Blog - Page 47 of 52 - Spoiled Yogi

Discover 5 Surprising Benefits of Practicing Yoga Today

1. No one else is going to do it for you. If you want to improve your outlook on life, the length of your hamstrings, the quality of your breath, or the tone of your gluteus maximus (and who doesn’t?) you have to do the work (and play) for yourself. This is a good time to start!

2. I’ve heard David Swenson say, “I’ve never finished my practice and thought, ‘I wish I hadn’t done that!'” Have you? No matter what’s keeping you from unrolling you mat—laziness, allergies, or something else you want to accomplish in your spare time—you know you’ll feel better after you’ve practiced. So just do it.

3. You’ve been looking for a good excuse to wear your most comfy clothes to the grocery store, coffee shop, and around town running errands. Just bring a yoga mat along and you’ll be instantly in style. Seriously. Leave the stilettos at home.

4. Because you’ve forgotten how amazing you really are. Yoga reminds you of the all the fascinating wonders your body (yes, yours!) is capable of, and if that’s not a self-esteem booster, I don’t know what is.

5. You just don’t have enough time to go to the gym, take a nap, get a massage, AND catch up with friends. Yoga gives you some of the benefits of all of these (and more) all in one class. It’s like multi-tasking, but you only have to focus on one thing: your practice!

A Love Story & A Lesson in Detachment

My dog, Penny, has a crush. It’s more than a crush, actually.. It’s a crazy, intense, infatuated—well, case of puppy love.

You see, earlier this week she met this piece of wood and it was love at first sight. She picked it up, flirted with it a little, then decided to make it her own. She takes it with her on every walk morning, noon, and night. And when the walk is over and I make her put it down outside the front door. She sits at the door for a few minutes and whines, crying for her beloved.

But it doesn’t take long for Penny to forget all about her favorite attachment when we get back inside. It’s just a few minutes of whining, then she chases the cat, begs for food, cuddles in our laps, and returns to her happy, mischievous puppy self.

When the door opens and it’s time for another walk, she picks up the wood immediately and it starts all over again.

I’ve learned from Penny that it really is possible to leave your attachments (thoughts, desires, ambitions… whatever) outside. You can always pick them up again later.

They Don’t Call It Peacock Pose for Nothing

Image source

Last week, I went on a second “date” with a local yoga teacher. I like him because he teaches super difficult poses that I’d probably never venture to try on my own. Padma Mayurasana (Bound Peacock Pose) is one of those poses, and I fell in love with it because this was the first time I was ever able to lift my legs, which were twisted into Lotus, off the floor. (Never mind the fact that I had to put my chin on the floor to get the leverage to do it.) I loved my teacher’s joke. “Remember, breasts are not helpful for this pose … but they are in about 95 percent of the rest of your life, so deal.” But I have breasts (a little) and I could still do it!

I beamed. I was (and am) so freaking proud of myself it borders on obscene. I feel like that every time I accomplish something I once thought was an impossible feat for me in yoga. And every time, I question myself later.

Yoga should boost your confidence, but it isn’t supposed to build up your ego. Is it completely against all the principles of yoga to look around the yoga studio and feel just a little bit like a rock star when you’re the only one who can do a hard pose? Or is it OK to be proud of yourself and even a little amazed at what this body can do?

How do you find the middle ground?

6 of the Most Absurd (and Hilarious) Yoga-isms Ever

Some of the comments on my last post inspired me to think of some of the most absurd yoga-isms (a.k.a. make up yoga words that really don’t mean anything) I’ve come across in my six years as a yoga student. (Oh, and if you’re my sister or husband, you should stop reading now. You won’t get the jokes unless you’re a yogi.)

1. Floint — half point, half flex, all ridiculous.

2. Broga — Yoga for men.

3. Yoga Toes — toes that are spread… Why does this need a special “yoga” name? I don’t know… but it’s awesome. (Also, the toe stretching product sold here. I also find this to be hilarious.)

4. Bro-Strap — And I am NOT talking about a G-string. For example, “put the block at the bottom tip of your shoulder blades or your bra strap line for you ladies, for the men, it’s called a bro-strap line.”

5. Lulu — One who works for a Lululemon franchise; Luon — the material Lulus use to make their clothes (a.k.a. Spandex)

I know there are MANY more … please share your favorite yoga-isms by commenting below!

5 Ways to Have More Fun Doing Yoga

Has your yoga practice gotten stale, boring, or uninspired? Do you visit the same studios, study with the same teachers, practice the same old poses time and time again? You could just make an effort to mix it up, go to a new class, try out a new studio, and learn something new. OR you could follow my five magical tips to having more fun with your yoga practice:

1. Try a pose that looks impossible—like a really REALLY crazy arm balance. Then laugh at yourself for failing miserably. (I’m trying to adapt this attitude toward challenges in my life, too!)

2. Practice outside. Be careful not to unroll your mat in doggy doo.

3. Play the Word of the Day game. Find a word or phrase your yoga teacher says over and over again, “That’s BEAUTIFUL!” is a good one. Then, every time he says it let out a deep Lion’s Breath. It can be your own inside joke or if you let a friend in on it so it can be like a drinking game, but with YOGA. What could be more fun that that?

4. Speaking of drinking games… have you ever done yoga as a party trick? Having a little wine before you practice does make things more interesting. But a word of advice: Wine and inversions do NOT mix. I speak from experience.

5. Make up ridiculous names for the poses and/or actions. How do you think those Anusara folks came up with Wild Thing and the concept of “Floint”-ing? They might say they were trying to come up with a way to teach an action, I think they were probably just amusing themselves. 🙂

What do you do to spice up your practice when it gets boring?

[Image source.]

Yoga Men: What NOT to Wear

I get that there aren’t many yoga fashion choices for you manly yoga enthusiasts out there. But there’s no excuse for these fashion faux pas in the studio—or anywhere else for that matter.

The Loin Cloth. I don’t care how hot it is outside or how proud you are of your Uddiyana Bandha… This is uncalled for.

The Tighty Brighty. This is basically just a modern twist on the loin cloth. I’m sorry, Iyengar purists. I know you want us to see your alignment, but please… there are some things that we don’t need to see align, OK?

The 80s Track Suit. While the man below is pretty adorable and is doing an impressive pose, he is committing several fashion crimes. First, notice the elastic at the bottom of his pants legs. Second, the pants are shiny and probably swish when he moves from pose to pose. And third, red from head to toe is only OK for one man—and his last name is Clause.

Combine all of these infractions together and you get the worse picture I could find on the Internet of a man doing yoga. No, no, no. Just… no.

WARNING: May Cause Side Effects

You know those commercials for new medications (like the one that’s supposed to grow out your eyelashes so you’ll magically look like Brooke Shields?) where they show you something that seems too good to be true, and then they ruin it by telling you as quickly as possible all the horrible things that might happen to you if you buy their miracle drug? You will look like be Brooke Shields and be successful and happy and healthy! …. except… you may develop chronic diarrhea, a lisp, kidney stones, a ruptured spleen… you get the point.

Yoga has some great benefits, but it has some unfortunate side effects, too. I’ve found that those horrible side effects, however, do not come from practicing yoga but from slacking on your practice.

See, I used to practice 5-6 times a week. But when I moved and started a new job last month, it became a lot harder. Now I take a class once a week, and practice at home once or twice… And my body is ANGRY at me about it. Here are the side effects of drastically reducing the frequency of your yoga practice:

Clear skin breaks out all over
Healthy appetite turns into voracious, uncontrollable cravings for potato chips and chocolate
Jaw tenses
Teeth clench
Head hurts
Even teeth hurt
Pants become tighter
Arms get flabbier
Yelling at husband increases
Grouchiness ensues
Dog starts eating bed
Cat continues to poop in the floor
Havoc has been wreaked

I’m going to yoga class now—wearing lavender.

I Heart Lavender

Lavender Dream by ejrodefer on Polyvore.com

I love everything about lavender—the color, the scent, the flower, the soothing properties. I even made 80 lavender scented eye pillows as favors for my wedding a year and a half ago. So I’m thrilled to see this color represented in many of the big yoga clothing companies spring collections. I’d like to to wear this outfit to yoga class, then frolic in a grassy field on my way home. When I get there I would light some candles and soak in a bathtub filled with lavender bath salts. Yep.

More like this:
Dream Office
From Studio to Street

5 Poses That Help Save the Earth

I know what you’re thinking. Yoga poses don’t save the earth—recycling, reusing, buying organic, and using reusable bags at the grocery store helps save the Earth, but not yoga poses! It may be true that yoga asanas are meant to bring awareness to your own breath, body, and spirit, but if you believe that we’re all connected if you make yourself healthier, you make the world healthier every time you practice.

These are the poses I’ll practice in honor of Earth Day!

1. Tadasana (Mountain Pose) This pose is the Earth and the sky. Grounding and expanding. Two opposites living in harmony together.

2. Vrksasana (Tree Pose) You don’t have to live in a tree to appreciate the beauty, stability, and oxygen they provide.

3. Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) Without the sun, none of us would be here. It provides warmth and radiant energy.

4. Dolphin Pose I want to remember our water-dwelling friends every time I practice Dolphin Pose. Water is a big part of every living creature, and yet we toss our plastics into the ocean every day. Why?

5. Savasana (Corpse Pose) Eventually, we’ll all just be fertilizer anyway. I practice yoga so when I go I’ll be sending happy, healing energy back into the Earth—not toxins like negativity, stress, or anger.

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