Stressed-out from too much Holiday Prep and Merry-Making?

Consider taking a Yoga class to de-stress. We offer Tuesday Yoga at 10:30am with Angelika and Thursday Yoga at 8pm with Amenaua. We offer private Yoga sessions at our Studio and in-home.

Why is Yoga beneficial?

The short answer is that yoga makes you feel better. Practicing the postures, breathing exercises and meditation makes you healthier in body, mind and spirit. Yoga lets you tune in, chill out, shape up -- all at the same time.

here's more--

For starters, yoga is good for what ails you. Specifically, research shows that yoga helps manage or control anxiety, arthritis, asthma, back pain, blood pressure, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, headaches, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, stress and other conditions and diseases.

What's more, Yoga:

• Improves muscle tone, flexibility, strength and stamina
• Reduces stress and tension
• Boosts self esteem
• Improves concentration and creativity
• Lowers fat
• Improves circulation
• Stimulates the immune system
• Creates sense of well being and calm

Yoga for Your Back!

BodyByGeoff offers Yoga on Tuesday morning at 10:30am with Angelika; and Thursday evenings with Amenaua at 8pm. Both classes focus on individual attention and working with people at their individual level. Our classes run continuously through the year and are a low 20 classes for $99. We also offer private Yoga instruction by appointment.

Yoga for Your Back

Up to 85% of American adults experience back pain at some point in their lives. Why is the back so prone to injury? As we age, ligaments and tendons shorten and joint range of motion (ROM) decreases. Disks lose their ability to absorb shock, muscles weaken and bones lose mass.

To add to these inherent biological weaknesses, we spend too much time sitting-in cars, at desks and in front of televisions or computers-and our back muscles weaken. Poor posture makes matters worse. The low back, which bears much of the burden, is particularly prone to disk problems.

Basic Yoga Back-Care Principles

Breathe as you do the poses. When we hold our breath, we hold onto tension. Quiet, introspective breathing alters the sympathetic/parasympathetic nerve signal balance to the arteries and veins, allowing increased circulation to tissues whose vessels are constricted during times of stress.

Create movement of the spine with flexion and extension To feed and lubricate the disks properly, it's necessary to reverse the curvatures for brief periods of time, which yoga postures do gently and wonderfully. Cow, Cat (pelvic tilts on your hands and knees) and Sun Salutations are excellent ways to create movement of the spine.

Balance, Flexibility and Strength Strength is vital but so is flexibility. Developing strong, yet flexible, muscles is perhaps the most crucial principle in back care. Remember that a tight muscle is not necessarily a strong one. In yoga sessions, it is important to lengthen contracted muscles before working on strength. For the back this means stretching the back muscles to lengthen the spine and create more space for the vertebrae and disks.

The Importance of Stretching

At BodyByGeoff Personal Training, we think stretching is the key to better range of motion, less stiffness & pain and better workouts that build on each other to progress toward your goals.

We do two types of stretching: self-stretching and manipulative stretching. We focus self-stretching in areas where you typically have problems and recommend that you do them every day in the morning. We also do a self-warmup stretch before your training. Our Personal Trainers provide a manipulative stretch after each training session. They apply pressure and range that you can't accomplish on your own.

Here are some good basic self-stretches:

(1) Twisting Lunge--to help overall core endurance, loosen up your hip flexors (those muscles at the top of your thigh).

(2) Downward-facing Dog--this yoga position is the ultimate full-body stretch. It opens up your shoulders & chest for better posture and loosens your hamstrings and calves.

(3) Three-legged Dog--this will help you loosen your hips and improve movements such as your golf-swing.

(4) Pigeon Pose--keep your piriformis loose. This is a small muscle under your glutes.

If you want to see any of these demonstrated, just ask your BodyByGeoff Personal Trainer.