Yoga is the Best Way to Move your Body
Of course I am a little biased…
I started practicing yoga when I was 23. Little did I know that 30 years later, it would still be my favorite way to move. As I age, I have been so grateful for my yoga practice, keeping me strong, mobile, and giving me incredible balance. I have also cultivated emotional intelligence and ways to regulate my emotions that help me navigate challenging times, both in my life and in the world at large.
If you haven’t yet added yoga to your movement routine, it’s never too late to start! Most people who practice with me are over 50 and wish that they had started earlier. I wish I had started earlier! Now is the perfect time, if you don’t already have a yoga practice.
Summer Yoga Kickoff starts Monday, June 2 and runs through the entire month of June, all online! I invite you to join me for yoga, meditation, stretching, strengthening, and more in 15 minute all levels classes. The Monday classes are 40 minutes, as they’re both movement and meditation, but can be taken as a 20 minute class if you prefer. All classes can be taken online live, or on demand when they best fit into your schedule.
Movement before meditation
What I love about this Monday class, called Movement and Meditation, is that we do both movement and meditation. Sitting still for 20 minutes first thing in the morning can be challenging if your body feels stiff from sleeping all night. If you do some gentle yoga movements and stretches first, you’ll feel more comfortable when you sit for meditation.
If you’ve never meditated before, don’t worry. I guide you through, giving you places to focus your mind so that you’re not just sitting there. In the moments of silence, it’s your opportunity to practice what I suggested. Meditation is not about quieting the mind so that there are no thoughts, although that can happen. The goal of meditation is to notice what is happening during the moment you are in, aka the present.
So much of our time is spent focusing on planning for the future, or ruminating over the past. However, the only time we have control over is the present. Teaching your mind to notice what is happening right now gives you power over yourself and this moment. You will notice how you are feeling, which can be challenging if you are used to numbing your feelings like I do. Feeling your feelings allows you to let them go without suppressing them.
Meditation also helps you notice the stories that you are telling yourself to see them as stories. “I’m a burden,” “I’m too much,” “I’m not _____ enough,” etc, can hold us back from living our full lives. When you understand the stories you tell yourself, you can flip the script and tell yourself a new story that is actually true. “I am enough for me,” “I am worthy of love and belonging,” etc.
I wrote a free eBook called “3 Myths About Meditation and Why it’s Easier Than You Think” to help you understand what meditation is and isn’t. Click the button below if you want to check it out.
Core strength, mindfully
If you’ve ever taken a core strength class at the gym, sometimes the instructor goes so fast through the exercises that you can’t actually do them or keep up. That’s been my experience, for sure. That’s why I created Mindful Core, where each of the core exercises that we do are done slowly and with intention. Often we’ll only do 3-5 repetitions because when you move mindfully, that’s all you really need.
These exercises are based in the wisdom of Yoga and Pilates, and strengthen all the core muscles, not just the abdominals. “Core” to me includes all 4 abdominal muscles, the pelvic floor, the inner thighs, the glutes, the hip flexors and the spinal muscles.
Functionally, we need all of these muscles to be strong to support us in everything we do. Whether you are playing a sport or picking up a laundry basket, having a strong core can be the difference between feeling stable, and hurting your back.
As part of the Summer Yoga Kickoff, this 15 minute class will be done in a blink, while leaving you feeling strong and stable for the rest of the day. Notice how you feel doing your daily activities or your sport after Mindful Core. Your body might surprise you!
Stretching from Head to Toe
Mobility is definitely one of those “use it or lose it” concepts. If you don’t stretch regularly, you may find it harder to reach your feet to tie your shoes, or reach up to a high shelf to grab a glass. You might find yourself struggling to look over your shoulder while driving. So many of our daily movements require mobility.
While yoga has a reputation for extreme stretching, Head to Toe Stretch cultivates functional mobility. Many of my yoga students also play tennis, golf, are triathletes, or simply like to be active. Stretching not only feels good while you are doing it, but that mobility lasts, and can enhance both daily and physical activities. When you move with better range of motion, you can play better.
Like Mindful Core, stretching is done slowly and mindfully, breathing as we go to enhance the stretch. You don’t fight the stretch, but you don’t force it either. Relaxing into each stretch that we do helps your body acclimate to what you are doing so that you don’t injure yourself. We never stretch cold, I always include some gentle movement first so that you can stretch safely.
This 15 minute class is great for after a walk, run, swim, or bike, or anything else where you are looking to cool down and feel amazing for the rest of the day. It’s also perfect for shaking off morning muscle stiffness.
Salute the sun, move and flow
I bring this class back periodically because I think it’s fun, and my students love it! There are many versions of Surya Namaskar, or Sun Salutations, and I explore many of them in this class. If you’ve never done them before, it’s a way to flow and move your body, while connecting your breath to each movement.
There is an upward movement followed by a downward movement to stretch, strengthen, and open the front and back sides of the body. And because I like to forge my own path, I often add side to side movements, as well as twists, just to round things out. I will guide you through both traditional and non-traditional Sun Salutations, and you may even build up a bit of a sweat!
Connecting the breath with the movement keeps your mind fully present and aware of what you are doing with your body. Plus, it keeps you to a comfortable pace and helps you slow things down. When we flow, it’s easy to let your mind get ahead of you, worrying about what the next thing will be. Focusing on your breath and filling the breath with movement (and the movement with breath) keeps you in the moment you are in. I see it as moving meditation.
As a former dancer, this type of flow is my favorite form of yoga. Moving and breathing together leaves me feeling energized, yet calm, and like I did something beneficial for my body and mind.
Balance requires strength, and vice versa
Strength and Balance is a class that I like to throw in periodically, because we lose both as we age. Strength and balance are mutually supportive, as the stronger you are, the easier it is to hold yourself up, and the better your balance, the easier it is to perform strengthening exercises.
You require balance whenever you shift your weight from one foot to the other. That applies to walking, going up and down stairs, running, hiking, and more. The stronger your legs, the more stable your foundation. Practicing poses like Tree pose/Vrksasana, not only cultivate balance and your ability to (more) easily stand on one leg, but strengthens the muscles of the legs and glutes, which you take with you into your life.
Yoga balance poses teach you to balance in many different directions to prepare you for whatever life throws your way. Catching yourself before you fall requires balance practice when you are not vertical. Poses like Half Moon/Ardha Chandrasana and Airplane pose/Dekasana allow you to practice balancing when you aren’t vertical.
Yoga for life off the mat
What you practice on the mat comes with you off the mat. Yoga gives you the opportunity to practice when things are easy and controlled so that you have access to those skills when you need them. You wouldn’t give a violin recital without having practiced the violin first. Yoga gives you the strength, balance, and mobility to handle your life with more grace and ease.
If you are new to yoga, returning to your practice after a hiatus, or simply want to take some fun classes, sign up for the Summer Yoga Kickoff! Click the button below for details, the full schedule of classes, and to sign up! We start Monday, June 2. I can’t wait to see you in class!
