cup of jojo

(Source: fito-befit, via traversingyogini)

Lift Weights? No, I Do Yoga.   

As a yoga teacher AND a personal trainer, I have to say I take issue with some points in this article from MindBodyGreen. Number one, good strength training should not “isolate each muscle”, that is old school weight lifting and you don’t see a lot of that anymore (unless someone is literally training to be a bodybuilder.) A good strength program consists of compound, multi-joint movements like variations of squats, lunges, push-ups, and pull-ups. The addition of basic equipment like weights and medicine balls is important for challenging the body in order to see improvements in strength, physique, and especially important for women, bone density. And you will NOT “build the bulk of a serious lifter” by adding in a couple days of strength training, this is a complete myth—if you are challenging yourself with heavy enough weights, I hope you would see some great muscle tone start to emerge, but unless you are lifting hard 4+ days/week, “bulky” is not going to happen. And the fact that this woman saw more “[muscular] definition and a chiseled, leaner, longer physique” from only doing yoga is great for her, but that is attributable to her having a genetic predisposition to that “lean” body type. 

I love me some yoga and wholeheartedly believe in its benefits, physical and mental. I also agree that your workout should be “something you look forward to”, but strength training does not equal brushing elbows with sweaty ogling men in the weight room—for me, there is nothing as fun and empowering as rocking out some tabata sets of burpees and maybe some pull-ups at the park. Followed of course by a nice long savasana on a beach towel in the sunshine.

Love to hear your thoughts on the matter!!

Moment of zen found by my hubby in an NYC coffee shop. Wonder how many people were too busy looking at their phones to pause and read this.

Friday moment of zen. #breathe

Inspiring quote on the wall where I volunteer, a wonderful place for homeless women in DC called N Street Village. I teach yoga for the ladies once a week.

http://www.nstreetvillage.org/

nirvana-venami:

“Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety.”

Baxter Bell

love that quote.

(via fuckyeahyoga)

Yoga for Athletes at the Studio DC, Saturday January 12th!

https://www.facebook.com/events/391793794190437/

making kombucha tonight…these are the instructions. In case you don’t know what kombucha is, it’s a fermented fizzy drink that is purported to have many health benefits. Technically, it’s a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) yummm.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha

Someone gifted us a “mother” starter. Stay tuned. I’m making Ben try it first.

NYTimes: School Yoga Class Draws a Religious Protest

“They’re not just teaching physical poses, they’re teaching children how to think and how to make decisions,” Ms. Eady said. “They’re teaching children how to meditate and how to look within for peace and for comfort. They’re using this as a tool for many things beyond just stretching.” 

OH MY GOSH HOW HORRIBLE. Teaching kids how to make decisions and how to be happy? In public school? no no no something must be done about this. (sarcasm over).

please. It disgusts me that parents would protest this.

cuppa tea and a homemade pumpkin carrot muffin :)

new recipe. made it for my yoga students at GW today—college student approved! (you may not think that says much, but THESE students have Whole Foods as their closest grocery store. high standards.)

recipe: http://madeitlovedit.blogspot.com/2010/01/pumpkin-carrot-breadmuffinscupcakeswhat.html

only change I made was to the sugar: instead of 1 & 3/4 cup sugar, I did 1/2 cup regular sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup molasses. i love adding molasses to recipes.