Specific postures can strengthen the legs for skiing, open the hips for skating, and improve balance and alignment for snowboarding and snowshoe. If you’re a regular outdoor exerciser in the coldest months of the year, then you already know that your muscles and body grow tighter in cooler climates, and your joint connections grow stiffer in the cold, especially as you get older. Most fitness experts do recommend that you not only warm up prior to starting your sport but also finish off your activity with a few minutes of sports-specific stretching. The brief posture series below targets overused and overworked muscles involved in cold-weather sports, especially activities where your body is folded in forward flexion. These poses relieve stress and tension in the lower back, hips, hamstrings and hip flexors, and each series is sports specific in that they’ll help boost athletic performance and prevent cold-weather injuries. Building lower-body strength and muscular endurance is key for traditional skiers and shredders. In addition to these traits, it’s helpful to zero in on core strength to boost involvement in your sport, and also important to release the stress in your quads.

Feel free to use these postures either before your sport, during the week to cross-train for your sport, or even afterwards, to utilize as a stretching aid. Try to hold each posture for 5 to 10 deep breaths.

Cobra

Chair

Warrior 1

Bridge

Quad Stretch

Seated Straddle Splits

Cobra

Fish

Camel

Upward Dog

Chest Expansion

Whether you’re trying to stick with YogaFit or any other fitness program, it’s important to realize that missing an hour at the gym does not mean failure. If you’re strapped for time, even a 20 minute workout from the comfort of your own home or during your lunch hour can improve your health and emotional wellbeing. YogaFit encourages everyone to share their philosophy of recommitting on a daily basis. Letting go of your surroundings, being present, and committing to your health in the moment is the first step to a successful and meaningful practice.

It’s also important to remember that your fitness progression should be based on your own personal needs and abilities, and not compared to those around you, even if you’re technically starting off at the same level. When you feel yourself start to become distracted by others, Beth’s recommendation is simple: Breathe. Through breathing and feeling, yoga can translate from body to mind by increasing willpower and discipline in both your exercise schedule and daily interactions.

The YogaFit One Week Classical Advanced Intensive in Rishikesh, India included life-changing spiritual experiences including a hike to the Divine Mother Temple in the Himalayas, a session of meditation at Vashista Guha Cave, Visit to Ashrams and Holy temples, participation in traditional spiritual offerings and a re-purification ceremony on the banks of the Ganges River. The students attending the trip enjoyed 3 Vegetarian meals a day while they took part in teacher training, wisdom classes and experiencing all of the unique beauty & culture that India has to offer. Below are a few photos from our YogaFit experience in India, please enjoy and consider participating in our next excursion.

For the Fit Fashionista: YogaFit Pleather Workout Jegging $26.95

With the aid of a well constructed double seam waist band, these leggings will stay securely nestled to the hips. The perfect blend of high quality polyester and elastex will provide enough support to idealize shape and form. Stylish zippers make the shoe of your choice pop, whether they are striking heels or just cute flats.

For the Mindful Germaphobe: YogaFit Terra Silver Mat $49.95

YogaFit’s TerraSilver Grip Mat has been specifically engineered for any type of mat workout, and features the revolutionary new Terra Silver™ antimicrobial technology. As a result, the entire mat is a clean zone, providing an extra layer of protection against odor-causing bacteria during workouts.

For The Up-And-Coming Fitness Guru: YogaFit Training DVD- Level 1 $15.95

Refresh your Level 1 Teacher Training Skills with this informative DVD which covers the YogaFit 3-Mountain Format class. This all-encompassing Level 1 DVD focuses on the foundations designed exclusively for our trainees. Use it to review poses, spark your creativity, and revisit principles in a easily accessible, fun format.

For the Emotionally Aware: Spiritual Tank $29.95

This easy basic is a yoga essential. It’s made of soft, ribbed cotton with a touch of spandex for shape retention, and specially treated to prevent pilling. Each color has a beautifully designed flocked chakra centered on the front which makes this tank fun for everyday wear but also a perfect addition to your yoga practice wardrobe

For the Jet-setter: YogaFit On The Road CD $14.95

This CD makes allows for a workout anywhere you have a CD player! This versatile CD includes 2 workouts: 70 minute yoga workout and a 15 minute seated workout. Great for traveling or for anyone on the go! Also included is a stick figure chart of all the yoga postures featured in the workout. A perfect reference tool for the beginner!

Adopting yoga as a regular aspect of one’s life can be a daunting task. Yoga is well-known for being physically demanding and the infamous “yogis” are often portrayed as judgmental and intimidating. Here at YogaFit, we like to break down the process of beginning yoga practice into 5 easy steps, making it accessible to those looking for a major lifestyle change, as well as those simply looking to amp up their daily routine.

5 Steps for Success:

1. Breathe- As YogaFit founder Beth Shaw always says, “If you can breathe, you can practice yoga.” The deep breaths associated with yoga practice have emotional and physical benefits. As they help you gain a sense of relaxation the breaths simultaneously reinvigorate the circulatory and respiratory systems, instantly moving you towards a healthier, more balanced life.

2. Listen to your body- Yoga can be especially strenuous on the body during the first few months of practice. Try to be aware of the way that your body reacts to poses of various difficulty. When there is pain, it’s best to take a break and try again later. Serious injuries and muscle pulls will only cause setbacks.

3. Progress at your own pace- Each and every person on this planet is born with different natural levels of strength and flexibility. Because of this, progression in our yoga practice as well as the practice depends on our natural levels of ability and healing. Don’t compare yourself to those around you in class, your goals, as well as your practice are your own.

4. Rest as needed- Rest in an important and often forgotten part of any physical activity. The body needs time to rest and regroup so it is ready to face another day. When you are beginning your yoga practice, make sure to sleep well the night before your next class or training session. Your body will need the extra energy.

5. Stick to a schedule- Even if you’re in the middle of a particularly busy day, take a few minutes to fit in some mindful breathing and a pose or two. Staying consistent is always the best method for success and those moments will help you to clear your mind and work more efficiently.

Physical exercise has a protective effect on the brain and its mental processes, and may even help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Based on exercise and health data from nearly 5,000 men and women over 65 years of age, those who exercised were less likely to lose their mental abilities or develop dementia, including Alzheimer’s.

Furthermore, the five-year study at the Laval University in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, suggests that the more a person exercises, the greater the protective benefits for the brain, particularly in women. In the revolutionary study, inactive individuals were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s, compared to those with the highest levels of activity (exercised vigorously at least three times a week). But even light or moderate exercisers cut their risk significantly for Alzheimer’s.

When you are having an especially busy day and only have a few minutes to spend on your mat, yoga techniques such as focusing on your breathe can benefit your most important organ: The Brain.

When you come to your mat and close your eyes (to meditate or to simply slow your thoughts and deepen your breathing, several hormonal and physiological things happen almost instantly:

° As you breathe deeper, more oxygenated blood courses throughout your circulatory system, which helps lower stress hormones that can compromise the immune system. This oxygen-rich blood also conditions and strengthens the lungs and respiratory tract.

° The lymphatic system is strengthened and toxins are swept away during physical practice. You may notice that you get far fewer illnesses when you have a regular yoga practice. Sometimes, students come to class with a sniffly nose, and after several postures (and breathing drills) can clean out their cardiorespiratory system enough so that they walk out of class much healthier once the toxins are eliminated.

° Yoga boosts mental and emotional strength even as it simultaneously provides proper toning to the body. Joints become stiff with age, which is also due to stagnant lifestyle –- and so does the mind! Yoga exercises provide flexibility to all body parts and the mobilization exercises help in making the body active in order to undertake variety of daily chores with greater functionality.

When you feel better in your body, you feel better about yourself and act better towards others and that’s the goal… in the midst of a horrible or stressful day, yoga provides a reprieve from ringing phones, screaming managers, testy kids and all of the intrusions upon your day or your workout. Yoga restores calmness, balances the emotions and nourishes your internal body.

Stress management means basically learning how to manage stress by witnessing it, and releasing it. Stress management is simply a daily process of letting go (letting go of tension stored in the body / mind). Without this process, we become candidates for ulcers, heart attacks, migraines and premature aging, all known to be caused by stress. Stress management techniques allow us to discover and experience how we hold emotions, thoughts, and experiences in our bodies. Yoga practice will offer us the opportunity to tune into different moods, feelings, attitudes, and states of consciousness beside the low-grade stress levels most people in our society operate under. Participants in a stress management programs gain a powerful awareness of how to positively influence health, reactions, feelings and responses. A good mind/body class can give clients the tools they can use for the rest of their lives.

Yoga is the 6,000 year old secret to health and vitality, and can be considered technology for getting back in touch with our true essence and ourselves. It is a way of remembering the health and wholeness that is our natural state of being. Yoga, when broken down to its most simple form, is essentially just breathing and feeling. Through this breathing and feeling we learn to control our reactions to events and people. It is not the events and people in our lives that give us stress, but the way we react to them. What makes yoga unique in terms of stress reduction is in its multifaceted approach. By working at the physical and psychological levels concurrently, yoga reduces stress at each level, and this reduction in stress is supported by the work done at other levels. Yoga postures combined with deep breathing facilitate deep relaxation that combats stress.

These principles help to create the optimal biomechanical position for the body during movement, all while holding the postures typically involved in hatha yoga. SPA increases safety while simultaneously providing  functional, mechanical principles that participants can use in their daily lives. As YogaFit instructors, we can use SPA to determine the safety of our participants in poses, as well as the overall safety of additional poses we learn.

1. Establishing Base and Dynamic Tension.  We establish a firm base in the feet and hands, stacking our joints for maximum support, and contracting our muscles to become stable in a pose.

2. Creating Core Stability.  We use the muscles of the trunk (e.g. abdominals, erector spinae) to create core stability prior to moving into and while holding poses for greater strength and internal support.

3. Aligning the Spine. The spine is supported through core stabilization in all applicable poses, and the head follows the movement of the spine.  When moving into twists, flexion, or extension, we start in neutral spine.

4. Softening and Aligning Knees.  In all applicable poses the knees stay in line with ankle and point directly out over the toes.  In general, the knees, when bent, will also remain in the same line as the hips.  To prevent hyperextension, we keep a microbend in the knees at all times.

5. Relaxing Shoulders Back and Down. The shoulders are drawn naturally back and down in poses to help reduce tension in the neck and shoulders.

6. Hinging at the Hips. When moving into and out of forward bends, we hinge from the hips, using the natural pulley system of the ball and socket joint, keeping a microbend in the knees.

7. Shortening the Lever.  When hip hinging, flexing or extending the spine, we keep the arms out to the side or along side the body to reduce strain on the muscles of the low back.