Yoga Resources

Many people, including myself a few years ago, think that there is only one kind of yogi–long and lean (in the Banana Republic way) and able to contort himself/herself in all kinds of twisty poses (in the tiny Chinese gymnast way). Well, that just isn’t true. There are so many different types of yoga for so many different types of people. Here are a few I’m interested in right now.

Credit: Curvy Yoga

If my Lotus Series (update soon, I promise!) isn’t evidence enough that inflexible, non-skinny people can still practice yoga, Curvy Yoga, a Web site and blog dedicated to yoga for overweight people, should do the trick. According to the site, “One of the primary goals of Curvy Yoga is to give [overweight] people a safe space in which to move their bodies—for the first time in a long time, for many people…Curvy Yoga is not about weight loss but rather about building a foundation of self-care and acceptance that can lead to a healthier lifestyle.” Can’t go wrong with that, right? I regularly read the Curvy Yoga blog and find that Anna modifies many poses, ensuring that all can benefit from yoga’s benefits. Check out her 30 Days of Curvy Yoga that begins in July. With daily 45-minute downloads, an online community subscription, a daily e-mail, and more, it looks like a great deal!

Credit: Yoga Download

Some friends recently turned me on to yoga podcasts from Yoga Download. Many are 20-minute sessions, which can be fit in any time of the day, and the site has just about anything imaginable. There are hatha, hot yoga, kundalini, power yoga, yoga for weight loss, and yoga for beginners sessions, just to name a few. As is true of all podcasts, you can subscribe and get one every day, or you can just download the ones you want. All are free, too! I’ve been doing Episode 22 for hip openers. If you’re new to yoga or are unsure of how to do a pose, you can download a visual guide for each episode, but I find that the instructor explains the poses very well. Whether you’ve never practiced yoga before or are a seasoned veteran, you have no excuse not to try one of these downloads. There are so many to choose from. And there are even more (for a small fee) on the Yoga Download Web site.

Kundalini Yoga. Okay, so I’ll admit this looks a little kooky, but I’m still intrigued. It looks so different from what I normally associate with yoga (triangle pose, proud warrior, etc.), and all the fun clothing and props are sure to promise a challenge. I doubt I’ll be donning a head wrap any time soon, but I think I’ll try one of the 20-minute kundalini downloads. Considering this is my year of learning about yoga, I suppose I should give it all a whirl, right?

What yoga resources are you using right now? Feel free to share a link in the comments section.

Namaste.

P.S. Are you buying that she’s 58 (in the video)? ‘Cause I’m calling a big, fat BS on that one. Not because she’s limber and youthful but because I can’t see a single wrinkle on her face, arms, or hands. And there’s my snarky comment for the day. 

Namaste (for real this time).

Post-Yoga Dinner — Salad and Involtini di Melanzana

I’ve had some long days lately, specifically Wednesdays. Each Wednesday, I work from 8-5 then have yoga class from 5:30-7, meaning I leave the house around 7:30 a.m. and get home close to 7:30 p.m. It makes for a long day.

To help me out, sweet Husband has been cooking dinner while I’m at yoga and serving me when I get home. It’s been heavenly!

This week, he prepared a delicious meal mostly with veggies from our local market.

We had a simple salad of romaine lettuce, purple onion, banana peppers, and cherry tomatoes with a lemon, capers, and olive oil vinaigrette (I made the dressing because I like to help).

To accompany the salad, Edmond prepared Involtini di Melanzana (eggplant rollups is my loose translation). He used this recipe from his hero, Mario Batali. It was delicious and ever so sweet of him to think of me. A perfect post-yoga, vegetarian meal full of local ingredients.

Local Ingredients Used:

• onion
• banana peppers
• cherry tomatoes
• eggplant
• eggs
• rosemary (Edmond added this to the frittata because it’s my favorite–see, so sweet)

Dinner is served

If you’re an eggplant fan, give it a whirl.

Or, try my vinaigrette:

Juice of one lemon

1 tbsp capers, chopped

olive oil to taste (less for tart dressing, more for not-so-tart dressing)

salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together and toss with salad. Easy peasy.

No-Tension Friday

I don’t know about you, but I find myself slumping more and more as the day goes on, and my back, shoulders, and neck pay the price.

Here’s a quick 4-minute yoga stretching sequence that can be done right at your desk. It will help remind you to sit up tall, and it will relieve neck and shoulder tension immediately. Try it out!

Happy Friday, everyone, and don’t forget about the giveaway!

Learning to Sit in Lotus: A Little Progress

In my last lotus update, April 18, I let you know where I was beginning. It was pretty sad. I hope my facial expressions adequately portray my discomfort. Since then, I’ve continued my dedicated stretching. I’m still doing many of the stretches in my original plan, but I have incorporated a few more that I think are helping quite a lot.

My daily stretching routine is this:

1. Standing Forward Bend
2. Thread the Needle
3. Bound Angle
4. Pigeon
5. Cow Face
6. Fire Log
7. Seated Forward Bend
8. Standing Forward Bend

I usually spend about 20-30 minutes doing this sequence. And I watch TV while doing so. Normally I’ve got a few The Wonder Years reruns in the DVR. I turn those on and stretch away. I begin and end with forward bends because I like them and find they are relaxing. I suppose they don’t do much for my hip flexibility, but I still like to include them.

Beginning the Lotus–Day 1

I’ve been thinking it’s probably only fair to let you know where I’m beginning with this whole learning how to sit in lotus thing. Well, I’m beginning at the lowest possible point, I think. After going to yoga classes for a little over 8 months now, I’m pretty sure no one on Earth is less flexible than I am.

In these 8 months, though, I’ve noticed significant improvement in flexibility in some areas, so I am confident my hips will eventually follow.

So today marks Day 1 of my blogging documentary on lotus. I will not update every day (how utterly boring that would be), but I’ll try to let you know weekly or bi-monthly how this aspect of my yoga adventures is going.

To begin, some laughable attempts at half lotus.

The right leg.

And one more time for good measure.

And the left leg.

So there you have it. And this is after two weeks of pretty dedicated stretching. I’ve got a long way to go. I hope the pictures in the months to come will gradually get less and less laughable. I’ll keep you posted.