In case you haven’t discovered all the witty and insightful posts from Elephant Journal yet, here is another one that makes me simultaneously smile and also breath a sigh of relief. Make Room For the Luscious Yogi so bravely written by Anne Falkowski. Why do images of yoga always seem to feature incredibly lithe, tiny and ridiculously limber bodies contorting themselves in strange ways.
Yoga when you are Overweight
When you go to an average hatha yoga class, you see a few toned bodies, you see average bodies and you see some bodies with more meat and flesh in certain parts. Does being bony and muscular seem to be the ideal in the yoga world? Does that make your claim to the sacred tenants of yoga of non-violence, non-attachment (detatchment) , compassion, non-stealing (generosity) more authentic? It doesn’t make their shoulder-stand or up-dog any more enviable.
As most serious practioners know, yoga was not originally an physical practice. It was primarily a meditation and breathing practice meant to help you reach higher states of enlightenment and consciousness for the betterment of humankind. It was also primarily taught by men. The poses actually got added later since it if the body had some conditioning it made it easier to sit for long periods in meditation.
Yoga for All Bodies
When yoga got introduced to the West, the emphasis on the poses and alignment became the focus. People started to want to get in better shape, more limber, let go of stiffness and tightness and leave the class more calm and peaceful. Then came hot yoga which packed room of sweaty stinky people in a mirror so you could see how well ( or not well) you were doing the poses and have all kinds of judgement about how your tree pose wasn’t as balanced as the little person next to you. At many hot yoga studios, there are open showers like a gym so there is more bodily comparison.
Yoga advertisements and magazines are filled with more images of toned tightness in $80 Lululemon pants and crop bra tops.
I think one major institution in the yoga world which has done a great job of including all bodies, shapes and colors is Kripalu. I get there catalog and I frequently see images of large and older bodies not only in the brochure but also sometimes on the cover. Kripalu is the top yoga educational institution in the world.. it has an array of classes on all kinds on all kind of spiritual growth and wellness topics that range from drumming, sushi making to horse riding.
Sometimes, I don’t feel like I have the right to be a yoga teacher because I don’t have a perfectly cut and toned six pack like a la Taylor Lautner. I avoid dairy, rarely drink, have a fairly clean diet and exercise with both yoga and riding a stationary bike almost every day as well as strength training. I have so many cute tight yoga tops that lay in my drawer in the hopes one day my tummy will be small enough to wear them.
Then I remind myself that yoga is not a gym workout with oooomming. It’s a practice that helps you to become more self-aware so you can choose to reach to things differently. with less anger and fear and more calm and trust.
When I start a yoga class, I usually make sure that the room is clean, the floor is ideally a hardwood floor and there should be bathrooms nearby that are also clean. Lights that dim are also ideal so I can create a soulful class and really make the mood quite serene. I usually start the class off by telling students what props they need. I then let them know to turn their cell phone off and to have a bottle of water nearby.
I then usually start with some simple warm-ups. Most yoga classes start off with some kind of silent meditation which I would ideally like to do. Since students often come later and it is incredibly disruptive to come to the meditation part of the class late, I usually have the meditation part about 10 minutes into the class or at the end of the class. It always angers me (even though I am in a yoga class) when people come in late during meditation. Most of the people that come in late don’t even have the courtesy to not set up during the meditation but they are just fumbling around noisily when I am trying to find some inner peace.
Ideas for Yoga Sequences such as sun salutations
Ideas for Yoga Sequences
After the warm-ups, I have various ideas for yoga sequences which usually are something that is seated on the floor to warm up the mid-section, I do some poses on the floor to warm up shoulders, hips, hamstrings, low back and to stretch out and elongate the spine. They usually consist of seated forward bends, side bends or a cat and cow flow that ends with a child’s pose.
After some seated postures, we then transition to some standing postures such as mountain pose, warrior pose, down dog, triangle, standing forward bend and side angle. Since I teach gentle beginner yoga classes I don’t do a lot of sun salutations. If I do teach any kind of sun salutations it is usually a modified version with a chair to support such as hands on top of the chair for down dog or you can also you the wall with your hands up against it for down dog. For a modified warrior, you can do that against the wall with a block between your knee and the wall which makes it much easier.
Then we will do some balancing poses and I love doing half moon pose against the wall with a block. Even yoga newbies and those with physical limitations can do this challenging pose using a block and a wall and it really builds confidence. Sometimes I will do tree pose or occasionally dancer pose but always against the wall so that everyone can do it even if they don’t have very good balance and focus.
Sometimes we will do some poses in a chair depending on the athletic ability of the class. You can do lots of traditional poses with a chair such as down dog, side angle, hamstring stretches, standing wide legged forward bend, seated arms stretches, eagle pose and even thread the needle.
Then we transition to the mat and we do some poses such as twists, bridge pose or we grab a strap and do some hamstring and abductor and aductor stretches.
I almost always finish with a restorative pose such as legs up the wall or legs up the chair. You can also roll up a yoga mat and lay your spine on top of it for a nice and gentle shoulder opener. If I have a lot of props I will put them in other poses such as goddess pose.
I then finish the class with a controlled breathing exercise and meditation.
There are not too many studios that have yoga in Havertown, PA. Here are the places that I know about.
There is Tri-Yoga in Havertown on West Chester Pike. The style is a bit esoteric but quite meditative and structured. I have only been to a a few classes here and the space is quite small and intimate. There are a few levels of yoga here and if you are a beginner then you will probably feel pretty intimidated if you go to an intermediate of above class. I appreciate has there is not a lot of talking from the teacher in the class so you can really tune into what is going on in your body and heart.
This studio has monthly full moon classes which I still have yet to get to. I often am teaching couples yoga in Manayunk on Friday nights so full moon yoga or candlelight yoga is very tricky for me to get to. When I do have a Friday night off, I usually want to veg at home or go out and get a yoga sabbatical. The location is quite convenient, right of West Chester Pike and plenty of parking. This studio has a big emphasis on community events such as potlucks etc every few months and it is a very warm group of people that teach and attend classes there.
There is also East Eagle Yoga, located at 18E. Eagle Rd., Havertown, PA, has classes for Beginners, Intermediates, Advanced/Vinyasa, Kids, and Pilates. Parking is a bit of a hassle here. I came here a few months ago and went to the lot in the back and the machines that take the quarters were not working so I had to re-park 2 blocks away and ended up being later for the class than I expected. It’s a nice big studio with traditional sun salutations so if you want a vinyasa yoga class in Havertown, PA then this is a good choice if you don’t mind some parking hassles.
Yoga in Havertown
There is also Cerca Trova yoga which I haven’t been to yet on Darby Rd. Cerca Trova has a variety of yoga classes from Scaravelli Inspired Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Flow, Power Yoga, Heart Yoga and plenty of yoga for kids classes. It is on Darby Rd, actually down the street from East Eagle Yoga. Parking can be a bit tricky here too but not as tricky as East Eagle Yoga. I haven’t been to a class here yet but have been wanting to try out their Monday morning restorative class.
There are also the Tuesday late morning classes that I teach at the Healing Touch on Darby Rd but this is not a traditional hatha yoga class. We don’t do a bunch a sun salutations and you’re not going to get Taylor Lautner’s abs from this class. This class is aimed at people that want something gentle and restorative and they might not be in great shape. If you are intimidated or scared or yoga and just want an invigorating class that will help to release pain and stiffness then this is an appropriate choice then. In the Healing Touch, there are other healing and personal growth modalities that range from acupressure to a Wise Women’s cafe that meets once a week. There is also ballroom and belly dancing so there are all kinds of funky classes and workshops that are happening here.
In a ten minute drive there are actually 3 full-fledged yoga studios so there are some solid options for yoga in Havertown, PA which range from gentle, restorative, meditative to a more active, vinyasa and hatha styles.
Neck Pain & Tight Shoulders – Yoga Poses that Help Relieve Pain
Unfortunately, neck pain & tight shoulders seem to always come together. Often in my yoga classes, I will ask students what body parts are not feeling good and what they want to work on. The number one answer is always low back pain and the next body parts are usually tight shoulder, neck pain and also hip tightness.
I think every single yoga class I have ever done helps with low back pain, as long as the student does not get too aggressive and try to go farther in the pose than is appropriate, which is very common for very new students. For new yoga students I am alw Pays reminding them to let go of striving and competition and if they are wincing or grimacing or worst, grunting in a pose (yes, that happens) then they needs to stop, modify so it is more comfortable or get my attention in a big class so I can give them an alternate pose.
Neck Pain & Tight Shoulders Poses
Here is my youtube video on using tennis balls and laying on top of them to give yourself a neck and shoulder massage.
Often it is so relaxing and since I am releasing such deep tightness with the tennis balls from neck pain and tight shoulders that I fall asleep in when I am doing this. I drop down into a deep place of relaxation that I tell my husband not to talk to me when I am doing this. The dog also knows to give me some space when I am working with my tennis balls.
I won’t travel anywhere without my tennis balls. I put the balls in a sock so that they can work on each side of my vertebrae evenly. I probably have at least 4 pairs of tennis balls wrapped in a sock in my house, maybe even one in my car and I never travel anywhere without my tennis balls.
Another technique that works well is a very hot bath. Sort of cliche but it is quite therapeutic. Best to add a few drops of essential oil such as lavender and also Epsom salts which lets you relax further. If you don’t have any essential oils, then you can also throw a few bags of herbal tea such as chamomile into your bath water to make it smell all spa-like.
Since I have been having some inflammation in my knees lately, I can’t soak in a hot tub or else my knees will start screaming at me at the top of their knee-lungs so another way to heat up this part of the body without inflaming another is I have a herbal collar that I heat up in the microwave. I actually have my lavender, rosemary and some other yummy smelling herbs collar on right now as I am writing this. Awesome to wear on a chilly night as well. You have to be careful heating up an herbal collar since I actually burnt the last one in the microwave by trying to heat it up too fast.
Jill Miller Yoga TuneUp DVDs – Knee Hab
I was reading a review about Jill Miller’s Kneehab video in a recent YogaJournal magazine and decided to go ahead and order it but didn’t give much hope to this.
A month later, after doing the Kneehab video for almost every day and feeling a LOT of relief, I figured I should also buy her DVD for upper body pain . When you are in pain, you often are open to trying lots of different things without having much expectation to them actually helping. Her DVD for upper body pain is divided into parts that give exercises, poses and moves for people that are just recovering from surgery to seasoned athletes.
Not all of the poses will be accessible if you have a lot of neck pain & tight shoulders . This DVD is divided into 5 segments specifically for pain in different parts of your body such as your neck, shoulders, The segments range from 5-10 minutes …. easy to fit into your day. I actually do some of the moves when I am watching tv or on the toilet (am I sharing too much again?)
Jill Miller Yoga TuneUp DVDs for Neck Pain and Tight Shoulders
Even though it is called Yoga Tune Up it actually feels more like a yoga-flavored physical therapy session. If your primary purpose is to find a very-low cost way to find your own relief from neck, shoulder, hand, wrist or knee pain, you are going to have to carve out time to do these moves on a regular basis.
It’s not a tape to do once and then have you neck pain and tight shoulders be magically healed. It is an on-going routine that will have to become part of your life. It’s less time to do this tape then to have to see a acupuncturist, chiropractor or physical therapist though a few times a week.
I was reading a review about Jill Miller’s Kneehab video in a recent YogaJournal magazine and decided to go ahead and order it but didn’t give much hope to this.
A month later, after doing the Kneehab video for almost every day and feeling a LOT of relief, I figured I should also buy her DVD for upper body pain . When you are in pain, you often are open to trying lots of different things without having much expectation to them actually helping. Her DVD for upper body pain is divided into parts that give exercises, poses and moves for people that are just recovering from surgery to seasoned athletes.
Even though it is called Yoga Tune Up it actually feels more like a yoga-flavored physical therapy session. If your primary purpose is to find a very-low cost way to find your own relief from neck, shoulder, hand, wrist or knee pain, you are going to have to carve out time to do these moves on a regular basis.
Sadie Nardini is a popular yoga instructor, youtube queen and co-owner of The Fierce Club, a yoga studio in Soho. Nardini is an expert in yoga fitness and balanced living and is a columnist at GaiamLife and has written for YogaJournal and The Huffington Post. She teaches at all the big events like Yoga Journal and Omega.
Sadie Nardini will kick your flabby butt with inspiration with her Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga Series. Her style is more of a philosophy on yoga than an actual branch of yoga. I actually have taken classes in NYC with Sadie. Her classes were always completed packed with mats just a few inches apart. She even had students that wanted to take her class even if that meant they had to do the practice in the hallway. I also took her teacher training. So I know this practice well and know her gutsy style as well also. She demos the poses with confidences and integrates meditation into each practice.
This DVD includes six full workout sessions that last for an hour or more each, as well as twelve smaller, quicker sessions, each under fifteen minutes. It’s better to do 15 minutes of yoga every day then just one 90 minute session once a week.
Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga: Total Body Transformation
A highlight to this DVD is the ‘Learning How to Fly’ workout which focuses on building yourself to the readiness to do headstand, as well as other gravity-defying postures. I don’t recommend headstand though since that pose can lead to neck pain if you do it improperly without professional supervision.
The focus on weight loss is integral to each workout. In her Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga Series, Sadie does not treat body fitness as an obsession, but simply as a result of a balanced way of living. I love how she infuses living your life more authentically and how your practice is a metaphor for how you live your life.
Total Body Yoga Sculpt: Calorie Burn + Deeper Core Strength
Not another power yoga DVD that is just filled with a bunch of standard sun sulutations….. this 90-minute practice with a matrix menu with unusual poses and flowing sequences keeps you engaged while you activate deep core muscles for more sweaty weight loss. This yoga weight loss DVD is filmed in Sedona (no voice-overs)
I’ll start this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Sadie Nardini’s dvds. However, this is probably my least favorite for a few reasons. First, this dvd seems considerably less “athletic” than the others. If you are not a traditional yogi and you prefer athletic power yoga you might prefer some of her other dvds This video is considerably slower paced than Sadie’s others, and much more “chatty”. I will say that there are still some powerful, excellent strength-building sequences in here, but I found myself really missing the faster flow of her other DVDs.
I’ve done many of her classes before so I had an idea of what to expect. The matrix menu is great because on busy days it allows me to choose what I want to focus on (it’s divided into core, standing, floor, etc). This is so useful because I can build the practice I want on any given day.
This DVD is set up with a “matrix” menu, i.e. there are 8 individual segments that you can play from start to finish or pick and choose based on time and mood. The segments are:
However, I am giving the video 4 stars because it does contain very helpful, very detailed instructions, and awesome cueing. I can see how people looking for a more spiritual yoga video would love this one, but if you want a faster paced workout then stick with her other dvds.
Sadie narrates the whole workout while still doing the routine – no voice-overs. Her alignment tips are spot-on and her background in truly understanding anatomy shows through. She’s also very good at knowing when you’re likely to slip out of proper alignment and will remind you to straighten this or support that at just the right moment. More than just a yoga workout, this DVD truly encompasses the inner workings of yoga as well, helping you to focus and let go of things you no longer need to hold onto in your mind and heart.
The backdrop of Sedona makes for one heck of a beautiful and inspiring session. There is also no cool down segment and I really missed that. If you want to end your practice with Savasana (corpse pose) you’ll either need to do the Inversion segment (includes headstand and wheel) or you’ll need to add it on your own. I wouldn’t recommend this for pure beginners, however if you have some yoga experience there will be something for you in this.
Total Belly Transformation: Whole Body Tone + Deeper Core Strength
Yay! A core workout that’s creative, flowing and tones your whole body along with your center in 30- 45 minutes. . Her very detailed instructions and visualizations come into both my left and right brain through her use of physiological detail and metaphorical imagery (belly bonfire anyone?) . After just 3 meetings on my mat with this DVD, I am learning how to send different kinds of instruction to my core, using deeper muscles than have become my habit.
This series of abdominal/core flows are deep and tough. Because this DVD is easily done as either one continuous series of flows or 3 individual sections, it is very easy to insert into the middle of a longer practice when you want to focus more on core work.
If you have Shiva Rea’s Core series DVDs and wondered if this was worth having too, it is, absolutely worth having ( I have a few Shiva Rea DVDs…. her tummy toning one and her yoga trance dance one) It’s mucho different from Shiva’s work and would make a fine addition to a serious, yoga loving, core focused person’s collection that wants a gutsy workout.
If you have been practicing Bikram yoga for awhile and wanted a dvd you can do at home when you can’t make it to the hot studio. (or maybe paying $20 a Bikram class just isn’t in your budget right now) First thing I noticed is that the entire DVD is actually 45 minutes long as opposed to the 30 it says. There is a 15 minute warm up, a 15 minute standing series and a 15 minute floor series (you can pick and choose or do them all).
I wouldn’t call myself a beginner Yogi but some of these poses were too advanced for me to come close to completing on the first attempt. That being said: I am, again, more than ok with that. I will follow along as best I can and now I have an additional goal of learning to complete all the poses. It’s a nice change of pace from Bikram and if you follow her instructions about the way to hold your stomach and your lower spine, you can really feel your “belly bonfire” ( she does have a way with words).
My only other suggestion would be to watch this dvd through one time and watch how each pose is done if you are unfamiliar with this type of yoga. I think it would be much easier to follow along the first time you try if you have seen each pose done first.
This video is very different from her other Sedona video, as well – no repeats here. In fact, between the two Sedona videos, this one is definitely my favorite. I found this to be a very unusual yoga workout with several moves I have not seen elsewhere – it is almost like pilates in the sense that it is very targeted towards the core. My only complaint is that I feel as if the floor segment in particular could move a bit faster with less talking.
Overall I would say that this is a very solid intermediate level video with one or two advanced moves (crow and side crow), which make it different from other power yoga DVDs with a bunch of sun salutations. This is not a great fit for someone brand new to yoga…. you’ll probably feel overwhelmed unless you are very athletic.
