Keep Yourself Healthy with Yoga while Traveling

I'd like to introduce a guest blogger for this next Yoga With Intention post. His name is Wes Vonn. He is the creator of I Vonn To Pump You Up and is a fitness and health enthusiast. Read this article that discusses how you can take yoga on the road. Enjoy! And please feel free to comment on your yoga travel experiences and be sure to visit Wes' blog. Namaste.

Keep Yourself Healthy with Yoga while Traveling

People who are on vacation tend to give up their healthy routines because they think that this is a treat for them. They avoid exercising and they eat whatever they want while they're with family and friends. The problems start when the person has to return home and find that they've gained a lot of week from their week vacation and is also having trouble returning to a more structured routine. Staying on track even while vacationing and traveling is so important for your health and well-being. There are many reasons why you should do yoga even while you're on vacation.

When it comes to health benefits while traveling, yoga really offers many of them to a variety of different people. If you're traveling by car to your next destination, your body is going to be sitting in the same position for hours. Gentle yoga can help to keep the body flexible and get it more aligned after you get out of the car. If you're a business traveler, just think of how soothing and relaxing yoga can be before a stressful meeting with clients or coworkers. Yoga really can be highly beneficial to all different types of travelers.

Another thing you need to think about is how easy it is to do yoga while you're traveling. More and more airports are putting in zen and yoga rooms for people to take advantage of. These rooms have mats, weights and pillows available so that you can just do yoga or meditate to your heart's desire. Most hotels, whether you are staying in an expensive Las Vegas hotel or a more affordable option, even offer morning yoga classes to their paying guests so that you can get a healthy start to your day without having to pay any extra money just to join in with the rest of the group.

Just think of how much easier it would be for you to make healthy choices for the rest of the day when you've started the day off with gentle and relaxing yoga. You will be less likely to grab for that muffin in the morning and you might make healthier choices the rest of the time you're on vacation. When you return back home, you will also find that you didn't gain weight or you gained a very small amount because you kept yourself quite structured. Vacationing and traveling does not mean that you should give up on healthy habits that you've developed over the years.

Wes Vonn

Wes is a fitness and living healthy nut. You can reach him at wesvonn@gmail.com. He recently started using a Paleo diet with his exercise routines and have noticed a huge change not only in his body but also in things like energy levels, ability to sleep through the night, and mood.

You Are Fierce!

I can honestly say that the yoga classes I teach are challenging. Students sometimes are breathing heavily, struggling with some poses, and definitely sweating during the practice. My intention is not to harm or discourage my students. On the contrary, I am teaching them to believe in themselves. I show them, through the challenging yoga classes, that they have the ability to get through very difficult circumstances. Yes, they may be a little sweaty at the end, but they got through it. They learn they are able to support themselves, live with integrity, develop and practice great strength, and feel calm throughout the entire process.

There is a particular pose that can embrace this experience: Utkatasana. The Sanskirt word literally means powerful or fierce. The nickname given to this posture is Chair Pose because the physical body looks like it's sitting in a chair. While sitting in an actual chair may not produce power and strength, practicing Chair Pose can.

Because of the balancing nature of the pose, the core engagement, the arms lifted over head, lifting your toes, and sitting deeply onto nothing at all can definitely generate confidence, power, strength, and fierceness.

Utkatasana: Chair Pose
Start by standing in Mountain Pose. Be sure to have your feet about hip distance apart with your toes pointing directly forward to form a secure foundation while standing. Inhale to extend your arms into the air. Exhale and sit back and down as if you were sitting into an actual seat. To begin with, there is no need to sit down too deeply. Just bend at the knees and hips to establish the sensation of beginning to to sit down into a chair.

Before going any further, be sure to engage your core. Tilt your pelvis so you can feel you navel draw in toward your spine. Do this action with an exhale. This will help you connect more solidly to your core. It establishes a stronger base and support of self. As you're able, with core engaged, sit back and down a little deeper. Be sure to keep your arms extended over head. (Have your arms extend past your ears.) This is your posture. To make it more demanding, shift your weight more toward your heels so you can lift your toes off the floor. The challenge here is to remain stable, balanced, and calm in the posture. You want to have a full sense of supporting yourself without actual support (like sitting in a chair.) After about 5 breaths, stand up tall to Extended Mountain Pose with an inhale. Exhale to lower your arms down by your side.

The intention behind a pose like this is to remind you that you can rely on your own strength to support yourself in many difficult and challenging situations. It may not be comfortable like a chair, but you'll have the strength, power, and fierceness that the pose declares.

Namaste.

Slow Down....Again

Our bodies and minds are constantly on the move and the result can be exhaustion, disorientation, confusion, etc. So, take a moment to slow down. We all deserve those few moments of stillness and quiet. It only takes a few minutes to re-group, re-connect, and re-charge.

Why not try this very simple exercise and see how you feel afterward. Try it TODAY, and if you walk away with positive results, try it again tomorrow.

Find a quiet place in your home or office. I know, sometimes this can be a challenge. Maybe just find a room, close the door, and take this moment to simply relax. It will only take a few minutes. Sit comfortably on your yoga mat or on the floor. Perhaps sit on a folded blanket or towel to feel more comfortable. If it feels ok, fold your legs in a crossed-legged position. Rest your wrists on your knees. Allow your neck, shoulders, arms, and hands to completely relax. Ideally, the room should be quiet. But if there is outside noise, do your best to not allow it to distract you. This is YOUR time. To help drown out the sound, maybe turn on some light meditative music. Close your eyes.

Once you are seated comfortably and relaxed, hold still for a few moments and focus on your breathing. After 5-10 breaths, begin a very simple movement. Inhale and extend your arms over head. Move at the pace of your in-breath. As you exhale, bring your arms slowly back down. Again, move at the pace of your out-breath. Do this simple motion 5-10 times.

This exercise keeps you totally in your body. You only need to focus on your breathing and simple arm movement.

See! This only took a few minutes! When you're done, sit still for a moment longer. Then make a slow transition back into your day. Try this same exercise again tomorrow....and the next day, too! I'd love to hear how this made you feel. Make a comment on this blog.

Namaste

Centered & Balanced

Centered & Balanced

In my Power Yoga classes this week, I have been challenging my students to test their balance. Balance comes in many forms in the yoga practice. The most obvious, perhaps, is to have the class perform balancing poses. For example, Tree Pose, where one is standing on one foot.

Another way to challenge your balance is to challenge the resources within that keep you centered. Core postures, like Boat Pose, bring awareness to your core - your center. When one is breathing with integrity, one can experience great strength, balance, and centering.

If you're feeling a little off-balance, practicing a pose like Tree or even Boat can help with gaining more strength in that area. But also think about how we live our lives. When we are faced with life challenges, especially multiple life challenges all at once, you can feel VERY off-balance, right? It may be difficult, while in the midst of these challenges, to get reconnected, re-centered, and balanced. My suggestion is to allow yourself to stumble; to be off-balance. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with falling down. When we KNOW that we can get back up, shows true strength. Once you have a moment to yourself away from the chaos, practice deep breathing, Tree Pose, and Boat Pose to remind yourself of the balance you already have within. Below is another pose you can use to help achieve a greater sense of balance and centering.

Spinal Balance
Come to your yoga mat on all fours. Feel free to pad your knees and wrists to reduce any strain. Engage your core by exhaling and drawing your navel up toward your spine. Create an abdominal lock by holding this position. Continue breathing, but maintain the lock. Your back may slightly round in this this position to ensure you have a strong connection to this lock. If you have an overly arched back, or it feels like your low back is collapsed, it's very likely that you have disengaged the abdominal lock.

Once you feel secure in this position, slowly extend your right leg back so that it is straight and parallel with the floor. Again be sure that your low back has not collapsed. If your leg lifts too high, you may experience the release of the lock and a collapsed back. Once you have secured this position, now extend your left arm forward. You are now in Spinal Balance.

In order to maintain the pose, be sure to inhale and lengthen throughout your body, particularly through the lifted limbs. On your exhale, be certain that you are still holding your abdominal lock. In addition to this sensation, be aware of your inner arm and inner leg of the extended limbs. Create a feeling as if they are pressing into an imaginary object. This will also help to hold the pose. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths then repeat it on the other side.

To make this pose more challenging and to really test your balance, try doing Spinal Balance without the knee on the floor! The first few times you may tip over. That's ok. Remember, we fall. Just remind yourself of the internal resources that you have that will help you return to a balanced and centered state of mind and body.

Namaste

The Return of Yoga With Intention

As you may have noticed, I took an extended break from writing my blog. Well, now it's time for the return. Please look forward to reading posts that will help you to deepen your personal yoga practice. Become a subscribing member so that you can stay up to date with these posts.

Yoga With Intention is designed to integrate real life with real yoga. Practicing specific yoga poses with an added intention can be very effective in improving your personal life journey.

Namaste