Yoga

I have been teaching yoga for 17 years, and one of the most frequent complaints I hear from students and yogaphobes alike is that they don’t have enough time for practice, so they avoid it altogether.

Avoiding a regular practice of stretching will never get you the healing benefits that come with the work. Even if you only do one pose a day, you will make a huge difference in your body, brain and well-being.

A few weeks ago, I taught my Core Immersion Training at the Century City Equinox in Los Angeles, Calif. Each day, we valet parked our cars before entering the club. Those who live outside of Los Angeles may have to re-read the prior sentence: Yes, we VALET PARKED our cars to go to the gym, as do thousands of other Angelenos all around the city, where valet parking is an unfortunate fact of life in a city where the car is king, and vast distances separate us from getting here to there.

My student Mary came to me nearly in tears one day after class. She’d been working for years to get into a headstand, yet continually watched newer students lift up with ease before her. She asked, “What am I doing wrong?”

Since Mary had come into my yoga classes only the week before, I asked her if she was using her bandhas to help her attain headstand. “What’s a bandha?” she asked, looking puzzled.

“We’re given one body in this precious life. It needs maintenance; it needs to be empowered,” says Trudie Styler in this video interview with her and husband Sting for the new Trudie Styler workout and healthy lifestyle DVD series by Gaiam. “I doubt that we’d be able to get through as much as we do without a fitness routine. Fitness plays a huge part in daily life for us both.”

Dressed top to bottom courtesy of Zobha, I point out trigger points on my assistant Florence's back.

Last weekend I presented three Yoga Tune Up® workshops at the Inner IDEA Conference near Palm Springs, Calif. This yearly gathering brings together the leading innovators of the mind-body fitness world to convene at the serene La Quinta Resort in Palm Desert. As always, the event saw a great turnout. My Yoga Tune Up® workshops were packed, and Gaiam and its SPRI team generously provided a variety of props for my sessions.

Nothing can stop a perfectly good yoga practice (or day, for that matter) in its tracks like a hurting back. And sometimes, the poses you might think would help your aching body could actually be making it worse.

A few weeks ago during my Core Integration Immersion, my students did a partner exercise where they had to consciously release their hip flexors and inner thighs while a partner supported their legs. One woman, Anna (not her real name), was unable to “let go.” Her inner thighs grabbed each time they were supposed to release. She was quite confounded by the bizarre tension that seemed to have a mind of its own in her inner thighs and hips.

While I was finishing high school, my mother worked as the manager of a woman’s clothing store in the mall. My mom is intense, and whatever she does, she does with gusto. Unfortunately for her, she would ring in orders on the cash register with the ferocity of a mad concert pianist. This left her with repetitive stress injuries in her wrists, which led to the dreaded diagnosis of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and ensuing surgery. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome implies that the median nerve that runs through the forearms into the wrist and hands has been compressed and is no longer functioning well.

I get the opportunity to teach both Pilates and yoga every week because it’s my job. But for those of you who don’t have time to attend a class, here are two mini workouts that do double-duty. Not only can they each be done in about 10 minutes, but these workouts will help you get moving in the morning (or anytime you need a little pick-me-up) or help you wind down from a stressful day.

Whenever my friend Shannon can’t sleep because too many thoughts are barreling through her mind, she calls it “riding the A train.” She’ll text me at 3 a.m., “I’m on the A train again.” Of course, I get the message because I’m awake, too. My type A personality and new business responsibilities are battling it out with my dire need for some mental stillness and rest.