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- Beth Shaw's YogaFit
Whether you are searching for a new physical challenge or a way to incorporate yoga into your exercise routine, Beth Shaw’s YogaFit will help you reach your physical potential.
Expanded and updated, this highly acclaimed program combines challenging conditioning work with strength- and flexibility-building yoga to create a total-body workout.
With YogaFit, you’ll have not only increased overall health, energy, and vitality but also a stronger and leaner body, reduced stress, better posture, improved concentration, and a higher level of fitness.
Written by Beth Shaw, an internationally renowned expert on fitness and yoga, this book presents more than 100 YogaFit poses organized into workout routines that you can use every day. The text includes information on using YogaFit as a training tool for sports and creating personalized routines to meet your own needs. Athletes will benefit from sport-specific routines designed specifically for baseball, basketball, boxing, cycling, golf, kickboxing, running, skiing, snowboarding, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and weightlifting. The full-color photo sequences and step-by-step instruction make it more accessible than ever!
Join the more than 250,000 trained YogaFit instructors and the millions of people who have already tried Beth Shaw’s YogaFit and proved that it works. You’ll get results in a few weeks—and benefits that last a lifetime.
PART I: Preparing to Be YogaFit
Chapter 1: The YogaFit Lifestyle
Chapter 2: YogaFit Essentials
Chapter 3: YogaFit Breathing
Chapter 4: The Three Mountains of YogaFit: Warm-Up, Work, and Cool-Down
PART II: Purposeful Poses
Chapter 5: Core Strength and Stability
Chapter 6: Standing and Balance Poses
Chapter 7: Forward and Backward Bends
Chapter 8: Twists
Chapter 9: Deep Relaxing Stretches and Inversions
PART III: Putting It All Together
Chapter 10: Workouts for Fitness and Sports
Chapter 11: Yoga as Therapy
Chapter 12: Meditation
Beth Shaw is the president and founder of YogaFit, Inc., the largest yoga school in the world. She is recognized as one of the leading experts in the fields of mind–body fitness, health, and nutrition. Shaw is the innovator behind many fitness trends, including YogaFit, YogaLean, and YogaButt. The first and second editions of Beth Shaw’s YogaFit (Human Kinetics) have sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide. YogaLean was published by Ballantine Books/Random House in 2014 and is quickly climbing to best-seller status. Her next book, Yoga for Athletes, is scheduled for release in 2016.
Shaw and her company have been featured in Time, Huffington Post, USA Today, O: The Oprah Magazine, Glamour, Washington Post, Self, More, and Entrepreneur as well as on CNN, CBS, NBC, Showtime, and E! Entertainment Television. She speaks frequently at universities and corporations on mindfulness in the workplace, health, fitness, and the business of spirituality. Shaw works with the NFL and its officials and is currently on the CanFitPro advisory panel and the Long Island University board of advisors.
Shaw earned bachelor’s degrees in business administration and nutrition and holds numerous certificates in fitness disciplines. She is an experienced registered yoga teacher (E-RYT) and is a trained yoga therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT). She has studied yoga in India and Asia.
A lifelong student of fitness, psychology, philosophy, spirituality, and health, Shaw is committed to helping people find their own perfect health both physically and mentally. YogaFit has committed to giving $1 million in free yoga trainings to those in need. Her nonprofit organization, Visionary Women in Fitness, grants scholarships to women. Shaw has dedicated her life to YogaFit and the transformational growth that the company creates globally. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.
"Beth Shaw's YogaFit strikes the perfect balance for both novice and experienced yogis alike. At the foundation is the notion that YogaFit is for everyone, which resonates with anyone who believes in self-acceptance and inclusivity. For those unaccustomed to yoga, they will soon see that YogaFit is a modern take on an age-old practice for flexibility, strength, and power for the mind, body, and spirit."
Rod Macdonald-- Vice President canfitpro and Editor in Chief of canfitpro magazine
“Beth Shaw's YogaFit offers you a path to an improved mind and body. No matter what your starting level, you will learn how to become stronger, leaner, and more flexible while reducing stress and improving concentration.”
Petra Robinson-- CEO Petra Robinson Inc.,Fitness Industry Adviser - Zumba Fitness, Former VP of Aerobics and Fitness Association of American (AFAA)
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447a_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447b_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447c_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_525581_ebook_Main.jpg
YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_522841_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447a_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447b_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447c_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_525581_ebook_Main.jpg
YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_522841_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447a_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447b_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447c_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_525581_ebook_Main.jpg
YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_522841_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447a_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447b_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447c_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_525581_ebook_Main.jpg
YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_522841_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447a_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447b_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447c_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_525581_ebook_Main.jpg
YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_522841_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447a_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447b_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447c_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_525581_ebook_Main.jpg
YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_522841_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447a_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447b_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447c_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_525581_ebook_Main.jpg
YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_522841_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447a_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447b_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447c_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_525581_ebook_Main.jpg
YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_522841_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447a_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447b_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_527447c_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_525581_ebook_Main.jpg
YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_522841_ebook_Main.jpg
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
Pose: Triangle and Extended Triangle
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle.
Triangle and Extended Triangle
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3922_ebook_Main.jpg
http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/144/E6514_3926_ebook_Main.jpg
Triangle pose and extended triangle pose represent a strong mental and physical foundation formed by the two bottom points of the triangle. From here, you can begin looking up to explore the third point - the spiritual. Practice these poses within the mountain II portion of your workout.
Strengthens: quadriceps • oblique abdominal muscles • hip flexors • shoulders
Stretches: hamstrings • hip adductors
Getting Into the Pose
Triangle (figure a): From warrior II or side angle pose, straighten your front leg. Moving from the front hip, tilt the upper body toward the front of your mat while maintaining a strong core and neutral spine, reaching your hand toward your shin or ankle. Lift your back arm to the sky, opening your chest. Look up, down, or straight ahead, finding a comfortable position for your neck.
Extended triangle (figure b): For an added challenge, from triangle pose, drop your top arm over your ear and roll your chest toward the sky.
Holding the Pose
Press your feet away from each other, keeping a slight bend in your forward knee. Your nose stays over your leg, not in front of it. Pressing into the feet will create dynamic tension through the legs and gluteal muscles to support the pose. Breathe length into your spine, allowing your inner strength to fuel your outer strength. Switch sides.
Modification
If your hamstrings or inner thighs are tight, place your lower hand on a block or your thigh.
Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.
YogaFit Essence
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The essence of the YogaFit lifestyle is breathing, feeling, and listening to your body; letting go of expectation, judgment, and competition; and staying in the present moment.
The foundation for a successful YogaFit lifestyle is in your ability to practice the essence of YogaFit both on and off the mat. As you read the following elements of the YogaFit essence, consider where you might apply them to your daily life. Then, once you begin practicing the poses and workout formats, notice how they enhance your experience in the poses.
- Breathing. Breathing is vitally important to your yoga practice because it gives you energy, keeps you in the moment, and facilitates the process of unifying mind, body, and spirit. Breathing during your YogaFit session is typically done through the nose. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to a successful asana and meditation practice. The breath is your most powerful tool for calming and relaxing your body and clearing your mind; in fact, if you are not ready to begin a physical practice, just doing 5 to 10 minutes a day of deep diaphragmatic breathing will begin to bring you the positive health benefits of yoga. Effective breathing also helps you get deeper into your poses. Regardless of the pose, you should always focus on maintaining a long, smooth breath.
- Feeling and listening to your body. In the Western world people are often disconnected from their physical bodies. Yoga can help reconnect the body, mind, and spirit. You should aim to feel something in every pose. During practice, remind yourself to check in with your body and to modify your pose to provide less or more sensation, as appropriate. When you feel something in each pose, you are grounded in the moment and aware of your body and its potential. The ability to identify and feel your feelings gives you tremendous opportunity to connect with yourself and with others honestly.
- Letting go of expectations. Too often in life people have unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. These expectations can manifest in your yoga practice and lead to injury on the mat. Be patient with your practice. Respect the process, and go at your own pace.
- Letting go of competition. As the great yoga philosopher J. Krishnamurti said, when you compare, you are disappointed. Your practice is your own. No two bodies are alike, and no two lives are alike. Comparison makes you feel either superior or inferior. Neither is beneficial.
- Letting go of judgment. It is no one's place to judge others' lifestyles or actions. Practice replacing judgment with compassion. Do you want to be judged by others for the way you look or for the way you are? Think of how unfairly you feel treated when someone who barely knows you misjudges you. The truth is that most judgments are based on inadequate information. Ask yourself how much you know about a person you have placed a judgment on. Ask yourself why you feel compelled to make a judgment. Is it to make yourself feel better? Taking it one step further, when you notice yourself judging another person, you can simply turn the mirror toward yourself. It is a tough practice, but everyone needs to remember that you cannot notice anything in others that isn't present in yourself. This step can then give you a chance to practice compassion for yourself and for others.
- Staying in the present moment. In his book The Power of Now (2004),Ekhart Tolle argues that true peace can be found only in the present moment. Tolle says that the present moment is the only moment in which you can truly live your life. When you're stuck in the past or projecting into the future, you miss out on what's in front of you. On your mat, notice when your mind slips into thoughts of the past or future. If it does, simply bring your awareness back to your breath and your body.
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After the Run
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain.
Because of the repetitive motion of the legs, running creates tightness in the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quads, often leading to low-back pain. Running also fails to strengthen the upper body or the abdominal muscles. The YogaFit poses here serve as counterposes to offset runners' lower-body strength and to provide supplemental work to increase total body strength, endurance, and flexibility. After a run is a great time to add in some fun arm balances and then move to the floor for increasing upper-body and core strength. Many runners find that yoga keeps them running longer and faster, without the nagging injuries.
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Three Mountains of YogaFit
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury.
YogaFit applies modern exercise science to the ancient mind - body practice of yoga. Although yoga can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of students, improper sequencing and pacing creates opportunities for physical discomfort and injury. For this reason, YogaFit classes follow a format called the three mountains. This format is consistent with current group exercise standards and guidelines for the safest, most effective, and consistent progression possible. YogaFit has followed this format since 1995, training over 500,000 people worldwide in the powerful YogaFit style.
YogaFit works from the gross to the subtle, warming up the largest muscle groups and joints first and working toward smaller groups. By the time you get to complex postures, your body is warm and ready to be there.
Every workout begins by preparing your body in two ways. First, you create heat by working the large muscle groups through a gentle range of motion to lubricate the joints, an important factor that helps reduce the chances of injury. This preparation allows the muscles and connective tissue to later stretch safely, without injury. (See chapter 9 for details on safe stretching and flexibility.) As the body warms up you can begin to move in an increasing range of motion, which prepares the body for more intense strength work and stretching while increasing muscular endurance. In mountain I of a YogaFit class, you follow these guidelines by flowing (moving) in and out of the poses continuously to build heat while introducing your muscles and joints gently to the positions you will hold in mountain II. Mountain I also provides an opportunity to check in with the body and notice whether any parts need a little more attention and care in this practice. Each time you step on your mat, your practice is going to be unique depending on both our state of mind and your degree of physical activity the day before.
"Any yoga is good yoga as long as it is safe yoga."
Range of motion involves more than muscles. Genetic bone structure and the health of your joints also determine how flexible you are or can become. To avoid injury and get the most out of your yoga practice, relax and move only as far as you are comfortable, and match your breath with your movement. Be open to exploring different variations of the poses in each practice so that you can find the best position for that day.
After you warm up (mountain I), the focus turns to strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. According to fitness guidelines, people achieve strength and endurance by progressively overloading the muscle with increasing workload and range of motion and moving a muscle several times through a specific range of motion. In mountain II, you do both. Most of the poses are held in isometric contraction to build strength, yet flows are often inserted in order to increase endurance. (See the section titled Flow Series later in this chapter). Further, the variety of poses YogaFit offers ensures that every major muscle is targeted in every class (and most minor muscles, too), maximizing your strength while maintaining balance.
Every workout should end with a cool-down. YogaFit's mountain III brings you down to your mat for poses that focus on deep stretches held for longer periods of time to increase flexibility, lower the heart rate, and deliver a profound sense of relaxation. As you work into mountain III, you are decreasing the intensity of the workout and moving toward the final phase of any healthy fitness regimen, rest and recovery.
YogaFit's three-mountain format consists of these three phases:
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YogaFit also includes these two valley phases, which are extensions of mountain I and mountain II:
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Learn more about Beth Shaw's YogaFit-3rd Edition.