Thursday, August 26, 2010

WOW! POP!

Not your average granny panty. Hilarious!


Yogaworks Soho and Inversions

Unfortunately I did not enjoy my Yogaworks trial as much as I wished I did. They have an amazing studio! The locker rooms are the nicest I've ever seen. Sauna, purified water, tea and free internet stations. 3 studios and tons of classes. Problem is, I was looking for early morning classes to take and their beginner level classes are way easy/beginner. OH WELL. Back to Atmananda for me.

Today I took class with a great instructor at Crunch gym. She is one of my favorites and coincidentally one of my other favorite instructors was taking class as well. I also dragged my friend who is here on vacay to take this class with me and assisted her into a headstand. There is something about helping people into inversions that make my day. I guess it gives me that feeling of the first time I was helped up into one. Even though it wasn't my friend's first time. Either way it just feels like one of those gestures that make you feel good all day.

Speaking of inversions, Atmananda is having inversion workshops! I think I might attend the intermediate level one. See info here.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Breakin' boards

That's my cousin's 5 year old daughter breaking a board! Get it!


Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Without Yogatude, without the internets

My internet has been down. I probably need a new router or modem...or both! Anyhoo, its been keeping me from updating this blog!

In my own Yoga practice...this past Saturday I went to Lululemon's free class and it was taught by this awesome instructor, Sarita Lou. Don't you love it when you go to a class and they do exactly what you need/want? Lots of shoulder opening stretches. EXACTLY what I've been needing. Muay Thai is concaving my chest and locking up my back and shoulder muscles! I am sure I need to stop tensing up too though. Either way I learned 2 cool poses.



Shoulder opening 1:
Lay flat on your belly, face down, or chin down -Yogi's choice.
Extend your left arm straight forward, overhead. 12 o'clock.
Extend right arm to the side. 3 o'clock.
Slowly start to roll over onto your right side.
Tent the fingers of your left hand to anchor you slightly.
Bend the left knee and bring the toes to the floor behind/next to your right leg.
Switch sides!

Shoulder opening 2: a modified child's pose
Come to hands and knees. Make sure hips are above the knees and keep them there. Stay squared.
Walk the hands forward as much as you can while still keep hips and knees aligned.
Bring chin to the floor or try bringing the forehead to the floor.
To go deeper, see if you can walk the hands further away.

Don't forget to breathe!

I am doing a 1 week trial at Yogaworks SoHo starting tomorrow. Updates and reviews on that to come!

Tamala Jones and Celebrity Catwalk!

Sandman

This guy again...Union Sq.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

$8 Duck Sandwiches at Qi

Qi is on 14th Street between 5th and 6th Aves. Everything there is AMAZING.
My friend's brother really appreciated his $8 Duck sandwich.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Yoga in the Park. Salutation Nation.

Salutation Nation by Lululemon. Bryant Park

Salutation Nation

I took a Yoga class Friday night taught my by very good friend at Prema Yoga in Brooklyn. She read an excerpt from the Yoga Sutras concerning togetherness. She talked about how many times your Yoga practice is a very personal thing. It is a time you take to focus on yourself, your breathing, your asana and not to think about what the person is doing next to you and/or if they're poses look better or worse, etc. but at the same time drawing attention to the fact that we are practicing together in the same studio, sharing the same breathe and going through the same asanas. It was a great class and it allowed me to focus my attention to being kind and thoughtful to others during my practice.

Going a long with the togetherness theme, Lululemon organized a community Yoga practice yesterday. Communities all over practiced outdoor, together at 9am. In NYC, it was in Bryant Park. There's something amazing about doing upward facing dog on your mat on top of some soft grass. Sun salutations looking up at the building surrounding the park. And the collective OMs.

So I invite you to take a moment to make a wish for the person sitting next to you at a restaurant, on the subway, in line at Whole Foods or in Yoga class. Sending a good thought out without expecting anything in return. 

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Sou eu

Quem vem la, sou eu, Quem vem la, sou eu
Berimbau bataeu, Capoeira sou eu

Quexada, esquiva

6:30 pm, Wed in front of the apple store on 14th St.

Breath your own mantra

Here is a tip for focusing on breathing and also creating your own mantra. As you inhale imagine you are bringing something positive within you, as you exhale you're expelling something negative. You can use whatever is going on for you. Inhale courage, exhale fear. Inhale lightness, exhale heaviness. Inhale forgiveness, exhale judgement. Just some examples.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The Most Beautiful Murder Mystery Part Deux

 

Asana w/Michael Jackson.


So apparently MJ and Paramahansa Yogananda share a mausoleum. So Yogi's will be practicing Yoga up in there...read it here!