Yoga Tunes: Episode 2

45 Minute Killer Beats Playlist

• One Day with You - Pogo
• Composure - B. Fleischmann
• A Real Hero - College & Electric Youth
• Halcyon Days - Mokhov
• Deltinu - Aydio
• Tiger Tempo - Arms and Sleepers
• A Summer Song - Conner Youngblood
• I Wanted You to Stay on the Other Side - Summer Heart
• Staying - Koda
• Lost Karma - The Herd Brothers

How to Safely Lift from Upward Dog to Downward Dog in Yoga

If you practice any type of Vinyasa yoga, this transition is likely to be in your class.

One of the most common injuries in yoga practice occurs in the lumbar spine. Many that report suffering from this injury practice a Vinyasa style yoga regularly which involves this particular transition, so this cue is vital when teaching this transition. One student admitted to suffering an injury from this exact transition (NOT from my class :-) ) that led her to require physical therapy. 

All that being said, please read carefully, listen to your body, and be mindful in your practice. Yoga should feel good. If it doesn't, then skip the Vinyasa.

To start, let's break down the poses and this tricky transition so that it can feel like the joyful process that it was intended to!

Upward-Facing Dog

Line up your wrists underneath your shoulders and hug your navel in toward your spine as you press your pelvis down. The tailbone should be drawing back and down toward your heels. Maintaining this same pelvic alignment, spread and press all ten toes into the mat.

Begin to press the ground away from you as you lift the upper body until arms are comfortably close to straight. Thighs, shins, knees, and ankles float off of the mat as you lengthen through the upper body, keeping the shoulders away from the ears. Keep the chest broad and the shoulders in line. Remember that the front of the body is extending in this pose, so the back muscles are engaging to help get the job done. Don't dump heavily into the wrists and shoulders in this pose, use your body as a whole! The tendency is to want to look up, but this usually leads to wrenching the neck when not done properly, so I like to keep the gaze forward and lengthen through the crown of the head.

Transition

Draw a deep breath in through your nose here, then shift your attention to your core muscles before lifting anything. Keeping the drawing of the navel in toward the spine and extending the tailbone downward. Use this core flexion to start to lengthen through the sitting bones, and lift them back up into downward facing dog.

Practice this transition again and again and say goodbye to low-back pain in Vinyasa!

Yoga Tunes: Episode 1

While some claim they are able to tune out the background music in a yoga class, I find that it plays a pretty big role in my concentration. The right music can really make or break a class. 

I try to put a lot of thought into choosing music for my classes and arranging it in such a way that it matches the tempo of the class (thanks to an awesome Yoga Music course with Derek Beres at the Yoga Nation tour).

50 Minute Flow Playlist

• Candy Coated Intelligence - The Secret Whistle
• Decibel - The Analog Affair
• Composure - B. Fleischmann
• Tiger Tempo - Arms and Sleepers
• Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem
• Are You With Me - Lost Frequencies
• Stay With Us - Seoul
• The View - Eastern Sun
• Song in G - Kevin Courtney

What are your favorite songs to hear in yoga class?

Sweet but Deadly: The Danger of Artificial Fragrance

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet... I'm not sure if Shakespeare would agree once he saw the list of side effects of 'fragrance.'

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) reports that, while many popular perfumes, colognes and body sprays contain trace amounts of natural essences, they also typically contain a dozen or more potentially hazardous synthetic chemicals, some of which are derived from petroleum.

“The average fragrance product tested contained 14 secret chemicals not listed on the label,” reports EWG, which analyzed the Campaign’s data. “Among them are chemicals associated with hormone disruption and allergic reactions, and many substances that have not been assessed for safety in personal care products.”

Read more about the Scent of Danger at Scientific American.

How does this happen? In the U.S., manufacturers can legally hide hundreds of synthetic chemicals in the one word--"fragrance"--without revealing what those ingredients are. It's referred to as a "trade secret" in the industry. If "trade secret" protects the company, who is protecting you? And more importantly, why does it matter?

You know that co-workers perfume that gives you a headache? Or the lemon-scented cleaner that leaves you feeling a little light-headed? There's a lot more going on than just sensitivity.

Environmental Working Group (EWG) researchers found more than 75 percent of products listing the ingredient "fragrance" contained phthalates (THAL-ates) which have been shown to disrupt hormone activity, reduce sperm counts, and cause reproductive malformation, and have been linked to liver and breast cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Additionally, studies by Dr. Philip J. Landrigan of the Mount Sinai Children's Environmental Health Center, link fetal exposure with autism, ADHD, and neurological disorders.

Read the 5 Must-Knows about Artificial Fragrance.

How can you avoid it? Because of "trade secret," you may never know what your 'fragrance' includes, so the only way to avoid it is to make safer choices and use all-natural fragrances like essential oils.

I use doTERRA essential oils for EVERYTHING from perfume, to home fragrance, to cleaning, because they are guaranteed to be 100% pure therapeutic grade quality. With essential oils, not only are you avoiding the dangers of artificial fragrance; you are also purifying the air, affecting your mood, supporting a healthy respiratory system, and promoting your overall sense of wellbeing. 

Read more about doTERRA here and how it can benefit you.

DIY: Naturally Antibacterial Foaming Hand Soap

Who loves foam soap as much as I do?? Something about those fluffy bubbles makes me (and my sticky-handed toddlers) so excited to wash my hands, and that's never a bad thing. 

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The problem is that most store-bought foam soaps dry out your hands and contain icky artificial fragrances, not to mention they are quite pricey. Also, many contain triclosan, a nasty chemical that kills good bacteria and pollutes the earth. With kids in the house that are obsessed with bubbles, $5 for a single bottle of soap doesn't add up.

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So here's my favorite life hack right here... even better homemade foaming hand soap! With the addition of coconut oil and gentle castille soap, our hands are softer than ever. And at just pennies per bottle, I don't care how many times per day the little ones want to go bubble crazy. Plus, no icky chemicals: Lavender oil is naturally antibacterial and kills all the icky stuff while supporting a healthy immune system. 

Find the recipe here on the doTERRA blog, and stock up on the essential oils you'll need to make your own here at my doTERRA shop.

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Yoga Class Sequence: Practicing Stillness

Intention: Find stillness in a world that is constantly moving, changing. In the midst of chaos, find stillness and calmness.

1. Seated meditation in sukhasana (Close eyes, focus only on breath. Tune into body's rhythms and allow your soul to move + dance to the rhythm of your own body)
2.     Raise arms 3x with breath, side bends + twists
3. Downward dog
4. Plank 5 breaths
5. DD->Plank 5x
6. Childs

“Our thoughts are like waves and ripples on the sea. When the water is still, we can see the beauty of our own depth. Be still. Find your depth.”

7. Tail of dog-> Crescent -> Vinyasa (Repeat 3X)
8. Surya Namaskar A
9. Surya Namaskar B
10. Twisted chair
11. Dancing Warrior Series -> Eagle arms (5 breaths, rest forehead on upper arms, breathe into back of neck) -> Vinyasa + repeat

“Learn how to be still and let life happen. That stillness becomes a radiance.” 

12. Surya A w/ side plank
13. Triangle -> ½ moon -> Prasarita
14. Build to pyramid, rev. triangle (Vinyasa, repeat other side)
15. Crescent -> W3 -> Revolved ½ moon (Vinyasa, repeat other side)
16. Supta virsana w/ bolster (1-3 minutes)

“When you lose touch with your inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you can easily lose yourself in the world.”

17. Down dog
18. Hop to back -> Knees to chest -> Low back twist
19. Forward fold (Halasana option)
20. Happy baby
21.   Savasana

“Stillness does not mean to be in a place with no noise, no trouble, no hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. In stillness, all conflict must come to an end.”

Autumn Meditation: Letting Go

Today let's take a lesson from the changing trees: Embrace life deeply rooted with faith in the ground below us, with the ability to easily let go of the things that no longer serve us.

Begin meditation 

Find a comfortable seat. Connect your sitting bones + tailbone to the earth, while keeping lifted in the upper body with a tall spine. Relax your eyes, jaw, and neck. Close your eyes and take your breath a hundred times deeper. Focus on the breath expanding the body softly as your breathe in, and relaxing, releasing everything as you breathe out. Imagine sending your breath down through your body, then allow the exhale to rise up and out. Feel your breath move down your back, hips and legs like roots growing into the Earth. Allow it to move back upward, up through the back and the top of the head, as if branches begin to sprout upward toward the sun. Focus only on your breath.

Imagine a tree outside right now, leaves changing with the season. From golden yellow to candy apple red, fiery orange and deep brown.

Beside the tree is a stream of water, reflecting the warm autumn sun. Something that worries you, pick up a leaf, any color you want, and set it on the stream. Let it go and watch it float away.
Someone who angers you. Something that keeps you up at night. Continue setting your troubles downstream.

Picture yourself as this tree. Deeply rooted to the earth beneath you, free of dead weight, able to let go of what no longer serves you so effortlessly. Breathe in feeling grounded and secure. Let your breath go. Breathe in with balance and ease. Release again.

Move forward with the wisdom of the trees--how beautiful it can be to let the dead things go.