Tag Archives: yoga

Endorphins alert!

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Endorphin alert ! “Walk yourself out of your bad mood. Studies show that even a ten minute walk immediately boosts brain chemistry to increase happiness” ~ boosting endorphins ? Absolutely wonderful remedy for stress relief which by definition means stress hormones get defeated by the releasing of endorphins, our happy molecules

Wow! I would say the same thing for a short yoga routine. Do you have a ten minute strategy? Everyone should have a recipe to uplift and boost endorphins. I am certainly available for private yoga lessons to amp up your home practice, or you can download my CD for a track that you can use as you walk to the subway. It is also nice just to know that a walk around the block endorphins alert!

yoga silence quotes

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yoga silence quotes: city living is not silent…there is a beat to every city even at night. Sometimes the only opportunity to turn all the sounds off is during deep sleep when we unplug.  There seems to be a lot of yoga classes where they play really loud music and I have tried to embrace it but can’t. I taught the other day and did not have my ipod on me and the student said it was fine, she was happy to hear the cues, directions, and her breathing. I like this quote because I think it is about balance. If you are always in noise, silence becomes unfamiliar and unfamiliar may not be comfortable. If you are always in quiet, then if there is noise, you may not be able to focus. I love yoga silence quotes because they appeal to my Yoga MInd, but I am just starting on Spotify, trying new music for the yoga classes where they prefer it…

Click the link below to listen to Rana Waxman’s playlist Rana yoga playlist  on Spotify:

http://open.spotify.com/user/12141563042/playlist/62l4e3icRgTVOBWL6UVpKE

yoga silence quotes

yoga inner peace quote

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 yoga inner peace quote: I like that this yoga inner peace quote is in black and white (sort of simple, right?). “Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be”. In other words, don’t chase peace, uncover it. if you have stumbled onto my post or website, you will find many such quotes and blogposts. I am the kind of yoga teacher who likes to empower my students and, from the feedback I get, they are able to incorporate the teachings from our yoga classes into their daily life. Work posture, life posture, relationship posture. Work with the now, with what you have. If you want downloadable practices for inner peace, my cd is on ITunes

yoga inner peace quote

yoga and stress

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yoga and stress

focus:breathe

Yoga and stress: Are you “stressed out” ? Is your day “stressful”? In technical terms, stress is load. If you have too much load, you will break what you are overloading. It’s like over stretching and then tearing the muscle you are ‘trying’ to lengthen. The softer practices of yoga (and I am not saying don’t practice asana) are important and  complementary to our busy – ness in so many useful ways. This advice by Thich Nhat Hanh is a nice reminder that the breath is the link between mind and body. Letting yourself think think think about all your stress will just make your body tenser. A mindful approach, a breath by mindful breath approach is something that yoga can teach you.  If you have five minutes you can learn how to do do by downloading my Yoga Mind cd. That is what it is there for, and you can then take it with you to practice instead of letting things get out of hand.

Rana -yogaWe need to learn how to breathe and consciously diffuse a potential stressor, as well as how to mobilize our body so that it can let go of the tensions and learn how to quiet the mind so that our split second decision-making skills are clearer, these are all tools we can learn to use, so that our lives are balanced

Your Peace

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Your peace: No one Can Steal Your Peace Without Your Permission:  Life has packs of drama…and we need to cope. I find much of my work as a yoga therapist is to help people find mindful strategies, especially to work with recurring postural habits. As Aristotle said, “we are what we repeatedly do”. If you commonly droop your shoulders, for example, it will show up in your swimming, golfing, walking, sitting, sleeping. Some habits cause pain.

Yoga practices bring us back to our baseline of peace, like in deep dreamless sleep.You become more in tune with your inner self, and more mindful of when something is chipping away at it. At the end of a day, it is just all around better for us to let go the day, consciously and with gratitude – rather than getting dragged into replaying each moment – but if you are having a hard time, download one of my guided practices, that is what I created my CD for 🙂

There are tracks where you can learn how to breathe well, and also tracks which will help you navigate the relaxation process. Learning these tools is where you have access off your mat, during stressful times, to ways that bring you back to your peace.

Your peace

Private Yoga Class With Your Partner

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Private Yoga Class With Your Partner

How are you enjoying your weekend? This couple pictured here kicked off their weekend with a Partner Yoga Class. Want a great way to build inner peace for yourself and with your special someone? Book a semi-private yoga class with your partner. This was a simple savasana, with some under the knee prop support from the soft 3 minute eggs it just eases out the lower back…Now, that doesn’t mean that the two of you require the same things from your yoga practice. The nice thing about a partner yoga class is that it does meet your unique needs. I believe yoga should make sense to each person, and that each person has or may have, a different take-away. How great! You get to feel good and then talk about it and have a kind of special bonding. Basically, the average class is 60 minutes and you can contact me about pricing and so on. It is definitely the best of both worlds, spending time together with your partner, but also, having the personal internal experience that yoga brings us. Why wait for a vacation to do this? It is so accessible on a weekly basis.

Partner Yoga on a Saturday Morning.

10 Ways To Add A Dose of Yoga Om

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10 Ways To Add A Dose of om off your yoga mat:

Little tips gyoga giftso a long way to encourage us !

 

Appreciation is the key to a positive day. This is a great affirmation: I open 2 gifts this morning. They were my eyes…

gratitude

Breathe and Reboot this weekend, whether you practice yoga on a mat, or self-reflect on a park bench…whatever your pleasure, add one of these 10 Ways To Add A Dose of Om !

Change  yourself. You are in control. Forgive. let go. Without action you aren’t going anywhere. Take care of the moment. Everyone is human. Persist. See the good in people, help them. Be congruent. Be authentic. Be your true self. Continue to grow and evolve.

The same tips can be used on your yoga mat, after all, if you aren’t present and honest with yourself, that can be when you overdo or, maybe don’t reach into your potential.

There are different ways to get your om on, which is a funky way of saying being in a meditative, or flow state. I wrote a post about meditation awhile back and also have some tracks on my yoga mind cd, but also, walk, write, find a mantra…whatever advice resonates

10 ways to add a dose of wisdom

Yoga Twists Without The Shout

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Yoga Twists Without The Shout: Yoga Twists can either unwind the spine and help digestion or they can torque the spine and de-stabilize the SI joints..etc.  Most of my students – especially those with generic back pain tell me twists feel great but you do want to approach yoga twists with safe alignment (think belly button up).  Using your yoga as therapy, a few tips to keep in mind when you want to unwind with a yoga twist:

~ avoid twisting from the lumbar; stacking the pelvis and shoulders while maintaining a ‘straight’ spine … you may not go as deep but it will be a safer exploration

~ try to open the thoracic area enough to be able to emphasize the rotation here

~ put yourself into neutral after a twist (child’s pose for eg)

~ typically if you have just had abdominal surgery, are pregnant, have sciatica, herniated discs, SI joint dysfunction, twists are contraindicated. Some people want to go deeper into a twist and then you may have to let the opposite hip slide forward with you.

You may find one side easier that the other. You can do the tighter side twice. Feel it out.
Yoga twists Rana-twist garden

Yogatherapy – the shoulder jacket

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Yogatherapy – shoulder pain relief: – the shoulder jacket for yoga shoulder pain relief. If you have a desk job, drive a lot, walk a lot or just plain shlump-a-lot, your shoulders may round forward and your head may drop. That is a lot of strain for the shoulders and neck, don’t you think? Headaches anyone? Probably that and other issues. Basically if you take that posture with you into everything else you do, it will not improve unless you teach yourself new muscular movement tricks.  Here is a simple but highly beneficial way to use a yoga strap to keep the shoulders seated on the back and open the front chest. You can even use it while you sit at your desk. It is a great yoga therapy tip for anyone who suffers from the shoulder shlumps ! I like 8ft or 10ft straps; you can get one here.

If you look like or are worried about looking like the kyphosis in this photo, yoga as therapy works wonders, I see it and work with it in private yoga classes all the time.

yogatherapy yoga shoulder pain relief

The steps for following along side this use of the yoga strap for a yogatherapy shoulder jacket are:

A ~ take belt buckle over left shoulder, leave tail down

B ~ take the tail cross the back under right armpit

C ~ loop the belt over the right armpit, take it with left hand

D ~ buckle up!

You can use this when you are sitting at your desk, or try a brief meditation with it.

 

yoga: touch peace

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yoga: touch peace

Today is a day to touch the peace within using the breath as guide. Breathing softly in and out through the nose, while being aware of your breath, even for a moment or two, can help you access your inner peace.

yoga: touch peace

I teach an array of people from athletic to desk-bound, so many different bodies, unique needs. The common denominator is just carving out some peace for oneself. I call it cultivating the Yoga Mind – yes that is also the title of my CD. There are certainly ways to do yoga poses that open and strengthen, but the softer sides of practice can help with the mind and emotions, perspective and attitude. You can always catch yourself thinking or worrying, and then re-set by returning to your breath. The breath is your tool for cultivating your peaceful inner core.

peace

Just writing a birthday card (Papyrus) and inside is this mini quote…below. It is so sweet that just breathing and reading it, I feel better. Hope this for you too!

touch peace

“Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and savor each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer and to celebrate the joy of everyday. The hummingbird’s delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life’s sweetest creation” (papyrus)