. Focus primarily on creating movement around your pelvis, hips, and hamstrings as you flow through an effective set of postures such as lunges, forward folds and hip opening stretches. Great before or after a strenuous training session or a heavy leg day. Make this practice a part of your fitness routine!
• Shoulder, Wrist and Hip Care for Climbers with Taylor Harkness: Climbing is a great way to stay strong. However, it also overworks your anterior body. Adding some balance with yoga will only add efficiency when setting a route. Expect shoulder stretches, wrist releases and hip openers, all designed to add a new edge to your climbing skills. Great to do both before and after your climbing workout. Props Needed: Two blocks.
• IT Band and Side Body Release for Runners with Jason Crandell: Running may keep your mind sane and body healthy, but it beats up your IT band along the way. Release the excess tension in your IT band, outer hips and quads. Help your body recover from the demands of running, improving your recovery, performance and comfort of your lower back and help you breath more deeply. Prop Needed: A strap.
• Core Potential for Cyclists with Amy Ippoliti: An all around cross training practice that emphasizes core strengthening and stretching for maximum performance on your bike. Use fundamental yoga asanas like chair and lunges to work instead of the common sit up. Working this part of your body not only increases your endurance, but helps support your legs and upper body when engaging in longer or more strenuous rides.
• 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/2017/03/6-yoga-classes-for-athletes/

Only Love is Real

In this week’s Overheard in Yoga Class, Chelsey Korus reminds us that love is the birthplace of your well spring of compassion and holds the key to your healing. Fear is learned, but love is your truest and most authentic state.

Take this class with Chelsey: https://glo.yoga/2mM0MjR

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/only-love-is-real/

Ask a Yogi: What was it like teaching your very first yoga class?

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 was it like teaching your very first yoga class?

• Amy Ippoliti: My very first yoga class was teaching my 85 year old grandmother and her best friend in the living room. I didn’t really account for the fact that getting up and down off the floor was going to be a BIG issue. So by the time I taught my first official yoga class in a spa, (which was actually an audition for the job!), the class was actually pretty easy to teach by comparison! I was nervous, but remember feeling so thrilled to be teaching, my nerves went out the door and I just got really into helping the people in the room. And I did get the job.
• Annie Carpenter: It was amazing. I was teaching Modern Dance at a University in Midwest. On the Friday afternoon “Advanced Modern” class the students were often wiped out. They knew I was really into Yoga and so they starting asking for Yoga— hoping it would be easier on their bodies (and minds) than one more technique class. Although I had only one weekend of a real Yoga Training under my belt (Back then there was no Yoga Alliance or 200 hour trainings), I sent my Pianist home and we dove in. And mat-less, and winging it, we did a Yoga class. I was grateful to all my amazing teachers, who at that point were mostly Iyengar, and really grateful for my home practice which somehow informed me into a nice, mellow Yoga experience for the young dancers — they loved it. Don’t tell anyone, but there several Fridays after that when we ditched the Pianist and practiced Yoga…
• Carole Westerman: It’s so funny, because when people take classes with me now, they never believe that I was so painfully shy in the past.  I literally would fake being sick in middle/high school to get out of presentations. And in college, I literally took advanced computer programming in order to get out of speech class. I was so shy, I would create reasons why someone else should speak instead of me, in my years as a social worker and family therapist. I was so good one-on-one, but terrified to speak in front of a group. Yoga was the catalyst to bring me out of my shell. For some reason, when I taught yoga, I could be in front of people and not be terrified. I still don’t know why that is, and I’m still not over it. For some reason, I can teach an asana class no problem, but lecture classes can sometimes be a struggle for me. But once I get started, I start to feel comfortable, and judge myself less. But, I think the secret for me has been that when you talk about something you love, it’s hard to not break free and be YOU. And I guess that’s my hope for everyone. Please be YOU.  Please share yourself with us. We need YOU. You are the missing piece. And don’t let shyness stop you. The more shy you are, the more I would argue that the world needs your perspective!
• Darren Rhodes:  I got hired at a YMCA only because the teacher scheduled to teach left town 3 days before classes began. I had applied (age 23 at the time) and didn’t get the job. At that point I had never even been to a public class before! I had been practicing to Richard Freeman’s the Primary Series VHS tape for about a year and a half. I taught surya namaskara A and B then the standing poses. I was surprised to find how many of the alignment cues I recalled from taking Richard’s class. Just before teaching I kept going into the rest room to splash water on my face because I felt like I had a fever I was so nervous. Just after class I thought to myself, “I can do this.”
• Elena Brower: ​​I forgot to look at my students, I was so nervous and obsessed with my “plan” that i couldn’t connect!
• Felicia Tomasko: In my teacher training program, we had to teach a lot of practice classes for the other students–and for our teacher’s students–so it gave us a lot of practice before we went out to teach our first class on our own. I did my yoga teacher training while I was in college, and one of the first classes I taught was for a social justice class at the university. While they were my fellow students, very forgiving, and dressed in street clothes, I was still nervous. At the same time, I found it exhilarating, exciting, and fun. Even though I didn’t necessarily take my teacher training in order to teach, I found that when I started teaching, I loved it. I still do.
• Giselle Mari: It was both exhilarating and a bit nerve racking.
• Kia Miller: Very exciting! I was nervous but as soon as it started to share what I love it flowed!
• Tara Judelle: My very first public classes were both exhilarating and terrifying to teach. Because I cared so incredibly much about the intention of yoga, I prepared, go nervous, felt anxiety. But once I was in the room with the people, probably about six in a very small studio, I realized the only thing to do is talk to them. Once you share what you love with people that are there to learn, it is a beautiful exchange. It quickly became the toughest job I have ever had and still as compelling and challenging 15 years later.
• Taylor Harkness: Like a high I’ve been chasing ever since– ha! I was simultaneously nervous and thrilled. My friends showed up to support me and filled the room with laughter and sweaty fun. I still remember the first song on the playlist– One Tribe by Black Eyed Peas. I like to relive that moment any time I’m feeling kinda lonely. It was one of the first times a group of yogis showed me what community feels like. Certainly wasn’t the last.
• Tiffany Cruikshank: Both the most nerve wracking and the most exciting thing I’d done. I’d never been good at public speaking but I thrilled me to be able to help people. As soon as I remembered why I was there the nerves started to fade.

source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/03/ask-a-yogi-what-was-it-like-teaching-your-very-first-yoga-class/