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I used to be a purist but since I started working at a gym, I became a fan of having my favorite music going on in the background while I practice.  Sometimes I practice to the sounds that I usually use in my spin classes, which consists of popular dance and rock music.  At other times I like world music, my favorite being the Buddha Bar lounge and chill out styles.

Choosing to use music or not in your home practice is entirely up to you.  I find that when I do practice to music, I’ll practice for a longer period of time and take more time in the poses.  Perhaps the chitter chatter in my brain causes me to speed through one of my favorite activities.  So in an attempt to be “pure” in my yoga practice, I’m rushing through and losing the joy of doing it in the first place.

If you’re looking for great yoga music that’s fun, I highly recommend checking out the Buddha Bar series.

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You can learn basic stretches where you will get more benefit from having some assistance, like in this photo:

and even learn more advanced, acrobatic inspired poses like those found in Acro Yoga style, as in this photo:

I’ve gotten benefits from the partner yoga classes I’ve had in the past and have found that I can deepen my stretches with a partner assisting me.  I sometimes teach partner stretches in my classes, although I’ve had feedback that some practitioners would rather not be touching let alone lying on top of a complete, sweaty stranger, and I totally understand.  So I recommend grabbing your husband, boyfriend, wife, girlfriend or even a platonic friend and checking out a partner yoga class or workshop at a studio near you.  Visit http://yoga.lovetoknow.com/Partner_Yoga_Poses for more information on classes and DVDs about partner yoga.

Thanks to AcroYoga.org for the photos.

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Precautions for jump backs – if you have any wrist or back injuries, don’t do the jump backs. Step back into the vinyasa flow instead.

Okay, my big, special, secret tip for jump backs is: Inhale butt up, exhale jump back.

Step 1: Whether you’re jumping back from an arm balance like crow or from the front of the mat, by inhaling and lifting your butt up a little, you automatically bring your weight more forward into your arms which is going to support your body while you’re in the “air” before landing in the jump back. Bring your weight forward and it will be easier.

Step 2: Jump back quickly on the exhalation. You may not get all the way back at first. That’s okay, it takes practice and you’re building your core and arm strength by practicing. Once Step 1 feels natural for you, Step 2 is a piece of cake because the two go hand in hand.

That’s it in a nutshell: inhale butt up, exhale jump back. Once I got jump backs down I felt that much stronger in my yoga practice, it was exhilarating to be seamlessly flying back from arm balances that I couldn’t do before. So keep practicing and fly!

Inhale butt up, exhale jump back.

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I’ll be there with Crunch Fitness teaching Hot Yoga, in the sun, for anyone that wants to stop by outside the Crunch on Lafayette.

Hope to see you there!

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When you start a yoga practice in a comfortable seated position, you listen to your breath.  It’s slow, steady and easy.  You’re listening but you don’t have to think about breathing, it just happens.  Then you open your eyes and begin to move through some warm up postures and then the practice may become more vigorous as you do some vinyasa flow.  Then you begin to hold postures that become increasingly more challenging including twisting, binding, balancing, inversions and backbends.  Then you wind down with some gentle stretches on the floor and relax in savasana, corpse pose.  Lastly, you come back to sit in the same seated position from the beginning of the practice and listen to your breath.  It’s slow, steady and easy.

My idea of the breath during the practice is to achieve that slow, steady, easy breath in every single posture.  Down dog, revolved side angle with a bind, headstand, any posture.  The challenge in yoga is not to perfect the posture from the outside, but from the inside with your calm breathing, then your body can relax into the pose rather than being pushed into it.  A yoga teacher once said to my class, “You should be able to meditate in any posture.”

That’s my interpretation of a yoga practice being all about breathing.  What’s yours?

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This is the comment I received:

This may be helpful for some… Hopefully the humor can be seen as cute and ignored as random wanderings of an immature practitioner (and blatant disregard for the depth and integrity of yoga). Of course, we must practice acceptance on all levels–even for young teachers stricken with rampant chitta vritti.
Yoga has come a long way to be so carelessly disrespected with a random thoughts (which have only existed for seconds in the mind of this young lady). Please think before you speak.

First, this man was brave enough to comment on one of my older episodes that my current viewers and subscribers will likely no longer see because they’ve watched it already. Thus, not giving current viewers the opportunity to write back.

Second, I’ve received MANY emails from viewers that have thanked me for making yoga fun and that they would have never considered doing it or learning more about it if they hadn’t seen Get Exercised. Score points for yoga!

Third, dude, lighten up! Chitta Vritti is defined as excess mental activity and it sounds like you’ve got a little extra chimichanga going on yourself. And, by the way, where can I view your podcast?

I created Get Exercised because as an actress I’m passionate about entertaining and as a yoga instructor I’m passionate about helping people feel strong and healthy. By combining the two, I wanted viewers to get the real, genuine me and encourage those who wouldn’t likely give yoga the time of day to give it a chance because the podcast entertained them as well as informed. I love audience feedback and incorporate it into the show when I can.

And I would LOVE to watch the podcasts of anybody who has anything else to say!

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This is a common question I’m asked and the only answer I’ve heard thus far is that rolling onto the right side is more relaxing for your body than rolling onto the left (although I did find something that said people with blood pressure irregularities should roll to the left), but after much searching I haven’t been able to find a more detailed, scientific answer than that.

So I’m opening this up to anybody who’s reading this.  Why is it more relaxing to roll onto our right side than on the left?

Many thanks to the person who can answer this.

Thanks to www.sacredonion.org/ for the photo.

A cat lying on the left side after Savasana.

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Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day activities, responsibilities, emotional highs and lows of life and forget how to just be.  I hope the following Sutras will serve as inspiration to help you get back to a calm place if you’re feeling stressed.

Note: I chose to only put some of the Sutras from the chapter in and isn’t the entire section in the book.

“To preserve openness of heart and calmness of mind, nurture these attitudes:

Kindness to those who are happy
Compassion for those who are less fortunate
Honor for those whose embody noble qualities
Equanimity to those whose actions oppose your values.

Or engage the focus on an inspiring object.

Or reflect on a peaceful feeling from an experience, a dream, or deep sleep.

Or dedicate yourself to anything that elevates and embraces your heart.”

Have a beautiful weekend.

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