(I’m pretty sure I stressed it in my last post; but can’t remember : (  )

I’m also a full time university student who has to spend NUMEROUS hours on a daily basis at the public library! Lucky for me, it’s a bitter sweet experience because on my ‘bathroom breaks’ from studying, I get to browse the fiction shelves. (which conveniently are located RIGHT outside the bathroom)

So while I was taking my routine breaks, I found a novel called “The Yoga Teacher” by Alexandra Gray.

I picked it up immediately, because of course – the novel was written about me : )

I wish.

I went back to my study area and googled the name of the book to read reviews and guess what I found….

Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnnnnnnn

http://books.google.ca/books?id=kBd7tKm0I0EC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Yoga+Teacher+Alexandra+Gray&source=bl&ots=72evYJhFcw&sig=IQ41yA-4wkIIDdtmvINpNTctmxI&hl=en&ei=kO-rS_2ZHcL-8AbPtb2FDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

It’s a pdf file that gives a full review of the book and I believe you can read the first chapter!

I encourage all of you to go and take long study/work/parenting/ life breaks and CLICK THAT LINK.

Please let me know what you think !!

I just watched he’s just not that into you

and I have created a new goal for myself: Become  a yoga instructor by age 30.

I know that 30 sounds like it’s very far away but I have a very adamant goal of becoming a lifeguard.

Realistically … who knows when that’s going to happen : (

I have a question that’ll boggle some brain cells…

why is it that we create these goals for ourselves and we (as i previously mentioned) are “adamant” to achieve them; however, if I look back at my track record for the last 20 years – I think I’ve only stayed devoted to about 2/10 of those “absolutely necessary” dreams.

Take Yoga for example; I LOVE it. when i go into practice, it makes me feel like new and I feel like a person that I sometimes dream of being. I’m sure some of you can empathize? Sometimes I get angry for no reason, I scowl when I should be smiling and every thought in my head is saying “stop reacting this way, stop reacting this way”

but that doesn’t make me stop!

and there are only 3.5 things in this world that make me feel like the person i WANT to be and not only dream to be.

Yoga

Swimming

Reading

.5 = working out

Yet I simply cannot create a ROUTINE to do it.

So my question is….why do we do that?? why is it that we want something so badly for ourselves and it means so much to us that we achieve our desire, yet half way through we forget about it? Or we remember, but we can’t get our lazy bums off our couch for long enough to actually put the required devotion to get there.

Maybe I’m blabbering

Maybe no one else is like me but me

but watching scarlett johansson in that movie teaching that yoga class made me feel all philosophical

so here i am!

Try saying it a few times over and over again.

I tried – It’s very hard.

I’m sorry guys that I haven’t been updating as often as I should – the goal was every other day but sometimes I take an extra day and that’s no good : (  It’s just because school is so hectic right now and profs have high expectations so have to meet them! But  – the yoga updates shall not stop I guarantee it.

Keep practicing!

And this post is a little preview for what’s coming up soon!

<3.

Enjoy : )

.

I’m mean and perhaps it’s not right to say “hate” in the vicinity of “yoga talk” because it’s supposed to be so calming and spiritual

but

i hate this posture!

It HURTS my ankle and I have never even gotten my hands under my feet to maintain balance long enough to continue on.

So

I will soon explain how to do it and why it’s good for you, and I’m genuinly hoping that some of my lucky readers will be able to do it :  )

I practiced it today but I decided that I should go to at least one more class and talk to the instructor about it – who knows, maybe i’ll understand it better? and then we all know I’ll be here going on a rant!

But before I leave you – let me tell you the basic.

In english this pose is called “Standing Head to Knee”

Yes : )

I just sang the ever so famous song from Space jam

When Michael Jordan walks into the looney tunes basketball course and just shows us his moves! Ooh yes.

I know…not yoga related. But I love that movie!! I watched it 11 times in a row on a 15 hour plane ride.

BUT the real question is…WHY have I sung this song?!

Well let me tell you!

Garurasana is also known as ……..

The Eagle Pose!

(but there is absolutely no flying involved – BUT if you do it right you do look like a squished together eagle!)

Have I got you interested yet?

GOOD! That was the point : )

Quite honestly I’m not very familiar with the English title of this position because my instructors always call it Garurasana in practice; however now that I know…the real test is whether I get distracted every time we do it!

Garurasana is a posture that requires severe compression. Like I said, you look like a squished eagle if you do it right – and that’s because you’re meant to be completely pressed together. Once you release all those tense muscles pressed up against each other, you feel like you have NEW blood flowing through your body and it has a warm and chocolately sensation.

How do you do it?

So this position is one of the most complicated I find.

Start with your legs apart and raise your hands straight up.

Then SWING them and let your right elbow fit nicely under your left one. Try to wrap your arm as far around the other one as you can.

Some people instantly find it easy to hold both hands together and others find it extremely challenging

(me being one of those challenged people – my arms are just too blubbery)

So for people like me – I would suggest to twist your arms as tight as you can like wrenching a sponge and then touch your arms to opposite shoulders.

Your forearms are right in front of your face and your right thumb should be around your nose.

Keep your head up! And it should feel very difficult to hold them closed – but YOUCAN DO IT!

Now, lower your elbows so that they are touching the top of your thighs and bend your knees. It is not a similar squat like Utkatasana, but it’s a simply bend as though you are going to sit on a chair. Bend your knees and sit down, then shift alllll your weight to your legs.

A warning: there’s still more!

Slowly lift your right leg in front of you.

SLOWLY.

And try to cross the bottom of your right knee over top the left (just like your arms are!!)

The ultimate goal is to get your right foot wrapped around your left calf – but I’m still not there so take your time.

From personal experience…your first instinct is going to be to TOPPLE OVER. But fight it!!!!

The way to keep your balance is by SEVERELY SQUEEEEEZING everything together.

Your inner thighs should feel like FIRE ( oooo yes )

Now that you’ve found your balance, inhale to extend and exhale to sit deeper into the posture.

Keep your head UP and look into the mirror. If you see yourself hunched over …straighten out your back. Press extra hard when making these adjustments because the sudden chance of posture might take you off guard and cause you to lose your balance.

Do this for about 8 – 10 seconds

Stand up SLOWLY and completely unwind yourself.
If it doesn’t feel like Nirvana being built within your insides – I don’t know what you find happiness in because I feel like that is the BEST feeling in all of yoga.

Of course, once you have done one set, you can take a few second break but thennn…ON TO THE NEXT SIDE!

lucky you.

Why do we do this posture??

• It helps you release the tension in your bones
• Makes you more flexible
• Makes you feel like a God when you unwind
• Stretches out your shoulders, arms, neck, and I feel a stretch in my thighs as well – but not all people do.
• I read on the internet that this posture also sends fresh blood to your REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM! go babies : )
• AND you will be happy to know – it sends fresh blood to your “sex organs”  (hm…I wonder what that means)
• There is a weight loss aspect to this posture because you will feel sore in your calves, thighs, hips, abs, and somewhat your bum. Let’s tone tone tone!

I’ve never really understood why because…it isn’t that awkward. I find a lot of the other positions in yoga to be significantly more awkward than this one! But whatever the reasoning – that’s the name.

I think this position is one of my favourite because it makes me burnt he most. After a few seconds I’m dripping sweat and I feel as though I’ve gone for a lengthy run because my legs get so sore. Utkatasana is very challenging, therefore extremely strengthening for the body. People that do not frequently do any kind of physical activity geared towards leg strengthening are going to find it very difficult – so please take it slow.

There are a lot of points to remember with this position:

Keep your bum back

Your knees should NOT pass your toes

Keep your shoulders secured in their sockets

Chin up

Abs in

Keep your arm muscles tight

Knees apart!

and surprise surprise: keep your breath going!!

To begin:

Stand with your feet slightly apart (don’t make them into a V), and raise your hands right in front of you making them parallel to the ground. Your palms should be facing the floor and knuckles to the ceiling. Tense your muscles but make sure this doesn’t make your shoulders pop out of their socket, because that will be a natural reaction!

Now that you have the top of your body set up, next, slowly start raising your feet in the air so that you are on your tippy toes. ( it hurts at first because your toes are not used to carrying your body weight – but i promise you, it’s worth the pain so just try your best to stick with it!)

Now that you’re in this most pleasant position …lets make it worse : )  Slowly start to lower your bum as though you’re going into a squat; similar to the rules of a squat: keep your back straight as though you are slowly making your way into a squatting position against a wall, make sure your chin is up, and your KNEES ARE NOT PASSING YOUR TOES! That’s very bad for them and can severely injure you. (PLUS. it’s not the right way to do it so if you’re going to put yourself through the torture, at least make it worth it ! )

So slowly lower yourself into a squat – with your toes raised – and breathe.

Count to 10 very slowly. (yes. VERY) and then start coming up very slowly.

Do this a total of 3 times, and then rest your arms but letting them hang over your head with bend elbows – Man it feels sooooooooo gooood once you get to release the tension.

But honestly, even though this position is absolute agony, it works out your legs like you CANNOT imagine! It increases the circulation of blood throughout your body and eventually takes away feet pain. I have extremely flat feet and when i started off practicing this position i felt like hell had come knocking on my door because it made my feet very tense and I just felt like I would fall over. But the good news is, overtime the pains started decreasing and even though I don’t believe it’ll ever be as easy for me to do as it is for other people, at least it helped me with my problem a little bit!

NOW I can wear my sexy strappy sandals and heel boots for longer!

* this is how my studio has taught me to practice utkatasana; however, in many cases you are supposed to start the position with your feet flat, then go into a squat.

step 2= stand up and THEN raise your toes and go into a squat

and repeat step 2 twice.

So do which ever one makes more sense to you – and listen to your body! Don’t push it because you want Britney Spears’ legs

Just do it frequently throughout the day as a workout posture even because I do – and maybe that’s cheating? But we love breaking the rules don’t we

A few points to remember before starting are: when you are reaching for your ankles, make sure you do not hyper extend the back of your knees! I’ve tried that before…and it definitely did not feel like it was good for my legs! The ultimate goal is to be able to do this pose without bending your knees because this will allow the most effective stretch; however, it’s important to take slow and patient steps to reach that point.

Like we have started the past positions, go to the front of your mat and kiss your big toes with your heels far apart. Slowly bend forward towards the ground reaching your fingers to the side of your ankles. Once you get there – let all the blood rush to your head and let yourself go. Sometimes we tend to try and prevent our body from toppling over by keeping control in the back of necks and shoulders because it is a natural reaction to the misbalance of our body – avoid doing that!  It’ll end up backfiring and causing you to strain the back of your neck muscle instead! Just trust your balance, and let your head hang.

If you are feeling extra ambitious and are comfortable enough to extend the stretch even further, reach your hands to cup opposite elbows. Next, shake your head from right to left (just like nodding yes or no) Now that I’m imagining what I’m typing, it sounds like this position is very weird to act out; but even then,  it actually feels very soothing and relaxing to do!

By doing this action, you are warming up your body and letting your heart rate reach the necessary point to give you the required energy for the rest of the routine. From this point onwards, the positions require heavier breathing and more balance, body strength and flexibility.

Like I said earlier, do not rush to make your legs completely straight because this can be very painful and harmful. Instead, use the inhalation and exhalation strategy I suggested in half-moon to extend and lengthen. As you keep trying, you will eventually be able to reach your goal because your muscles will be trained for it, and will no longer feel a strain on them.

Hold the forward bend for 15 seconds, then take a deep breath and exhale, and at the next slow inhale,  lift your head up slowly. Aim to touch your head to the ceiling, and let it lead you into a standing position. You are most definitely going to feel dizzy when you get back – so just like I suggested before, close your eyes and slow down your breathing until your head stops buzzing.

And officially: we are beginning the routine which promotes stress relief and sweat, sweat, sweat!!

Here we begin the first posture of the Bikram Yoga heated series – yayyy : ) !

You’ve made it this far and have the basics of being a yogi in tact; so lets keep learning. Ardha -Chandarsana is also known as the half moon pose. Until I sat down to write this post, I never realized why that was its title and what relevance it had to the posture (which is actually pretty embarrassing because I fluently speak Hindi) In hindi, Ardha means half and Chand means Moon…so let me give you my delayed insight…it’s called the half moon pose because it resembles…get ready for it…

A half moon!

Some key points to remember: Breathe breathe breathe! Every breath counts!

I’ve been going on and on about how vital the breath is in my last two posts, but I’m actually going to put a twist on that lecture and add in another fact: From this posture you will learn the significance of the inhalation breath vs. the exhalation breath and their unique roles in our practice.

How do you do it?

I want you to do a set of 3 Pranayama breaths which will entail you standing at the edge of your mat with your big toes touching and your heels far apart. Once you have finished, rest your arms at your sides for a few seconds and then raise your hands above your head and touch your palms together. Interlock your thumb, pinky, ring, and middle fingers and extend your index fingers to the ceiling.

Straighten your arms completely on either side of your head so that your biceps are kissing your ears. The first time I performed this posture, I had hyper extended my arms towards the ceilings and found that the extension that follows this step was slightly painful, so many sure that your shoulders are in their sockets and if it is a natural reaction for them to pop out; be aware of that and try to break the habit!

Currently you look like you’re blocking your arms of all sounds with your fingers in a somewhat shooting gun position pointing to the sky. The next step is to slightly stretch upwards, press your palms together, push your hips to the left and without moving your legs, and start bending towards the right. Don’t flex your arms or legs, keep everything soft and relaxed – and just go.

If you are facing a mirror, look at your reflection; this will allow you to raise your chin so that your breath can flow smoothly down your throat and it will give you a view of your armpits! Notice whether one armpit is more visible than the others, and if both are not facing the mirror equally, make an adjustment. Your goal is to have your whole front body facing the mirror equally, and the only movement in your body is the bend.

HERE COMES THE IMPORTANT PART! So I’m sure you’ll find that your torso is not very willing to give you the elasticity necessary for a bend – I mean you have no help from your legs or arms and barely any help from your hips; but since your goal is to become a Yogi superstar (of course : ), you can use your breathing to emphasize your side bend and allow you to absorb maximum benefits.

Repeat this to yourself a few times: Inhale to extend, exhale to bend.

Take in one sip of air and reach your arms deeper into the right side of the room as you slightly come out of your bend. As you exhale that air, allow your body to go into a deeper bend than you were in before the inhale.

The goal in the long run is to feel a comfortable stretch in the extended side of your body.

Remain in this stretch for about 10 – 12 seconds and then SLOWLY bring yourself back into a standing position. In my first time, I felt very dizzy and my arms were throbbing. So give your eyes a few second rest and bend your arms from the elbows backwards to get the feeling back in them!

Once you have been standing for a couple of seconds, catch your breath – position your body once again, and repeat on the opposite side.

It’s important to remember that although both sides of your body seem similar, they are not. They have different experiences and are bound to have various reasons to complain. For example: If you are someone like me that has carried a bag pack on her right shoulder for majority of her middle school and high school career, the muscles in the right side of your body are going to be more sore than the left, causing that side of the body to be more tense than the other. As a result, I find that when I extend towards the left, it is much more painful than when extending to the right because, ultimately, yoga is a source of stretch. Imagine when you go for a long run and then lie on your back for a few minutes of stretching. I literally have tears forming in my eyes because of the pain; this is due to sore muscles. So do not get disheartened if you have a similar story – everyone’s body reacts differently from someone else’s, and more importantly – every part your body will react differently from the others. So if you find that you are in a deeper crescent on one side compared to the other, there is no reason to worry – but what that does give reason to do is…KEEP INHALING AND EXHALING and the other side will be just as bendy in no time : )

The benefits of Half Moon Posture:

Ardha Chandarsana stretches your torso and core muscles as well as your arm, hip and neck muscles. I’ve gathered from research that this posture increases spine flexibility, and helps the successful functionality of the kidney.

It tones your abs, hips, jiggly bum and thigs, and your waist! (Kim Kardashian body, here I come!)

I know that you may feel a little discomfort in your throat for a while and your balance may be off for the first few sessions – but keep at it guys. Just think of everything it firms and strengthens – that’s just more than enough for me.

(At least I’m honest!)

Shavasana

I was uninformed and that was the WRONG thing to do!

When you perform any amount of heated yoga, your heart beat will race, your sweat will drip and your muscles will be extremely sore – especially if you are a beginner (this could also be true of non-heated yoga, but I have only practiced it months ago and do not really remember)

At the end of my first session – I felt as though I was going to pass out. I could feel my heart beat in my brain and my ears were CRIMSON red. I thought it would end as though any workout would, by sitting down for a little while and waiting for your heartbeat to slow down and then out you go; however, after the floor routine and spine exercises, when I literally thought that I just couldn’t take anymore, Hannah dimmed the lights and asked us to lay on our back in Shavasana. As I mentioned, I did it for a couple of minutes and although it was relaxing; no one ever stopped me when I was leaving before everyone else. I thought that they wanted to relax a little while longer, and that was all there was to it.

Again…I was wrong!

To understand the beauty that lies within yoga, you need to understand that every position has a unique purpose without which, the routine is not really complete. You do not exactly get to reap all the benefits of spending that minimum of an hour bending in every which way and sweating all the icky’ness out of your body. So what seems like lying down on the ground with your eyes closed to the naked eye – is actually what makes you aware of nothing else on your body except your breath, heartbeat and their connection with your mind. It is the first step in connecting the 3 vital parts of oneself in yoga:

Mind, Body, and Breath

(For the purpose of this blog, let’s call them your B2M)

So primarily, Shavasana unwinds you. Your eyebrows rest, your body sinks deeper and deeper into the earth and although one remains aware of what they are doing – surprisingly, it is actually very hard to remember what you were stressing about all day or even to produce any thoughts except for an utter silence and deep serenity with your B2M.
All you are is relaxed. What you should be thinking about in Shivasana: is nothing.

All you should be feeling in Shivasna: is your breath and your heartbeat.

I’m being redundant, but it’s just THAT important that you understand that. Once you understand the connection between B2M – you will remember its importance all throughout the routine.

So in this posture, you are benefiting your entire system by lying on your mat for a minimum of 20 minutes. The science behind it is that after losing so many toxins and such an extreme work out, we need to let our muscles release and our system cool. It is ideal that you use pranayama breathing I mentioned before. Breath very slowly and more important, CONTROL each breath. Feel the inhale through your nose and the slow exhale from your mouth. Imagine when you are extremely angry at someone or a situation and you don’t want to yell – what do we tend to do then? We close our eyes and some of us count backwards from 10 but essentially we significantly slow down our breath.

Do we ever wonder why we do that?

Nope! not really – It’s just an automatic instinct. The reason we do it is because it’s meant to be the quickest way to calm us down. It allows us to take our mind off the situation and by breathing slowly we’re taking the focus off that situation and gearing it to something else. I hope that helped me emphasize why breathing slowly is necessary!

Now – although I make it seem like we are just meant to lay there in any which way – that isn’t the ideal posture of Shavasana. It is vital to lie on your back with your chin slightly lifted away from your chest. This allows for your breath to flow smoothly into your throat through your nose and fill your lungs with the utmost amount of pure air. I’ve tried doing it another way, with my chin a bit closer to my chest – it doesn’t feel as great. First off it made pranayama breathing very difficult to do because my chin blubber got in the way of the scratchy inhalation and the exhalation was also slightly blocked.

Now, your arms and legs. The “right” way to Shivasana is to put your arms in a slight V away from your torso and have your palms facing the ceiling. You are meant to stay there for the entire time; however, I personally like that position for 12 – 15 minutes and then I try to put my arms over my head so my armpits are facing the ceiling. I don’t connect my hands or anything, I just let them lay there lazily. Maybe I prefer making the switch because I find it comfortable to change positions in my sleep, and sometimes even find myself in that position; overall I feel like getting a different angle of circulation feels refreshing. Your legs should be spread apart – but not too wide because after a while you may get a cramp in your hips (or maybe I just do because mine are a bit chunky so I feel as though the chub gets cramped underneath) When I move my arms above my head, I also like to make my legs into a frog like diamond shape. My knees go on either side (right and left side of my body) and I kiss my heels together. Again, I like doing this because I feel like its relaxing to let the blood flow in a different way. Mind you, these variations I make are NOT the proper definition of shavasana but I believe that they fulfil the purpose that the position is meant to accomplish!

So! I’m going to end my “lecture” on the position but not without the last EXTREME emphasis on how important it is. I don’t know why I keep repeating it because as soon as you try it…you definitely won’t want to get out of it. The reality of the situation is that living in North America we always complain about how busy life is. We’re all somewhat workaholics and if not – we’re stressing about getting home in time to catch our favourite TV shows; point is, we’re ALWAYS rushing! Rushing for the bus, rushing to skip rush hour traffic, rushing to catch a movie, speedy speedy speedy; always on the go! So when we do get that little bit of time in a Yoga class, which they specifically schedule  to allow us at least half an hour of doing NOTHING and it feels WONDERFUL, we should take advantage of it : )

Oh!

P.s – one last benefit to Shavasana. If you have insomnia, or some nights you find that you are extremely sleepy but just have too much on your mind to fall asleep – Shivasana REALLY helps! About 5 years ago I had a terrible week and I found it very difficult to sleep. Near the end of the week I was getting additionally stressed because I was not being able to sleep – which of course, further prevented me from sleeping. When I google’d remedies they suggested that I lie on my bed sprawled out and release all my muscles. If I felt like my eyebrows were tense – I should release them. A few years later I learnt that in Yoga – that position is called Shavasana.

So guys, try it! Let everything go …and you’ll have a brighter smile in no time : )

Ultimately that’s the most important, how happy you are, how positive you feel – and how much you learn to love life for everything it is!