At Home Yoga with Laura

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: Laughter Yoga?

Most of us are familiar with the cliche that "laughter is the best medicine."  Years ago, in his book, Anatomy of an Illness, political journalist, Norman Cousins, documented his recovery from a delibitating and painful form of arthritis by watching hours of Marx Brothers movies.  Well, now there's laughter yoga!

About two weeks ago, the Washington Post Express paper had a feature about Laughter Yoga (also known as Hasya yoga) classes now taught in the DC metro area.  I also came across a youtube video of a laughter yoga class taught by a psychotherapist, Dr. Siddharth Ashvin Shah, of the George Washington University Medical Center.

Laughter yoga's purported physical and mental benefits include:  boosting the immune system, strengthening the heart and cardiovascular system, strengthening the stomach muscles, and reducing and releasing tension.

You can check out laughter yoga classes on youtube.com.  The participants appear to be having fun.  In all candor, for me the exercises look a bit contrived.  Granted, in an earlier post I suggested smiling as you do your poses to energize them. Making myself smile triggers positive thoughts and memories.  But, belly laughing seems slightly different.  I have to think of something really funny to get me going. I don't think I can really get into laughing and feeling it's real just by doing it on command.

So, to add laughter to my yoga practice, what I need to do is recall some witty remarks by a work colleague that put me into hysterics - so much so that I have had to sit down on the floor at home rolling in laughter...causing my children to wonder if I had lost it.

Laughter is definitely fun and it helps generate those healthy endorphins. So, to enhance your yoga practice, think of your own personal, creative ways to get yourself to laugh and you should enjoy your practice even more!

Wisdom of the Day:  "Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face."~ Victor Hugo

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: Safe Candles for the Home Studio

I like to share new tools that I come across to enhance your home yoga practice.  Today, I did some routine shopping at Costco in Greenbelt, MD.  As I strolled down the aisles I came across a unique item I had never seen.  Battery operated candles!  And vanilla scented no less!

Earlier today during my yoga session I had lighted a candle as part of dedicating the session to my family member.  The candle didn't shine too brightly and when I finished my practice I rolled up my mat and changed into my church clothes.  Well, I  ALMOST (note almost...) forgot to blow out that candle!  It's only because I came back downstairs to my yoga spot to pick up something that I realized that I had forgotten to blow out the candle!  Not too smart or too safe!

Seeing this, I thought to myself, "No more lighting of candles for yoga practice!"  Can't take a chance burning down the house (remember that Talking Heads song...)!  Well, to my surprise the solution appeared today in Costco with those AA battery operated candles from Costco!  For $16.99 I got three almond colored, vanilla scented candles that flicker like real candles without the fuss or muss of dripping wax or the danger of accidentally leaving them unattended and risking a fire! 

They provide a wonderful, aromatic, safe ambiance and enhancement for your yoga practice in  your home studio!  I am grateful for this innovative technology!  Maybe they've been around for years but they were new for me.  I have already enjoyed them and will flip their switch to "on" during my yoga practice tomorrow morning.

Wisdom/Quotation of the Day:  "Candles can add spirituality to your yoga practice...The soft, warm glow of candlelight can be the key to a contemplative sanctuary."~ From www.yoga-insight.com/meditation-tools/candles.aspx.

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: Experiencing "Flow"

This morning I tried the technique of dedicating a yoga session to a friend or family member.  I dedicated my session to a family member whose energy often dips because of an apparent health challenge.  I have not yet called her to see if she noticed any shift this morning as I focused on her throughout my practice.  I did realize, however, that my own energy lifted even more than usual and that my focus sharpened during my session.

In a way, I experienced the sensation of "flow," a concept popularized by psychologist Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi who wrote a book with the same title. (I am currently listening to the book on CD.)

A principal aspect of flow is that during a particular activity, an person loses the feeling of self-consciousness.  The action in which they are engaged "merges with their awareness."  In other words, a person becomes totally one with the activity - there is no separation and no awareness or sense of time.

The practice of gentle hatha yoga can develop one's ability to experience flow - i.e. - energized focus,  And, it seems, from my experience this morning, that dedicating one's session to another person infuses a spiritual element that makes it even easier to achieve flow.

Now, this is not just new agey woo-woo stuff that has no practical value.  The flow state that you can achieve in doing hatha yoga when you set an intention or use a key word and fully engage yourself in your session gives you the foundation for creating this state in other areas of your daily life whether it's in your office doing your work, making dinner, playing tennis, or playing guitar.  And just as hatha yoga enables you to stretch beyond your previous comfort zone and become more limber and supple, you should notice similar changes in your skill levels and performance in other areas.

Wisdom/Quotation of the Day:  "See me flowing like a river to the sea." ~From the song, "Flow" by singer Sade.

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: Infusing Spirit into Your Practice

I recently came across an article featuring an interview with John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga.  The points he made about the importance of home practice also apply to gentle hatha yoga. 

Friend extolled the benefits of home practice, particularly in enhancing one's ability to go deeper and attuned to one's rhythms.  I was especially struck by Friend's comment that home practice can help us grow the most. Friend offered suggestions for setting aside a special space in one's home to practice yoga including dedicating an uncluttered, quiet site, free of distractions.  He said, "all you need is a sticky-mat sized space in your house.  You can literally do a practice just about anywhere."

Friend also recommended infusing the daily home yoga practice with a spiritual dimension.  I often do this by setting an intention before I start and by repeating a keyword such as "energy" or "vitality" or "serenity" as I do the poses.  Friend suggested reading a poem or inspirational reading or quotation by a person you admire right before your practice.  Another option is to dedicate your practice to a person -- a friend, family member or work colleague if they need extra energy or love or support.  What a wonderful idea!  I am going to try to tomorrow morning.

Wisdom of the Day:  "Home practice is really the foundation of how we grow and improve in our yoga."~John Friend

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: 184 Lb Weight Loss With Yoga?

A few days ago I wrote about weight loss and yoga and I emphasized that gentle hatha yoga can help regulate one's metabolism but that weight loss likely requires a 3-tier approach of healthy eating, hatha yoga, and an aerobics/cardio program.  Soon after, I came across an article detailing the story of a man, Arthur Boorman, who attributes losing 184 pounds (he is 5 foot 6 and originally weighed 340 pounds!) to yoga.

Naturally, such a dramatic weight loss attributed to yoga caught my attention.  The article supported my premise of needing healthy eating plus aerobic activity as well asyoga to lose weight.  It also gave further credence to my view that you can teach yourself yoga at home whether with a book or DVD, even if you're in bad shape!

Boorman was so heavy that could not walk without using canes because of leg and back problems.  He finally had enough and yoga came to his mind. Turned away by a local yoga studio because of concerns about liability issues and the view they could not help someone who could not walk, Boorman found a yoga DVD on theInternet.  The DVD features "YRG - Yoga for Regular Guys," a cardio workout program created by a former wrestler that combines yoga poses with calisthenics and isometric exercises.  Boorman.

Boorman had to work his way up from the beginner routine to an advanced one because he was so disabled he could not stand on his own when he started.  He contacted the workout's developer who designed an eating plan.  Boorman carefully followed the eating plan and did the YRG yoga every day. He lost 30 pounds in the first month and 130 pounds within nine months.  Boorman now teaches YRG classes five times a week.  His life has changed tremendously.  But the workout he followed combined yoga with cardio and healthy eating.  Those 3 components are vital for weight loss in my view.

Wisdom of the Day:  "Yoga is invigoration in relaxation.  Freedom in routine.  Confidence through self control.  Energy within and energy without. " ~Ymber Delecto

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: Energy for the Business Person

I love to share simple, practical techniques that produce positive results in a short time.  As we all know but sometimes forget, breath is the essence of life.  We can go without food for weeks, without water for a few days, but without oxygen for no more than a few minutes.  Breathing in deeply can energize us by feeding our cells with essential nutrients as well as relax us totally.  Goodness knows many of us need that in these current times of seeming economic disaster (note I said seeming....)  Especially those in the banking and mortgage industries!

This morning I decided to try a variation of the yoga alternate nostril breath exercise that I had read about in Yoga Secrets for Business Success by Darshan Singh Khalsa.  Khalsa has had a most fascinating career with stints not only as a teacher of Kundalini yoga, but as a consultant to major global corporation such as Citibank, Kodak, and  Phillips Petroleum and even as a writer of Hollywood screenplays.  Talk about about being a Renaissance person!

Khalsa's book teaches numerous yoga poses and techniques to energize and alleviate stress for the harried business person.  In the chapter, "Breath to the Rescue," Khalsa presents a simple breath exercise that you can use to energize yourself at the office instead of sipping that not so healthy cup of coffee in the afternoon.  Or, as Khalsa recommends, you can do this technique when you  have an important project to finish under a tight deadline and you're feeling worn out and unmotivated.

How do you do it?  Sit erect in a cross legged position on the floor.  Or, if you're at the office and don't want you boss to raise her or his eyebrows in coming by your desk and seeing you on the floor, you can just sit straight in your office chair.  Anyway, sit up straight but in a relaxed pose.  For 5 minutes (I keep a timer at my desk), close off your left nostril and inhale deeply and exhale slowly - for about 26 times -solely through your right nostril.  Within or at the end of those 5 minutes you should feel re-awakened and rejuvenated.  

I tried this breathing exercise today during my afternoon lull. And, I added my own twist to this exercise.   As I inhaled I mentally said, "I am" and as I exhaled I mentally said, "energy" with a smile. It worked!  After the 5 minutes, I had greater mental clarity and felt revitalized!

Wisdom of the Day:  "Long deep breathing can change your destiny, because it puts your energy under your conscious control."~ Darshan Singh Khalsa, Yoga Secrets for Business Success:  Reduce Stress, Improve Performance.

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: Can Yoga Help You Lose Weight?

Poses such as the shoulder stand and the plough stimulate the thyroid and pituitary glands and they can definitely help to regulate your metabolism, accelerating it if it has been too slow. Or slowing it down, if it has been too fast. 

There's a catch-22 however, in my opinion about starting hatha yoga to lose a substantial  weight.  If you have quite a bit of excess weight in certain areas, these poses may be difficult to do until you've lost some weight. One of my work colleagues attributes her difficulty getting into and maintaining the shoulder stand to excess weight around her waist. 

Except for the summer before I started college when I was quite sedentary and gained ten pounds over my usual weight, I have never really had issues with weight.  Yes, I was born with a small frame and bones, but, other than that I am not just "lucky."  I have seen people with similar bone structures balloon over the years primarily because of inactivity and poor food choices.

For me, my gentle hatha yoga program is just one component of a healthy lifestyle that keeps my metabolism buzzing along nicely and enables me to maintain a slim physique.  I also engage in a daily aerobics routine on my mini-trampoline or rebounder and I walk and take stairs as often as possible. (If you do power yoga or any other of the intensely aerobic variations of yoga, you likely won't need anything else. Just remember, I am the consummate non-athlete. I am too intimidated to even try those kinds of yoga!)  My nutritional regime consists primarily of whole grains, lots of green and colorful veggies and salads, fish, and no dairy, no red meat, no poultry, and minimal sugar intake.  This 3-tier approach has enabled me to easily maintain my high school weight without counting calories and without deprivation.  I enjoy food.

So, can gentle yoga help you lose weight?  Yes, it can help you with that as long as you are also eating healthfully and leading an active lifestyle.  However, people who are quite overweight may only be able to start with certain poses and progress to the others as they lose weight.  Once they achieve their desired weight, hatha yoga can definitely help to maintain it. 

Wisdom of the Day:  "The more you do yoga, the more you'll have access to that intuitive sense of what's good for you and what isn't."~Timothy McCall, M.D., Yoga as Medicine:  The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing.

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: Does Sex Become Sexier?

Aha!  I thought I'd grab your attention with that title!  Back in 1994, a U.S. New and World Report journalist stated that the practice of yoga had resulted in "sex becoming sexier" for him.  Researcher and archivist that I am, I still have that article which describes the journalist's experiences taking 90-minute classes in power yoga which left him  sweaty and boosted his love life after class!

Well, I can only tell you that you don't have to participate in rigorous, aerobic yoga to achieve such benefits!  Gentle hatha yoga can give you the same results!  Certain poses such as the shoulder stand plus certain sequences such as the cobra, bow, and locust, definitely help in this area.  If you have such a problem - they can boost your desire.  Of course, that could be a problem, if you are not currently in a relationship...you will have to sublimate that energy...

But, the truth is that yoga poses stimulate and message your internal organs and in the poses I just mentioned stimulate the thyroid and pituitary glands and thereby help you maintain a healthy libido. The results are often immediate.  The poses mentioned above seem to stimulate the circulation in those vital areas... So, want to enhance a romantic evening?  Just start with the cobra, bow, locust, and shoulder stand and you will be right on your way! In general, all yoga poses will keep you energized and you will naturally seek outlets for that energy...!  Your stamina and enjoyment will likely surge.  So, can sex become sexier with yoga. Yes, it most certaintly can.

Wisdom of the Day:  "Without sex, life certainly must be dull.  For sex inspires peotry, the theatre, art, fashions, all forms of beauty...That is why it must be kept beautiful and be kept up."~ Yogi Vithaldas

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: Your Daily Mini-Vacation

I just finished a wonderful, rejuvenating practice a few minutes. I feel so serene - it's a quiet, Saturday morning and I feel so blissful. I realized that you can indeed convert your daily yoga regime into a mini-vacation whenever you choose.

This morning I chose to practice in silence.  It's my favorite time of year, early Fall.  I opened a window to enjoy the refreshing cool air.  Good ventilation and fresh air enhance your practice.  The birds were singing and I reflected on various scenes from vacations from years ago. Whenever I have traveled to special places like the islands of Kauai and Martinique, I have freeze-framed my memory of moments when I was taking in vistas of thousand-mile high mountains plunging into the ocean.  Well, this morning, I went back to special moments when I was either lying on the beach in Kauai and just taking in the sun, sea, and idyllic environment there or touring Martinique by bus and gazing out at the mountains by the clear blue ocean.

As I visualized these scenes, I still focused on the poses.  I just imagined that I was doing the poses by the ocean in Kauai or out on a grassy area overlooking the mountains of Martinique.  I also focused on the word, "serenity."  I relaxed and felt absolutely spectacular as if I were on A restful vacation. If you haven't yet had the good fortune to travel to a relaxing vacation spot, just borrow a National Geographic or travel magazine from the library and soak in some beautiful photography of idyllic spots and imprint them on your mind. Yes, you can make your daily yoga home practice into a mini-vacation!

Wisdom of the Day:  "The response of even the most stubborn areas of the body to the ingenious Yoga movements is truly astonishing." ~Richard Hittleman

Simple Savvy Steps to Yoga Success: The Studio that Never Closes!

Last week, one of my college classmates who lives in California, read this yoga blog for the first time.  She hadn't realized that I practice yoga daily.  By e-mail she shared that several years ago she had greatly enjoyed a Birkrim yoga class near her home.  Unfortunately, however, the studio closed. Sadly, she admitted, since that time she hasn't enjoyed any more yoga.  I guess she couldn't find any other suitable classes.

Well, there is a yoga studio that NEVER closes.  It's your home!  Your home yoga studio is open 24/7 and is accessible to you whenever you want.  Granted, if you have an active family life or roommates, you may not be able to practice at any given moment. BUT, you must admit, your home yoga studio essentially never closes.  If you learn yoga on your own or even in a class, doesn't it make sense to maintain a home practice?  It's one of the best ways to stay consistent and to enjoy yoga forever.

Wisdom of the Day:  "Home practice is really the foundation of how we grow and improve in our yoga."~ John Friend