I Don’t Have Time for Yoga
When I tell people I’m a yoga teacher, they often respond with, “I’d love to do yoga, but I don’t have time.”
Really? You don’t have a spare five or ten minutes?
We all have the same 24 hours in our day. W get to make choices about how we spend a portion of that time. Keep reading to find out how to prioritize YOURSELF so that you can carve out a few minutes for yoga!
Kindness Counts – How to Be Compassionate to Yourself and Others
Do we ever really know what someone is going through, has dealt with, or is feeling? Does the smile your neighbor greets you with at the mailbox mean she’s really feeling happy? Is the driver behind you angry because you stopped at the yellow light, or is he frustrated because he’s coping with a sick parent? Could your boss be short with you because she’s dealing with her child’s mental health issues? We don’t know, nor do we need to know everything about what other people are dealing with or have experienced. But there is something we can do… we can be kind!
Ouch, My Back! Yoga Poses to Help with Back Pain
Raise your hand if you’ve ever suffered from back pain. I imagine most of us have experienced discomfort in the back at some point in their lives. The WHO estimates that 80% of the world population has experienced back pain. Often, this pain has no known cause (your doctor might call this, “non-specific” back pain). If it lasts for three or more months, it’s known as chronic pain.
If you’ve been to a doctor about non-specific back pain, he/she may have suggested that you strengthen your core or try yoga. That sounds great, but how do you strengthen your core, and which type of yoga would be the most effective?
Whether you’re looking to alleviate back pain or keep it away, I’ve got some yoga poses that can help…
The Four Best Yoga Poses to Energize and Empower
You may hear yoga and think… relaxation, calm, quiet, or peaceful. And while, yes, all of that is true, did you know that yoga can also be energizing and empowering?
The word empower means to “give someone authority or power to do something; to make someone stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights.” Practicing yoga can empower you with physical strength, mindfulness, confidence, and the ability to pause before reacting. Want to learn how? Keep reading…
I Can’t Decide. How to Stop Being Indecisive.
Whether it’s what to make for dinner, which yoga class to do from the on-demand library, or what to watch next on Netflix, we are constantly making decisions. Some choices don’t really matter much, and the outcome isn’t that important. But, other decisions can be life changing, and fear of making the wrong choice can cause us to freeze, worry, and doubt ourselves. Do you struggle with making decisions? What do you think will happen if you choose the wrong one? Do you second guess your choices? If you can relate to being indecisive, read on…
The Easiest Way to Make a Lasting Change In Your Life
One small adjustment (course correction) can make a big difference in where you end up. Adding discipline and focused effort, or tapas, can help you carry on toward your goal. If you can commit to slow, consistent, patient effort, you can achieve lasting change. Let’s find out how…
Frustration or Opportunity – How to Nurture a Shift in Your Perspective
How we perceive situations can make us feel frustrated, fearful, or hopeless. But, we actually have the ability to choose a different perspective. If we change the lens through which we view a situation, we may begin to feel inspired, calm, or happy.
It’s easy to view these situations through the lens of fear, negativity, self-doubt, and frustration. Repeated often enough, these thoughts become self-perpetuating. We can start to feel pretty down.
But, I’m here to tell you that there is another way…
How to Improve Focus with this Simple Breathing Technique
I was making a grocery list and checked to see if I needed lemons. When I opened the crisper drawer, I noticed that the bin was full of crumbs. So, I emptied the apples, limes, and one lonely lemon (I guess I did need lemons!), and began cleaning the drawer.
As I was washing the drawer, I started thinking about my yoga class for tonight. We haven’t done bird-of-paradise in a while, I thought. Maybe building toward that balancing pose would be interesting? I began to reverse engineer the class in my head, thinking about which prep poses I’d need to include and what props might be helpful.
After I finished washing the bin, I sat down to plan my class . Suddenly, I remembered that my plants needed to be watered. I got up to water them and saw my grocery list on the counter.
My thoughts were jumping around like crickets. I was frustrated with myself that I was having trouble focusing on one thing at a time, so I decided to do a few minutes of breath retention.
If you can relate to this scenario, keep reading. I’ve got a quick fix for you…
Yoga for Cyclists: 5 Poses to Do After a Bike Ride
During warmer months, you will find me riding my bike on the roads of northern Harford County. Several days a week, I strap on my helmet, dress in bright colors, and clip into my pedals for a cardio workout and a mental reset while spending some time in nature. When the weather is colder or it’s raining, I’ll hop on my indoor road bike, which is attached to a smart trainer. Whether I’m riding inside or out, an important part of my workout happens when I get off of the bike. That’s when it’s time for yoga and myofascial release.
As you probably know, stretching after your workout can help to prevent injuries and delayed onset muscle soreness (check out this study for more information). But the type, duration, and intensity of the stretching you do after a ride matters. Read on to learn more about the short, yet effective, 5 pose sequence I do after every bike ride…
The Easiest Solution to Slow Down Your Life
How many unimportant things do you cram into your day? Do you need to know what your highschool classmate ate for dinner last night? Will things fall apart if you don’t read the news article about what’s going on in another part of the world today? Is scrolling through that shopping site going to help me save time? Slowing down asks us to observe our daily habits with a critical eye in order to weed out things that don’t benefit us.
What is the simplest way to slow down your life? Find out…
Linda is a graduate of Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and received her training under Brahmani Liebman and Jashoda Edmunds. She has also completed additional training in Trauma Sensitive Yoga Practices with David Emerson, E-RYT of the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute under the direction of Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. This mind-body approach provides techniques that have a positive impact on the physical and mental well being of those coping with anxiety, depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Linda also offers private instruction to help clients incorporate these techniques into a traditional class or design a personal yoga program that will address individual triggers and challenges. As a certified Dance Instructor for over 25 years, Linda uses yoga as a part of her training methods to help her students gain focus, strength, endurance, flexibility and self-confidence. On a personal level, Linda believes that yoga enriches her life physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually - on and off the mat - every day.
Being active and staying healthy have always been an integral part of Heather’s life. She grew up in Bel Air, was a competitive gymnast, and has continued to participate in exercise-related activities, including cycling and yoga throughout her adult life. The combination of mindful awareness and physical movement is what drew Heather to yoga in 2006. After teaching for several years and sensing a need for yoga in the community, Heather opened Peace Yoga in January 2011. She is an ERYT (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher) with Yoga Alliance and holds a Masters of Education degree. Heather has studied with yoga teachers Stephanie Snyder, Judith Hanson Lasater, Jason Crandal, and Sage Rountree.