In the past few months, I have been so busy that I have not been able to make it to a yoga class.  I have been practicing yoga (in some way or another) for 9 or 10 years now.  When I started, I took class two times per week and never missed a class.  As my practice progressed I moved from one style to another until I got to the point that I was done with classes and only took private lessons.  That continued for a few years until I moved away from classes and teacher lead practices all together. 

 I never stopped practicing yoga on my own, but my time away was occupied with other activities that precluded me from getting to class.  (That is a really nice way of saying that yoga class was not my top priority because we all know that if it was a top priority, I would have made it happen).  Nonetheless, I only practiced on my own.  I would hit up a class every now and again, or go through a 4-6 week jaunt where I got into a more regular schedule, but nothing more than that. 

 I then, more recently, got back to wanting to make it to class once/week, but when tax season hit, I didn’t have the time.  Well, now I do – and I realized I was nervous; nervous that in my time-off, I would have lost some of my flexibility and core strength. 

 If you don’t live in a city with a plethora of yoga studios and amazing yoga teachers, then you are missing out.  Boston is a yoga haven.  The teachers are exceptionally good and because of that, the student’s skill is unmatched.  As a result, my two teachers teach classes that on any given day will challenge me, provided I am up for the challenge.  (That is the other amazing thing about yoga, you can make any pose less or more strenuous).

 This past Saturday I made the decision to get my butt to class – Todd’s class that is.  Todd is an amazing yoga teacher who teaches an advanced class.  The class not only incorporates quite a few advanced poses but is physically demanding.  However, I wanted a rigorous class – and Todd did not disappoint.  I had an amazing class and what was even more exciting is that I moved into a pose I had never been able to master.  Eka Pada Sirsasana (I think) – foot behind the head in a forward fold.  (I must admit, my pose did not look quite as graceful, but I am almost there).

 While there are still plenty of poses I want to master, this small achievement really got me thinking: I’ve been focusing on other athletic things yet when I got back to a class, was able to make an advancement.  

But the fact remains, I had taken my focus off of yoga.  Yes, I still practiced on my own (20 or so minutes a day after I’d workout), but I was not trying to improve.  Actually, I was using yoga for mental sanity and for flexibility and joint/muscle health, and nothing else.  But when I got back to it, I was right where I left off and ready to move forward.  As a result, while my focus was elsewhere, by not foregoing yoga altogether due to the fact that I couldn’t give it my full attention, I was able to maintain and prime myself to improve.  (How often do we give up on something all together because we cannot give it our full intention?  Boy am I glad that I did not fall prey to that line of thinking this time, like I have done so many other time.)

 Interestingly enough, I just went through this same experience with lifting.  As I’ve mentioned, I streamlined my training over the past few months.  My lifts have been full body lifts that incorporate plyometrics and agility with the goal of sucking wind and elevating my heart-rate without compromising the integrity of my lift.  Prior to this, one of my focuses was to increase shoulder strength.  However, I knew that any strength gain focus had to take a back seat when my program changed.

 To my pleasant surprise, when all was said and done, my shoulder strength did increase.  I lay the groundwork in Nov/Dec by increasing my weights in a typical strength building workout format.  However, during my recent training, I either maintained that weight or only slightly decreased it (remember when doing a metabolically taxing full body lift filled with plyos, the weight you use in an overhead press half way through the workout is not going to mirror that which you would use for straight sets).  My intent was to lift to my fullest potential, while maintaining good form, and that clearly did the trick. 

 The other day, as I was setting up some crazy giant set, it dawned on me that the weight I was overhead pressing for 10 reps was that which, in December, I could barely eek out for 10 reps while doing straight sets with plenty of rest. 

 In the end of the day, while we cannot always focus on everything all the time, that does not mean we will lose that for which we have worked so hard.  And while I would tell, and have told, clients/friends/anyone else this is true; I’ve always found it a hard concept to believe applies to me.  And so I imagine you might find this concept difficult to grasp as well. 

 While I don’t think an Olympic or even Pro-athlete can rest his/her laurels on this concept, I think the majority of the world can.  You cannot focus on everything all the time (whereas the Olympian/Pro is paid to do so); there are times when things you really love have to take a back seat.  But, that does not mean all is lost.  Maintenance is a very real and attainable option. While I had not purposefully set up a plan to maintain my flexibility, I had set up a plan for my shoulder strength.  I made sure I lifted with integrity every single time; perfect form and to failure; which paid off.  On the yoga side, my daily routine has become second nature to me, so in retrospect, I should not be surprised with Saturday’s new pose.  And while the point of my post was not to plug Jodiojo and Company, I will say that we do put together some amazing maintenance programs to help get you through those murky times when something else has to take center stage.  So regardless of what has to take a front seat in your life, there is always a way to maintain and possibly keep improving.

I was recently reminded by a friend that I used to spend a lot of time focusing on breath.  Not every second of every day, but that I incorporated some form of breath work a few times a week at the end of my workouts.  Somewhere, over the last year and a half, I got away from that practice and am so glad my friend reminded me of it. 

 To a yogi, bath, aka the influx of oxygen, aka life force, aka Prana, infuses the body with new life.  Moving breath through the body brings oxygenated blood to areas that have been held in a contracted state far too long providing relaxation and release to the neck and ribcage.

 Not just yogis, however, should be aware at the importance of breath.  Anyone seeking a healthy lifestyle or a stress-free lifestyle should pay mind to her breath.  Most people are unaware of how shallow their breathing has become.  Take a moment to think about it, how deep are you breathing?  My guess is your breath is shallow and I challenge you to contrast it with that of a full breath – consciously breathe in.  Fill your belly first and feel your diaphragm drop down, as the belly fills, move the breath into the back and up the front body.  Wait until your entire midsection has filled to feel your chest rise as the upper lungs fill.  How different did that breath felt from the shallow sips of air you were previously taking?  

 Breathing provides oxygen to the body and removes waste products.  Think of the disservice you are doing to yourself by not using your lungs to their full capacity.  The shallower we allow our breath to become, the more of a disservice we are doing to ourselves.  However, with the lifestyles most of us lead, it’s almost impossible for us to prevent the occurrence and habit of shallow breathing.  Sitting at a desk, probably semi-slouching closes off our chest and constricts our breathing.  The longer we maintain this position and this breath, the tighter our chest becomes.  This is the exact reason I add a short amount of breath-work to my routine, to counter act this effect. 

 However, I don’t simply work on breathing to counteract bad posture and a constricted chest, there are many additional benefits.  Spending a mere 3 minutes consciously breathing can do wonders for your mental state.  When I finish off a morning working, those 3 extra minutes can set a calm tone to my day. 

 There are many breathing techniques out there, many of which I’ve learned in yoga.  A beginner can start out by sitting and take a few deep breaths as I described above; feeling the breath fill each region of you torso.  However, here are a two other techniques you might want to try out. 

 Alternate Nostril Breathing

The name alternate nostril breathing comes from the fact that we will alternate between the two nostrils during this technique.  The purpose of this breathing is to breathe only through one nostril at a time.  Normal breathing alternates from one nostril to the other at various times during the day and in a healthy person the breath will alternate between nostrils about every two hours.  However, we are not all in optimal health and helping the breath to flow through each nostril can be a wonderful tool. 

This breathing technique is also extremely calming.

 To start, raise your palm to face you and determine which position is more comfortable:

 Option 1: Place the thumb on your R nostril, your second and third finger will rest in between your eyes, and place your ring and pinky finger on your left nostril. 

Option 2: Place your thumb on your R nostril, drop your second and third (and depending on comfort, ring finger as well) and place your ring and pinky finger (or just pinky) on your L nostril. 

Your starting position will be holding your hand to your face without closing either nostril. 

 Close the L nostril with your ring and pinky finger and inhale through the R nostril. Do this to the count of 4 seconds.

1. Immediately close the R nostril with your thumb finger and hold for 2-4 seconds.  
2. Remove your ring and pinky finger from your L nostril and exhale through this nostril for a count of 4 seconds. 
3. Hold the breath out for a second or two.
4. Inhale through the L nostril to the count of 4 seconds.
5. Immediately close the L nostril with your ring and pinky finger and hold for 2-4 seconds.  
6. Remove your thumb from your R nostril and exhale through this nostril for a count of 4 seconds. 

 Repeat for a total of three rounds and increase if desired. 

 Deep Breathing

I don’t have a name for this second type of breath, it is a fusion of various styles I’ve learned over the year.  Start by sitting in a comfortable cross legged position and close the eyes. 

1. Inhale deeply, as described in the beginning of this post.  When you have almost fully breathed in, concentrate on the space between each rib and try to expand them with even more breath. 
2. Hold here, you might feel these tiny spaces stretching out. 
3. Exhale with an open mouth and push out all of the breath. 
4. Keep the breath out, pull your stomach in and up as you puff out your chest.  You will be forming a semi-vacuum feeling in your chest.  Be careful and take it easy the first few times.  As you hold this position, you might have the sensation to cough.  If you do, inhale and cough.  That is a sign you are working into new areas of your lungs and happens to me all the time.  Once you have held the breath for 4-8 second, breathe in.
5. Perform a few normal breaths and then repeat. 

 I finish off almost every workout with some form of yoga, be it for 5 or 30 minutes as a form of stretching and to practice yoga.  Before I’m done, I’ll often sit for 3 minutes and breath.  As a challenge, this week I urge you to spend 3 minutes on two separate occasions and try one of these techniques.  Hopefully it will be a nice close to your training, or to whatever you just finished doing, and will set the tone for the rest of your day.

I have a new love.

No, not a passion like yesterday.  I’ve moved on–keep up!

No…this is a new love.  It’s yoga.

This is huge for me.  I am so not the yoga type.  Nothing I do in life is slow, methodical and calculated like yoga.  I do not like slow songs, I can not go to the movies and just sit and watch a movie, I have a hard time sitting still for long periods of time so I find that I barely sit throughout the day.  But I am completely smitten with yoga. 

Am I getting old?  Or am I just growing up?

I have not been practicing long and I am a knotted ball right now, but still: I am a woman on a mission and that mission is flexibility, peace, calm…  I want to bring something worthwhile to my “mat”.  I find that I am too new to truly *relax* into my sacred time right now but I am getting better and better at it.  Every so often I actually catch myself getting into my breathing or experiencing a new amount of flexibility I didn’t have before.  It’s exciting–and I need exciting right now.

It is so easy for us to burn out on a love or passion.  I love lifting and I have a passion for it, but I also need to back off of it every so often to just *breathe*.  Step away so that when I return I still love it for what it is:  mine, raw, fun, challenging.  If I hit it day in and day out and do my own programming, I am so over myself that I literally talk to myself in the gym saying things like “do you train all your clients this way and are you always this boring?”haha  So yoga has provided a much needed refuge for me to be able to go within and challenge myself (umm…try any advanced pose and you’ll see what I mean) without having to depend on the usual standby’s of increased weight or zany training techniques. 

What are you going to try this week that will open up a new horizon for you?  I am challenging you to find something and then let me know what you chose.  We have a job to do and that’s to transform ourselves!  So hop to it!