With the stresses of day-to-day life becoming more demanding, it is vital to find healthy ways to improve your mood and overall well-being.
Yoga is an ancient practice that originated in Asia but has gained worldwide popularity in the modern day. Along with helping to keep your body flexible and improve overall mobility, yoga has immensely positive impacts on your mental health and mood as well.
In this article, we discuss how yoga and mood relate, including how establishing a daily yoga practice can be the key to centering yourself and improving your day-to-day mood. Plus, we cover the key factors that can further enhance your mood on top of practicing yoga!
Keep reading to discover all that yoga has to offer for your mind, body, and spirit.
For thousands of years, Yoga has had a rich history and is deeply rooted in the mind-body connection.
The discipline of yoga is focused on building greater bodily awareness, with a particular focus on harmonizing your breathing and movement with your mindfulness.
When practiced regularly, yoga plays a crucial role in reducing stress, anxiety, and even depression — though anyone dealing with severe symptoms of mental health conditions like depression should also seek professional mental health care as well.
Each yoga pose and posture (also called asanas) are designed to release physical tension in various areas of the body. Additionally, these asanas can help you to remove energy blockages that can often be the root cause of your negative mood and mindset.
When it comes to the benefits of yoga for boosting your mood, many aspects of the practice contribute to your overall mood improvement and well-being.
Here are five elements of yoga that are great for mood-boosting:
Setting an intention at the beginning of a yoga practice can set the tone for a mood-boosting experience.
By focusing on a positive affirmation or a specific emotion you want to cultivate during the practice, you direct your mind toward that goal. This intention acts as a guiding light throughout the session, helping you stay focused and connected to your emotions.
Whether it's to feel gratitude, joy, or self-compassion, the power of intention can significantly enhance the mood-enhancing effects of yoga.
The power of music to influence our emotions is undeniable.
In mood-boosting yoga classes, carefully selected music and soothing sounds can elevate the experience.
Upbeat and uplifting tunes can enhance feelings of happiness and motivation, while calming melodies can promote relaxation and tranquility. The rhythm and melody can synchronize with the flow of yoga postures, creating a harmonious and enjoyable practice that uplifts the spirit.
Aromatherapy — the use of essential oils to provoke therapeutic effects using your sense of smell — can complement yoga practice and evoke specific emotions. Scents like lavender can induce relaxation, while citrus fragrances can invigorate and refresh the mind.
By incorporating aromatherapy into the yoga space, practitioners can enhance their emotional experience and connect more deeply with their feelings during the practice.
Mindful transitions between yoga poses are the key to strengthening your emotional flow, stability, and endurance throughout a yoga session.
Rather than rushing through postures to finish as soon as possible (like many do with traditional gym-based workouts), yoga practitioners are encouraged to move slowly and deliberately with awareness, focusing on the breath and the sensations in the body.
This mindfulness-based approach helps to release emotional blockages and encourages emotional flow, allowing practitioners to experience and process their emotions more effectively.
Laughter is one of the most powerful tools for improving mood and reducing stress.
By incorporating elements of laughter yoga or playful exercises into a yoga class, you can bring even greater joy and lightness to your practice.
Scientifically, laughter releases endorphins (the body's natural feel-good chemicals) which can uplift the mood and create a sense of positivity and happiness. Integrating laughter into yoga can also promote a sense of community and connection among participants, fostering a supportive and positive atmosphere.
If you are struggling with emotional regulation and want a natural way to improve your mood, practicing yoga is a great place to start. Even if you are new to the discipline, yoga is great for people of all ages and experience levels — the key is to start slow and focus primarily on your breathing and mindfulness.
Good luck on your yoga journey and Namaste!
By Isabelle Marinier
Whether you suffer occasional back pain or are recovering from an injury, yoga is an excellent modality to keep your spine healthy. Spending time giving your back some love will ease pain, relax tight muscles, and help maintain excellent posture. This week we’re featuring some great new classes to do just that. And we’ve also got five of our favorite poses to sneak in any time to keep you feeling strong and supple.
5 of our Favorite Poses for a Healthy Back:
1. Balasana (Child’s Pose): Stretches the back, hips, and shoulders and is the ultimate lower back stretch! From a table-top position, spread your knees wide and bring your big toes to touch. Shift your hips back to your heels, walk your hands out in front of you, and soften your chest and forehead to the mat. Take 5-10 full deep breaths.
2. Bitilasana Marjaryasana (Cat-Cow): Creates suppleness from the crown of your head to your tailbone. From a table-top position, inhale and lift your chest and gaze up while tilting your tailbone upward. Exhale and curl your head and tailbone inward. Find a rhythmic flow with your breath and movement for 5-10 cycles.
3. Adho Mukha Svnasasa (Downward Facing Dog): Stretches the shoulders, back, hips, hamstrings, and calves. From a table-top position, exhale and tuck your toes under, pressing your tailbone toward the sky. Keep your knees slightly bent to start.
Firm your thighs, pressing your thighbones back, bringing more of your weight into the lower body. Press your heels toward the ground; it is okay if they don't reach it today or ever! Breathe deeply and hold for one minute.
4. Setu Bandhu Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose): Opens the front of the body and stretches and strengthens the entire spine. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet hip-width distance apart, and arms relaxed by your sides. Inhale, root down into your feet and lift your hips high. Hold the pose for 5-10 breaths. An optional modification is to use a block beneath your hips for support.
5. Suptha Matseyandrasana (Supine Twist): Stretches the back muscles, aligns the spine, and opens the hips. Lie on your back and hug your right knee into your chest and keep your left leg extended on the mat. Gently press the right knee across the body with your left hand and turn your gaze to the right. Keep your shoulders grounded and take 5 deep breaths. Unwind to center and repeat on the second side.
All 5 poses will create space and strength, while helping your mind quiet. These are excellent everyday basics to keep you feeling aligned and strong. Check out this week’s new practices specifically designed for spinal health––enjoy!
Back in Focus - Shy Sayar
Spinal Mobility Flow - Kristin Gibowicz
Cat Cow Pose - Sarah Shannon
Low Back Love - Erin Wimert
Unlike other forms of exercise, yoga has existed for centuries. It’s not difficult to see why. With regular application, even short yoga sessions can impact holistic wellness. This makes it perfect to incorporate into a busy lifestyle.
For a lot of people, yoga’s primary benefits relate to physical or psychological health. Its focused poses can boost aerobic ability, while its promotion of a sense of calm can reduce stress. However, one of the perhaps under-explored benefits of yoga is that it can positively impact cognitive functioning.
Yoga is one of the more accessible forms of exercise, with options of routines that suit people of a range of ages, needs, and physical abilities. Knowing its benefits for your cognitive well-being can also help you to make more informed decisions about routines that best meet your needs.
Some of the key links between yoga and cognition include:
One of the central cornerstones of yoga is mindfulness. Often, you’ll practice routines that empower you to be present purely in the current moment, which promotes a fuller awareness of your state of mind and wellness.
Among the most significant studies in this area is a Harvard-affiliated research program that reviewed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brains of participants who had undergone a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. The outcome of this was that researchers observed structural changes within the brain that suggested mindfulness could have an impact on invaluable neuroplasticity. As a result, a mindfulness-focused yoga practice can contribute to positive changes in the brain’s structure and the pathways it forms, which can offer various cognitive and psychological wellness outcomes.
Having a lack of energy can make it more difficult to maintain cognitive performance. There are various factors that can influence a decline in energy levels, including less physical activity. The same logic can be applied to an increase in energy levels — you have to engage in regular exercise that supports both a sense of physical renewal and cognitive functioning. Yoga can be particularly effective in this regard, as it allows for gentle yet impactful activity that promotes holistic wellness. Incorporating even short sessions into your daily routine can boost energy in ways that support cognition.
Yoga in itself tends to have a positive impact on cognitive functioning. However, as with any form of exercise, you should take a well-informed approach. Engaging in the most appropriate routines can affect the outcomes that you’re seeking. Incorporating some forms of technology into your yoga practice can provide you with the data you need to optimize the cognitive impact.
Guidance from a yoga teacher can be the best way to receive the best cognitive benefits from your yoga routine. Often, they’ll provide instructions that’ll help you build a muscle-mind connection in your routine.
Unfortunately, not everybody has access to an expert every day. This is where mobile yoga or mindfulness apps and online guided sessions can be useful resources. Many platforms — such as Yoga Studio by Gaiam and Glo — can help you tailor your routines to your goals, including those related to mindfulness. Some studios also offer group online guided classes that are geared toward mindfulness or cognitive outcomes.
Wearable technology has become both more advanced and affordable in recent years. Utilizing some of these wearable devices can improve your quality of life and your yoga routine by providing you with real-time insights into metrics related to your wellness. For instance, smart health watches track aspects such as heart rate, stress indicators, and sleep levels — all of which can affect cognitive health. Utilizing these devices during your yoga practice and in everyday life can help you to monitor how your routines are impacting the aspects of your physical health that relate to your cognitive functioning. You can then make more targeted adjustments to your routines to focus on relevant areas of improvement.
A lot of the focus of yoga’s influence on cognition is toward improving the functionality of those with relatively good neurological wellness. However, yoga can also be a useful tool to help address cognitive conditions. Before you or a loved one makes the decision to use yoga as a treatment method, seek guidance from a medical professional first. They may consider your personal medical history that may make a regular yoga practice ineffective in treating a cognitive medical condition. That being said, they may also be aware of the following benefits:
Cognitive decline is never a guarantee as people get older, but it can be a prevalent concern surrounding the aging process. There is some evidence to suggest that aspects of yoga practice can help mitigate symptoms of age-related decline. One study that assigned 12 weeks of yoga practice to those experiencing mild cognitive impairment found that there were improvements in the functionality of the brain’s default mode network. This can mean that yoga can mitigate negative issues related to memory and planning.
Unfortunately, dementia can have a significant effect on your quality of life. But more research is being done on various medications and treatments that can slow down the process of dementia and even reverse its effects. Yoga has also been studied as a viable treatment option. A 2023 study has found that yoga can have domain-specific cognitive benefits for those living with dementia, particularly concerning executive function. Indeed, the study considered yoga routines to be a relatively safe form of exercise, with only one participant experiencing dizziness. As a result, yoga can be a valuable approach to navigating dementia that is appropriate to the various challenges the condition poses.
Maintaining a regular yoga practice has the potential to offer improvements in cognitive functioning. After all, yoga supports the connection between mindfulness and neuroplasticity, while also boosting energy levels that enable effective thought processes.
That said, you should not rely on yoga entirely for maintaining and improving your cognitive health. There are a range of lifestyle components that contribute to good functionality here. Instead, seek to incorporate yoga as a vital part of a more comprehensive holistic wellness routine.
By Katie Brenneman
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Ready to feel revitalized? One of the best ways to reach peak physical, mental, and emotional health is with HIIT workouts. We live busy lives and on the days when you need both a workout and your yoga practice, fusion classes allow you to have it all. This week, we’ve got four energy packed Yoga + HIIT Fusion practices to help you feel your best.
If you’re not familiar with HIIT, it is one of the most time-efficient calorie burning and muscle building workouts around. High-intensity Interval Training is composed of short periods of high intensity exercise to increase your heart rate alternated with low resistance exercise to allow your heart rate to recover. What’s key is the intense bursts blast your heart up to the anaerobic zone or close to your maximum rate, so you’re working hard. The timing of the intervals may vary, but usually the high-intensity bursts last half the time as the recovery section. Both are important!
Think alternating jumping rope with forearm planks or sets of burpees with wall squats. What’s great about HIIT is you lower blood pressure, burn visceral fat, and burn tons of calories––all in a ten to 30 minute class. According to health experts, HIIT workouts are much more effective for people looking to lose weight than longer steady-state cardio workouts.
The time you save working this way provides the time to also step onto your yoga mat. Yoga and HIIT fusion classes build physical strength and keep your muscles flexible and your mind peaceful. Each unique modality complements the other and when you’re doing both in one session, you get the best of both worlds. HIIT workouts often emphasize core strength and overall coordination which translates to a better ability to stay steady in challenging yoga postures requiring balance and stability. Win-win.
If you’re ready to mix up your usual routine, these fusion flows are a perfect way to do it.
This week’s classes are specifically designed by expert instructors to guarantee you’re getting the proper intensity and balance with HIIT and complementary yoga all in one fun, effective class. No need to stress about whether you’re receiving the best of both worlds––these practices provide it for you. If you’re ready for an adrenaline burst, press play today!
Fitness 'n' Yoga: HIIT+ Flow 5.0 - Ben Davis
HIIT Yoga for Upper Body and Core - Dylan Zukowski
Total Body HIIT & Yoga Fusion - Kylie Larson
Age Defy: HIIT & Yoga Sculpt - Dawnelle Arthur
What yoga class would be complete without giving your hamstrings some love and attention? While most practices contain hamstring stretches, this week’s classes are specially designed to focus on creating strong, supple hamstrings.
First, a quick anatomy review: Your hamstrings are comprised of three muscles running down the back of your legs from the hip to the knee joint. They are the biceps femoris, the semimembranosus, and the semitendinosus. The biceps femoris is located on the lateral/outer part of your leg and extends your hip joint and helps bend your knee. The semimembranosus is the middle hamstring and flexes your knee joint, extends your hip joint, and medially rotates your hip and lower leg. The semitendinosus is located between the other two muscles with similar duties to the semimembranosus.
Don’t worry too much about the names! Instead, here are 3 important reasons to take care of your hamstrings.
1. Prevent Injury:
One of the most common injuries among active people is a strained or torn hamstring. A regular yoga program acts like an insurance policy for your body. By investing even a few minutes a day working on flexibility and mobility, you can avoid injuries related to stiff muscles. Focusing on strength and endurance is important but without accompanying flexibility, muscles are susceptible to injury.
2. Enhance Athletic Performance:
Whether you’re a runner, a soccer player, a surfer, or a dancer, you can’t afford to take weeks or even months off training to deal with a strained or torn hamstring. A well-crafted yoga practice will help develop balanced strength, mobility, and flexibility to help you achieve peak performance. In addition to creating supple hamstrings, yoga will hone your mental focus and give you that extra competitive edge.
3. Avoid Lower Back Pain:
Keeping your hamstrings supple is a vital component to maintaining excellent posture and keeping your back healthy. Three primary issues contribute to lower back pain––tight hamstrings, tight hip flexors, and weak core muscles. Forward bends in yoga can strain the lower back if the hamstrings are inflexible and can create pressure on the pelvis and pull on the lower back muscles and create strain in the spinal discs.
Check out these four great classes just to keep your hamstrings healthy!
Mind-body practices that have been around for centuries are becoming more modern day, accessible tools to elicit greater health and harmony in life. Current research shows the numerous benefits of consistent mindful meditation practices, such as increasing emotional intelligence, the body’s resilience to stress and improving positive states of mind. Our physical health, productivity and longevity are directly affected by our mental and emotional well being.
Adora Winquist, founder of The Soul Institute Co, meditation and vibrational medicine expert, and author of Detox Nourish Activate: Plant & Vibrational Medicine for Energy, Mood and Love, shares her beginners guide to meditation.
Enjoy a cup of rose petal or lavender tea. Specific herbal teas can nourish the body, calm the nervous system and sooth the spirit. These two are wonderfully relaxing and heart nurturing, helping to create the conditions conducive to meditation.
Incorporate your favorite heart centering essential oils like Geranium, Ylang Ylang or Eucalyptus by inhaling one drop of the essential oil from the palm of your hand or cotton ball for 30 seconds while you focus on The Love Code Breath Technique. Pure essential oils are the most potent form of plant medicine and offer a profound and immediate effect when used via inhalation. The process of inhalation creates a new memory cell in the brain, filled with positive intention, energy, and intelligence. The aromatic molecules imprint their vibration and medicine through our olfactory senses, through the brain into our cellular consciousness and the totality of our beings. When feeling overwhelmed, anxious, down, or disconnected, we can create new habit patterns of using essential oils via inhalation to uplift our emotions and re-pattern our neural pathways for a healthier way of being, feeling and living.
The Love Code Breath Technique: Release Forgiveness Gratitude In each moment we can let go over the thoughts, feelings, actions and activities that we know do not serve our highest health and well being. When you start to feel triggered, upset or frustrated with yourself or others, center yourself like a tree rooted in the earth and take a deep breath into your heart, on the exhalation invite the intention to let go and release that emotion or thought. Then take a deep breath in forgiveness. It need not be directed at a person, yet more of a healing balm for our hearts. Then close with a breath of gratitude, a sense of appreciation for yourself and your commitment to grow, heal and elevate to the best, most loving version of yourself.
Cultivate this practice consistently. You don't have to spend a whole hour meditating to zen out. Starting with 5 minutes a day consistently is a great way to cultivate a commitment to yourself that is simple to keep. Over committing can create a sense of overwhelmness that is counterproductive. Once you feel like you have a solid 5 minute daily practice, increase by a few minutes each time as long as it feels easeful. Work up to 20 minutes a day. Journal your experience and benefits for the first 21 days to see the bright and beautiful new shifts in how you feel inside and how these greater feelings of goodness and gratitude ripple out around you.
About Adora Winquist:
Adora Winquist is the founder of The Soul Institute for Quantum Living. She is an expert in the fields of essential oils and vibrational medicine, and a visionary in the nascent arena of Quantum Alchemy. Adora is the co-author of “Detox Nourish Activate: Plant & Vibrational Medicine for Energy, Mood, and Love” (named one of the Most Notable Books of 2021 by Spy magazine).
Adora intertwines the divine knowledge and ancient wisdom of esoteric philosophy, psycho-spiritual dynamics, essential oils, and energy medicine through her twenty-five-plus years as a facilitator, educator, formulator, and entrepreneur.
“Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit.” B.K.S. Iyengar
Do you know that feeling, the one when your mind and body are working in perfect synergy? It’s in those moments you’re living fully in the present moment. Your thoughts and your actions are aligned and you’re the strongest version of yourself. This state of being is ideal but it takes practice and discipline to settle your busy brain.
You’ve probably heard the expression “quiet the monkey mind” in yoga. Visualize your mind as a windowless room with a troop of wild monkeys in play mode––zooming around, bouncing off the walls, babbling and distracting you from finding a sense of calm. If you allow the mindless chatter to take over, you’ll have a tough time finding your mind body connection.
In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the entire philosophy of yoga begins with Sutra 1.2: citta vritti nirodaha or learning to direct the attention of your mind where you want it to go. Mind control isn’t a complete cessation of brain waves, it’s more of a taming. Teaching your personal troop of monkeys that being distracted all the time isn’t how you want to experience your life. On the yoga mat, this translates into focusing on what’s happening mentally while moving physically. Not just moving through a series of physical calisthenics but linking your breath to your movements and tuning into sensation.
The breath is the most powerful tool to create the link between your mind and your body. It’s the ultimate tool to help you tune out distractions and tune into how you are feeling in the moment. Whether you’re sweating through a dynamic Vinyasa flow or finding stillness in Yin class, a vital part of the practice is keeping your mind and body connected.
When you achieve sustain connection between your mind and body, it will help you master challenging physical postures because your mind is clear. Just as important? A strong supple body helps you remain pain free, so you sit for meditation with less distraction.
Our teachers understand how important it is to learn how to concentrate and quiet your mind while staying strong and flexible. Check out this week’s assortment of classes designed to help you find your deepest mind and body connection.
Body Soft, Mind Empty - Erin Wimert
Meditation: Mindfulness of the Body - Shy Sayar
Mindfulness of Your Mind - Caitlin Rose Kenney
The Yogic Way: Cosmic Sensations - Annie Coyle
Who is ready to create a little bliss from the inside out? Sometimes creating a sense of Santosha or contentment is as simple as slowing down for some self-care. Life is all about balance and Yin yoga is the perfect practice to soothe your soul, create more mobility in your joints, and balance your internal organs. This quieter style of yoga will help you feel fantastic emotionally, mentally, and physically.
If you’re new to Yin, here’s a quick description of the practice. Yin consists of three primary principles or tattvas:
One: Find your edge or appropriate depth for you in the posture.
Two: Settle into stillness.
Three: Hold the posture for time, usually one to five minutes.
Whether you’re a beginning yogi or an advanced practitioner, Yin is good for you! Because of the emphasis on taking your time to find your individual edge in each pose, you can find the appropriate intensity for how you feel on any given day.
It sounds simple, right? But often, especially if you’re accustomed to more vigorous movement, holding a yoga pose for time is challenging. When you’re working to keep your body motionless, employing Pranayama or breath control techniques becomes vital to creating a meditative state.
Breathing mindfully allows you to stay calm while the physical shapes you’re holding work their magic. Yin targets the deeper layers in the body, specifically the connective tissues––ligaments, tendons, and fascia. It takes discipline and strength to stay still in uncomfortable positions. Yin postures balance the internal organs like the kidneys and adrenal glands, stimulate circulation, and calm the nervous system. All these benefits combine to help you feel better on every level.
So whether you’re an athlete who needs to balance out intense physical training and stay in peak physical shape or a person dealing with a lot of stress at work, Yin yoga will keep your body healthy. Because of the extended holds, Yin requires you to quiet your mind and direct your attention to growing more calm and encourages a release of emotions stuck in your physical body.
Check out this week’s classes and see how awesome Yin yoga can make you feel.
Chakra Yin Flow - Claire Petretti Marti
Calming Yin + Sound Bowl Savasana Reset - Elizabeth Brumfield
Yin Yoga for Perimenopausal Women - Kylie Larson
Yin Yoga with Affirmations for Solar Plexus - Marie Castello
Some days you feel like focusing on backbends, some days you want to open your hips, and some days you want a step-by-step class to master your handstand. Plenty of specialty yoga classes will help you narrow your focus and pursue specific goals. Some days, however, you want a practice that’s going to address your head to toe health: enter Full Body Yoga!
While there are numerous benefits to focusing on a single body part or seeking a particular feeling like serenity or vitality, one of yoga’s magical benefits comes from its ability to be a complete solution to feeling your best. A well-rounded yoga practice focuses on flexibility, balance, and strength––inside and out.
When you’re flowing on your mat, your entire body, mind, and spirit are engaged. It’s not like when you’re lifting weights and you’re isolating the back of your arms with triceps extensions or working your pectorals with a bench press. Instead of working body parts separately, a full body yoga practice requires your muscles to work together so you’re moving more like an athlete. Moving through a standing yoga flow requires you to integrate your arms and legs with your core and trunk. This powerful practice helps you develop coordination, balanced strength and mobility, as well as flexibility.
When you’re synchronizing your breath with your movements, you’re engaging your respiratory system, your circulatory system, and your nervous system. A yoga class that engages your total body requires all your internal and external systems to work in synergy with each other. As a result, your mind becomes more clear and quiet, your emotions soften, and your energy levels stabilize.
For those days when you’re seeking one modality to address the complete you, look no further than this week’s four new full body yoga classes. Each class has been designed to make sure you’re working your full body in fun and creative ways. Enjoy!
Full Body Loosen Up - Shy Sayar
Full Body Mash Up - Jessica Oldfield
Full Body Power Vinyasa Flow - Tereza Sauerova
25-Minute Full Body Yoga - Keith Allen
Who has tight hips? Or maybe the better question is who doesn’t have tight hips? Everything from sitting to running to handling emotional stress contributes to stiffness in the pelvic area. No matter why your hips are tight, yoga can help. And what’s so powerful about hip openers is that when you create an opening in your body, you also create an emotional release.
On the physical level, hips include connective tissue and some of our biggest muscles––the glutes––and the psoas muscles in the front of the pelvis. The psoas is the only muscle that starts in the front of the body and finishes in the back body. Often, lower back pain is caused by tight hip flexors. The psoas, or hip flexors, are strong muscles that are easy to over-develop and grow tighter each time we go for a jog or sit in a chair for a few hours. For a healthy spine and back, it’s vital to keep these muscles supple.
The outer hips house the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus and the piriformis. When these muscles aren’t kept consistently open, they can impact the sciatic nerve, causing debilitating pain. Spending a few minutes each day to keeping your hips healthy and happy will keep you happy and healthy as well!
On an internal level, the hips are where the Svadisthana or Sacral Chakra is located. Svadhisthana is known as “Great Goddess” and relates to emotions and dreams, the feminine, the water element, the sense of taste, the adrenal glands, and the color orange. What does that all mean? The second chakra is where our energy for creativity, pleasure, new ideas, and sexuality resides. The hips are often referred to as “saddle bags” and emotionally, it is where we tend to dump unresolved emotions, past trauma, and pain. In other words, it’s where we store our emotional baggage. Nobody needs to lug that stuff around, right?
Just as it takes time to create our tight hips, it takes patience and persistence to open our hips. The hips are about all types of relationships––creative or business partners, children, and romantic partners. Issues surrounding trust and personal boundaries can manifest not just in tight hips but problems with reproductive organs and elimination. Asanas that address both the external and internal include forward bens like baddha konasana (butterfly), Paschimottanasana (seated forward fold), and Virasana (hero’s pose).
Check out this week’s classes, specifically designed to keep your hips healthy!
Journey To Lotus - Dana Hanizeski
Hips - Denelle Numis
Holy Hips! - Rob Loud
Jiva With a Twist - Jill Pedroza
Mobility vs. Flexibility: What’s the Difference?
Often when people think of yoga, they automatically assume it is all about flexibility or simple stretching. But yoga is also an excellent modality to improve joint mobility. Flexibility is defined as “the ability of a muscle or muscle groups to lengthen passively through a range of motion”, whereas mobility is the “ability of a joint to move actively through a range of motion.” SS Physio Australia.
It's important to work on mobility and flexibility and a well-balanced yoga program provides both. Dynamic movement is one of the best ways to maintain or increase mobility in your joints. Mobility takes strength and requires your muscles and joints to work together. A couple examples of poses that are excellent for mobility are Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog) and Utkatasana (Chair Pose). Both poses emphasize the posterior chain of the body as well as shoulder, hip, and ankle mobility.
For athletes, mobility is vital. Moving your body through a full range of motion is necessary to move efficiently and prevent injury. Sometimes mobility is limited because muscles are too tight but passive stretching isn’t enough to create the space for the joints to move freely. Kylie Larson’s new Yoga for Athletes: Lower Body Mobility and Recovery specifically addresses these issues.
As we age, maintaining mobility is important to stay active and independent as long as possible. Hatha, Vinyasa, and Yin yoga are all great practices to increase and maintain mobility in the joints as well as flexibility. If your posture’s been suffering, try Michelle Marchildon’s Yoga for Mobility and Shoulders.
To mix things up and have some fun, try Lila Whiting’s Inversions Strength & Conditioning, and Body Movement by expert, Dawnelle Arthur.
Take some time to address your joints and mobility so you can continue running and hiking and doing whatever you want well into your sunset years.
Yoga for Atheletes: Lower Body Mobility & Recovery - Kylie Larson
Inversions Strength & Conditioning - Lila Whiting
Yoga and Mobility for Shoulders - Michelle Berman Marchildon
Body Movement - Dawnelle Arthur
Whether you leap out of bed without the assistance of an alarm clock or you hit snooze five times before you consider throwing off the sheets, morning yoga may be the game-changer you need. Stepping onto your yoga mat first thing can set the tone for your day and start your it on a positive note. Here are three of our favorite reasons to wake up and stretch.
1. Elevate Your Serotonin and Boost Your Mood
Yoga is a natural way to boost your mood and create a positive mindset. According to the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, “serotonin production plays a role in the treatment of depression. Serotonin is believed to play a major role in happiness.” Starting your day with even a short yoga class is a natural way to create a positive perspective for your entire day. Yoga is a practice of learning to control your busy mind and direct your attention where you want it to go and elevating your “feel good” hormones can help. Who doesn’t want to feel happier?
2. Kickstart Your Agni/Digestive Fire
Asana or physical postures don’t just build stronger muscles, enhance flexibility, and help with balancing on one leg (or both hands). One of yoga’s most powerful benefits is giving your internal organs a gentle massage, which stimulates healthy digestion. Seventy percent of your immune system resides in the gut. It’s vital to keep your digestion flowing freely to move toxins efficiently through your body. A stagnant system makes you feel heavy and sluggish and can become a breeding ground for dis-ease. Twists like Ardha Matsyandrasana (Half-Lord of the Fishes) and forward-folds like Paschimottanasa (Seated Forward Fold) compress and stimulate your stomach, intestines, and more. Stoke your Agni or digestive fire first thing and aid your metabolism all day long!
3. Put on Your Oxygen Mask First
When you take the time to practice yoga in the morning, you’re practicing self-care. Most of us lead busy lives and often expend tons of energy taking care of other people, whether at work or at home. Sometimes, we forget to refill our own wells and end up feeling burned out. A regular practice balances us out, internally and externally and enables us to show up as our best selves.
This week, try these classes designed specifically to practice first thing in the morning before the craziness of the day unfolds. You’ll ensure you’re setting yourself to have a great day, no matter what!
Morning Flow - Katy Bateman
Weekly Yoga Series - Morning Yoga - Sarah Shannon
Gentle Joint Release - Caitlin Rose Kenney
Love Your Alarm Clock - Celest Pereira
Unfortunately, stress makes an appearance in all of our lives regularly. It could be the day-to-day responsibilities of caring for children and working full-time that trigger it. It could also be what’s going on in the world. 76% of respondents in an American Psychological Association study said that the future of our nation was a significant source of stress for them.
It’s hard to hear that people feel so stressed so often. But the good news is that there is a way to navigate it healthily. There are many ways to do so, one of those being yoga.
Before we dive into the benefits of using yoga to manage stress and how to go about incorporating it into your life, let’s touch on why stress management is so crucial.
We can all count on stress to make a constant appearance in our lives. Anything that threatens our physical, mental, or emotional health can trigger our body’s sympathetic nervous system and the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Then, we go into fight or flight mode to escape the danger.
We can’t escape stress completely. But stress management is crucial because chronic stress can lead to serious issues like high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Symptoms of various mental health conditions can worsen. Isolation and low-self esteem are common. And it can lead to destructive behaviors like substance abuse.
With the harm stress can do to your mental and physical health in mind, combating it is crucial. That’s where yoga can help.
Yoga is a discipline that involves controlled breathing, simple meditation, and other mindfulness practices that support a process of self-discovery, physical transformation, and emotional stability.
Its practices help you calm your mind and body and center yourself, something so crucial for immediate stress relief and long-term management. Let’s look at how your mind and body benefit from using yoga for stress relief in more detail below.
Stress can do some pretty nasty things to our minds. For one, if you’re already living with a mental health condition like anxiety or depression, stress can exacerbate your symptoms and send you into severe anxiety or depressive episodes.
Also, stress can do a number on your self-esteem. You start to feel so overwhelmed that you’re hopeless and lose confidence in yourself to be able to move through what you’re experiencing. Your mindset becomes inherently negative and it’s hard to come back from that.
Yoga promotes mental clarity and stability. So, it can help you keep any symptoms of mental health conditions in check. And as you get better at yoga and master more poses, your self-esteem will improve and your mindset will grow in a more positive direction.
We briefly mentioned the physical effects of stress. For one thing, the likelihood of developing chronic illnesses increases. Headaches, difficulty sleeping, muscle tension, chest pain, and exhaustion are also typical. So are digestive problems like Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) where you experience symptoms such as gas and bloating, heartburn, and difficulty swallowing.
One of the main things that makes GERD worse is stress. This is because stress can increase acid production in the stomach, aggravating the condition. As you relieve your stress with yoga, you can lessen the chances of GERD flair-ups.
Also, yoga, generally, can help you maintain physical fitness. You become stronger and more in tune with your body, thus helping with the physical effects of stress mentioned above.
The first step to using yoga for stress management is committing to it. Yes, doing yoga as needed when a stressful situation arises can be impactful. But the best results come from practicing yoga consistently. That’s how it’ll become a long-term stress management technique.
You should also think about whether you want to do self-led yoga or join a group with a certified yoga instructor. The latter might benefit you more if you’re a beginner and want to learn how to safely use yoga for stress management. But which one you choose depends on your needs and familiarity with yoga.
Finally, it’s a good idea to research the different styles of yoga. Some of the most common include:
We can’t say that one is better than another to manage stress because what helps someone navigate stress differs from person to person. So, it’s best to try a few styles and see which one helps you most.
If you’re simply looking for yoga poses to do when you’re feeling stressed, we’ve got you covered. Try some of these poses when stress strikes:
You can Google these poses to see them in action in videos and ensure you’re doing them correctly. You can also search for additional poses that are best for stress relief.
Stress will get us all at some point. Make sure you’ve got a coping mechanism like yoga in place so that it doesn’t alter your quality of life.
“Don't focus on negative things; focus on the positive, and you will flourish.” Alex Wek
Or, according to Yoga Sutra 2.33: Vitarka-badhane pratipaksha-bhavanam, When disturbed by negative thoughts, cultivate the opposite mental attitude. This practice of actively working to shift your perspective is key to creating a life where you’re flourishing and living your fullest life. When we flow on our yoga mat, we don’t simply impact our physical bodies, we release fear and negative blocks holding us back from experiencing more love, happiness, and peace. Sometimes manifesting your dreams begins with something as simple as sweating it out.
Yoga is a practice of self-discovery. Whether you’re interested in learning how to stop getting in your own way, releasing past trauma and stress, or motivating yourself to take action, a mindful practice can fuel your journey. Vinyasa is a flowing style of yoga linking breath to movement and is derived from Ashtanga Yoga. It’s like one long dance with your breath where you create a moving meditation. A strong, dynamic yoga practice can dislodge and set free emotions trapped in your physical body.
Vinyasa means to place in a special or sacred way and is an excellent means to build strength, balance, flexibility, and connection. Settling into the rhythm and flow helps you find harmony within yourself and with the world around you. When you can sink into sustained attention, you are fully present and at the height of your personal power and light. In other words, you’re “in the zone” where doing stops and you’re simply being. You’re setting yourself up to bloom.
Vinyasa Flow yoga is an excellent path to evolve and live the life of your dreams.
This week’s classes are designed to help you find your flow state where you can release restrictions and feel balanced, joyous, and clear. When we flow on the yoga mat, we are moving our life force energy or prana and creating our most vital self. Join us for these freedom-inducing practices and see how much you can flourish!
Flow to Flourish (Chatarangua Free Vinyasa) - Claire Petretti Marti
Fusion Flow: Entraining Grace - Annie Coyle
Freedom Flow - Jackie Casal Mahrou
Wild Thing Flow - Jill Pedroza
“The result of contentment is total happiness. The happiness we get from acquiring possessions is only temporary. We need to find new ones and acquire them to sustain this sort of happiness. There is no end to it. But true contentment, leading to total happiness and bliss, is in a class by itself.” – T.K.V. Desikachar
Yoga Sutra II.42, Santosha is interpreted as the greatest happiness, the underlying joy that cannot be eradicated despite life's challenges. Cultivating gratitude for life, as it is exactly in this moment, is a true path to finding contentment. We cannot control the curveballs that life throws our way––we can only control our reaction to them. Stepping away for a few days to several weeks is an effective way to remind yourself that you can be happy anywhere.
Yoga retreats are an opportunity to literally turn off the buzz of Smart phones, television, computers, traffic and the rest of those modern conveniences that over-stimulate us and keep us stuck in “fight or flight” mode. The profound relaxation and joy established while disconnected from “real life” helps us tune in to how we’re feeling and appreciate the present moment.
When you arrive to your retreat, external noise is silenced, and profound peace is accessible. Unlike when you’re home focused on all life’s daily responsibilities, you can get quiet enough to hear your thoughts, experience your feelings, savor delicious food (prepared by someone else), and lose yourself in new surroundings. A great retreat is one where you have the freedom to listen to your inner voice. Do you feel like going for a hike or an arranged outing? Would you prefer to nap or read in a cozy nook? When you slow down, you can remind yourself what brings you joy and choose to be as active as feels good or mellow as you want.
In a retreat setting, finding true contentment and gratitude for the present moment is as natural as breathing. A week away practicing yoga offers a gentle reminder of how blessed you are. By creating an active practice of gratitude, rather than a reactive attitude to external events, you can find an enjoyment for what each day provides.
Of course it’s easy to feel gratitude in a setting like Scotland or Thailand or France. But, if we take the time to establish a santosha perspective, we can learn to be content the other 51 weeks of the year.
Are you harnessing the power of the world around you to connect to your truest self? This week’s classes dive into how aligning yourself with the cycles of the moon can help you connect more deeply with your own light. While it’s vital to turn your focus inward during yoga and meditation, it’s also essential to connect with universal energy. Everything is connected.
A powerful way to align with the cycles of nature is to tune in to the cycles of the Moon. Yoga helps us find balance––inside and out. Hatha yoga’s name derives from Ha-tha, which means Sun and Moon in Sanskrit. Ha = Sun. Tha = Moon.
The solar channel of the body encompasses the sympathetic nervous system, masculine energy, and the right side of the body. The lunar channel is the left side of the body and encompasses the parasympathetic nervous system and the divine feminine. We’re all made up of masculine and feminine, light and dark, and active and passive. Yoga can help us learn to balance these forces out and aligning with the moon’s phases is a powerful way to do so.
The moon’s phases control the ocean tides. Water covers 71% of the earth so watery energy is powerful. The waxing and waning moon correlate to universal and personal energy. The first two weeks of the lunar cycle when the moon is waxing or growing larger are a time of positive growth. It’s the perfect time to manifest your desires and use the lunar energy to support your growth and intentions. Use this two-week cycle to go for what you want!
When the moon is waning or growing smaller is the time to release what no longer serves you, whether that’s negative thoughts or emotions, relationships that no longer make you happy, or something as basic as cleaning out your closet. Think of it as a great time to purge and lighten up, just as the moon contracts to a minuscule crescent of light. It’s a great time to prepare, organize, and plan for the future.
When you learn to align yourself with nature’s cycles, you become more in the flow with everything around you. Check out these fabulous new practices today!
Deep Slow Lunar Flow: A Hip-Opening "Surgery" - Shy Sayar
Moon in Cancer - Gemma Celento
Absolution Flow: Sun & Moon - Mark Morford
Lunar Flow - Lisa Richards
“True silence is the rest of the mind and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.” William Penn
It’s true––sleep is a form of nourishment and necessary to wake up refreshed. Or put another way, rest is just as important as work. If all you do is work, you’ll burn out and be less able to live a well-balanced, healthy happy life. And if all you do is sleep or lay around on the couch, you’re missing out on the world around you.
Many of us live busy lives, so it’s important to quiet your mind and tap into your parasympathetic nervous system. Life is all about balancing active, “fight or flight” energy and passive “rest and digest” energy. If you’re a chronic insomniac or only suffer sleepless nights occasionally, an evening yoga practice is a great way to get ready for bed.
Yoga at night can tire out your physical body, but more importantly, quiet your busy mind. You know when you’re exhausted and can’t wait to go to bed, only to have your mind start racing and racing and racing…a gentle evening ritual will give you space to process. If you can quiet and soothe your inner self before laying your head on the pillow, you increase your chances of a rejuvenating night of sleep.
This week we’re focusing on yoga that can help you relax and fall asleep faster. These four classes are all designed to help you chill out and have restful, nourishing sleep. And if you’ve just got a few minutes to spare, try a couple of our favorite restorative poses: Vipariti Karani (Legs up the Wall) and Suptha Baddha Konasana (Butterfly Pose). Restorative yoga helps us step away from “doing” mode to “being” mode and is a great way to release the events of your day.
Tonight, try one of these great classes and see just how sweet your dreams can be! G’night!
Evening Practice - Sarah Shannon
Candlelight Bhakti Yoga - Christen Bakken
Lunar Flow: Ease Into Evening - Denelle Numis
Meditative Zen Practice - Nancy Nielsen
Influencers have become a familiar part of the fitness industry. They tend to be considered some of the most important marketing tools for businesses in a landscape dominated by social media. Not to mention that this can also be a viable career choice for talented content creators with fresh perspectives on physical, mental, or holistic wellness.
This isn’t the same as saying that success as a fitness influencer is necessarily guaranteed. If you choose to follow this path, you will in effect be setting up your own fitness marketing business. There are also a variety of challenges to navigate if you’re to break through in a healthy, successful, and sustainable way.
We’re going to outline a few things you should know if you want to be a fitness influencer.
There’s no question that influencers have had an impact on society in general. But what about the effect on the fitness industry? Having some knowledge of this can help you make more informed choices about your road to becoming a fitness influencer. You can find ways to leverage the good outcomes independent content creators have while strategizing how to navigate the less positive elements.
Primarily, fitness influencers have served as motivational tools. Audiences can see that a regular person utilizes practical strategies to reach fitness goals, rather than a sports star or celebrity. This can make being physically fit seem more attainable, with followers adopting the tools and techniques their favorite influencers use. This can be great for promoting health and encouraging the public to make time for self-care. Not to mention that the trust and independence influencers represent can prompt meaningful engagement with brand partners.
That said, there are certainly negative impacts surrounding fitness influencing. There is often pressure from businesses and audiences to maintain a constant online presence, which can contribute to mental health challenges. It’s also not unusual for creators to experience abuse that can lead to body dysmorphia and eating disorders. It’s also vital to understand that influencers aren’t employees of the brands they represent. This means that they aren’t protected by many legal employment safeguards many other fitness industry workers can rely on.
One of the first steps on the path to becoming a fitness influencer is to build an audience. Many businesses won’t approach or consider influencers for partnerships if there isn’t already a good follower count in place. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need millions of followers. Rather, you should have a relatively consistent audience that is actively engaged with your content. Indeed, a lot of businesses are keen to partner with micro-influencers (1000-10000 followers) because these tend to have more committed audiences.
There are some actions you can take to develop your audience, depending on the platforms you use. TikTok is one of the primary platforms fitness influencers are focusing on at the moment, particularly for Gen Z engagement. Getting TikTok followers involves using research to drive your content strategy. Understand what types of content, personalities, and activities followers in your target demographic appreciate. Regularly review the trending fitness hashtags and use them. Use analytics data to understand which of your posts resonate with audiences and leverage these to create impactful future posts.
It’s also worth testing the waters with some non-sponsored reviews. Firstly, this establishes your independence and trustworthiness, as audiences will recognize that you’re not connected to another business. This may result in more follower growth from those seeking reliable information.
You can also utilize the engagement data from these posts to pitch your services to potential brand partners. Even showing your follower click-throughs to affiliate or ambassador programs you’re signed up for can help demonstrate your value as a partner to businesses.
One of the mistakes some potential fitness influencers make is assuming that they will simply be working with brands. This can mean they overlook that influencers should be brands themselves. Demonstrating that you are a fitness brand partner rather than a creative contractor can be powerful. It shows that you’ve put thought into developing a profile that’s meaningful to your audience, representative of you as an entrepreneur, and clear enough for other businesses to have confidence in.
Effectively raising brand awareness involves adopting strategies that help you stand out from the crowd. Firstly, gain clarity on the core points of your identity. Know what your values are and solidify the brand “voice” you want to use. Narrow down the specific fitness audiences you want to service and what your unique attributes as a creator are. You can then design visual elements, such as logos, video title cards, and even merchandise that reflect these. Keep using these elements in your content to get audiences to recognize your brand.
It’s also worth considering how focusing on a niche can be an important part of your brand-building efforts. There are a lot of fitness influencers out there and you may find it difficult to compete as just a general content creator in the field. Niche subjects — such as yoga for runners, urban outdoor activities, or routines to address certain physical challenges — can help you make a more refined brand profile. You’ll develop a reputation as an authority in this area, which both audiences and potential brand partners can recognize.
Being a fitness influencer can be a rewarding career choice, but it can also be challenging. Get to understand the positive and negative impacts influencing has had on the fitness industry so you can navigate and leverage these accordingly. Take the time to build an audience utilizing methods driven by solid research and analysis. Creating a personal brand is also essential to stand out from the crowd. It’s a competitive industry, but with planning and focus you can have a positive influence on many people’s fitness journeys as well as on your own success.
Future Pain Can Be Avoided: Yoga Sutra 2.16: heyaṃ duḥkhamanāgatam
Yoga Sutra 2:16 discusses how through the practice of yoga, we can avoid future pain. Patanjali focused more on how yoga impacts our thoughts and perspective, but this week let’s apply it to…back pain! Because if you’ve ever been slowed down because your back hurts, you’re not alone.
Back pain impacts millions of people at one time or another, whether from a specific injury or from long-term poor posture. Most of us sit too much and as a result, our spines become compressed, our muscles and connective tissue tighten, and then we are hurting. This week, we have six practices designed to give you a spinal tune-up and help prevent future pain.
We tend to store emotions in our tissues and if we don’t create a release, physical tightness and strain can result. Whatever is causing your back pain is individual. How yoga helps is universal.
On the physical level, three major factors contribute to back pain:
(1) Tight Hamstrings: If your hamstrings are too tight, they can pull on the muscles in your lumbar region, creating imbalances and lower back pain.
(2) Tight hip flexors (Psoas): The psoas muscle starts in the front of your body and connects in the back body and so, keeping them mobile is important to a healthy back. Everything from too much time sitting or too much time running––or basically doing anything at all results in tight hip flexors. Assume they are always tight and need to be stretched.
(3) Weak abdominal muscles: If you don’t build a strong center, you’ve got no support for your torso or spine. Take the time to build a strong core and create a protective girdle for your spine.
When you release physical tension and address muscular imbalances, often an emotional release occurs at the same time and the pain disappears, inside and out. Emotional stress and mental anxiety stored in our bodies can cause physical pain and yoga helps us relax our minds and hearts.
These classes are not for the time you’re in acute pain after a recent injury, instead, they are appropriate for when you’re ready to begin gentle movement.
So if you’re ready, try some yoga to address the root of your back pain, whether it stems from physical, emotional, or mental causes.
Yoga and Mobility for the Back - Michelle Berman Marchildon
Feel Alive Series: Spine in Focus - Elena Mironov
Yoga for a Healthy Back - Claire Petretti Marti
Get Up, Stand Up: Lumbar Love - Dia Draper
Power Yoga for a Healthy Back - Kristin Gibowicz
Reclaim Your Mobility with Spinal Twists - Caitlin Rose Kenney
"You know the Day destroys the night, night divides the day…Break On Through" -The Doors
Without darkness, can we truly appreciate the light? Each one of us is composed of light and shadow. Masculine and feminine energy. Life is all about balance. The warmth from the sunshine on our skin. The cool gleam of a full moon’s rays. Yin and Yang.
Yoga Sutra II: 46 Sthira Sukham Asanam states that the posture must be strong and soft or in other words, be a combination of effort and ease. Sometimes there is power in movement and other times strength resides in stillness. Most of us need a combination of both to feel balanced and content.
Just like the day is balanced out by the night, work is balanced out by rest. If you’re accustomed to a sweaty, vigorous Vinyasa class, learning to slow down is work. And, if you’ve practiced Yin yoga before, you know just how challenging holding Pigeon Pose (Sleeping Swan in Yin language) can be. Yang style yoga is active and dynamic. Yin yoga consists of only a few postures, usually seated or lying down, where the intention is to stay as still as possible.
To keep our sympathetic (active) and parasympathetic (passive) nervous systems healthy, it’s a great idea to practice both types of yoga.
If you’re new to Yin Yoga, here are the three primary tattvas that define it:
One: Enter the posture to an appropriate depth or edge for you.
Two: Seek a sense of stillness and work to remain as static as possible.
Yin works to soothe your nervous system and relax ligaments, tendons, and fascia. By targeting the deeper layers in the body, this style of yoga brings more blood flow to the joints and better circulation to the internal organs. Yang practice strengthens your muscles and bones, increases mobility and stamina and invigorates your system. All yoga helps us to process our emotions which reside in our tissues, relieve stress, and clear our minds.
This week, mix up your practice with a little Yin and a little Yang!
Another Yin/Yang Balancing Flow - Claire Petretti Marti
Yin Yang Yoga for the Lower Back - Elise Fabricant
Rockin Bhakti VinYin - Christen Bakken
Action and Rest - Erin Wimert
Nirvana is defined as complete freedom from pain, worry, and the external world. In yoga, it’s considered the highest spiritual state. Used in a broader sense, nirvana can be defined as a state of bliss or a release from all suffering. This week, we’re sharing four practices designed to give you that sweet feeling in your neck and shoulders. You’ll loosen tight muscles, balance your Visshuda (throat) chakra, and clear your mind.
Whether you woke up with a stiff neck or spend hours daily in front of a screen, tension in the shoulders and neck can prevent you from feeling your best. Upper body pain can arise from poor posture, injuries, heredity, overuse, and mental stress and worry. Asanas (postures) focused on opening the muscles and connective tissue around the spine, neck, and shoulders relieve tension and enhance mobility.
For many of us, the issues stem from mental and emotional stress. The outer and inner selves are inextricably linked. Opening your physical body benefits the subtle body, where our chakras reside and vice-versa. No matter the source, yoga addresses the physical, mental, and spiritual impact, alleviates pain, and enhances excellent posture.
The primary chakra impacting neck health is the Vishudda or throat chakra. The fifth chakra relates to your authentic expression––how you speak your truth, and how your words impact the world once spoken. If you struggle with speaking up for yourself and are constantly either repressing your true feelings or even lying, neck and throat issues can manifest as pain in your neck. Learning to be clear and direct with your words is important to keeping your neck and shoulders feeling good. As long as your neck is healthy, you can try: Matsyasana (Fish) and Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand) poses to bring you back into balance. Simple neck stretches are great too!
Check out this week’s offerings to relieve stress and tension, build proper posture, create more freedom in your body, mind, and spirit, and find nirvana!
Neck and Shoulder Release - Katy Bateman
Upper Body Opener - Lila Whiting
20-Minute Shoulder & Upper Body Love - Keith Allen
Shoulder Opening Flow w/ music by Selador - Erin Wimert
Maximizing the strength of your glute muscles isn’t just about looking great in your yoga pants. Having a powerful backside is incredibly important for hip stability and proper posture. Sitting causes the glute muscles to turn off completely, so if you spend most of your day in front of a computer, it’s time to make sure you dedicate time activating your glutes!
Most people have heard of the gluteus maximus, which is the largest muscle in the body. Two other gluteal muscles, the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, are deeper than the gluteus maximus and play an important role in building and maintaining a powerful posterior. These two smaller, deeper muscles make up more of your “side butt” and are responsible for leg abduction and internal and external rotation. Yoga is a great way to strengthen all three of the glute muscles and keep them supple.
Strong glutes are vital in improving athletic performance, maintaining proper posture, and preventing back and knee pain. Because the gluteus maximus is the biggest muscle in the body, it stabilizes the pelvis and helps power running and other lower body pursuits. Yoga poses like Setu Bandhu Sarvanghasana (Bridge Pose) and Utthita Hasta Padangustasana (Standing Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose) are excellent for building strength and balance in your glutes. If the glutes are weak, other muscles like your hip flexors, lower back muscles, and hamstrings will take over and do too much of the work, potentially leading to injury.
When you aren’t activating your glutes properly, back and knee pain can result. Pelvic stability is vital for proper posture and works to support the back and core muscles. It’s also essential to healthy knees. Otherwise, knees can be pulled out of alignment and create all kinds of issues. Try Shalabhasana (Locust Pose) and concentrate on contracting your glute muscles while your legs are in the air. Utkatasana (Chair Pose) not only helps lower body strength, but it also stretches your torso and lower legs.
This week’s classes are specifically designed for your glorious gluteus maximus! Enjoy!
Meet Me at the Barre 2 - Erin Wimert
Gorgeous Glutes - Jessica Oldfield
Connect to your Glutes - Lila Whiting
HardCORE Yoga with Weights™ - Booty Camp - Becca Riopelle
Yoga continues to play an invaluable role in many people’s lives. It can present significant health benefits and tends to fit well into many routines. Not to mention that it can be adapted to fit into a range of spiritual and secular practices.
One of the ways that yoga can have a positive influence in your life is by enhancing your relationship with the natural world. While it may not currently be a part of your regular routine, establishing a regular outdoor yoga practice can present significant holistic benefits. Too many people also overlook the fact that yoga can be both more enjoyable and enriching if you make the effort to head into nature once in a while.
Let’s explore this idea a little further. What are the ways yoga can increase your time in nature and why does this make a difference?
Yoga is an activity many people perform inside. This may be in their own homes, in purpose-built studios, or at their local gym. So, why is it important to utilize this activity to enhance your connections to the outside world?
The primary incentive is the wide range of health benefits from spending time in nature. Simply spending time regularly surrounded by green spaces and observing nature can help lower blood pressure. Moderate exercise outdoors can reduce the risk of chronic conditions, such as cancer and obesity, too. There are also connections between exposure to nature and greater cognitive focus, which is vital in everyday life as well as your yoga practice.
Alongside the health benefits, you can also find outdoor activities open you up to more community experiences. Too much time spent indoors can be isolating and oppressive. Attending to your yoga routines in a variety of natural environments may also develop your appreciation and understanding of the ecosystems in your area. Not to mention that you can gain from positive social experiences by performing yoga in parks, forest areas, or beaches with others of a similar mindset.
One of the main reasons that yoga can increase your time in nature is its innate flexibility. This isn’t an intentional pun on the physicality of yoga poses. Rather, it’s a nod to the fact that yoga can be performed pretty much anywhere. You don’t necessarily need any special equipment unless you want to use a mat or blocks to make things a little easier. Therefore, it is a perfect activity for your time in nature, no matter where you are.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t focus on specific needs, though. You may find certain environments or features more conducive to your personal approach. Do some research on local natural areas that don’t have a lot of foot traffic if you don’t want to be disturbed. If you find the sound of birdsong helpful for centering yourself, it can be smart to review appropriate areas with relevant habitats. For locations in which you have inclement weather, it may be smart to research alternative outdoor spaces that provide a little shelter for those rainy days.
The in-built flexibility of yoga can also mean you can combine it with other actions. It’s worth considering how your daily walk can be a positive aspect of your yoga practice. Are there parks along the way that can be a stop-off point for a few poses? Are there features of the landscape that can double up as natural apparatus in place of yoga blocks or support for arch poses?
Taking your yoga practice outside is not just a way to increase the time you spend passively gaining from your natural surroundings. It can also be a key activity for engaging more meaningfully with the environment. Much like gardening, camping, and birdwatching, outdoor yoga enables you to embrace and learn from the natural world while attending to your pursuits. This tends to make for a more holistically beneficial experience.
Many people find it positive to pair yoga in nature with meditative practices. This involves utilizing components of the natural world to support your focus. In this way, nature is instrumental in grounding you, helping to imbue your yoga sessions with a deeper connection to the world. This can be especially helpful if you’re experiencing feelings of being adrift in your life or find that you lack energy.
Alongside this, both nature and yoga are considered to have healing powers. Combining the two can be a powerful way to enhance the effects of each. Outside, you can ensure you’re breathing fresh air while performing your poses, nourishing your body as you channel the energy of the earth. You may also find it helpful to utilize poses alongside surroundings that are considered to symbolize specific natural elements, so you can relevantly address certain wellness challenges you’re facing.
Spending more time outdoors has significant positive effects on your physical and mental wellness. Yoga can be instrumental in helping you gain these benefits through its innate flexibility; you can practice almost anywhere. Not to mention that the activity in itself can help you enhance your meaningful relationship with the outside world. With a few simple adjustments to your routine, you can ensure yoga in nature is a positive part of your lifestyle.
Whether you can slide right into Hanumanasana or Monkey Pose like an Olympic gymnast or if the idea of dropping into this pose strikes fear in your heart, we’re here to persuade you to approach the splits with a fresh perspective. Of course, there are modified versions to accommodate injuries or physical limitations, but some version can work for you. And dedicating time to master something seemingly impossible results in deeper lessons than the simply finding the posture’s full expression.
According to Hindu mythology, Hanuman, the monkey superhero, was the son of Vayu, the wind, and Anjana, a monkey woman. By stretching his front leg forward and pushing off with his back one, Hanuman could traverse long distances with powerful leaps. One renowned leap was during the battle of Lanka, when he leaped from the southern point of India to Sri Lanka to save Rama’s brother Lakshman from a mortal wound. Many stories about Hanuman impart lessons about love and unity.
Approach Hanumanasana with the symbolism of Hanuman, reaching further to save someone! This posture requires a methodical approach, with lots of care and attention. When we focus on learning a new posture, the benefits extend deep below the surface of muscle and bone. The practice takes patience, discipline, and consistency to move into the splits. Through the process of moving toward Hanumanasana, we tap into our inner dialogue and learn more about how we react to challenges. We don’t simply create openings in our physical body, we challenge our mind and spirit.
For those of you who can regularly move into the full expression of Hanumanasa, there’s still a benefit from slowing down and approaching the pose with a beginner’s mind. Perhaps you always enter the pose the exact same way––this week try one or all of these classes and see if you see the posture in a fresh light.
Regardless of whether you ever achieve full expression of the pose, you’ll stretch and strengthen the muscles in your lower body, quiet your mind, and honor Hanuman. Take the leap with us!
Feeling out of balance? Maybe it’s time to turn your focus inward and create alignment from the inside out. We are all composed of energy or life force or as we call it in yoga, prana. Our energy fluctuates from minute to minute and sometimes maintaining our equilibrium is challenging. Yoga helps us align our energy through Nadis, which are energetic passageways carrying prana through our subtle body.
Keeping energy flowing is important to feeling our best because when our prana is stuck, our mind, our body, and our emotions suffer imbalances. By aligning the Chakras from the Muladhara (Root) at the base of our spine through the Sushumna Nadi to the Sahasrara (Crown) Chakra, we are creating balance in our system. The seven main chakras, or energy centers, are located along the spine and each one relates to different aspects of our body, mind, and spirit.
So, how do we align these energy centers to balance our passive, feminine energy with our active, masculine energy? First, tune in to where you’re experiencing physical pain or emotional imbalances. Then, check out this quick chakra summary so you can focus on the areas you need most today.
Chakra 1: The Root or Muladhara chakra is located at the base of your spine and is concerned with satisfying basic needs such as food, shelter, safety, and survival. It is associated with the earth element, the color red, and the testes/ovaries. Asanas to address Muladhara include standing poses.
Chakra 2: The Sacral or Svadhisthana chakra is in the pelvis, and connects with all types of relationships, including sexual and creative ones. It is associated with the water element, the color orange, and the adrenals. Asanas to address Svadisthana include forward bends like baddha konasana and Paschimottanasana.
Chakra 3: The Solar Plexus of Manipura chakra is in your navel center and is associated with your ego. It is linked to the fire element, the color yellow, and the pancreas. Asanas to balance Manipura include twists and Navasana.
Chakra 4: The Heart or Anahata chakra is in your chest and is associated with compassion and love. It is linked to the air element, the color green, and the thymus. Asanas to balance Anahata include backbends and arm balances.
Chakra 5: The Throat or Vishuddha chakra is in your neck and is associated with willpower, honesty, and authentic expression. It is linked to the ether element, the color turquoise, and the thyroid gland. Asanas to balance Vishuddha include shoulder stand and plow.
Chakra 6: The Brow or Ajna chakra is in your forehead and is associated with your sense of intuition and opening your third eye. It is the spirit element, the color violet, and the pituitary gland or “command central” of your brain. Asanas to balance Ajna include balasana or child’s pose.
Chakra 7: The Crown or Sahasrara chakra is located on the crown of your head. It’s associated with spirit’s connection to the universe, all the senses, and the pineal gland. Asanas to balance Sahasrara include headstands, savasana, and tadasana.
Some days, you might simply need to balance everything or focus on just one. Check out this week’s classes and see how open and free you can feel!
Chakra Balancing Yoga - Marie Castello
Meditation: Heart Focused - Keith Allen
Overcome Fear: Chakra Balancing Flow - Claire Petretti Marti
Manipura Movement Flow - Denelle Numis