Your First Class Can Be Rough

via Fit Jilly

Meditation for Spring

Tiffany Cruikshank and Lulu via Awakened Lotus

Seek out a tree and let it teach you stillness. - Eckhart Tolle

Occasionally I like to share my Grounding Tree Meditation, and this quote reminded me that today would be perfect. This meditation is great for beginners that have trouble sitting for extended periods and those with a lot of trouble controlling their monkey mind.

Lotus via Yoga, Water, Sun, Light 

Challenge Yourself to Create Balance

What have you been avoiding because it looks difficult or pulls up emotional funk? Is there something you've been ignoring that you could be working towards?

People tend to get all too cozy in their comfort zone. They don't focus on their weaknesses very often (if ever) - which allows them to get weaker and weaker. In the meantime your strengths get stronger and stronger. This creates an ever-expanding gap in your abilities. Sounds like a huge imbalance. The more advanced your yoga practice gets the more your imbalances can come back to haunt you. The smallest weak spot can completely throw off a pose and lead to injury. Easily avoidable if you just do the work - all the work, all the time.

via FuckYeahAshtangaYoga

Take a good look at your practice. Is there an entire direction you aren't moving? Is there a category of poses you avoid? Is there a tweaky chronic pain that needs to be addressed?

Don't think that being a beginner or an intermediate practitioner excuses you from this. That's exactly when you need to be creating good habits of introspection and filling in the gaps.

Challenge yourself by looking into those spaces before you have the Grand Canyon of imbalances staring you in the face.

via Yoga, Water, Sun, Light

Shake Up Your Downward Dog

Downward Facing Dog is a classic. It's featured in almost every class and people usually love it or hate it. It's a nice hamstring opener, but it can open up more in your legs than just that main corridor down the back center if you get creative.

Throw in some goofy-footed dogs. Seriously. Try it. Especially if you've been doing calf work or you wear heels often. Take it slow and pay close attention to knee/hips/ankles - just in case. Hold for 5 - 10 breaths.

Simply by turning the angle of your feet completely changes the feeling for your legs. Keep the rest of the pose the same as usual.

Toes in, Heels out.

Heels in, Toes out.

In general, this sequence is for anyone, but please don't try this sequence without speaking to your Dr. first if you have any medical/physical problems (Especially knee/hip problems). Seek Peace At Your Own Risk! 

Yoga Video for the Winter Blues

Today is the Winter Solstice (some people think it's also the end of the world but let's focus on the more likely instance of winter).

I live in Idaho these days. In a pretty upbeat part, but still kind of northward as far as weather is concerned. Living up north can suck. I don't like wind, cold, or grey skies... and snow gets old real fast. The suckitude of winter can take an especially dark turn for those prone to seasonal depression.

Whether you suffer from S.A.D. or only get a little lacking in motivation for the darker months - you can benefit from today's sequence made specifically for Winter Blues. I guess if you're concerned about the end of the world - this might be for you too. At only 34 minutes long it won't be hard to squeeze it in.

Good for beginners. Do this as often as you feel like.

Readers via Email - Click Here for the Video.

Recycled Post: Stress Relief

Only 11 days 'til Christmas, so it must be time for a recycled post.

Stretch Out Your Stress

Shoulder stretches, for really any time of year, come in particularly handy in December.

Christmas Yoga Advent Calendar

Bonus Weekend Post!

It's always interesting to see what the yoga community comes up with to keep yoga fun for the holidays, and today's addition is no different.

At just one pose a day the Christmas Yoga Advent Calendar by Nicola Jane Hobbs makes yoga totally accessible. Start today to finish in time for Christmas Corpse Pose. If you want more - it could also be done together as a full sequence. You could even add on each day until you're doing the full sequence on Christmas.

Available to Download and/or Print. Free!

Drop Backs for Beginners

If you want to work on improving your backbends and working towards drop backs - this video from Kino MacGregor is for you. I've been sorta stalled out on the 3rd option with straight arms for a long time. Mostly 'cause I'm a slacker and I don't work on it very often, but I do the first two versions all the time for fun.

Readers via Email - Click Here for the Video

Books for New Yogis

October's almost over which means the weather is perfect for settling in with a blanket, a hot chocolate, someone to snuggle with, and a great book. That book can totally further your yoga education if you pick one of my top 10 beginner-friendly books. Listed in no particular order.

• Yoga Body, Buddha Mind. Some philosophy and a lot of practice. Has little stickman sequences in the back.
• My Body Is A Temple: Yoga As a Path to Wholeness. Mostly philosophy, and I really like the author.
• The Mirror of Yoga: Awakening the Intelligence of Body and Mind. Haven't read it, but I hear it's accessible and humorous.
• How Yoga Works. Pretty much covers the yoga sutras, but in fictional story form.
• Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness. Constantly declared one of the best hatha yoga books ever.

via http://www.cutestpaw.com/images/need-him/

• Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice. Really good book. Hard to explain quickly... theres a long description on the amazon page.
• Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul. Lots of philosophy, also some sequences and poses with plenty of pictures.
• Myths of the Asanas: The Ancient Origins of Yoga. Fun stories teach you where poses came from.
• Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life. "off-the-mat practices to guide you in deepening your relationships..."
• The Secret Power of Yoga: A Woman's Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras.

There are a lot of great books that are considered yogi must-reads that didn't make this list because of their ability to overwhelm newcomers. Leave your suggestions in the comments.

Yoga Sequence for Confidence & Strength

Finish off National Yoga Month with this Lower Body Sequence via Core Integrity with Cat. 

Practice awareness while strengthening your legs and core. 

I recommend holding each pose for 5 long slow breaths.

Don't forget Savasana!

Sequence for Hanumanasana

via FitnessLoveAffair who says:

Yoga for the Splits

Print this out and practice these poses everyday to gain flexibility for the splits. Start by holding each pose for 30 seconds on each side. Work your way up to 1-3 minutes as your muscles start to open up. When you’re ready to try the splits use a block or pillow under your front leg for support until you feel ready to go without.

Good Morning Yoga Sequence

What better way to start National Yoga Month than with a delightful 

morning yoga sequence accessible to all levels?

This sequence via Mind Body Green - created by Jennifer Jarrett.

Recycled Post: Tree Meditation

It's time for another Recycled Post! This is a Grounding Meditation that anyone can do. It's great for beginners, and you do it in a standing position. I love it, my students love it - it's popular. 

Become one with nature with this Tree Meditation.

All photos via Pinterest

Breathing Practices for Anxiety

I was asked a while back about pranayama (breathing exercises) for anxiety. Especially quick practices you can use during a mild panic attack or to calm jitters just before a performance.

I wanted to share my answer with you here today:
I'd suggest a few minutes of belly breathing through the nose with eyes closed and make sure that you take long slow complete breaths, but make your exhales twice as long as your inhales. For example... breathe in for 4 counts and exhale for 8 counts. Works wonders on the nervous system. Keep this going for anywhere from 2-5 minutes+ and it should relax your entire system quite effectively.
(This practice is also great for regular meditation practice.)

All About Belly Breathing:
Ultimately it's like filling and emptying a balloon over and over. Start by finding a comfortable seat of course - Eyes closed. Lengthen your spine from your seat through the top of your head.

Begin by exhaling completely. Then as you inhale focus on filling your torso with breath beginning all the way at the bottom - in the floor of your pelvis. Allow each piece of you to expand gradually as you slowly inhale... from that bottom piece up. As you fill upwards - expand in the lower belly, the navel region, the ribcage expanding outwards, the chest filling out and up... All this should happen on the one inhale, but don't force it. If you have trouble just breathe in and follow it best you can. The longer/more you do it - the easier it will get.

Then on your slow exhale - slowly empty your breath in reverse - empty the chest, the ribs, then the belly... all the way down to the pelvic floor which you can feel lift at the very end of the exhale. Just inhale and exhale this way. Watching your breath fill and empty over and over like waves on a beach rising and falling.

There should be no straining or trying too hard because you CAN injure yourself with breathing exercises. If you feel that you're struggling just return to normal breathing and observe it without controlling it.

If your concentration/focus wanders that's totally normal. You will generally find that it happens less the more you practice... but there will always be days when you're just not focused and that's okay too. When that happens just take a few normal breaths and begin again. Allow yourself to return to normal breathing for a bit before you completely stop. It's best for your nervous system.

Still Hooping

It's been forever since I last wrote about hooping. Some of that is because I didn't really do it much for a while, but it never completely went away and I still love it. In fact, this winter I've finally gotten a decent hold on some things like shoulder hooping that I'd been struggling with for what felt like an eternity. This year for my birthday I ordered a new lighter hoop that hasn't quite arrived yet and a pair of mini hoops. Mini hoops work a lot like spinning poi which you may recall I tried and hated a couple years ago. However, spinning mini hoops is about a million times more fun for me than spinning poi. I'm having a blast. Occasionally hitting myself in the face with something has never been so fun.

I've been spinning pretty constantly lately. Since the mini hoops are new to me my hands get pretty bruised up from playing with them for too long, but it's not too bad. When I get too bruised up I just take a day or 2 to play with my big hoops more while I heal.

Hooping "blasts 400-600 calories per hour... and has been proven to shed as many calories as cardio kickboxing." - says the postcard I got with my minis.

These days hoop dance is my accidental cardio. I've decided that while I do enjoy running - My body doesn't recover from it as quickly as I'd like and I'm just not gonna do it anymore. It interferes with my yoga and yoga comes first. I found a hoop dance class at a nearby studio. I hope to attend one of these days and see what the hooping class is like.

This post is rambling and not all that coherent, but I just wanted to say - Hey, I'm still hooping.

You Don't Have To Hate Chaturanga

Most people hate chaturanga because it is hard. Being hard it tends to frustrate people. Then they avoid it as much as possible. Never do it = Never get better at it = Always hate it.

More important than a little ego trouble is the fact that with all the vinyasa people do - a poorly aligned chaturanga dandasana will eventually lead to rotator cuff injuries. These are common among the yoga population and terribly unnecessary. Today I'm going to share with you some easy ways to work on improving your chaturanga so you too can have injury free, strong, defined shoulders and triceps.
(plus some leg and core strength to boot!)

Here's a decent chaturanga dandasana.  Shoulders back, triceps parallel to floor, wrists mostly below elbows, elbows close to side body, low belly lifted, tailbone tucked, reaching back through legs/heels.   

Start from the floor. You can perfect your alignment before you bear any weight so it's safer while you build up the strength to come at it from up high. Then look at your body as 3 separate pieces to break it down.

Lie down on your belly.

Upper Body:

Place your hands on the floor shoulder width apart - wrists below your elbows.
Use your fingers and knuckles. The whole hand should press into the floor.
Ideally elbows are close to your side, but it's more important to keep shoulders back.
If you have to choose - let your elbows splay a bit and keep shoulders back.
Lift your chest/shoulders up so your shoulders are as high as your elbows.

Now your upper body is in chaturanga.

Keep this going.

Lower Body:

Tuck your toes under.

Reach strong through your legs and back through your heels.

Do it harder so your thighs lift from the floor.

Keep it - you're almost there.

Middle Body:

Now activate your lower abdominals - Tuck the lower belly in and up away from the floor.

Lengthen your tailbone towards your heels.

You're in chaturanga!
Hold for a few breaths or do a couple chaturanga pushups to build strength and stamina.

It helps to see it in action, so here's my short silent video!

Chaturanga from the Floor Up from April Armistead on Vimeo.

Beginner's Tip: Use a Strap

Using a strap helps keep the arms aligned and the chest supported. 

If you choose to use the strap - make a loose loop and place both arms through the middle of it. Set up your chaturanga from plank pose. This may be difficult because of the loose strap, but mess with it and figure out how to make it work for you. A partner is helpful to tell you when you've got it.

This shirt and strap combo was a poor choice. The strap disappears in the pic, but I was too lazy to take another one. You'll just have to take my word for it - I made a loose loop and strung my arms through the middle of it. It's the excess length hanging down in the middle.  It should be slightly more loose than you think so there's room for it to hang a bit and cradle your chest. Otherwise it just forces your arms forward which defeats the purpose. 

The strap can be higher on your arms, but if you have breasts - you might want it just above your elbows so the strap supports your ribcage more than squashes things.



Questions? Comments? Please do.


In general, this exercise is for anyone, but please don't try any of it without speaking to your Dr. first if you have any medical/physical problems. Seek Peace At Your Own Risk!

Week 3 Practice Video - 30 Day Yoga Challenge

Today marks the beginning of the 3rd week of the 30 Day Yoga Challenge (for National Yoga Month). If you've been following along then you know I've been digging up a new video each week you can practice with to keep things fresh and interesting. The first couple weeks I featured yoga practices for absolute beginners that were about 20-30 minutes in length. This week I'm bumping it up to an All Levels Vinyasa Flow class with Ally Hamilton that is just shy of One Hour long.

All levels means that it is suitable for beginner, intermediate, or advanced students. There's something for everyone here. However, since it's a flow class it helps to be at least vaguely familiar with some basics. If you've been practicing with the earlier videos posted here you'll be prepared. If this is your first class ever - you'll still be ok. You'll just have to look at the screen more often to know what the heck they're doing all the time.

I really like this sequence and the fact that this video includes a guided savasana instead of dropping you off to do it yourself. Lovely full instruction and a great Ganesha painting made this video my top pick for this week. Enjoy!

One Hour Vinyasa Flow - All Level - with Ally Hamilton from YogaEarth on Vimeo.

These videos are all being added to the original 30 Day Yoga Challenge page, so if you've marked that post then you'll easily have access to all videos.

If you are just hearing about the challenge: You can begin at anytime, so start today!

Readers via Email - Click Here for the Video.

On the Popularity of Kitchari

I've always heard good things about kitchari. Always. Good Things. Everyone always sounds so enthusiastic. I was optimistically curious about it for this 7 day detox. Made some yesterday: I did my best - it's fairly simple and I've made much more complicated foods.

I didn't care for it. Neither did Adam. It came out just tasting like cumin rice. Tried adding the cilantro chutney they recommended for flavor - and I didn't have faith to begin with because I hate cilantro so I only used a tiny amount. Anyway, it was something I would have to choke down plain. It was just gross with chutney. Instead I went to IHOP... man I suck at that. The strawberry pancakes were good though. Good thing I wasn't really intending to do the whole detox plan and eat kitchari for three meals a day. Then I'd really be a failure. I don't need detox guilt.

The dog however, was very excited about the kitchari. He loved the smell of it while it was cooking and he did tricks without being asked to for a tiny chihuahua sized taste of it... and he gobbled it up. Loved it. Well... the dog is better at detoxing than I am.  Ha! Maybe I just suck at making kitchari. I'll definitely be trying again in the future.

I did accidentally make mung bean sprouts though.

7-Day Detox with Yoga Journal

Yoga Journal is having a 7-day fall detox program created by Ayurvedic consultant Scott Blossom. Anyone can join and I signed up, but I'm not really going to do the whole program. It's not one of those detox programs where you fast or live off juice for weeks. Instead it's one week of cleansing kitchari (a rice, beans, veggie mix), hot tea, lots of self care, yoga, and meditation.

However, I'm not really a detoxer. I don't do that kind of thing... but I do intend to slow down my days, follow the self care techniques such as abhyanga (daily self massage with oil), yoga classes, and meditations. I'm even going to try kitchari which is a cleansing but nourishing dish. I'm turning off my cell phone for the week and I'm essentially going to treat this week as a retreat at home.

The detox program has officially started today with daily emails going out to guide you through it with guided meditation and yoga sequences with awesome teachers like Sianna Sherman. It's all pretty spelled out for you, so it would be good for those that have never done a detox of any kind before. They even provide a shopping list (for recipe ingredients and the like) which is pretty helpful. However, the list is incomplete, so be careful with that.

Go Here for a basic breakdown of the plan and HERE to sign up. You can join at anytime, but if you want to slow down with me - start today!

Restorative Sequence with Samantha Mehra

When I started the 30 Day Challenge I posted a great video for beginners to get you started. Since we're starting the 2nd week of the challenge today I thought it was time for a 2nd video. If you've been doing the challenge but aren't used to doing yoga everyday you may be a little sore lately. If that's the case (and even if it's not), then you should totally do the practice in this new video. It's a restorative vinyasa sequence which just means that it's a soft quiet practice that may use props. In this case she does use 2 yoga blocks, but you can use blankets, towels, books, or whatever you have around as a substitute.

This sequence starts out with some pranayama, or breathing exercise, and even if you're weirded out by the whole thing you should give it a try. Nadi Shodhana is great for your energy and your sinuses. That's the breathing exercise she has you do - and it's my favorite one ever. Bonus that she has a great accent. Enjoy!

A Vinyasa of Restorative Poses with Samantha Mehra: TerraFlow Video 38 from YogaEarth on Vimeo.

This video is also being added on to the original 30 Day Yoga Challenge page, so if you've marked that post then you'll easily have access to both videos.

Readers via Email - Click Here for the Video.