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Featured Pose
Balancing Stick
Utkatasana |
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This is a three part pose that builds concentration and determination.
Helps align the entire skeletal system and opens the pelvic area. Strengthens inner thighs, quadriceps and deltoids. Strengthens and firms upper arms, abdominal muscles and all muscles of thighs, calves and hips.
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Food 4 Thought Adding Good Carbohydrates |
| For optimal health, get your grains from foods such as whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole-grain pasta, and other possibly unfamiliar grains like quinoa, whole oats, and bulgur. Not only will these foods help protect you against a range of chronic diseases, they can also please your palate and your eyes!
Until recently, you could only get whole-grain products in organic or non-traditional stores. Today, they are popping up in more mainstream grocery stores. Here are some suggestions for adding more good carbs to your diet:
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Start the day with whole grains. If you're partial to hot cereals, try old-fashioned or steel-cut oats. If you're a cold cereal person, look for one that lists whole wheat, whole oats, or other whole grains first on the ingredient list
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Use whole-grain breads for lunch or snacks. Check the label to make sure that whole wheat or another whole grain is the first ingredient listed
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Bag the potatoes. Instead, try brown rice or even "newer" grains like bulgur, wheat berries, millet, or hulled barley with your dinner
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Pick up some whole wheat pasta. If the whole-grain products are too chewy for you, look for those that are made with half whole wheat flour and half white flour
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Bring on the beans. Beans are an excellent source of slowly digested carbs as well as a great source of protein. |
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Student of the Month |
Our April Students of the Month are Biman and Rupali Roy!
- When did you start practicing hot yoga?
Biman and Rupali started practicing hot yoga in 2004. Rupali had a lot of back pain, and had only tried Ashtanga yoga in the past... Their daughter brought Rupali, and she kept coming back. It took Biman more time to be convinced, but soon, he followed suit. To date, Rupali has taken over 457 classes, and Biman has taken 318!
- How often do you practice?
Biman and Rupali try to practice 4 times per week.
- Why do you practice? What are the primary benefits you experience?
When Rupali started practicing hot yoga, she had a pinched nerve, slipped disc, and a lot of back pain. She practices regularly because it keeps the pain at bay, she sleeps better, and finds that hot yoga relaxes her mind. With his hot yoga practice, Biman's sciatica and back pain has also gone away. He says: "I feel really good. We really want to come to class more. The next morning [after taking a 6:30pm class], we feel so much more energy." The couple finds their hot yoga physically and mentally beneficial, the location of the studio is convenient, and they love Jason and all the teachers.
- How has your hot yoga practice impacted or changed your life?
Biman commented: "I think yoga really calms the mind. You start looking inside." He said that he has better concentration, has become more flexible, and drinks more water. Rupali added: "We enjoy taking class together, and that keeps us coming back more often." |
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Frequently Asked Questions |
I don't feel like my flexibility is improving. Is there anything else I can do to work on this?
One of the primary reasons we do yoga in a heated room is because it warms the muscles, which will help improve our flexibility. If you are particularly tight or inflexible, there are a few things you can do to work on during class, to become more flexible faster:
- Take slow, deep breaths throughout your postures
- Hold postures in stillness, without bouncing (ex. Hands-To-Feet, Standing-Separate-Leg-Stretching)
- Move deeper into stretching postures only on the exhale (ex. Wind-Removing)
Lastly, arriving to class early, to stretch for 10-20 minutes before class, will improve your flexibility and deepen your postures. |
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In the Know |
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The Save Darfur Coalition raises awareness and works  with world leaders, to end the genocide in Darfur. Visit the SaveDarfur Web site to learn about global and domestic campaigns, local advocacy opportunities, or to sign up to receive email updates.
The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region. | | |
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