At age 15 I started swimming on my high school swim team after my knees decided they didn’t like soccer (running) anymore. I knew how to swim, but I had never competed before. I joined the team and swam 6 days a week for 3 months. Swimming gave me such an incredible feeling. I felt
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Walking is an amazing form of exercise for many reasons. As a yoga instructor I use my yoga practice in my life, and not only on my mat. That’s what it’s for, after all. When it comes to meditation, which is one aspect of practicing yoga, you can approach it from many directions. Many people
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Aging is not always kind to the human body. Muscle loss, or Sarcopenia, can happen at a rate of 3-8% after the age of 30, and is even higher after age 60. What you do with your body will affect whether this loss is faster or slower over time. Strength training is well known as
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You may know about the benefits of stretching, but do you know the right time to stretch? It’s NOT before your walk, it’s after. You never want to stretch the body when it’s cold. I don’t care if it’s 90 degrees outside, if you haven’t moved your body, your muscles are cold. If you are
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Walking is great exercise, but sometimes it can hurt. When we walk for miles and are unaware of our posture or body mechanics, that can lead to body dysfunction and discomfort. The hips, hip flexors, neck, lower back, feet and legs are common areas where we feel pain when we walk. One solution? Yoga! Yoga
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For any active adult or athlete, no matter how old or how many years you’ve been doing a sport or activity, cross-training will build your longevity in your sport. Many sports, like tennis and golf, are one sided, where you either swing in one direction or dominate with one side. Other sports, like running and
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None of us like to think about our body as “aging,” yet that’s what we’re doing, every day. Walking is an exercise that supports bone and muscle health as well as lowers cortisol (stress hormone) levels. Yoga is also a practice that strengthens the muscles and bones and lowers cortisol. So why do both? They
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Then… The first time I realized the benefits of practicing yoga for cross-training, it was by accident. I had been a swimmer in high school (100 Butterfly and 200 IM) and was a Master’s swimmer in my 20s. In 1995, I taught swimming at the 92nd St Y in New York to support my dance
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Whether you are just starting to practice yoga or you have been practicing for years, yoga props can enhance your practice in many ways. If you have perfectionist or “I don’t need help” tendencies, you may resist using props. However, you are doing yourself a disservice as they are can help you find more ease
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Backbending, or Spinal Extension, is one of multiple healthy spinal movements (Spinal Flexion, Lateral Flexion, and Rotation being the others). Joseph Pilates once said, “You are only as young as your spine is flexible,” and I find this to be true. Backbending can help your spine feel young by improving its strength and mobility. There
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