During a yoga class that I would take after school when I was in high school, the student who was teaching us to do yoga was very skilled in it. She had a toned, sleek, athletic build that make it seem like she was built to do yoga. This made her classes a bit intimidating, but she was kind and offered to help if someone was having trouble with the pose. However, looking back at it, she was doing some pretty advanced poses. I remember doing this one pose, I cant recall the name of it, but I believe it involved standing up, legs spread apart, hips facing away from the direction we were looking, and bending over to touch our legs somehow and have one arm up in the air. I remember this was a very difficult pose for me because, not only am I not very flexible in my legs, but I a also was not liking the sensation of my ribs and my hip touching and feeling like my ribs were digging into my stomach. It was a very unnatural and extremely uncomfortable pose that I had difficulty doing, and it was only made worse by the fact that everyone else seemed to do it just fine. Needless to say, the classes were interesting and fun, but poses like that were just too much for me, so I quit. Since joining Sophia's class, I have learned that poses aren't meant to be done in a way that it hurts you, and she makes it easy to come up with a compromise that is more comfortable and easy to do. In her class, I feel like I can really finally learn how to be flexible and how to live more comfortably. This is probably why I am enjoying it so much more than I used to and why I am staying in the class and loving it!
bluefox wrote: During a yoga class that I would take after school when I was in high school, the student who was teaching us to do yoga was very skilled in it. She had a toned, sleek, athletic build that make it seem like she was built to do yoga. This made her classes a bit intimidating, but she was kind and offered to help if someone was having trouble with the pose. However, looking back at it, she was doing some pretty advanced poses. I remember doing this one pose, I cant recall the name of it, but I believe it involved standing up, legs spread apart, hips facing away from the direction we were looking, and bending over to touch our legs somehow and have one arm up in the air. I remember this was a very difficult pose for me because, not only am I not very flexible in my legs, but I a also was not liking the sensation of my ribs and my hip touching and feeling like my ribs were digging into my stomach. It was a very unnatural and extremely uncomfortable pose that I had difficulty doing, and it was only made worse by the fact that everyone else seemed to do it just fine. Needless to say, the classes were interesting and fun, but poses like that were just too much for me, so I quit. Since joining Sophia's class, I have learned that poses aren't meant to be done in a way that it hurts you, and she makes it easy to come up with a compromise that is more comfortable and easy to do. In her class, I feel like I can really finally learn how to be flexible and how to live more comfortably. This is probably why I am enjoying it so much more than I used to and why I am staying in the class and loving it!
Denise White, Lakewood, CO
thanks for sharing Denise and its a pleasure having you in class, I hope you'll move on to the Advanced class in May . - see you tomorrow
Intro to YOGA- Physical Benefits
(however, only the combination of breath and movement makes yoga what it is, otherwise it is only stretching) Flexibility: Stretching your body in new ways will help it to become more flexible, bringing greater range of motion to muscles and joints. Over time, you will gain more flexibility in your hamstrings, back, shoulders, and hips. Strength: yoga poses show you to support the weight of your own body in new ways, including balancing poses(such as in Tree Pose) or supporting yourself with your arms (such as in Downward Facing Dog). Some exercises require you to move slowly in and out of poses, which also increases strength. Vinyasa yoga (the style that I teach is a flow yoga, suited for beginners and advanced students alike) Muscle tone: over time you will be getting stronger, and you will see increased muscle tone. Yoga helps shape long, lean muscles. Pain Prevention: Increased flexibility and (especially core) strength can help prevent some types of back pain. Spending a lot of time sitting at a computer or driving a car can cause back pain which can cause tightness and spinal compression, which you can begin to address with yoga. Yoga also improves your alignment and posture which helps prevent many other types of pain. Better Breathing: Most of us breathe very shallowly and don't give much thought to how we breathe. Yoga breathing exercises, called Pranayama, focus the attention on the breath and teach us how to better use our lungs, which benefits the entire body. Certain types of breath can also help clear the nasal passages and even calm the central nervous system, which has both physical and mental benefits.
Ayurveda is considered the sister science of YOGA -
there are many benefits to living an ayurvedic/yogic lifestyle. One of Ayurveda's most important concepts is that of doshas :
A dosha is one of three bodily humors that make up one's constitution according to Ayurveda. These teachings are also known as the Tridosha system (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosha)
this will be an 8 week class for the total novice to yoga,
Start: March 17, 9-10am at Royal Yoga
We will start from the very beginning and very slow, so this class is suited for EVERYONE; however, it would be important to attend all 8 classes in order to get a thorough understanding of yoga and learn the poses correctly as well as gaining the benefit of breathing exercises and meditation.
Pre-registration required.
Cost: approximately $80 for 8 week package
please see my website and/or contact me for more information and registration for the class.
US Army Embracing Yoga
By Jason Wachob
I'm a huge fan of David Lynch's "Operation Warrior Wellness", which aims to teach 10,000 veterans meditation to help them deal with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). When I heard WWII veteran, Jerry Yellin, speak at Lynch's press conference and say he "sees the sights and hears the sounds from the war to this day," and no matter what success he had, he couldn't experience fulfillment until 1975 when he learned meditation, I was blown away.
Finally had a chance to try on the new yoga clothes. LOVE THEM! The shirt is perfect, nice and long, fits just tight enough not to ride up or fall down when upside down. Love the fabric in the shirt as well. The shirt and the bra look really nice together, I'm glad I got the pair. Love the pants too. The wide waist band is perfect for keeping my poochy tummy in and the pair look great together.
. - see you tomorrow 
