Big Greenie

Big greenie, is the perfect smoothie where you are short on time and prep yet you want all the goodness!  With probiotics in the kombucha, omega 3's in the chia, Protein in the chia and spirulina along with vitamin A, K1, K2, B12, iron and magnesium, Vitamin C, B6, Maganese, calcium and antioxidants in the kale powder.  Perfect winter smoothie with room temperature banana to fight those winter bugs.

I'm normally pretty good at having my pre chopped and frozen smoothie blends in the freezer, but sometimes if I've been traveling or out and about, I need a go to smoothie thats quick and no prep required.  Say hello to big greenie!

• Chantal Organics Kale powder
• Chantal Organics Spirulina powder
• Homemade ginger kombucha (ok so there was prep there!) or coconut water if theres no pooch.
• Banana
• Chantal Organics Chia seeds

Blend in the nutribullet or something similar and enjoy!

Yoga for building self esteem and confidence

We have all heard about the health benefits of yoga, it can improve strength,flexibility and muscle tone, it can help you become more aware of your posture and calmer in the mind. What a lot of people don’t know, however, is that yoga can also play a great role in increasing your self esteem and confidence. I believe true confidence comes from an authentic connection to your true self, and yoga is a systemised science that can provide the pathway towards this self realisation. 

Without self confidence, we let fear take control and we can end up in some pretty awful situations.  My self esteem was at an all time low in 2004, and this led me to be in, and stay in, an abusive relationship for two years. I became physically ill and along with that, I felt the weakest I have ever felt in my life. Getting out of the house and going to yoga was the only time I had a glimpse of my true self, and that self had become overshadowed by fear and insecurity. Practising yoga helped remind me that I was strong, it helped me to become clearer in my mind and re-build my broken spirit. I’d love to share with you some key parts of the practice to help with confidence and self esteem, and to remember that you are strong, you are worthy and you are more than enough. 

How does yoga really help?

The World Health Organisation defines health as a dynamic state of complete physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellbeing and not merely as the absence of disease or infirmity. Yoga views the mind, body and spirit as one, aiming to balance the entire system. The effects that practising yoga has on the personality (gunas) has been measured and proven to help self esteem and confidence. 

According to a 2009 study in the International Journal of Yoga, “Yoga helps in the improvement in gunas (personality) and self esteem. These findings reveal that yoga has greater influence on holistic personality growth (gunas) when compared to routine physical exercise. Hence, it can be considered independently to promote quality of life and health, prevent chronic diseases, and to promote socio-economic development.”

Love your body

Yoga poses and exercises can help give your muscles a more toned appearance that help you to feel and look better. Thanks to the breathing practices of yoga, more oxygen can enter your muscles, and it’s said that this can provide your whole system more vital energy (prana). Yoga has helped me to view my body less from the outside and look more in wonder at the brilliant architecture and workings of the body as a whole. Learning to appreciate the amazing things our body can do, rather than focusing on what we can’t do or don’t like is hugely empowering and helps to re-focus the mind.

You can’t do everything!

Self-confidence helps us get rid of fear of the things that we cannot do. However, the truth of the matter is that we cannot do everything, but this doesn't necessarily mean that we should feel bad about having limitations. Anyone who has got on the mat realises that yoga is extremely humbling and can help you understand more about your mind as well as your body. With yoga, you can become more aware of your limitations, as well as your potential. Becoming aware of our potential also means that we can become more aware of the limiting thoughts and actions that get in our way.  Meditation can help you grasp the concept that limitations are not downfalls, but simply shortcomings that have to be accepted. When we stop trying to do everything, we give ourselves space to focus on what is really important.

Time to digest

Imagine if you never gave yourself the time to digest your food, with no time to eliminate what you didn’t need.  You’d be constipated, right? We all know the importance of the physical digestive process, yet we don’t seem to place the same importance on mental digestion. We all need time to digest our thoughts, feelings and emotions or the mind gets overwhelmed and ‘constipated’!  A build-up of negative thoughts can ultimately lead to depression, but meditation and breathing practices can help you digest these thoughts and declutter the mind. Once you learn how to deal with stress, your self confidence will increase as you feel more able to deal with life’s problems.

Self esteem and confidence in practice

Yoga practice - Stand in your strength

Rethinking stress for a full, enriched life

Ever found your heart beating faster as you sit in a traffic jam on the way to work? Do you snap at the kids as you try to hurry them out the door to school?

If you’re experiencing signs of stress before the day has even properly started, yogi and wellness practitioner Nikki Ralston says it could be time to rethink your response.

Stress is a part of life we can’t avoid, says Nikki, so changing your view of it and altering your day to day life are a big part of managing it.

In a recent talk at our Auckland shop, she shared some great tips for rethinking your response to stress.

Ritual

Nikki’s a big fan of ‘micro rituals’ that help us move from one part of our day to the next without carrying stress between them. One of the techniques for achieving this is a relaxation exercise: sit tall and close your eyes, be aware of physical stress in your body, feel your breath, take conscious breaths inhaling through the nose and out through the mouth, letting go of stress as you exhale.

Connection

Nikki loves bringing down the barrier to connection through her massage work, where she finds touch makes people more willing to share their vulnerability. She says working with a diverse range of clients has shown that people share the same insecurities and fears. And she says scientists have shown that reaching out to other people during a stressful life event is an effective way to improve your mood, with researchers suggesting the hormone oxytocin plays a big part in this.

“Oxytocin is also produced under the stress response. If we reach out to another person we start to produce more of it and lower the stress response in our own body and in the person we’ve reached out to.”

Stop the glorification of busy

Nikki says there’s a tipping point when stress turns to distress in the body and mind. But those who have developed effective strategies to deal with day to day stressors are less likely to develop negative physical and psychological symptoms, she says.

To come back from the “slippery slope” Nikki found herself on a few years ago, she decided to stop being a “juggler” – someone who could give only a short time to each part of life.

“[Being a juggler] means I’m only holding onto these precious things for fleeting moments.  I don’t want that because these are the things I really value that are closest to my heart. I want to be really present when I’m teaching yoga and really be a mother.”

Nikki says “busy” has become a blanket response when people ask how we’re doing, but she now tells people that her life is full with many things. That then prompts people to ask what’s filling her life.

Know the signs of stress

Stress can cause many physical symptoms, including headaches, nervousness, irritability, mental health problems, acne and other skin issues, a faster heartbeat, muscle aches and tension, nausea, heartburn, digestive problems, irregular or painful periods, increased blood sugar and an increased risk of diabetes.

Clean up what’s around you

Nikki says the things around us, what we put on our skin and clean our clothes and houses with, can also be stressors. She recommends taking as much care about the chemicals we use on and around us as we do about other stressors. She started using ecostore products when her father became seriously ill, but says people don’t need to wait for life changing events like this to start using eco products.

Meditation and yoga

Meditation is proven to make us more resilient to stress, while yoga can be used to help us handle life situations at different points on the stress spectrum, Nikki says. For example, a seated pose is practice for calmer conditions, while more strenuous poses help us handle highly stressful situations, she says. And meditation doesn’t have to take up a huge amount of time - Nikki says waking meditation can be done while in the car on the way to work and might only take five minutes.

Sit

You might not think of sitting down if you’re in a stressful situation, but Nikki finds sitting in nature and sitting to meditate helps reduce stress.

She also uses the acronym I SIT as a way to remember four methods of dealing with stress - Identify, Strengths, Imbalance, and Tension.

Identify:
By identifying and journaling your stress triggers, you’ll notice patterns and can form strategies to deal with them, she says.

Strengths:
Rather than getting caught up in the demands of daily life, we can identify the things that strengthen us, like walks on the beach, and do more of them. Part of being strengthened, Nikki says, it also about getting real with yourself and acknowledging that you won’t be good at or enjoy everything.

Imbalance:
Striving for imbalance means deliberately shifting your life towards those things that strengthen you, Nikki says.

Tension:
Nikki recommends finding ways to release and reduce tension in your body and in those closest to you. Whether its massage, a warm bath, a long walk on the beach or a good talk with a friend.  Do what releases stress and tension and understand what your partners needs are to release stress. 

"Life is what you make of it and we all deserve to live a rich and fulfilling life"

Yoga poses for sports performance

I came to yoga as a competitive athlete, trying to stretch out my tight runner’s hip flexors and to calm my overly competitive spirit. From the beginning I loved the physical challenge of the poses and I left that very first class feeling, lighter, taller and more at peace with myself. Unlike many other forms of training, the practice of yoga unfolds over time to reveal many layers of physical benefits and personal revelations.

More and more people are discovering the many ways yoga can be used to improve athletic performance—from increasing mental concentration and improving flexibility and balance to preventing common injuries and honing skills in a particular sport.

Whether by creating an entire training program for elite athletes or by simply integrating a few yoga poses into an existing fitness routine, I utilise yoga as an effective cross-training tool. I’ve found that yoga helps athlete clients, fitness fiends and weekend warriors to feel, perform and live with more ease and increased energy.

Running

I know from experience that runners pound and hammer their bodies on different hard surfaces, resulting in injury or overuse to the muscles and tendons of the legs, feet, hips and lower back. One of the best yoga poses for runners is eka pada rajakapotasana prep (pigeon pose prep) which stretches many muscles, including the hip flexors, the gluteals and the piriformis, psoas, lower back and groin muscles. Also good for runners are any lunging poses that lengthen the achilles tendon and soleus muscles—for example, the low lunge. To deeply stretch the hamstrings, the best choice is parsvottanasana (intense side stretch pose).

 Eka pada rajakapotasana prep (pigeon pose prep)

Low lunge

Parsvottanasana 

Swimming

Swimmers tend to have a strong front body and often encounter shoulder problems. Rotator cuff injuries or shoulder tendonitis (also called ‘swimmer’s shoulder’) occur when the rhomboids are not held in place when the arm is raised in the freestyle stroke. Instead of the muscle carrying the weight of the arm, the tendon bears the burden. Over time the tendon becomes frayed and aggravated. In urdhva mukha svanasana (upward-facing dog), your instructor may tell you that the shoulder blades need to drop down the back - the same principle as swimming. Baddha konasana (bound angle pose), demonstrates a healthy external rotation of the hip. For many people, though, the hips remain locked and stiff. In a swimmer, this congestion can manifest in a faulty breaststroke kick. Hero pose (virasana) is also very good for swimmers’ ankles, helping the foundation of the kick.

Downward-facing dog and Upward-facing dog

Baddha konasana (bound angle)

Virasana (hero pose)

You can sit on height under the buttocks to ease pressure on the knees.  Make sure when you place your feet that you are on the top of your foot and the ankle is not rolling out.  If this plantar flexion is difficult then fool a blanket or towel and place it under the front of the ankle joint.

Golf

Golfers need to repeatedly twist their body in one direction to swing a golf club. Mastering the sport of golf requires tremendous strength in the entire torso. To strengthen and flex the spine, try utthita parsvakonasana and bhujangasana (cobra pose). Golfers can also gain strength, flexibility and stability by doing twisting poses, such as ardha matsyendrasana (pretzel pose).

Utthita parsvakonasana (side angle pose)           Bhujangasana (cobra pose)

Ardha matsyendrasana (pretzel pose)

Skiing

Skiers often incur injuries in their low back and knees. Skiers also tend to have over-developed quadriceps and weak/tight hamstrings. These conditions can be improved by doing poses that strengthen the joints and muscles of the low back, knees and posterior legs. Examples to try are modified virabhadrasana (modified warrior pose with hands floor or blocks), paschimottanasana (seated forward fold pose), supta padangusthasana prep (supine hand-to-big-toe pose prep) and bhujangasana (cobra pose), the last of which is above.

Modified virabhadrasana 3 (modified warrior 3)      Paschimottanasana (seated forward fold pose)

Supta padangusthasana prep (supine hand-to-big-toe pose prep)

Tennis

Because of the demands of tennis, players often lose their suppleness in the back and torso and deplete the strength in their shoulders, elbows and wrists. Prasarita padottanasana (legs spread wide, forward bend while standing) is excellent for opening the shoulders; it also deeply stretches the hamstrings and adductors. Other good choices for tennis players are utkatasana (chair pose), which strengthens the abdominal muscles and stretches the achilles tendon, calves and spinal column, and virabhadrasana 2 (warrior 2 pose), which builds strength and balance, especially in the lower body. Another excellent pose for strengthening and lengthening muscles of concern for tennis players is setubandha sarvangasana (bridge pose).

Prasarita padottanasana

Utkatasana (chair pose)                                        Revolved chair pose

virabhadrasana 2 (warrior 2 pose)                        Reverse warrior

Setubandha sarvangasana (bridge pose)            Supported bridge

Cycling

Due to the nature of their sport, cyclists tend to have very tight hips and quadriceps. Due to kyphosis of the lower back, these athletes also need to stretch in ways that extend the spine; poses that address this spinal curvature help increase circulation around the lower vertebrae. Like swimmers, cyclists benefit most from poses that stretch and strengthen the back and open the chest. Examples are bhujangasana (cobra pose) (shown above), dhanurasana prep (bow pose prep), with hands reaching toward the feet) and ustrasana prep (camel pose prep), with hands on the sacrum rather or reaching to the heels). An optimal pose to stretch tight hips and quads is eka pada rajakapotasana prep (pigeon pose prep), which is above in the poses for runners.

Dhanurasana prep (bow pose prep)

Ustrasana prep (camel pose prep)

Meditation and breathing to reduce stress

With busy work routines, stress levels may start to rise. But this is also the perfect time to catch yourself and start to create change. We can try to avoid stress as much as we want but the fact is, stress is unavoidable, it’s a natural part of life that we just can’t escape. So how about instead of trying to avoid stress we start to shift our perspective on stress and implement some effective strategies for coping in stressful times.

Stress can actually be a really positive thing, it can help to motivate you, it can propel you to rise to the occasion and perform to your best - think of athletes or when you have to give a public speech. Stress can also move you into making change in your life.

We often look back at those stressful times in our life with hindsight and feel grateful because it was a catalyst to make major change. Negative stress however is a stress that a person feels they can’t handle and the situation becomes overwhelming. People deal with stress in different ways and the capacity to deal with stress changes throughout life - this is good to remember if we get frustrated by older relatives! However, those who have developed effective strategies to deal with day-to-day stressors are less likely to develop negative physical and psychological symptoms.

Modern day stress is more likely to be psychological in origin and prolonged in nature. Thanks to the work of the sympathetic nervous system, a surge of hormones are released into the body - adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine just to name a few. Over-exposure to these chemicals have a whole range of negative impacts on the body’s systems – such as the brain, cardiovascular, immune and digestive systems - as blood is drawn away from these vital organs in the ‘flight or fight’ response.

The chemical residue from stress leaves a trail in the body. You know how animals can smell and track fear? Well, this residue sits like battery acid in the muscles. Do you ever wake up with that stiff, burning sensation in your muscles? Listen to that sensation, it’s the early warning signs that your whole system is under stress, if ignored it can lead to a whole host of medical problems, like disease, adrenal fatigue and burnout.

Changing your response to stress

So that’s the bad news, but I invite you to consider this…what happens if we stop viewing stress as public enemy number one? By changing how we think about stress; can we start to change how our bodies respond?

I believe so, because under stress adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol are produced, but so is oxytocin popularly known as the ‘hugging hormone’, that enhances empathy, makes you more compassionate and caring, protects your cardiovascular system by helping heart cells to reproduce and well makes you feel good.

According to a 2013 study in the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology Journal, scientists found that reaching out to other people during a stressful event was an effective way to improve your mood, and researchers suggest that the hormone oxytocin may help you accomplish just that.

Just as stress releases chemicals in the body, joy releases its own powerful brand of chemicals that can help dissolve pain and fill you with feelings of happiness, like endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.

These chemicals are also the science behind yoga, for those who enjoy a connection with a scientific explanation. These joy chemicals are also highly addictive and you will come to enjoy and crave them.

The regular practice of yoga, including pranayama (breath work) and meditation, are powerful ways to arm yourself with a toolbox of techniques to help you navigate with more ease and grace through stressful times in your life, also helping you to become more aware of the early signs of stress and fatigue.

Here’s a guided 10 minute meditation to help calm and settle your mind and nervous system.

Settle and centre  on Vimeo

Breathing practices

Though practice of pranayama is safest and most effective when guided by an experienced teacher who knows your needs and capabilities, there are several simple techniques you can try at home as long as you’re in good health and you don’t push beyond your capacity.

The three breathing practices that follow—relaxed, diaphragmatic breathing; gentle ‘extended exhale’ breathing and nadi shodana (alternate nostril) breath—are a good introduction to pranayama. Each supports the parasympathetic nervous system, quiets the mind, and helps to bring about a state of more focused attention. As you continue to practice these techniques over time, you may start to notice when you are unintentionally holding your breath or breathing shallowly. You also may begin to associate patterns of the breath with your moods or states of mind. This self awareness is the first step toward using the practices of pranayama to help shift your patterns and, through regular practice, create positive change in your life.

Try each practice daily for a week and observe how it affects your body, breath, and mind in order to figure out which is best for you. You can do them at just about any time of day, though preferably not immediately following a large meal.

Basic breath awareness

This gentle introduction to diaphragmatic breathing teaches you how to breathe more fully and consciously.

Benefits

Quiets and calms the entire nervous system, reducing stress and anxiety and improving self-awareness.

Try it

At least once a day, at any time.

How to

Lie comfortably on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor about hip-distance apart. Place a palm on your abdomen and breathe comfortably for a few moments, noticing the quality of your breath. Does the breath feel tense? Strained? Uneven? Shallow? Simply observe the breath without any judgment. Then gradually begin to make your breathing as relaxed and smooth as possible, introducing a slight pause after each in breath and out breath.

Once the breath feels relaxed and comfortable, notice the movement of the body. As you inhale, the abdomen naturally expands; as you exhale, feel the slight contraction of the abdomen. In a gentle way, try to actively expand the abdomen on the inhale and contract the abdomen on the exhale to support the natural movement of the diaphragm and experience the pleasure of giving yourself a full, relaxed breath. Continue the practice for 6 to 12 breaths.

Alternate nostril breathing (nadi shoddana)

Alternating the breath between the nostrils balancing right and left hemispheres of the brain, and yin and yang energy in the body.

Benefits

Nadi shoddana is thought to be a cure all that can open all of our energy channels and bring calm and balance to the mind.

Try it

Once or twice a day

How to

Sit in a relaxed, comfortable position, breathing naturally and easily. When you feel ready, press your right thumb against your right nostril and inhale deeply through your left nostril. At the end of your inhalation, close off the left nostril with the ring finger, then exhale through the right nostril. Continue with this pattern, inhaling through the right nostril, closing it off with the right thumb, and exhaling through the left nostril. Practice for at least three minutes. When you finish, take some time to allow your breath to return to normal, noticing the changes in your breath and mind.

The long exhale

This 1:2 breathing practice, which involves gradually increasing your exhalation until it is twice the length of your inhalation, relaxes the nervous system.

Benefits

Can reduce insomnia, sleep disturbances, and anxiety.

Try it

Before bedtime to help support sleep, in the middle of the night when you’re struggling with insomnia, or at any time of the day to calm stress or anxiety. (In general, it’s best to avoid practicing 1:2 breathing first thing in the morning unless you’re experiencing anxiety. The relaxing effects of the practice tend to make it more difficult to get up and go on with your day.)

How to

Begin by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart. Place a palm on the abdomen and take a few relaxed breaths, feeling the abdomen expand on the inhalation and gently contract on the exhalation. With your palm on your abdomen, mentally count the length of each inhalation and exhalation for several more breaths. If the inhalation is longer than the exhalation, you can begin to make them the same length over the next few breaths.

Once your inhalation and exhalation are equal, gradually increase the length of your exhalation by 1 to 2 seconds by gently contracting the abdomen. As long as the breath feels smooth and relaxed, continue to gradually increase the exhalation by 1 to 2 seconds once every few breaths. Make sure you experience no strain as the exhalation increases and keep going until your exhalation is up to twice the length of the inhalation, but not beyond. For example, if your inhalation is comfortably 4 seconds, do not increase the length of your exhalation to more than 8 seconds.

Keep in mind that even an exhalation that is only slightly longer than the inhalation can induce a calming effect, so take care that you don’t push yourself beyond your capacity. (If you do, you’ll likely activate the sympathetic nervous system, or stress response, and feel agitated rather than calm.)

If your breath feels uncomfortable or short, or if you’re gasping on the next inhalation, back off to a ratio that is more comfortable for 8 to 12 breaths. Then finish your practice with 6 to 8 natural, relaxed breaths.

Beginners guide to yoga

Don’t be fooled by pictures of fancy yoga poses. The true practice of yoga begins with the desire to live a more peaceful existence, yet this is rarely the reason that will first bring you onto the mat.  As a beginner you may be completely unaware of the thing that brings students back to the mat time and time again, which is the connection of breath, mind, body and spirit.  As a beginner all I knew was that I felt, lighter, taller and ‘more like myself’ after a class.

Yoga is a doorway to a state of harmony that often gets lost amongst the constant buzzing of our phones, replying to emails and getting caught up in the busyness of life.

Why do people keep coming back to yoga?

Most people first come to yoga to get more flexible, or to be thinner or move better, of even get dragged along to class by a friend or partner. Some pursue yoga for the many health benefits, injury prevention or healing from injury or disease. Few people are even drawn to yoga to help find more calm and clarity and to answer some of the confusion and chaos in their lives, but what keeps all of them coming back is essentially the same.

A commitment to the sometimes challenging path of yoga brings us back home to ourselves and leads the way into happiness, bliss and contentment. One important factor in a student’s journey into this inner realm is the guidance they receive during their first year. Like a toddler, the beginner’s mind and heart are open, trusting in the information and guidance they receive. There is a huge responsibility on the teacher to lead the student with integrity, humility, wisdom and compassion. This precious first stage will often determine whether a student will continue on the path of yoga for its deeper psychological and spiritual benefits or be thrown out when the new fitness trend emerges.

Crucial points for a beginner yogi

• The goal of yoga is to bring your mind into a more calm and focused state and is more relevant than attaining the physical poses.
• It will be harder than you think at first, you will be using small muscles to balance and refine positions that you may not have used much, you will wobble, you may fall or stumble, and those things are great, you are using your mind and body in new ways and creating new connections.
• Relax and be patient, creating a sustainable practice for life rather than chasing elusive poses or trying to fast track the spiritual process. Just turn up on the mat and do the work.
• Aim to get on the mat 3 times a week and up to 6. Bringing a small and achievable practice into your daily life will bring more benefit than one class every few weeks. Start your mornings with a few sun salutes and notice how you feel moving into your day.
• Find a great teacher to guide you and inspire you – someone who is clear, open and attentive. Find a teacher who focuses more on how you do things rather than what you do.

How do I know which yoga style to choose?

In a world where we are spoiled for choice, yoga is no exception.  The large variety of yoga to choose from can be confusing and overwhelming.  Here are some main styles to help you find whats right for you.  If you are beginning, try out a few different styles of classes and look out for a great teacher perhaps being more important than style.

Hatha

By definition, hatha is a physical yoga practice, which is pretty much all yoga you’ll find in this hemisphere. One of the six original branches of yoga, hatha encompasses nearly all types of modern yoga. In other words, hatha is the ice cream if styles like ashtanga and Bikram are vanilla and chocolate chip. Today, classes described as hatha on studio schedules are typically a basic and classical approach to yogic breathing exercises and postures.

Iyengar

This is a purist yoga named after founder B.K.S. Iyengar. Props like blocks, straps, harnesses, and incline boards are used to get you more perfectly into positions and have earned the style its nickname ‘furniture yoga’. Appropriate for all ages and abilities, Iyengar yoga is all about precise alignment and deliberate sequencing. Don’t take that to mean easy.

Ashtanga

Six established and strenuous pose sequences — the primary series, second series, third series, and so on — practiced sequentially as progress is made. Ashtangis move rapidly, flowing from one pose to the next with each inhale and exhale. Each series of poses linked by the breath this way is called a vinyasa.

Vinyasa/power

This is an active and athletic style of yoga adapted from the traditional ashtanga system in the late 1980s to appeal to aerobic-crazed Westerners. After having studied with Pattabhi Jois, Beryl Bender Birch and Bryan Kest simultaneously pioneered this westernised ashtanga on the East and West coasts, respectively. Power yoga doesn’t stick to the same sequence of poses each time like ashtanga does, so the style varies depending on the teacher. Classes called vinyasa or flow in your gym or studio can be vastly different but in general stem from this movement and from ashtanga as well.

Yin

A quiet, meditative yoga practice, also called taoist yoga. Yin focuses on lengthening connective tissues and is meant to complement yang yoga—your muscle-forming ashtanga, Iyengar, Power Vinyasa and others. Yin poses are passive, meaning you’re supposed to relax muscles and let gravity do the work.  And they’re long — you’ll practice patience here too.

Jivamukti

A physical, limit-pushing practice that reintegrates yoga’s traditional spiritual elements in an educational way for Western practitioners. Expect a theme for each class, Sanskrit chanting, and references to ancient scripture. Created by Sharon Gannon and David Life in 1984 in New York City, jivamukti translates to ‘liberation while living’.

Bikram

Bikram features yoga poses in a sauna-like room. The heat is cranked up to nearly 40 degrees and 40 percent humidity in official Bikram classes. If it’s called Bikram (for inventor Bikram Choudhury), it will be a series of 26 basic yoga postures, each performed twice.

Kundalini

The practice of kundalini yoga features constantly moving, invigorating poses. The fluidity of the practice is intended to release the kundalini (serpent) energy in your body. Weren’t aware you had any? Well, just think of it as an energy supply, coiled like a sleeping snake at the base of the spine, waiting to be tapped; the practice aims to do just that — awaken and pulse the stuff upward through the body.

Wake up and get on the yoga mat

Get up before the chaos begins and take some time just for yourself. Beginning your day with a few rounds of sun salutes adding on each week and see how much better your day kicks off.

How men can benefit from a regular practice of yoga

Yoga increases flexibility, establishes mindfulness, and enhances athletic performance. If men reap so many benefits from practising yoga, why are dudes almost always outnumbered in yoga classes?

There is no denying the boom in yoga over the past decade in the western world. A US Yoga Journal market study reported that 4 out of 5 students are women and I’d have to say from my observation that would be even less here in NZ. From studying the origins of yoga and understanding its rich history that goes back thousands of years, it’s ironic that today most classes are filled with women. 

Did you know that classical yoga was a male-only practice?

Yoga is a system of beliefs — specifically an eight-limbed path — which includes physical and mental exercises.  This belief system was once entirely male and once isolated to India.

Yoga is a holistic practice where you can strengthen your muscles, become more flexible, clear headed and focused while improving your overall health and wellbeing - why would you not go to class? I’m going to attempt to clarify a few things that may be holding you or your guy back from this practice that can give you so many benefits.

Saying you’re not flexible enough to do yoga is like saying you’re too dirty to take a bath.

The most common thing I hear from men and one of the biggest misconceptions is, “I’m not flexible enough to do yoga.” The popular image of yoga can be partly to blame for this, the slim women in contorted positions are plastered everywhere to sell yoga clothes, yet this is not the true image of yoga. Yoga is for everyone, regardless of how flexible you are. It’s like saying, “I’m not strong enough to go to the gym and lift weights.” You’d start with light weights and build up. Yoga is the same, there are plenty of props and modifications to use so that you work your way into poses just like building strength in the gym.

Yoga is friggin’ hard! But you can’t master it!

There is so much to learn about yourself in the yoga practice, which is ultimately one of the main reasons people stay. But for those new to yoga, especially physically fit, strong, able men, this can be really confronting. These are the guys that will be panting and grunting their way through class wondering why it’s so hard. Even the most basic poses continue to challenge long-time practitioners. To do yoga is really to adopt an entirely new way of thinking, a way of thinking that is different and maybe even contrary to the way that men are accustomed to thinking in our Western society. There is nobody to beat and you can’t ‘win’ at yoga. Once guys get used to this way of thinking their yoga practice becomes a welcome relief from judgment and pressure.

Real men do yoga

It is well established that throughout its long history, yoga has been reserved for men, and usually only for those who exhibited great physical and mental prowess.  Traditional asana is designed for men’s bodies with its straight lines and angles.  It was only in the ‘60s and ‘70s as the Americans adopted a slower more gentle style of yoga, and marketed it at the the ‘stay at home mums’ that things changed. As yoga has been modernised, some of the worlds elite athletes like LeBron James, Novak Djokovic our very own All Blacks and New Zealand Warriors incorporate yoga into their training.

Something for everyone

There really is a style of yoga these days  to suit everyone. There are strong power vinyasa practices for the more athletic person wanting more of a workout, slower steady styles to focus and discipline the mind, slow softer practice to relax and destress and aid muscle recovery.  So if you go to a class that is too slow and relaxing for you then try something more dynamic (if thats what you want) or if your training is already strong then try a Yin or a restorative style to balance and focus the mind. The moral of the story is if you go to a class and don’t particularly like it, then don’t stop there. Keep searching until you find a teacher and a style that fits you. 

Lastly, don’t be afraid of being a beginner. It takes years and years of dedicated yoga practice to really be able to hold your own in an open or advanced class. Accept this reality, and you can set off on the rewarding and challenging journey that is yoga. Let your ego get in the way, however, and you’ll find yourself continually frustrated and unable to get much out of your yoga experience.

Yoga can help you stress less, gain perspective and feel a whole lot better in your physical and mental self.  

Five ways to better posture with yoga

We have entered the age where there is a modern day health problem called ‘tech neck.’  Improper posture while using technology is a very common factor in poor posture and technology is recognised as one of the principle causes of this modern day posture epidemic.

The funny this is you may be reading this on your phone, iPad or laptop. If so, don’t change a thing about your posture and check how your body positioned. Is your head forward? Are your shoulders rounded?  Is your lower back slumped?  How does your lower back feel? Or perhaps take a look around you and observe other people’s posture, and the way it slips and almost folds inwards.

Over long periods of time, maintaining this head-forward posture can lead to muscle strain, disc injury, nerve impingement and arthritic changes of the neck—and the potential for developing ongoing neck and shoulder pain, headaches, and pain radiating down the arms.

This is how our tech savvy children are growing up and creating postural habits like this from a young age. There is no getting away from technology and we need to use it in our culture to stay up to date and relevant, but when you consider the kind of risks mentioned, it adds a whole other layer. Just as we have learnt to embrace technology, we also must learn to adopt tools and strategies to counterbalance these new stressors on our system.

5 ways to counterbalance ‘tech neck’

Take regular breaks

Set your timer for every 15-20 minutes to get up, move around and do these poses throughout your day to counteract the effects of phone and laptop use. These poses lengthen the front muscles of the neck, which tend to get shortened when we hunch over a screen or a keyboard. They also realign the shoulders and upper thoracic spine, freeing the lower cervical vertebrae. Restoring a natural curve in the spine also opens the shoulders and may even ease rotator cuff and elbow pain.

Baby cobra pose

• Lay on your belly, with your palms pressing into the floor just beside your lower front ribs.
• Firm up your legs and press the tops of the feet to the floor.As you inhale peel your spine up off the floor, head moving last.  
• Draw your shoulder heads back plugging the arm bones into the sockets, curl your shoulder blades down the back and into your heart.
• You can float the hands so that your upper back muscles are holding you.
• Lower as you exhale and repeat twice more. 
• Option for a little more, on the final one you can move the top of the thoracic spine (around shoulder height) and the bottom of the cervical spine (around shoulder height) in toward the front body and take chin up for an extra stretch.

Downward facing dog pose

• From hands and knees, align hands directly beneath shoulders and knees directly beneath hips.
• Press the index knuckle down to engage your forearms. Lift the armpits up toward the ears. Use gravity to soften and melt arm bones into the sockets.
• Keeping the arms straight, lift lower body into downward facing dog pose (adho mukha svanasana) while the rest of the body stays the same.
• Keep the armpits lifted, up away from the floor not ‘dumping into’ the shoulder joint.
• Then stretch heels back into the full pose without dropping the armpits, keep knees bent if you need its more important to to keep a long spine to decompress the lumbar area.

Neck and forearm reset

• You can do this one seated in any position, even at your desk. Sit up tall.
• Bring the palms together in front of your chest, with the wrists at elbow height (the heal of the hands may not be touching if you are tight in the wrists, thats ok!)
• Again lift the armpits up towards the ears, getting long in the sides of the body, draw the arm bones back into the shoulder sockets, so that the chest is bright and proud.
• Draw the chin and forehead evenly back a few centimetres.
• As you exhale press the hands over to the right as you turn your head to the left.
• Repeat a few times with mindful alignment.

Use technology more mindfully

Wouldn’t it be great if we could practise yoga all day? Just imagine how good you would feel. Well, guess what?  You can! Take your yoga off the mat and choose to use technology more mindfully. Set boundaries around usage for yourself and children, get up and take regular breaks, incorporate tools, stretches and strengthening exercises into your day. Bring your device up to eye level instead of peering forward and dropping your head down to get a closer look. But most of all, stand tall and proud, lift yourself up and observe how that lifts your energy, how you can breathe better and your postural stance exudes confidence and openness. Go on, put the device down and walk tall.

This article is not intended to substitute for medical advice. For any concerns, consult your health professional.

Liberate the booty!

A strong balanced booty is essential not only for a easeful, stable yoga practice but also improves posture and can help elevate back and pelvic pain.  Understanding this complex area of the body has taken hours of study, let alone trying embody what I learn and redefine patterns in my own body.  Those of you that know me, know that I don't naturally have the roundest, firmest nor most robust buttocks, lets say - its a work in progress.  Lets look a little deeper into this key organising structure of the body and how you may be able to help your own posture and pain.

The temple

If we think of our body as a temple, then the pelvis is its core.  Throughout the pelvis the entire weight of the upper body is distributed and transferred into our two legs.  So one of it's main functions is a biomechanical intersection, any force created by walking, running or jumping is transmitted to the upper body by the pelvis.   Together with smaller supporting muscles, the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus make it possible to rotate your thigh inward and outward, draw your leg back, and stabilize your femur in your hip socket.  

For many of us, we mainly use the buttocks to sit on, wether its desk bound working or driving, this can be at the heart of causing over- and under- development in our glutes, as well as strength discrepancies between the left and right buttocks.  Just try and notice how much of the time you sit cross legged and further exacerbate patterns in your glutes.  Strength imbalances can affect range of motion of our hips, stability in our sacroiliac joints and whether or not we experience instability and pain in forward bends, standing and balancing yoga poses.

Tail tuckers

I remember cues in my early yoga years of  "tuck the tail bone"  this was a common yoga-class instruction that leads many students to over do and round their lower and upper backs and flatten their butts out!  If you tuck too much, your gluteus muscles actually turn off.  Instead, you want to use these muscles as they were designed to be used —engaged, but not overly clenched, while standing and walking, or while practicing poses like Vrksasana (Tree Pose) or Virabhadrasana I, II, and III (Warrior Poses I, II, and III). When your glutes don’t fire in these situations, you are often relying on other supporting muscles, such as the hip flexors, psoas, and quadratus lumborum in the lower back.  Because of the effect through the kinetic chain many 'tail tuckers' often experience pain in the lower back near the sacroiliac joints, where the spine meets the pelvis.  When the tailbone is “tucked,” the abdomen contracts, and the natural curvature of the lumbar region may be compromised. In other words, the lower back is pulled out and down. While this could initially relieve excessive lumbar curvature, over done, over time... it has a destabilizing, weakening effect on the lower back, gleutes and supportive musculature. If you drop the sacrum or tuck the tailbone, the sacrum rolls contrary to its natural position.

Confession

It's at about this point I should confess that I used to be a chronic tail tucker - I thought I was being a really good student, always following my teachers cues, not realising what I was doing to my body over time.  I ended up with weak Gluteus, tight psoas and weak and tight pelvic floor muscles.  Everything (literally) came crashing down after giving birth to my daughter, I had to have pelvic floor surgery, an invasive procedure that ended up being the beginning of my inquiry as it became my mission to better understand my own body as well as my students.  It was time to liberate the booty!

Liberate the booty

When it come to the hips we want to cultivate a balance of mobility and strength, typically in yoga flexibility in the hips and 'hip openers' have been sought after, sometimes at the detriment of stability and even in and effort to reach 'advanced' poses wearing away at the cartilage within the socket.  In modern yoga and defiantly of late as some long term practitioners experience major hip issues, some yoga teachers like myself are now incorporating more anatomical understanding, functional movement principles and cross training techniques into the practice to help create better understanding in students and more balance in the hips and pelvis. 

Why developing as a teacher is so important

I'm sorry teachers but it's just not enough to teach a sweet or fancy sequence and lack the depth of what it is you are trying to do in this practice we call yoga, but I too often experience as a diluted, postulated performance. You can only get by for so long watching yogaglo and trying to emulate what you see.  You owe it to yourselves and your students to understand more and receive the deep statifaction that comes from sharing knowledge from what you fully embody.

Back when I did my training, I had already practiced with my teacher for 6 years solid and my training was done over a 2 year apprenticeship style.  While this was at time extremely intense and gruelling, it gave me a firm foundation that I have never stopped expanding upon.  My love of yoga and teaching is backed by 15 years working intimately with the human body as a massage therapist, I have looked, touched and learnt from literally thousands of bodies and am passionate about sharing this with fellow teachers and students.

"Mind blowing, very inspirational and supportive, it was challenging in a good way."

The yoga world has changed so much since then, in many ways for the positive, but now teachers can undergo teacher trainings with very little practice behind them and qualify in a exceedingly short amount of time!  While this is great in many ways, enabling the practice to become more and more accessible to the general public, it also makes the practicalities of being a yoga teacher more difficult. Yup I'm talking earning enough money for your sweet asana to survive, keeping yourself inspired, motivated and enthusiastic and really understanding in theory as well as in your own body the full practice of yoga.  

I find a large gap in teachers understanding of anatomy and being able to see imbalances in their students and effective help cultivate understanding and shift patterns in students.  This is what has prompted me to put together the Teacher Development program, to grow support and nurture emerging teachers.  We start from the foundation of the body in functional anatomy sessions, working from the feet to the cranium, focusing on common misalignments, injuries and reinforming patterns.  we work together in a supportive group to be able to 'see' what we learn in each others bodies.  We work on cultivating clear verbal, and hands on cues to help our students discover more and assist their practice.  Through out the course we work on personal development, finding our authentic voice, how to teach from our heart and look at the business of yoga and how we can have the greatest impact.

"I feel more confident in my teaching, I am defiantly more empowered to teach and assist more challenging poses and have a deeper understanding of what i am teaching. I have become more mindful and present in what i am saying" Karine Dion

The next teacher development is being held as an Immersion in Queenstown Nov 11-17th for more information click here