Brain Health: An Interview with Ram Rao

by Nina and RamNew Growth by Melina MezaI’m trying to learn more about brain health so I can write a brief overview about how you can use yoga to foster brain health. And since we just happen to have a handy expert on the topic—Dr. Ram Rao—I thought I’d interview him as a way of doing my research. You lucky people get to see my interview in its complete form today. —NinaNina: What are the types of dementia? And what is the probability for developing...

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9/11 Anxiety and Yoga (Rerun)

by BaxterSome years ago, when Nina and I were working on a series of yoga classes for stress management, I read the book The Relaxation Response by Dr. Herbert Benson, and an interesting finding from the work he did has stuck with me. He noted that his blood pressure patients who meditated regularly not only saw improvements in their blood pressure readings, but they also had certain substances in the blood stream that increased or decreased. One...

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Stuck in a Rut? (Rerun)

by NinaCreative Front Yard in Austin by Nina ZolotowI don’t know about you, but sometimes I get stuck in a rut with my yoga practice. I have a few different sequences that I’ve developed for myself, and I tend to fall back on them again and again. Then I start to get a little bored. So lately I’ve been making a conscious effort to change things up a bit. Of course it would be a lot of work to write a completely new sequence for myself every day....

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"Transferring" and Yoga: Wisdom from Jane Fonda (Rerun)

by BaxterNina recently shared with me some fascinating information about Jane Fonda, who has lived many lives, from actor to fitness guru to political activist, just to name a few. Fonda reportedly used to practice a more strenuous yoga two hours a day. “But,” she says now, “those days are long gone. It got to be too hard.” All of that hard work has paid off even as Fonda approaches her golden years, though. She puts it this way:“Every single time...

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New Tricks for Old Dogs: Working with Bunions (Rerun)

by BaxterIt was my first class with Donald Moyer in the new year, January having flown by and February upon us. I checked in with him before class began and mentioned an unusual aching in the lateral aspect of my left foot that I had been experiencing for about two months. It was not bad enough to prevent me from participating in my normal activities, but I noticed it when turning my left foot out to 90 degrees for many of my standing poses. He gave...

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Friday Q&A: More About Yoga for Heart Health

Leveil du Coeur by William-Adolphe BouguereauQ: Baxter, in your recent post Yoga for Heart Health and Circulation, you mentioned that you were working on an online program on yoga for heart health. When will that be available and where can I find it?A: Thanks for asking! The online course will be available on yogauonline.com on Tuesday, April 1 and Tuesday, April 8,  2014, 5:30pm Pacific / 8:30pm Eastern. To get an early start, you can download...

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Athlete profile. ANDREW HUDSON: NEW IFBB PRO from south africa

Athlete profileANDREW HUDSON: NEW IFBB PRO from south africaBy veeraj goyaramHe may look familiar to the Bollywood movie aficionados among you as the massive dude who fought John Abraham in Race 2. His name is Andrew Hudson, South Africa's top super-heavyweight and he just realised his dream of turning professional with the IFBB. He won his pro card via a superheavyweight class win at this year's Arnold Amateur bodybuilding championships...

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What is Yoga?

by Nina Is it possible that we’ve been blogging for two and a half years about yoga without ever defining what yoga is? Well, yes, because the problem is, it’s a totally daunting task! How do you distill thousands of years of yoga history into a few simple paragraphs? But it’s actually an important thing to do because there really is so much confusion about what yoga is, especially in the West, that unless we say what we mean, it can lead to a...

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Exercise focus: Back hyperextensions and cable triceps extensions. By Veeraj Goyaram

exercise focus: BACK HYPEREXTENSIONS and cable triceps extensionsBy Veeraj GoyaramThis exercise can be a great addition to a hardcore back routine. Even Dorian Yates could be seen performing weighted hyperextensions in his Blood & Guts video. Hyperextensions work the spinal erectors very well, a muscle which can add more strength to "bigger" exercises movements like squats, deadlifts, standing shoulder presses etc. There is debate on whether...

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The Ill Effects of Prolonged Sitting

by RamVan Gough's Chair by Vincent van GoughA quick question: are you sitting while reading my blog post? If you are, then maybe you should stand up to read it! According to a new study, sitting for long periods puts you at a risk of early death. (This sentence definitely made you stand, correct?) Most people in present day society spend the majority of their time sitting. A typical U.S. adult sits for an average of ten hours per day. Too much sitting...

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Yoga and Flexibility: An Overview

by BaxterAs with the other essential skills of Yoga for Healthy Aging (strength, balance and agility), we have looked at flexibility in different ways over the course of time here at YFHA. I thought it was high time to have another look at this essential skill and give it its proper due! Now, a lot a folks on the street already consider modern yoga mostly a practice of “stretching,” so flexibility is on their mind as soon as the word “yoga” is uttered....

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