give yourself some love

Either you know someone with chronic body-image issues or experience it yourself; it's a fact that's hard to avoid in our society. As a yoga instructor, I see this self-deprecating issue surface in a the studio in a very real way, rearing its ugly head during practice. Some students are stuck in a cycle of destructive habits, while others are working to evolve through yoga. Many new students want to know how many calories they'll be burning at a hot yoga class or when they can expect to see real results. I don't always know what to tell them, but I wish I could tell them that it doesn't matter. To come as you are. Let yourself be. That losing a few gallons of sweat or pounds of fat will most certainly not make you happy.

I get that goals can be beneficial and I fully understand that a healthy yoga practice can bring confidence and inner peace. The big difference here is the motivation behind the goal. Are you working from a place of positive motives such as health and longevity, honoring your body when you need to rest? Or do you often exercise from a place of compulsion, worry or fear, beating yourself up when you're tired or skip a workout? The energy that you bring to the gym or your yoga practice is either a powerful tool or a dangerous poison.

As Bryan Kest so eloquently says: "If you bring your shit into yoga, you turn your yoga into shit."

And this sage advice is not just for yogis. If you think that rushing to the gym will help to solve your body image issues, think again. The thing that many people don't connect about traditional, regimented or "no pain, no gain" exercise routines is this: If you're hating your workout everyday or forcing yourself through a miserable routine that you don't like, your mind is running circles in a vicious cycle of negative energy. You might literally have an internal dialogue or mantra of "I hate this," "This is miserable," "I hate my body"...etc. You're not trusting your instincts. So...guess what's actually going on when you're struggling through a workout? You're releasing loads of stress hormones all the while. Do you know what stress hormones do? They slow down your body's natural processes. They can cause you to gain weight. They weaken the immune system. They can aggravate and cause depression. So even if you feel temporarily "better" after working out or glad that you made it through, you are perpetuating your own toxic cycle of negativity.

We all need to learn to let go of control in some respect. Clinging to the illusion of control of our lives, our bodies, our jobs, our relationships, yoga...etc. will only exacerbate our dissatisfaction when things aren't perfect. Life is not perfect and neither are you, but that's okay. Learning to accept that inside and outside is a small, yet substantial part of your overall quality of life.


If you've never been satisfied with your body or your life, I don't expect that reading these few paragraphs will cause some sort of revelation. Habits like this aren't broken overnight. But maybe the next time you find yourself lingering in front of the mirror for a little too long, or stressing over your diet, you might think of this and remember how important it is to break the cycle. Try some gentle yoga or meditation, confronting yourself for a bit. Or, just take a few tips from "Jessica," below. :)

3 common issues with yoga

Attention one time yogis - read this and then try again! :)
Throughout the holiday season, I've been catching up with a lot of new and old friends at holiday parties and answering the usual, "what do you do?" and "how have you been?" questions. So often, the topic ends up with: yoga. I've come across a lot of people who have wanted to try yoga or have tried yoga and for one reason or another, didn't like it. (Gasp!) But I'm beginning to understand why and I'd like to help clear some things up to balance expectations about yoga with reality!

1.) The teacher didn't explain enough. One of the biggest gripes I hear from first-time or one-time-yogis is that the instructor didn't explain the poses enough or didn't tell them if they were doing the poses correctly. One of the biggest reminders I could offer for this expectation is that yoga is not a sport or an exercise class, so don't expect it to be taught like that.

Yoga is a meditative practice, so don't expect the teacher to narrate everything, tell you why you're doing each pose or explain the philosophy of yoga during class because THAT would drive you insane anyway. If you have questions afterward, ask, but usually, the teacher is explaining enough. Understand that there is no "right or wrong" to beginning yoga poses; it is a seriously personal practice and mental discipline, so as long as it feels good for you, don't read into it too much.

2.) The teacher kept adjusting me/didn't correct me at all! There are two very opposing "schools" of yoga, if you will: one that believes students should be physically adjusted often and the other that opposes the concept of any physical adjustment unless absolutely necessary. Both encourage verbal and self-adjustment, but the goal behind NOT touching students is to encourage them to tune into their own body, not be striving to fit any mold. Myself and many other teacher and students probably fall somewhere in between these two beliefs. I definitely do not see a benefit to adjusting students obsessively, as this can effect confidence, concentration and, in turn, progress, but I do believe that there are certain postures that can be gently adjusted to allow for deeper release or opening that cannot be achieved by a student's own volition. 

If your teacher approaches you to adjust you, stay calm and keep in mind that you're not doing anything wrong. He/she is just trying to help you feel something a little different. If you would like to be adjusted more often, understand why many teachers may not want to disrupt your practice in this way, but feel free to ask or seek another more "hands-on" teacher.

3.) The class was too hard/too boring. This is a big one, so please do your research before attending a class and try to keep things in perspective. If you've never taken a yoga class, make sure you're signing up for a beginner's class and take it easy. Sometimes, you may feel lost in community yoga classes or large classes, so either start with a few private lessons from a local studio or do your best and don't do anything that doesn't feel good. Yoga should never be painful and your teacher should (hopefully) offer modifications for various levels. If you're already in shape and find that the class was not enough for you, keep in mind that there are dozens of different types of yoga, taught at hundreds of different studios by thousands of different teachers.

Disclaimer: As with anything, nit-picking can squelch even the best yoga experience. If you didn't like the music that particular day, thought the paint choices were lame or would have chosen a different candle scent, do suck it up a bit. What are you here for? Mental and physical discipline or pedantics?

If you really had some sort of terrible yoga experience, I understand your hesitation, but trying one teacher or one place is not exactly giving it a fair chance. You ended up there in the first place seeking something...peace, relaxation, physical strength...etc. so don't give up so easily. Not everyone will resonate with the same style of yoga or the same teacher, but the mental and physical benefits are really worth finding one that will. It's hard to go into a new practice without any expectations at all, but if you keep an open mind, yoga will change you and you'll understand so much more about yourself and yoga. 

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar, or B.K.S. Iyengar, is one of the foremost yoga teachers in the world and has been practicing/teaching for over 75 years. He sums up this idea well:

"Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one's being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union -- the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions." - B.K.S. Iyengar

Namaste!

running, yoga & exercise induced asthma

EIA makes running difficult, especially as the weather changes.

Wikipedia (actually has a better definition than Mayo Clinic, so don't judge) describes Exercise-Induced Asthma as the following:

"Exercise-induced asthma, or E.I.A., is a medical condition that occurs when the airways narrow as a result of exercise. The preferred term for this condition is exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB); exercise does not cause asthma, but is frequently an asthma trigger"

I've had exercise-induced asthma/bronchoconstriction ever since I first began running at age 8. For years, I thought that maybe I was breathing wrong, not in tip-top shape or just wasn't cut out for running. Shortness of breath certainly isn't out of the ordinary when you're running, but my symptoms would last long after I was done. Wheezing, phlegm, chest pain and coughing always went on for at least a few hours afterward, often into the next day if the weather was cold or if I ran particularly hard. 

Over the years, my asthma seemed to get worse. A scary asthma attack after a high school cross-country race prompted a visit to the doctor, where I was finally diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. Although it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, it was a big deal to me at the time. It made me feel like I would never be able to compete to my full potential and would always be at a disadvantage to my asthma-free peers. I tried the inhaler-route for a few years, longer warm-ups and cool-downs and even the Vitamin C method, but nothing seemed to lessen my symptoms.

Running, in particular, is aggravating to E.I.A. in 3 main ways:

1.) Being outdoors: When outdoors, the lungs have no protection from the air. It's especially aggravating if you have seasonal allergies or if the weather is cold and dry.
2.) Mouth-breathing: During vigorous exercising, such as running, we use the mouth. Anytime unfiltered air rushes straight off the back of the throat, it quickly dries out the airways and can aggravate asthma symptoms.
3.) Posture: When we run, we're leaning, hunched over, the entire time. Our chest is compressed as we lean into the next stride. Try as you might, it feels ridiculous to keep the chest upright (open) while running, so the chest is already tight.

Aside from inhalers, there's really not much information out there for alternative asthma treatments. Trust me, I've looked. Prevention methods would obviously involve not running, not running outside and/or not running in the cold, but that doesn't really work for a runner. As I began to learn more about yoga, I hoped it would help.

Yoga is usually safe to practice if you have E.I.A.

There may be certain pranayama (breathing techniques) that don't work well for you, but normally, during yoga, we breathe in and out slowly through the nose. Yoga is also normally practiced indoors, sometimes even with humidity added to the room...all great conditions for exercising without experiencing asthma.

Even after years of yoga and pranayama, I would not say that my E.I.A. has improved when running. I've been running for 20 years and it will be a sad day when I have to hang up my running shoes, but I still struggle in the cold, I still wheeze and cough and experience chest pain. Yoga can help with many various health issues, but I'm not touting it as a cure-all. But in relation to E.I.A, yoga DOES greatly aid in the aftermath. The following is a little compilation of poses I like to practice when I'm having a tough time after a run. The goal of many of these poses is to open the chest and loosen mucus from the lungs.

Camel
Cobra
Cow
Bridge or Wheel
Thymus reset

If you have exercise-induced asthma, I hope something here was helpful to you. I know how frustrating of a struggle it can be, especially when you really love something. I will always love running. There is absolutely nothing like it. I will always hate asthma. There is also nothing like it.  But for now, as long as I can enjoy a long run through the woods, I will embrace a few hours of post-running hacking.