While I was in my 2nd set of 30 pumps in Kapalabhati, I heard a heavy breathing coming behind of me. As I turn over, I was totally surprised to caught my youngest daughter sitting in lotus position, eyes tightly shut, fingers tuck in chin mudra and she even follow the rhythm of my breathing.

…. but only cuter!

I can’t imagine how I look in kapalabhati, but for sure, I always tend to tensed my shoulder and frequently reminded myself to relax it. And that face expression too! Who in the h*ll wanted to caught looking like a donkey, huh?

Note: Kapalabhati is an exercise for the purification of the nasal passage and lungs. People who is suffering from asthma will find this very helpful as it clear up mucus and blockages in the chest. However, those who has high blood pressure should avoid doing it.

Short Talk – For people in la fitness maintenance means a lot. These are the serious consumers of fitness equipment. They are also the most frequent shoppers at vitamin shoppe and whether they are doing pilates or any other yoga form, they don’t forget their supplements.

I have backache again. Yea, I did say “again” cos the pain will come and go. I’ve not been going for Yoga for the past one week cos I didn’t want to exaggerate my condition but to let it heal slowly or rather…. the pain will go off slowly by itself. I’ve thought of going for a good traditional massage to get rid of all the wind (or whatever you called it) but I’m a cheapskates. Dang!

And so they said Triangle Pose can help relieving back ache.

Sanskrit: Utthita Trikonasana

Short Talk – Around the onset of menopause, women should abstain from excessive intake of medicines to avoid the risk of unwanted drug interactions. Surgical measures like plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons should be postponed ideally. They should be doing regular yoga along with pilates.

I will always be the first to go down and the last to come. The front view is too obscene, definitely!

Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-Legged Forward Bend)

However, I’ve observed few things while going down on this posture:

1. Wear a G-string cos the V pantie line is not very pleasant to the eyes.
2. Dark coloured pants make bum-bum looks smaller and of course the V pantie line is less visible.
3. DO NOT hold up your head and peep!
4. Don’t make me talk about farting. Yewwwwwwwww…..
5. Care to add on my list?

Namaste, everyone!

Seated comfortably in a sitting position (Sukhasana) resting both hands on your thighs or knees with palms facing up and the tips of the fore finger and thumb touching, I always asked myself, why do our fingers has to be in Chin Mudra (as in pic) position?

So, this curious cat went and ask her teacher for the sake of her blog!

“The hand positions are designed to help centre the energy in your body by creating a closed circuit for the energy to circulate.”

In a more simple words, by placing the forefinger and thumb together, the energy in our body will go round and round in our body without breaking. So powerful lidat.

Then again, I’m curious why our body need energy to circulate?

This happened few months ago during my first day in “Power Yoga” class under a male instructor. I tried very hard but can’t lift myself in Headstand. He tried to introduce other variations but I just can’t seem to adapt any. He then ask, “Are you a coffee or tea drinker?”

“No.”

“Ah, by looking at your body, I can tell that you don’t drink any of it. Hmm… but you should be able to come up to Headstand.”

I just smiled shyly or rather embarrassed at his remark about me. I should have boasted to him, “Ya, I drink and addicted to it too!!!”

And last week, I heard him asking another Yogi the same question. I was like, wtf, so that is his pick-up line? This has became the gossip among a small group of us. I can’t believe my ears when they said, “Aiyah, he even said the same thing to me la.” *rolling on floor laughing*

————————————————————————

On an unrelated topic, can anyone tell me what is the name for this posture?

My lengchai instructor used to utter ‘Jesus’. I do see some resemblance on the outstretched hand as the crucifix cross.

Namaste, everyone.

*This act is not part of Yoga posture but very effective to strengthen your core muscle and some priceless family bonding.*

Your core make up of three muscle regions on your body. That is abdominal, pelvic, and lower back. Basically, your core muscle located between your pelvis and the base of your ribcage. These muscles work together to support your spine. When you strengthen your core, you gain greater balance, stability and better posture.

Core muscles are the the vital foundation for all movement of your body. The muscles of your torso stabilize your spine and provide a solid foundation for developing strong shoulders, arms and legs. If the core muscles are weak, your body won’t work effectively, and other muscles have to pick up the slack. Weak core is why we ‘hunch’ our shoulders or get an aching back.

In Yoga, if you don’t build up your core muscles, you won’t be able to hold on some poses for a long period and hence, the reason why we are slipping away on the mat. Beginners usually blame it on the mat, but the fact is, they don’t have a strong core and not using the strength from their core muscle.

*Note: Refering to 2nd pic. Make sure you tuck in your tummy and tighten your inner tight. That is part of the secret to get rid of your love handle.

Namaste, everyone!

Like all other activities yoga also needs to be practiced in clothes that are specifically deigned for the physical demands of Yoga. It is beyond doubt that wearing proper Yoga clothes helps an individual to give their best performance yet did not restrict them from any movements.

When I first started Yoga, I’ve never thought clothing would come as a subject to ponder as I thought any t-shirt and any pants would does it’s trick. I soon realised it when I have to fussed over restricted movement around knee bend and occasionally tugging, pulling and freeing stuck fabric around my knee bend. Somehow, the thought just struck me. Expert don’t invent Yoga clothings for no apparent reason. Go get your PROPER yoga clothing! Oh, do I have to mentioned on oversizes T-shirt when you do the Shoulder Stand?

Another important feature of Yoga clothes should be sweat absorbencies quality especially during Pilates classes. It helps in moisture absorption and keeping one dry.

The material that I usually go for is lycra as they are comfortable enough to allow free movement of various body parts in almost all Yoga poses or positions.

Why want to stings on clothings as you can afford to pay for Yoga classes?

Namaste, everyone!

Just a quickie here:

No, it is not me practicing Yoga in the nude!

I was searching the web on ‘yoga clothes’ and stumble upon Wikipedia on ‘Naked Yoga’. What are you waiting for? Do I have to tell you to click on the link? Quick!

Short Talk – With old age, using hearing aids is a pretty common occurrence. There is also substantial hair loss. However weight loss is experienced more readily in people who are smoking more than a pack a day.

After one and a half month of taking Yoga lesson, I feel that having a yoga mat at home will be convenient especially when you don’t have time to go for your lesson at the centre.

My usual routine will be practising Yin at home. All the stretching and twisting really help me to loosen up after a hard day at work.

Well, finally I got myself a PINK yoga mat. I love pink! I got them during sales for RM40. That is quite cheap considering a average price is about RM60. There’s something about this mat tho. They claim that the foam material is of good quality ‘soft foam’, which means…. SOFT!

If I were to compare the mat that I’m using at the Yoga centre and the one that I’ve bought, it is very obvious that the soft foam is sinking but after a while, it will bounce back again. I have no knowledge of what is good and what is not. I have to swallow their words.

“We have been selling them all this while and we have tested on the foam. It’s of a good quality and this is advance technology. New type!”

Ya! Ya! I have no choice cos I’ve already paid for the mat.

There’s only 4 criteria I know when buying a mat –

1. Your sweat must dry up faster when it drip on the mat.
2. You musn’t get a mat that is not too thick as you don’t want to feel ‘too’ comfortable sitting on it.
3. It must be sticky to prevent slipping.
4. If you have zero knowledge about mat, just go for expensive ones

How do one choose a good mat? Care to share?

Namaste!

What makes me took up Yoga?

Well, first of all I think Yoga is a piece of beautiful art; the flexibilty of our body part, the relaxation is just so soothing.

Secondly, it has something to do with my health. I had very high blood pressure reading during my pregnancy since 1999, thereafter 2002 and during my third pregnancy in 2006, it shot way up high. All I could think of is to put the blame (HBP) on pregnancy. Little do I know, my BP is still at a very high reading till today. And again, I would blame my bad gene. The only exercise that came straight to my mind is Yoga. Three days later (May 12, 2007), there I am at Yoga Club signing up for Yoga lesson.

I love them to bits. I enjoy every lesson that was taught. And here I am penning down my journey into Yoga. Yea, my new found hobby too.

Namaste, everyone!

Short Talk – The use of hookah is almost as injurious to health as smoking. Similarly to maintain fitness, other options should be placed well before cosmetic surgery and liposuctions.