They also take full-body strength. You push your feet towards the ceiling as if you’re trying to leave footprints, squeeze your legs together, contract your whole torso towards your navel, anchor the shoulder blades together, straighten the arms strongly, press through the whole hand… it takes a while for all those muscles to be even.

[I started learning at the wall, to get oriented, and then L-shaped handstands, to get used to having my back towards an empty room, and then full handstands in the park, where the landing was softer.]

Like any pose, they will eventually be easy. You get over the fear. You learn how to fall out of them. You learn to “flow up” — kick up towards the ceiling, not up-and-over.

[That last one I learned Monday at Studio Anya with Derek. He can jump into a floating Crow (knees off of arms), then press up into handstand, before you even figure out where the trip wires are located. Budokon!!!]

And there is something psychological about learning to stand on your own two hands. I’m getting my work life together in a way I never have before, and it’s funny that once I started telling myself “I can do this!” in handstand, repeating it until there was no space in my head for any other option, the same was true for running my own business.

Happy handstanding!

http://dailypioneer.com/nation/12076-docs-rope-in-on-yoga-experts-to-treat-neurological-disorders.html

Spelunking

In yoga class, you’ll often be told to “go deeper” while you’re holding a pose. It’s a yoga cliché, a lesson that’s lost its power. It can be taken literally, but that’s not always the best idea. So what exactly does it mean?

Read the whole entry on the Huffington Post

via my favorite Tumblr blog, Fuck Yeah Yoga

Hike Mt. Wittenberg

Last week I was accosted outside the Food Co-op by one of those flyer guys. I managed to shrug him off, but as I glanced at his flyer I realized I actually wanted one. So I went back.

Brooklyn Outfitters, based in Williamsburg, is leading some cool outdoor adventures throughout the winter. This weekend there’s a 7.5 mile hike up Mt. Wittenberg, “the highest vertical ascent from base to summit” around. Later in the month they’re doing an intro to winter camping, and then a door-to-door ski trip for the same price it would cost to buy a lift ticket.

Get out into nature this season, check out their website: www.brooklynoutfitters.com

Bike Shoveler Needed

So I’m guessing a lot of you yoga lovers bike. Are you getting depressed because the cold weather is forcing you onto crowded trains, and stealing your endorphin buzz? Let’s find some other options! I’m a fair-weather biker, and I’m fascinated by year-round riders. So I’ve been asking each one I meet for their secrets. Here are my favorites, as I remember them :)

On the rain:

“Rain jacket, detachable rear fender.” Ben, Manhattan

“I just wear a poncho. My legs? I don’t care if they get wet.” Ippou, Brooklyn

On the cold:

“Tights and dresses are good, then you can add as many layers as you need. Legwarmers are key. Shoes? I’ll wear anything that doesn’t have a heel. Look at my boots!” Anna, Manhattan

“Wear two layers of tights. No one will notice.” some YouTube video

“Get the ninja mask.” Shelley, Brooklyn [She means this thing.]

“The most important thing is a neck warmer. Sometimes I just wear like three of them. And don’t be afraid to stop, and take off a layer, and put it in your backpack. If you wear too many clothes you bike too slow, you won’t warm up.” Prem, Brooklyn

On the snow:

“Biking in the snow is fun! You slide around everywhere.” Andrio, Brooklyn

“Do you have health insurance yet?” My dad

Do you have any tips for winter biking? Please share them below!

Their New York site, ny.mindbodygreen.com, offers local deals on yoga, cleanses, restaurants, and more. And their travel site, travel.mindbodygreen.com, is like Jetsetter for yoga retreats and eco-resorts. They’re currently running a contest where you can win two nights at “Jamaica’s #1 eco-boutique hotel” — just give them your email to enter.

Enjoy!

“I realized there were choices,” Vishal recalls. “Homework wasn’t the only option.”

…Sam Crocker, Vishal’s closest friend, who has straight A’s but lower SAT scores than he would like, blames the Internet’s distractions for his inability to finish either of his two summer reading books.

“I know I can read a book, but then I’m up and checking Facebook,” he says, adding: “Facebook is amazing because it feels like you’re doing something and you’re not doing anything. It’s the absence of doing something, but you feel gratified anyway.”

He concludes: “My attention span is getting worse.”

We’re going to have to come up with some powerful meditation lessons for these guys. (Full article on the New York Times: Growing Up Digital, Wired For Distraction.)

…a 2009 British study found that prolonged sitting on a therapy ball led to just as much slumping and “poor sitting position” as a desk chair.

Another study last year, by Dutch researchers [found that] the balls produced more muscle activity and 33 percent more “trunk motion.” But they also produced more spinal shrinkage.

“It is concluded that the advantages with respect to physical loading of sitting on an exercise ball may not outweigh the disadvantages,” the researchers wrote.

You’ll have to keep going to yoga.

The Claim: Replacing Your Desk Chair With an Exercise Ball can Improve Your Posture, NY Times

Volunteers who received [deep-tissue] Swedish massage experienced significant decreases in levels of the stress hormone cortisol in blood and saliva, and in arginine vasopressin, a hormone that can lead to increases in cortisol. They also had increases in the number of lymphocytes, white blood cells that are part of the immune system.

Volunteers who had the light massage experienced greater increases in oxytocin, a hormone associated with contentment, than the Swedish massage group, and bigger decreases in adrenal corticotropin hormone, which stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol.

Now, how do I get on this volunteer list?

Massage Benefits are More Than Skin Deep, NY Times