Category: Yoga

October 16, 2019 at 10:30PM by CWC Yoga may be a 5,000 year old practice, but it has seemingly never been more popular. According to a report from the Global Wellness Institute titled “The Global Economy of Physical Activity,” the participation in “mindful movement” is growing around the world, and yoga is the leader of the pack. “In our frenetically paced, stressful, sleepless, and chronic-pain-plagued world, the demand for slower, mindful movement—which includes yoga, Pilates, tai chi, qigong, stretch, barre, Gyrotonic, etc.—is skyrocketing,” writes the report. There are 165 million people around the world who participate in the practice, making it a whopping $16.9 billion market. And the world, it seems, is onto something. You’d be hard-pressed to find any trainer who wouldn’t recommend integrating at least some yoga into your routine, whether you’re a runner, a Pilates lover, or into Crossfit. It’s got a laundry list of proven physical and mental benefits (increases strength, betters flexibility, reduces anxiety—seriously, the list goes on), plus can help you start your days feeling more focused or finish them off with an added level of zen. But even so, there are a whole lot of people out there still feel like yoga just isn’t their thing, or that they prefer other styles of working out to flowing on the mat. And to that, I say, “maybe you just haven’t tried the right kind yet.” So here are the best types of yoga for every type of fitness enthusiast, which might just turn you

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October 16, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC Stretching and strength training are like the sister-and-law and grandpa you don’t want sitting together at family gatherings. That is, you love them… but separately. Not every school of fitness thought thinks the two modalities should be separated, however. Anabolic stretching, a fairly new way to train your muscles, asserts that you can get strong and stretched at one fell swoop. Peter Tzemis, trainer and founder of TzemisFitness, says that anabolic stretching essentially “bulletproofs your body” by replacing static stretching with a more active alternative. Simply add a minimal weight to any strength training or stretching posture and the benefits change entirely. “The key thing is that you’re not really ‘stretching’ the way you do with most static stretching. You’re resisting the load in the stretched position,” he says. For example, imagine you’re grabbing two (light!) dumbbells and lying down on a bench for a set of dumbbell flies. Only, rather than repeating a certain number of reps, extend the weight to either side of your body and hold them there until exhaustion. Two things will happen at once: your muscles will activate and you’ll feel a stretch as a result of the pull of the muscle. Or, complete a deadlift variation and feel the stretch and burn in your arms and hamstrings simultaneously. The modality makes your workout a twofer. Phil Timmons, a program manager at Blink Fitness, says that anabolic stretching falls under the umbrella of “isometric concentration”—or exercise that involves static holds.

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October 12, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC Hearing the term “yoga back bend” likely has you conjuring images of intense wheel poses (with one leg off of the ground, perhaps?)  or at the very least thinking about one of those juicy bridges that teachers seem love so much. But while backbends are certainly an important part of any practice, they don’t necessarily have to require contorting your body into pro-level poses. You can get a solid stretch through your spine by using one of the simplest postures of all: the Cat stretch. The Cat stretch, which happens on your hands and knees and mimics the type of movement a cat would do when waking up from a nap, is a yoga mainstay. It usually happens at the beginning of class alongside its counterpose, the Cow Stretch, in order to get your body prepped and ready for the full flow. Yoga instructor Molly Warner calls it a “gentle, accessible back bend that mobilizes and stretches the spine.” Because you’re close to the floor—it happens on your hands and knees, and allows you to stretch your back by increasing flexion in your spine—it helps you ground your practice while opening up your front body and activating your core. But that’s not all: “Cat stretch loosens the spine, stretches our hips and abdomen, while massaging our internal organs,” says Warner. “It stretches the back, torso, and neck, improving posture and spine health.  Holding Cat stretch can release tension in the upper back and neck.

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October 10, 2019 at 10:02PM by CWC If you’re a yoga skeptic, you’ve likely entertained the belief that yoga is “just for flexible people” or “not a real workout.” And we get it—when you see videos of people twisting themselves into pretzel-like shapes and making it look easy, it’s pretty clear where those misconceptions come from. But as more and more (and more!) studies have explored the benefits of yoga, a trend has emerged from the findings: Practicing yoga has some pretty major mental health benefits (that go beyond just mentally high-fiving yourself when you finally nail crow pose). “Yoga is a wonderful physical workout using your bodyweight to train, […] but as we have seen it’s also a mental workout,” says Heather Peterson, chief yoga officer at CorePower Yoga. “This multifaceted approach to health is what makes yoga an incredible physical-mental practice.” If you’re still dubious about stepping onto the mat, consider this: Research by Shawn Achor out of Harvard University and additional studies have linked mental wellbeing and your physical health together. “What neurologists and physicians are finding out is that our body and mind are not as separate as was thought,” Peterson says. “Addressing your mental health practices in conjunction with your physical health practices is the way to raise your baseline of wellbeing.” Now are you ready to get flowing? Keep reading for 3 mental health benefits of yoga that will make you want to roll out your mat right now. Benefit 1: Learning to breathe

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October 06, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Whether you’re scrolling through your favorite yogi’s Instagram feed or are mid-downward dog in class, one thing’s the same: You’re constantly being surrounded by picture-perfect yoga poses. And with that—whether you realize it or not—comes the feeling of having to work on your own practice until you meet those standards. The idea of mastering every pose can be incredibly intimidating. In fact, it’s something that’s kept me from fully diving in myself. If I’m not bendy enough or strong enough, what’s the point in trying? But in a recent Instagram post, Amanda Bisk, exercise psychologist and yoga teacher, wanted to make the real purpose of yoga very clear to her followers. Sometimes practice isn’t “perfect yoga,” and that’s totally okay. “Sometimes, you just want to squeeze and extend your toes because of the years of gymnastics you did as a kid. Maybe your elbows and shoulders aren’t in line in your chaturanga. Or you let your hips roll out of parallel in your three-legged dog because it feels damn good,” she writes. “You do weird movements that aren’t ‘yoga poses,’ or you wobble and fall out of your handstand. Maybe your yoga is just moving, maybe dancing to the music—no expectations or criteria. Just doing everything that feels good. Do your yoga, fam.” “Maybe your yoga is just moving, maybe dancing to the music—no expectations or criteria. Just doing everything that feels good. Do your yoga, fam.” —Amanda Bisk What really matters at

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