Best Yoga Videos – Jill Miller Yoga Tune-Up Reviews

Best Yoga Videos - Jill Miller Yoga Tune-Up Reviews

Best Yoga Videos – Jill Miller Yoga Tune-Up Reviews

Jill Miller Yoga Tune-Up Videos have made such a big difference for me lately.  I think I found I found her while reading the latest issue of Yoga Journal magazine.  Since I have been having bad knee pain for awhile and it seems like it was getting worse and worse.  I teach about 5 -10 yoga classes a week.  Most of them are gentle classes and I also teach a lot of couples yoga and partner yoga classes in Manayunk.  I don’t teach a lot of vigorous yoga these days even though I was trained in that.  I didn’t even do that many standing poses since I tend to teach a lot of poses where you are seated, laying down or even in a chair.

I did not get a lot of strong anatomy training in my yoga teacher training even though I kept asking for it all the time.  I wanted to make sure first and foremost that I did no harm to my students and really didn’t know how to work with students that had a lot of injuries, pain, prior surgeries etc.  I have been teaching more and more classes these last few years and my knees seemed to get progressively more painful.  I saw a myriad of health practitioners from traditional allopathic doctors that gave me some quad strengthening exercises ( helped a bit)  to the omre alternative healers who would invoke angels to heal me, wave crystals on me.. whatever it took. I didn’t care what method it was…. just wanted to feel better.

I would often wake up in the morning with my knees on fire… actually it was worse than that… my knee pain was so intense in the morning that the pain actually woke me up.  Not a pleasant way to wake up.  I don’t know why but it was always the worst in the morning.. ( can anyone explain that)  I would often ice my knees… or they just throbbed so bad that my hottie, hunky hellenic hubbie would fetch me some ice so I could cool my knees down first thing in the morning.

I found her videos a few months ago and they have been a a gift from some higher power… I literally would pray to god to help me with the throbbing.

Best Yoga Videos – Jill Miller Yoga Tune-Up Reviews

 

I started to do the exercises in her videos every day….it took a while to do all the movements she recommended.  Most of them involved massaging certain parts from your hip all the way to the bottom of your toes.  These muscles can get dry and tight and when the muscles that affect how your knee tracks are dry, tight and out of whack, then that can affect how your knees track.    So I went ahead and bought her special yoga therapy balls. At first I was just using tennis balls but wanted to really do the massaging and exercises properly so I broke down and just ordered her special Jill Miller Yoga Tune Up therapy balls.  They’re kind of fun to play with, just don’t let your dog near them… they make for a nice chew toy.

Over the last few months I have also been studying how to do some of the classic standing poses so I can stop injuring myself.  So slowly, I have been learning to keep my knees smiling and now there is less repair I have to do on them.

The poses, sequences and routines of  Jill Miller Yoga Tune Up Program are designed to strengthen your weak muscles, stretch your tight and dry muscles and heal from head-to- pinkie toe. She has a focus on finding your body’s blind spots – areas that have become weakened due to overuse, underuse or misuse, and are now prone to stiffness, inflexiblity, pain and injury – these specialized routines will help balance out your entire physical being.

What kind of modalities have helped you find relief from tightness, chronic pain and stiffness?

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Hot Yoga Benefits for Weight Loss

Hot Yoga Benefits for Weight Loss

Hot Yoga Benefits for Weight Loss

 

At the start of this year, I figured I would revisit how to polish up various facets of my life.  With the new year, all kinds of thoughts of rejuvenation and renewal and improvement come into our heads.  I’ve been pretty frustrated with diet stuff.  I  feel like I have a fairly clean diet but I think one I can do is to cook with very high quality oils.   I was under the disillusion that vegetable oil, soybean oil and some kinds of olive oil are the healthy fats.  Most of these oils are highly refined so you are losing out any potential health benefits and you are better off using grass-fed organic butter than any of those oils.  Organic coconut oil and cold-pressed Olive Oil will be my new cooking and salad dressing oil. This is a great tip I got from Mike Geary’s Health Newsletter

I started to look at Amazing Self’s ( excuse the cheesy name….. there are some worthwhile tips in there) about health, wellness, skin,  personal finance, relationships and mind-set.  It’s a long book, over 100 pages but the writing is a breezy read.  I think there are almost too many great tips in here so you start to feel a bit overwhelmed.  I wish it was broken out in 8 seperate books so that you can really take it all in and start to make some changes.

For the diet tips, they are pretty adamant about not having caffeine.  I  know there is a lot of controversy with caffeine and gaining weight.   I think we can all agree that those froo froo drinks loaded with high fructose corn syrup and whipped cream will not be kind to your butt or your gutt.  There is a big emphasis on eating unprocessed, non-farm raised, organic 1 ingredient food…. eating clean as I like to call it.  They actually are pretty anti-vegan and very pro-meat so you won’t have to make any major lifestyle changes for all of us carnivores out there.

I think soda is one of the major downfalls of the American Diet.  Cutting out all kinds of soda seems to be one of the first lessons for any wellness or gut-busting plan.

She is also a big proponent of eating fruit, which also has been a somewhat controversial food group in the health and wellness circle since there are sugars in fruit.

Tracy also talks about getting great skin… after all, what one thing makes you more attractive and youthful looking and she recommends to exfoliate like crazy but with only medical grade crystals.  I went ahead onto EBay like she suggested and got  2 lb bag of this for $10 ( but the shipping was $12…. YIKES) …I wonder who long that will last me if I exfoliate every day.  I love beauty experiments since I used to work in the medical aesthetics industry so this tip will be fun to explore.

Hot Yoga Benefits for Weight Loss

They are also big proponents of using heat when you exercise, meaning you exercise in a hot room or just hang out in a sauna.  One of my 5 year goals is to have an infra-red sauna in my house and I know that nothing tones my body and gives me that cut look like a hot yoga class.

 

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Yoga Asanas for Weight Loss

There are a number of personal hygiene practices that can lead to an increased sense of purity, wellness and vitality as it relates to a yogic lifestyle.  Since the modern diet, which is centered around convenience, speed and mass production does not always correlate to food that is clean and full of nourishment.  Since we are grossly unprotected by our government to regulate cleanliness and nourishment for the food industry, we are left to our own devices to find food that gives us vitality and strength.
A vegetarian diet is usually more ideal since all the chemicals, hormones and anti-biotics that are in meat and dairy products can make us sick. Even in eating a vegetarian diet it is best to abstain from white flour, white pasta, white rice and white sugar as well since these products have been severely denourished in the modern production process.

The simplest advice we could give is when you read a package of in ingredients and you do not recognize the ingredients in them, then it probably means that they are synthetic chemicals that can only harm the body.  The more unrecognizable ingredients, the worse it must be for you.  As far as diet goes, eating raw is even more energizing and we endeavor to have a few meals a week this way.  I find that when I cook for myself with whole ingredients, instead of buying pre-made and prepackaged foods is when I tend to feel the most nourished.  I endeavor to purchase organic foods from local purveyors in order to respect and honor our earth as well.

Yoga Asanas for Weight Loss

Yoga Asanas for Weight Loss

Yoga Asanas for Weight Loss

The more I learn about the harmful practices and foods that the worldwide food industry practices, the more diligent I become about what I purchase in the supermarket.  I have read dozens of books about food production, diet, wellness etc.  Each book I read, I endeavor to incorporate a few key lessons into my diet.  I recently read a book where I learned the distinction between different production methods of olive oil which make a tremendous difference in how one assimilates this very popular and often used ingredient. Now, I will only buy cold-pressed or expeller pressed, first press extra virgin olive oil.  Self-reliance and a determination to discover the healthiest ways to feed oneself are critical in an age where we rely on others to grow, prepare and regulate our food.

 

How does yoga transform you physically, mentally and spiritually to achieve your yoga weightloss goals?  How can you choosing a yoga teacher help you get there faster with weightloss? How do you go about choosing a yoga teacher?

  • Release chronic paintightness and that frozen feeling in your body through juicy stretching and deep breathing.
  • Each breath, coupled with movement and intention allows you to create the space for change.
  • Gain clarity to detach from outcomes during your day so that decisions and obstacles become less stressful, which keeps you off the emotional roller coaster for good.
  • An uplifting & restful class that will leave you buzzing with vitality & connect you to a deep sense of inner wisdom so you can focus on what you want to manifest in your life

Yoga Poses for Weight Loss for Beginners

Yoga Poses for Weight Loss for Beginners

Yoga Poses for Weight Loss for Beginners

I get lots of calls and questions about yoga weight loss.

Simple yoga for weight loss

Simple yoga for weight loss

There are a number of food choices that can lead to an increased sense of purity, wellness and vitality.  Since the modern diet, which is centered around convenience, speed and mass production, this does not always correlate to food that is clean and full of nourishment.  Since we are grossly unprotected by our government to regulate cleanliness and nourishment in the food industry, we are left to our own devices to find food that gives us vitality and strength.
The simplest advice I could give is when you read a package of ingredients and you do not recognize the ingredients in them, then it probably means that they are synthetic chemicals that can only harm your body. Don’t rely on packaging that claims it is “healthy, natural, fat-free” since a pile of lard wrapped in MSG can claim that on the main packaging. The more unrecognizable ingredients, the worse it must be for you.  I find that when I cook for myself with whole ingredients, instead of buying pre-made and prepackaged foods is when I tend to feel the most nourished.  I endeavor to purchase organic foods from local purveyors in order to respect and honor our earth as well.

The more I learn about the harmful practices and foods that the worldwide food industry practices, the more diligent I become about what I purchase in the supermarket.  I have read dozens of books about food production, diet, wellness etc.  Each book I read, I endeavor to incorporate a few key lessons into my diet.  I recently read a book where I learned the distinction between different production methods of olive oil which make a tremendous difference in how one assimilates this very popular and often used ingredient. Now, I will only buy cold-pressed or expeller pressed, first press extra virgin olive oil.  Self-reliance and a determination to discover the healthiest ways to feed oneself are critical in an age where we rely on others to grow, prepare and regulate our food.

If you’re not sure if a food is good for you or not, cut it out of your life for 4 days and just notice how you feel.

 

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Yoga Poses and Cancer – Questions to ask Your Health Teacher and Doctor

Yoga and CancerResearch has shown that yoga and other types of mind-body practices can help improve patient outcomes, particularly quality-of-life. However, none have become standard of care, or are on the clinical care pathway for cancer patients.

The Status of Yoga Research

  • Research suggests that yoga might:
  • Improve mood, decrease stress and sense of well-being
  • Improve cardiovascular health such as reducing heart rate and blood pressure
  • Improve muscle relaxation and body composition
  • Help with conditions such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia
  • Improve overall physical fitness, strength, and flexibility
  • Positively affect levels of certain brain or blood chemicals.

 

Patients who participated in the yoga program reported that their ability to engage in everyday activities – walking up stairs or around the neighborhood, carrying groceries – all improved.  Studies also found improved sleep and reduced fatigue levels, and preliminary analysis suggests lowered stress hormone levels.

Through lecture, breath work, guided imagery and gentle physical postures, students learn techniques to manage treatment side effects, cultivate emotional balance, reduce stress and improve overall health.

While it’s not a cure for cancer, yoga enhances physical and emotional wellness—and brings a peace many patients had thought they’d lost forever.

People with cancer may use yoga to:

  • Help cope with the side effects of cancer treatments, such as nausea, discomfort, pain, and fatigue;
  • Comfort themselves and ease the worries of cancer treatment and related stress;
  • Feel that they are more empowered with their own care and well-being.

Mind-Body Medicines

  • These are based on the belief that your mind is able to affect your body. Some examples are:
  • Meditation: Focused breathing or repetition of words, matras or phrases to quiet the mind;
  • Yoga: Systems of stretches and poses, with special attention given to breathing;

Questions to ask Your Health Teacher and Doctor

  1. What types of Yoga might:
  2. Help me cope, reduce my stress, and feel better?
  3. Help me feel less tired?
  4. Help me deal with cancer symptoms, such as pain, or side effects of treatment, such as nausea?
  5. Improve my level of vitality and wellness?
  6. Are there any kinds of yoga (hot, power, kundalini) or poses ( backbends, inversions, balancing) that I should avoid?

If I decide to try a Yoga:

  1. Will it interfere with my treatment or medicines?
  2. Can you help me understand these articles I found about ygoa?
  3. Can you suggest a yoga practitioner for me to talk to?
  4. Will you work with my yoga practitioner?

Choose Yoga Teachers with Care

  • Choosing one should be done with the same care as choosing a doctor. Here are some things to remember when choosing a Yoga Teacher:
  • Ask your doctor or nurse to suggest someone or speak with someone who knows about yoga.
  • Ask whether someone at your cancer center or doctor’s office can help you find a yoga teacher. There may be a social worker or physical therapist who can help you.
  • Ask whether your hospital keeps lists of centers or has staff who can suggest people.
  • Contact Yoga Alliance to get names of practitioners who are certified. This means that they have proper training in their field.
  • Contact local health and wellness organizations.
  • Ask about each practitioner’s training and experience. They should be certified a Yoga Alliance approved school.
  • Call your health care plan to see if it covers yoga.

What general questions should I ask the Yoga Teacher?

  • What types of yoga do you practice?
  • What are your training and qualifications?
  • Do you teach other students with my type of cancer?

If You Are Thinking About Yoga

  • Do not use yoga as a replacement for conventional care or to postpone seeing a doctor about a medical problem.
  • If you have a medical condition, consult with your health care provider before starting yoga.
  • Ask about the physical demands of the type of yoga in which you are interested, as well as the training and experience of the yoga teacher you are considering.
  • Look for published research studies on yoga for the health condition you are interested in.
  • Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a complete picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.

If you’re taking a class and have difficulty with a pose, an experienced instructor will design an easier posture for you or give you modifications to make it more accessible. Many teachers use props such as blocks or cushions to make the practice more comfortable.

If you find even basic classes to be too difficult, ask your teacher if there is a “restorative” yoga class you could try. These gentle classes are beneficial when recovering from illness or surgery and involve a minimum of physical work, concentrating on breathing while being supported by pillows, blocks, blankets and other props.

Important things to consider before trying yoga

 

  1. Like all practices, yoga comes with some risks:
  2. Risk of inexperienced instructors: Because of the variation in certification requirements for yoga teachers, it’s possible to take a class with a yoga teacher who has very little experience. This is not always safe and can result in injuries. Ask your oncologist or cancer center staff to recommend highly experienced yoga instructors who regularly work with cancer patients.
  3. Risk of lymphedema: In people who have had lymph nodes removed, some of the more strenuous yoga types and poses may present a risk for lymphedema.Lymphedema (pronounced LIMF-eh-DEE-ma) is a side effect that can begin during or after breast cancer treatment. It isn’t life threatening, but can last over a long period of time. Lymphedema involves swelling of the soft tissues of the arm or hand. The swelling may be accompanied by numbness, discomfort, and sometimes infection.  A yoga instructor who has experience with breast cancer patients will know which yoga types and poses are safe.
  4. Risk of fracture in people with bone metastasis: In people with breast cancer that has metastasized to the bone, some types of yoga may carry a risk of fractures. If you have bone metastasis, ask your doctor whether yoga is right for you, or if there is a gentle form of yoga  such as restorative yoga or another practice that might work better, such as guided imagery. Always check with your doctor before you begin a yoga practice, especially if it vigorous or physically challenging.

 

What are your thought about practicing yoga and when you have cancer?

Top 100 Spiritual, Yoga Websites, Blogs and Sites

Top 100 Spiritual, Yoga Websites, Blogs and Sites
Here is my list….my completely subjective list of the top 100 Mind-Body-Spirit Sites.  How did I come up with this list? Many of the teachers, products or retreat centers I have personal experience with. They have shaped my yoga journey and other parts of my non-yoga life. I have taken many of their classes or workshops or bought their DVDs and have practiced to it dozens of times. A few are sites that I regularly read their posts. Some are because the website or author has written an influential book in this realm. Admittedly, some of the sites might be weak on content, functionality or navigation but the site is just an intro to a great holistic resource.  A few are places that I write guest blogs for.

Top 100 Yoga Websites, Best Spiritual Sites

Some of them happened to be special because of the key role they played in certain parts of my life. I met my husband at Omega, our romance blossomed at Kripalu and we had our wedding ceremony in a Mexican Cenote (limestone water cavern) with a Mayan Shaman.

I can’t imagine not having music during my yoga practice so there are a few yoga music sites on here as well and I bought many of the musician’s CDs or have been to their concerts. Authenticity and having personal experience with the practitioner, product or institution was part of the criteria for making this list. In a way, it is an “Appreciation” list

I wanted to include a few government sites since those often have all kinds of great research and clinical trials on there. My vision is for this list to be a great gateway into the holistic world, with a strong emphasis on yoga since I’m a yoga teacher. Yogis need special clothes, props, mats, spaces, music and equipment so I wanted to include some of my favorite places to buy all things yogic. If you have been involved with the holistic community for a while you will recognize some of the sites on here and likely find dozens of great resources here

I welcome suggestions for other sites that can be included in next year’s list. While we all value directness and constructive criticism, please be professional and refrain from disparaging comments… no trashing anyone on this list or that will disqualify you from being considered for next year. Ideally, you would nominate another company but I do accept self-nominations. I reached out to the webmasters of most of the sites and if something is in quotes, then it is in their words and not mine.

If you live in Philly or San Diego, then invite me over for a class or workshop so I can maybe include you in next year’s list or blog about it in an upcoming blog. If you have products that you want me to review let me know and I will send you a mailing address in a separate email (press at synergybyjasmine.com) with “Product Review Request” in the subject.
Visit Top 100 Mind-Body-Spirit Websites for the list