Halloween Candy Blues, Hot Yoga Style

Is hot yoga scary?  Not compared to The Sugar Monster.

Halloween is Monster time and I dont mean zombies and slashers; I mean SUGAR. Chocolate and Twinkies and Twix...oh crap.  

Because holiday diet sabotage starts with the call of the Candy Monster on October 31.

Then comes pre-Thanksgiving, when you've got a big plate of busy to deal with -  shopping, cooking, entertaining, visiting - and that's when the Monster eats you.

You're hungry; you need to eat SOMETHING RIGHT NOW. What's easier than a cookie...or 10?

And sure, you say those miniature Milky Way bars are for the trick-or-treaters....but then, why are you keeping them in the freezer?

There's nothing worse than suffering a sickening defeat at the claws of the Sugar Monster. But -

Defeat The Sugar Monster in 3 Easy Steps:

Click to read more ...

Namaste, Dammit!

You're angry. You're depressed. You're overwhelmed. You're snarky.

What to do when you don't WANT to do hot yoga?

You know all the reasons you should do hot yoga...your bad back will straighten, your hurt knees will feel healed, your arthritis will ease, your rotten mood will soften...but right this minute, you don't FEEL like doing yoga, dammit. And class starts in 5 minutes.

You're not alone. A glut of hot yoga students show up 5 minutes before class begins - or 2 minutes after we lock the door to the yoga room - so we always know the days you had to drag yourself to hot yoga class.

We don't blame you; we welcome you. In fact, we have a lot of respect for you when you gag the Demon and show up anyway.

You've got your reasons...damn good ones. You're working overtime. You have a long commute right behind the old man who drives with his reading glasses. Your kids needed a ride to soccer practice and you thought today was Wednesday.

Hey, we've been there. We still are - yoga teachers are people, too.

So as a yogi and yoga teacher for the past 30-40 years, here's my advice on how to do yoga when you don't want to

Click to read more ...

A 30 Day Hot Yoga Challenge...warts and all

I love it when people are honest.

Why say something is "great" when really, it sucks? Why say you're "doing fine" if you're having a hard time?

A 30 Day Hot Yoga Challenge is a serious business. It's not for the faint of heart. I love it when Riverflow hot yogis are honest enough to take on the challenge, and even more when they blog about it day by day - the good, the bad, and the sweaty.

Here's a look at Days 5 - 8 from Jill Studnicki, a relatively new hot yogi here at Riverflow, as she faces the challlenges of hot yoga everyday. We're with you Jill.

Hot Yoga Day Five : Who Serves the Cocktails at a Pity Party?

My attitude stunk today.  I was worried about job stuff, rushed to get to class because the line to buy Q-tips was too long, and it was an afternoon class so my body was already tired from the day.  I struggled.  I sat out a couple of (okay, a few) poses.  My head wasn't in the game.  It was basically a 90-minute pity party.  Usually I'm pretty good about letting things go once I step into the room,

Click to read more ...

Women take note: yoga gets better with age

I started practicing yoga when I was just 15 years old, with then-unknown TV yogi Lilias Folan.

Little did I know then that yoga would become my anti-aging secret.

Lilias, now her in her sixties, can confirm this with just one look at her - amazingly vibrant! I know, I've seen her up close.

Lilias taught gentle yoga on an obscure cable channel back in the late 1970s and she has often been quoted as saying she could never be sure if anyone was really watching.

Well, Lilias...I was watching. Every morning at 6AM and every evening at 11:30PM.

Lilias and I have something in common: we are both women who stuck with yoga throughout our lives thus, and we both discovered the secret: yoga helps you age better,

Click to read more ...

What's so super about Supta Vajrasana yoga pose?

Fixed Firm (Supta-Vajrasana) is a great name for this yoga pose; you have to be fixed in our hot yoga room and firm in your mind to do it well.

Supta Vajrasana can be a most challenging yoga pose for athletes and for big men because it causes a (beneficial) compression of the knee joints.

But in hot yoga, compression means massage; blood supply is cut off momentarily and then a fresh rush of oxygenated blood floods through the area - in this case, the knees.

Fixed Firm Pose strengthens and improves the flexibility of the lower spine, hips, knees and ankle joints. It increases circulation to the lower limbs and is therapeutic for lower back pain, sciatica, rheumatism and varicose veins. It also strengthens the psoas muscles and helps prevent hernias.  It’s beneficial for the spleen - the filter for the lymphatic system - which helps the liver as well and strengthening the entire immune system.

And take heart: your knees will thank you later for this yoga pose.

This is the yoga pose that can radically improve the physiology of the knees, ankles and hips

Click to read more ...