Who’s Practicing Yoga?

                                              

•           Now in her fifties, Madonna is one of the fittest celebrity females out there. Aside from her physically demanding shows, she practices yoga daily.  "I've been practicing yoga for a while now, and it's an incredibly powerful and positive force in my life,"

•           The LA Lakers- This high flying basketball club practices yoga as a team a few times a week, claiming that the practice has helped to increase balance and coordination and helps them to prevent injuries during games. 

•           Other sports teams that are using yoga to train include The Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and Chicago Cubs

•           Sex in the City stars, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristin Davis do yoga

•           Oprah is such an ardent believer that she has her staff doing yoga once a week! She's devoted an entire segment on her show to yoga with celebrity teacher Rodney Yee and has the benefits of yoga listed on her website, along with testimonials from stars and ordinary people.

•           It’s reverses the age process- Sting

•           Yoga really purifies your organs and your blood. The real lesson yoga brings you is learning to be present- Christy Turlington

•           Angelina Jolie buffed up for Tomb Raider with yoga!

Bow Pose

Bow Pose – Dhanurasana

The Bow pose is a very important pose in Hatha Yoga.  The entire alimentary canal (pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine) is reconditioned by this posture.  This asana aids in digestion, fights constipation, and removes gastrointestinal disorders.  The flexion of the spine revitalizes all the spinal nerves by increasing circulation, and strengthens and realigns the spine. Bow pose is also beneficial for diabetes, incontinence, and menstrual disorders, while improving the functioning of the liver, kidneys and spleen. 

Halasana – Plough Pose

Halasana – Plough Pose

We know yoga is great for flexibility and building and toning muscles, but most don’t realize the amazing benefits of yoga for the rest of the body.

The plough pose is a perfect example of a posture that not only improves the flexibility of the spine, and strengthens the abdominal muscles but also affects most of the internal systems of the body. It is a wonderful pose to massage all the internal organs, activating digestion, relieving constipation, indigestion or heart burn, revitalizing the spleen and the adrenal glands, promoting the production of insulin, and improving liver and kidney function.  The plough pose also tones the spinal nerves which improve our nervous system function calming our bodies and minds. It stimulates the thymus gland which boosts immune function. It also regulates the Thyroid balancing the body’s metabolic rate.  Think about that next time you have your legs over your head wondering what you are doing. Now you know!

Why it makes sense to do HOT YOGA in the Summer

Summer seems like it is finally here and you are probably asking yourself why would you do a hot class if it’s already hot outside?  Well the reasons really haven’t changed from the winter but we will remind you of some of the great benefits of a hot class ESPECIALLY for the summer.

1) Burning calories and toning. –   It is safe to say that yoga or pilates performed in a hot room will burn more calories than yoga or pilates in a normal temperature room. The reason is that there are all sorts of processes going on in our bodies to cool us down when it is hot and our muscles are also producing extra heat. You will read all sorts of contradictory information on how much if any calories extra you will burn in a hot class. Some proponents of hot yoga estimate that you can burn upwards to 1500 calories per hour.  This is way too high. We feel pretty comfortable saying that depending on your height, weight, heat tolerance, age, gender, conditioning and type of class you could be burning anywhere between 400 and 800 calories in a hot yoga or hot pilates class.  But either way, if you are working as hard as you would in a non hot room, you are burning more calories.  Also, you are building lean muscle at the same time you are burning more calories, and this will help you to look more toned for that summer beach body we all want.

2) Detoxification – O.K. the patio’s are open, it’s barbeque season, and you are probably going to take some vacation time. This usually means eating more and drinking more. Detoxification from sweating and the deeper detoxification we get from Infrared heat will help flush out those summer toxins. Your skin is one of the best waste disposal systems in your body. The kidneys and liver always get the credit but your skin is an equally effective organ for removing waste, especially toxic wastes. It does this through sweat. Sweating is a great way for the body to release toxins through the pores of the skin. The skin converts toxins from fats into water soluble compounds that are excreted through your sweat.

We have even heard from a few of our students (who will remain nameless) that a hot class actually really helped them with their hangovers.

3)  Warm muscles = happy muscles – When your muscles are warm right from the start of your class you will feel less sore and you will be less likely to injure yourself. The heat also allows for better movement among ligaments, joints, muscles and the body's supporting structures.